Dear Channie,

I am a brand new homeschooler (we started in October of last year. I pulled him out of school). He is a single child and for the most part we are adjusting to it well. One of the challenges I am facing is helping him keep all his papers in order. His stuff is all over the place. When I give him work to do, it never comes back. I have no idea what happens to it, and neither does he. He had a big 3 inch binder that he used in school and I kept using that. But it isn’t working. Any advice to help my boy (and me) get and stay organized?

Grace from San Antonio, TX!

Grace,

I have a soon-to-be 7 year-old and trying to help her keep up with her papers and books has been…well, a challenge. My goal for her this year is taking responsibility for her work. We have tried several things in the past but our current system has been the one that we have had the most success with. It also happens to be the cheapest as well.

She has a 3 pocket folder that we use to communicate with one another. The folder we use is made by StudioC and I picked one up for each girl from Staples.  It has three separate sections which allows her to keep her information organized.

She has a section marked To Do Work, To Check and To File.

The other thing I added to this is her weekly independent (homework) tracker. I attach this via paperclip to the front of the folder. This is what she uses to know what work she has to complete on her own. When she is done, she puts it in her folder under ‘To Check’.

When I have checked her work I put it in the folder marked ‘To File’.

Once a week, I have her take out all the work that is in her To File section and put it in the correct binders. We use her binders to store her work.

This simple solution has helped  her keep track of her assignments and work and has helped me keep some of my sanity! Sometimes simple simply works!

Grace I hope this helps out, please let me know how it goes!

Your Time to Shine! What systems do you have in place to help your children stay organized? Chime in and share the love. 

Have a question for me? Need some advice?

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