organizing and making plans for the new school year

I have seen a lot homeschooling bloggers posting about them getting ready for the new school year.   Everyone does things differently, the most important thing is to do what is best for you and your family.  So, I thought I would share how I organize and prepare for the new school year.  Hopefully some of my suggestions will help you out, when you are planning for your new school year.

So what is the first thing on my list that I do?

PRAY.

Yes, I pray.  I ask God to open my eyes on what we had done the previous year.  Did I teach them what they needed to know.  Did we cover all the necessary information.  Did what we do, glorify God?  I then pray about what we need to cover during the new school year.

After I pray and ask God to open my eyes on what we covered and did cover, I start making a list for the new school year.  I continue to pray for od to guide me as I look through curriculum, asking Him to guide me to make the best choices.

scissors, rulers, popsicle sticks and paper/toilet paper rolls, oh my!

Once I start researching and making a list of curriculum for the upcoming school year, I start cleaning and organizing.  I first go through the kids’ rooms and clean them out.  School supplies always seem to creep back into their rooms when they make things.  Once I get their rooms in order, I then move on to the homeschool areas in our living room and dining room.  We are living in a small apartment and do not have much room.  However, I have this great shelf above the desk area and I have been able to stack up!

trying to organize all of our craft and school supplies.

As you can see, plastic shoe boxes have become my new best organizing tool!  They are see through and I can put labels on the end, so we all know what is the container!  I knew we had a lot of crafting materials, but I didn’t know how much, until I started breaking it down.  Now that I have all of the crafting material organized, next is the homeschool bookshelves.  I have two of those (only two will fit in the homeschool area), one for our oldest daughter, who is in 10th grade this upcoming year and then one for our 2nd and 3rd grade children. Each cubby on the shelves will be dedicated to a certain subject.  I also hope to have enough room here for their readers as well.

school bookshelves in need of cleaning and organizing.

Once I get the shelves organized, I am able to see what all we have and will be able to use for the following school year.  I will then compare that list to the one I made for the curriculum that we need for the upcoming school year.  I have noticed in years’ past, by doing this, I am not ordering something that I already have.  After I compare the lists, I am able then to make a new one, so that I can order the rest of our curriculum.

Over the years, by doing the few things, it has helped me to not stress out as much about the new school year.  We are able to start the school year on a positive and happy note with a mom who is not so stressed out.

What are some ways that you prepare for the new school year?  I would love for you to share with us!