Storage and Organization Ideas for Homeschoolers

Homeschooling requires a lot of stuff; books, art supplies, paper, computers, workbooks, pencils. And every year you need to buy more! Whether you have a dedicated school room, or your kids study at various spots around your house, keeping all your homeschool materials organized is crucial to keeping your sanity. We’ve homeschooled in three homes; in school rooms, dining rooms, and basements. I’ve relied on a variety of methods to keep track of our books and papers and as I prepare to begin my 18th year of homeschooling, I thought I’d share some storage and organization ideas for homeschoolers that have worked for our family through the years. Affiliate links ahead!

Where To Store Old School Work and Lesson Plans

When I started homeschooling, I wrote out all my lesson plans by hand in teacher planners, and on print outs. Those lesson plans are now in labeled binders, more for posterity’s sake than anything. In 2013 I moved the bulk of my lesson plans online. I used the tables feature in Google Docs, then eventually Google Sheets. All those lesson plans are saved in my Google Drive. I do print out copies for my kids and I to reference. I reference old lesson plans frequently to see what we used from year to year, and to see how the materials were broken up over 36 weeks. I make notes in the lesson plans, so I can tell whether we finished a book or unit or not. If you have paper lesson plans, it’s helpful to label them and keep them all in a dedicated bin or shelf. Otherwise, you can create folders in Google Drive to organize your lesson plans by year and/ or subject.

Depending on your state requirements, you may need to keep your children’s work in a portfolio or some other way. (You can check for info here on HSLDA’s website.) Otherwise, I use a hanging file system to store the best of my kids work. Digital work that is submitted to me via Google Classroom is saved in the class, as well as a folder in my Drive. If someone writes something exceptional, I may print it out and put it in their hanging file box. Oversized artwork is photographed and saved online. I used to use Evernote, but now it’s in a folder in Google Photos. Workbooks should be tossed (or burned in a bonfire). Rip out any pages you must save, but don’t hold onto entire completed workbooks. (If you need help with transcripts check out this post.)

When your kids are little and cranking out tons of worksheets, artwork, sketches, etc. it’s easy to get overwhelmed with paper. I give you permission to toss 90% of it! We actually used artwork to start our woodstove in the winter for years. This was after sending pictures to family, hanging up artwork around the house, and saving the very best in my hanging folder system. I will say, my oldest son created a lot of homemade comic books and I kept a larger percentage of them. You don’t need to save the same amount from each child to be “fair”.

Where To Store Books Your Child Is Using This Year

The books your child needs on a daily basis should be in or on your child’s desk, or a dedicated bin. It can be very difficult to have two children sharing the same text book, so unless there’s a budget constraint, every child should have their own copy of each book they’ll need on a daily basis, or worst case, each should have a dedicated time to use the book. Desks or bins should be cleaned out every week or so. Each child should know where all their loose papers need to go. Give them dedicated folders and binders to keep paperwork organized. It’s better to start early so they can get in the habit.

Where To Store Books You’re Using For Family Subjects, Morning Basket, Unit Studies, Etc.

If you have subjects you’re all doing together (or say, you with the two oldest) you’ll need a dedicated space for those subjects As I mentioned before, I keep all our morning meeting supplies together in one place so I’m ready to start. It’s also where I keep printed copies of my lesson plans and any schedules so I can easily reference them, with the kids if necessary, first thing in the morning.

Books that are used for family subjects can be stored in one place together, but each child should have a dedicated folder or notebook for that subject with their things. Like, we do a history lesson together during morning meeting once a week, but each child has a seperate folder or online class for turning in work. Plus literature related to history is stored with each child’s things.

Where To Store Books Your Not Using This Year

We have dedicated shelves in our library for homeschooling books, so each year I pull what I need and replace what I’m done with. If I feel I can no longer use something, I have a bin for books to sell (which I’m terrible about clearing out). If you can’t have a dedicated shelf for materials, plastic tubs with locking lids that are clearly labeled with the contents (grade level, subject, title, etc.) can work too. However if you’re storing books in a garage, attic, basement or other unfinished space make sure the lids are secure to keep out rodents and consider adding silica packs to keep out moisture. Books are a big investment so it’s worth taking the time to make sure they will last through all your children.

Where To Store School Supplies

First, at the beginning of each year- throw out all your old, broken, and dried out supplies! Don’t keep buying new glue sticks, pencils, and markers and throwing them into bins with old materials. I found it helpful to do an inventory before buying more school supplies, otherwise we would have way too many markers or pencils and the kids would get frustrated fishing through large bins of materials and trying to locate items that worked. As the kids got older, they would each get their own pencil box, but I kept fresh supplies in a designated spot so they could always replenish their stock when necessary. Even now, everyone knows where pens, pencils, paperclips, rubberbands, staples, etc. are located (though people often try to swipe items out of my desk). I know it’s hard to throw out old supplies that “still have some use in them”. But honestly, no one uses the broken crayons, the pencil nubs, or the chewed up pink eraser bits, especially if new items are available. Hide supplies and only get out items as they’re needed if you’re concerned about waste. (But a crayon sharpener may help you resurrect otherwise unwanted crayons.)

How to help your kids manage their own stuff.

When kids are younger, let them help you put away materials so they understand everything has a place. As they get older and have their own books and supplies to manage, make them responsible for cleaning up after themselves and keeping their desks, bins, etc. neat and orderly. This takes time! And some kids are better at it than others, but resist the urge to put away their materials for them. If they can’t find an assignment or notebook, make them locate it, or clean out their desk. Help them discover what kind of routines and organizational systems work for them. Help them develop habits of say, always emptying their desk on Fridays, or creating a designated bin just for their completed artwork. And if their desk is a disaster but they’re completing work and not struggling to find supplies or books, don’t stress about it!

I tend to be organized, and I realized it came more naturally to me than some of my children. But in time, they’ve all found their own ways to stay on top of work with only minimal help from me. You don’t want to throw them in the deep end of the pool which may set them up to fail, but give them just enough scaffolding to figure out things for themselves and realize they are capable of organizing their materials without your help. It’s a tricky, ongoing balancing act for sure!

I hope this post gives you some ideas about homeschool storage and organization. I think it’s helpful to see how other people approach storing (or trashing!) all the stuff that homeschooling requires…and like, actual people, not Instagram influencers with 5,000 square foot mansions that are all white. Let me know if you have any additional tips or questions about storage and organization ideas for homeschoolers!