Downsizing Our Homeschool

I was holding on to quite a bit of stuff from homeschooling my kids and have been letting things go slowly over the last 3 years. I have found success by finding people or programs that I feel will be able to use my things instead of just dropping them off at the thrift stores. I donated a good portion of school supplies to a Back to School program for needy families this fall. I did it last year too and I still have too much but I'm making progress and will probably donate again next school year. I've also given to a Christmas Adoption program along with coloring books and drawing paper I bought at Dollar Stores to go with them.

 











I donated a whole van load of books to a young homeschool family twice 3 years ago. I have given a lot of stuff away to the homeschool families in our co-op that meets on Friday's. I just take a bag of stuff every other week and anyone who can use it takes what they want. I donated unused 4H project books to our old 4H club a couple months ago. I donated a large tote of 3-ring Notebooks twice this year once in June and again in October. I donated a large amount of manipulatives like flashcards and such to my daughter and the preschool where she works in September. 

I have recently been unloading a 4 drawer filling cabinet of worksheet we didn’t use by taking one drawer a week to recycling. I have 2 drawers left but it’s going to be difficult because my 19 month old granddaughter is getting old enough to maybe use some of it within the next year. I will need to go through them and decide what I want to keep. I would like to organize what I do keep in a preschool system that my oldest daughter can easily follow for her. I will eventually give it to my daughter in a plastic file crate that is themed for each week such as Rabbit week and study the letter R and Round. I am also going to organize a holiday themed crate for my granddaughter to use when she visits.





 










I still have to go through my kids finished work and decide how much, what, and how best to store things. I would like to have one small box for each of my 4 kids that they would like to have and not feel burdened by the amount. I need to go through our textbooks and figure out what I will need until my youngest son graduates. I will donate the unneeded books to the homeschool book sale next  fall.

I'm not finished but I have made progress this year. I have donated and purged a large amount of stuff but now I need to move onto the next step and organize what I am keeping into a manageable and usable system. My project for next year will be to organize the preschool and holiday themed crates for my granddaughter. To organize one small box for each of my 4 kids of finished homeschool work. Donate more school supplies and textbooks in the fall. I hope to have this project finished by the end of 2014.

We are still homeschooling since my youngest is 17 yrs. old and doesn't graduate until June 2015. I will be retiring from actively homeschooling my kids but I have a granddaughter and one grandchild on the way so my journey will continue. The thing I love about homeschooling is that its a lifestyle and learning never end for the parent or children if you instill the love for learning into your lives. I am always working on learning something be it a craft, cooking, or organizing. I'm learning all the time and I can see how my children have taken what they have learned and used it in their lives.