Within Arm’s Reach
In order for our school day to go smoothly, I have found a few “must-haves” that makes things easier. For me, schooling used to require drawers full of manipulatives, loads of laminated pages, a huge art supply caddy that twirled around so we could all access it, and shelves loaded with books. I have since condensed our school space to one cabinet of daily things and the rear of a closet for stored things.
Here is my list of things I keep within arm’s reach to make our learning happen.
- Coffee. Must anymore be said? Oh, and a glass of water to dilute the caffeine.
- Colored gel pen. Any color, just something different than the kids are using. For grading and editing purposes.
- Small white board, marker and eraser. My chosen white board is about 8×10. This small size makes it easy to store, easy to use on a crowded table, yet big enough to model how to answer a particular math problem or spell a word.
- 3 hole punch. The kids each have a binder to help organize a few of their subjects. My photocopies get punched and put in the correct place before the day is complete.
- A small stash of standard office supplies: crayons, markers and colored pencils, paper clips, tape, stapler, glue, small notepads, scissors. Again, keeping things condensed requires limiting the large coloring quantities of everything, but I also know that if we can’t find the necessary paperclip for the science experiment, we are most likely to skip it. So, I keep things we need near and I keep a surplus of most of these items in my storage closet upstairs if we need refills. I try to limit refilling during our school time; we inevitably get off-track.
- My phone. On silent mode, I use it to text my husband and answer only very important calls. I also use it as a timer for math drills, and to play instrumental music when the kids are having a hard time focusing.
- My laptop and headphones. We are currently using a digital copy for one of our textbooks, so the kids need access to it daily. Also, we frequently look up videos or other sites relating to our topic.
- Copier/printer. Plus paper, for the last minute worksheet, extra copy of a page, etc.
- Teacher manuals that accompany the kids’ textbooks. I also keep our current and upcoming fiction read-alouds in my daily cabinet. I dislike to be without a book when we have a few extra minutes, so I learned my lesson the hard way – keep a few handy.
- Coins and clock. I have a cup of coins to math purposes. We also use them as game pieces if necessary. The clock on the wall is used for math practice as well as our schedule keeper.
Except my phone and laptop, all of these items plus the kids textbooks and binders fit into our daily cabinet. I didn’t mention that it has one file cabinet drawer in the bottom that I store the items I need to keep for their yearly notebook. The doors of the cabinet are closed at the end of our school day and we convert the space back into our dining room.
Farther than arm’s reach
In my ever-present struggle to not accumulate more “stuff” than necessary, I try to keep my extra storage space from flowing over its allotted back of the closet space. In that area, I keep the following items:
- My dear laminator. Since the kids are a bit older now, I laminate less and less. But on the occasion that I need it, I like having it there. Plus a pack of 200 pouches.
- A laundry basket packed full of wonderful living picture books that I don’t want lost or ripped. These particular books have already been studied or don’t relate to what we are currently studying. One day, I hope to have shelf space to have these more easily available.
- A huge tote bag full of textbooks we will need in the coming years. A veteran homeschooler gifted these jewels to me and I am ever so thankful.
- Math manipulatives that we will need again when the toddler is in school. For now, the balance, shapes, dice, counting bears and the like are all residing in a huge tub in the closet.
- Previous year’s documents and textbooks. Some in crates and in need or organizing; others in binders. I have more kids to teach in the coming years, so I keep all of our textbooks unless I am certain I won’t use it later.
- Tub of random craft supplies that we only need on rare occasions.
- Shoe pockets hang on the door and hold my surplus supplies I mentioned before. Extra of just about everything can be found there. The kids know these are off limits without permission.
So, what do you require on-hand to make your school day flow smoothly? What are things that are nearby but are just cluttering up your work space? How do you store the things you don’t use every day?
Lindsay Banton is a caffeinated mother to three great kids. She never expected to homeschool, but has found that it is a wonderful addition to their lifestyle and wouldn’t change it for the world. In addition to homeschooling, Lindsay works alongside her husband in campus ministry at a large university in Connecticut. She grew up in Virginia but has settled into life in New England, learning to love the long winters, cool springs, green summers and gorgeous autumns- and has built a boot collection to meet all the demands. She is currently blogging at www.oaksreplanted.blogspot.com