Day 5 of Organization ~ Top 10 Must-Have Tools

Have you ever wondered what the most necessary tools are for homeschooling? Step into The Organized Homeschool Mom’s schoolroom and find out. Here are her top ten must-have tools to get and stay organized for the school year. Remember, not all of these supplies have to be bought brand new at a fancy office supply store. You’ll find you already have many of these items in your house, or that you have the materials to make your own tools. Shoeboxes make good math manipulative storage boxes, for example, and soup cans can be decorated to make pencil holders. Be creative, and get your children involved in the process. Above all, get started, it may take awhile. This is the list, check out the full article here for what to do with all these nifty tools.

Bookshelves
Binders
3-hole punch because not every piece of paper comes ready to file
Baskets and/or shoe boxes (cardboard or Rubbermaid-type)
Various small containers for paper clips, tacks, small manipulatives, erasers, and staples
Letter stacking trays
Calendars
Lesson planners (books or computer programs)
Timers
Keep it organized! If you get it out, put it away right away and train you children to do the same thing.

Yes, this is a re-post, but it really needed to be added to this 10 Days of Organization blog hop :-).

Remember to enter the giveaway for a FREE ticket to the HOTM conference! And be sure to stop by these other terrific blogs:

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

Brought to you by Heart of the Matter Online.

13 responses to “Day 5 of Organization ~ Top 10 Must-Have Tools”

TN Quiltbug

Feb 11, 2011 at 2:29 pm

Enjoyed reading this post! My favorite organizational tool that I have been reaping the benefits of lately is a lesson planner for use with my kindergartener. I had resisted planning out for that level of school, feeling that it might \”squelch\” our freedom to do fun activities, but have found that it does just the opposite. Now I plan in fun activities on purpose, and we actually DO them! Most of the time, anyway! 🙂

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Momma Basel

Feb 11, 2011 at 5:00 pm

\”Keep it organized.\” Ah, there's the rub. I was so excited to set up bookshelves and to put the books on there! And the kids love to read the books! However, putting the books away has left the shelves in complete disarray. Time to reorganize and teach the kids how to shelve books! Thank you for these posts!karenbasel at yahoo dot com

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LeisureTreasure

Feb 11, 2011 at 7:30 pm

Thank you, Bethany! I am haunted by toys I find on the floor every day. I know if I want my encouraging words to be followed I have to start by doing a better job at 'keep it organized' part myself! leisuretreasure at yahoo dot com

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Anonymous

Feb 11, 2011 at 7:54 pm

Thanks for all the helpful tips!! gcsteacher2@yahoo.com

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TN Quiltbug

Feb 11, 2011 at 11:50 pm

Bethany–Of COURSE I'm checking your blog each day for more organizational tips–I can use all the help I can get! 🙂 Thanks for your hard work on doing the 10 day series–I really appreciate it! (Though I STILL think you should just come to my house and help me with my desk…..One can dream, anyway!)

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Mandy

Feb 12, 2011 at 1:24 am

Great list – all the essentials.goldfuss1@frontier.com

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The Bertone’s

Feb 12, 2011 at 1:48 am

Good to know. This is my first year Home-schooling and that is great info to make my life easier! Thanks!

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Anonymous

Feb 12, 2011 at 10:07 pm

I will eventually need some more bookshelves…just have no where to put them! And I agree with TN Quiltbug…planning out for the young ages also helps me to actually plan in and DO fun activities! :-)BTW, I don't think my google and blogger profile were working when you click on my name. So I will start including my email address in my posts…in case I win! 😉 I am trying to fix the issue though.intotheirhearts@gmail.com

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Jen

Feb 13, 2011 at 2:38 am

Thanks for the great tips for getting organized.

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Debbie

Feb 14, 2011 at 6:16 pm

Looooove your bookcase layout! What a great plan – now I just need another bookcase. LOL!

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The Nash Family

Feb 15, 2011 at 12:45 pm

Great tips! What are \”letter stacking trays?\”Thanks!ahnash@hotmail.com

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That Mom Kelly

Feb 17, 2011 at 4:37 am

Great ideas. and great reminder that we dont need to go out and purchase new stuff! That there is so many useful things if we look around.

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Anonymous

Feb 17, 2011 at 8:16 am

Totally Enjoying your \”10 days.\” I gotta go back to the beginning & catch up ;)SonShineJewel@yahoo.com

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