Schooling in a Small Space

Many of you know that homeschooling and storing school supplies in a small space can be challenging.  When we first purchased our 1300 sq. ft. home (yes that's how "big" our house is) over 8 years ago, we had a one year old and another on the way...never anticipating we'd still be here, let alone homeschooling with 5 kids!  As a former classroom teacher and supervising teacher of homeschooled families, I  have become a curriculum addict over the years and love to test out new products.  Right before the baby was born, I started purchasing these nice little IKEA shelves.  We have this 4 x 2 in our hallway, another 4 x 2 in the kitchen and a 2 x2 next to our couch with books.  Then I found some cute little baskets at Target and recently, those nice brown storage crates at Target (see the bottom shelves).  These are my favorites as they are large enough to fit the shelves and are deep enough for binders and workbooks! 

This shelf is in the kitchen and replaced our iron wine table...Who has time for using a wine table with 5 kids?
If I didn't have a toddler, I could also use those large storage crates for kitchen items.

These are one of my favorite organizational ideas...Trader Joe's coffee cans.  My daughter loves to cover them in paper and label them.  They are the perfect size for pencils and most of the time you can even fit the lid on top.

This is the basket on the kitchen shelf.  We are currently using this one for pencils, rulers, etc.

Chore Charts-Part 2

Here are our revised chore charts.  The kids love having laminated sheets so they can cross off what they've completed.  Included are Getting Ready Duties, A Weekly Duty that rotates weekly and a list of free activities to do before school.  I added a couple things to their list such as wiping off door handles and light switches to help kill off those winter cold germs.

PS Love, love my $20 laminator from Target.

This is the kids' Bathroom Duty Chart

Living Room Duty...

Kitchen Duty

Keeping the Kids on Task-Chores

My kids love lists.  The prefer having a schedule and knowing what's expected on a daily basis.  Using a traditional chore chart was too cumbersome to keep track of and handing out money each week was getting a little expensive.  My alternative, creating schedules and chore lists and laminating them so the kids could use a dry erase maker to cross off what they've completed.  Can I tell you how much I love the laminator?  Make a list, print it out on fun paper and run it through the laminator...It lasts almost forever.

Here is a sample of the kids' chore chart list.  We have a handful of chore lists with the first half the same and the bottom half Some things you might not call "chores" such as getting dressed, but it gives them the feeling of accomplishment when they can cross it off.

Get Ready:
Get Dressed

Make Bed

Hair/Face/Teeth

Clean Room

Practice Music

Eat Breakfast
Put Away Laundry

Bathroom Duty:
Clean Sink
Clean Mirror
Clean Light Switch and Door Handle
Take Out Trash