How to Organize Your Homeschool {Free Organization Printables}

Published:
June 14, 2021

Sarah Shelton

Contributor:
Sarah Shelton

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Do you struggle with keeping all your books and school supplies in order? It is important to organize your homeschool. Having things unorganized can add stress. Learn how to organize your homeschool and grab some free homeschool organization printables to get started. 

Free Homeschool Organization Recourses text over white bookshelves with books on them

How to Organize Your Homeschool

Getting your homeschool organized can be overwhelming because there is just always so much stuff. There are workbooks, literature books, educational games, manipulatives, teacher manuals and so many papers. It is hard to even know where to begin.

It’s important to stay organized while homeschooling, especially if you homeschool in a small space, have a large family, or keep all your homeschool supplies in the dining room. 

How to Organize Your Bookshelves

Homeschoolers love bookshelves! When we moved I actually got rid of a ton of homeschool curriculum and cleared off several shelves, resulting in a much more organized display of our books. 

My bookshelves are broken down like this: 

  • A section for mom
  • Fiction readers
  • Curriculum
  • Bibles and Character Books

In the “Mom” section I have it broken down into fiction and non-fiction and I actually alphabetize my books because I am a bit of a nerd. 

How to Organize Manipulatives

If you use manipulatives in your homeschool, such as an abacus, letter tiles, or counting bears, you might be wondering the best way to organize and store your learning manipulatives.

I like to hit the dollar store for cheap bins and baskets, but Kayla at The Average Teacher has a great article with hacks to store manipulatives that has some out-of-the-box organization tips for manipulatives that you might not have thought of. 

How to Store Your Portfolios

There are many ways to store your student’s end of the year homeschool portfolios. I used to just put EVERYTHING in a huge Rubbermaid container and shove under a bed. That worked okay in the beginning, but having more than one kid and thirteen years of school means I needed a different way to organize my homeschool portfolios. 

We use a big 3″ binder for each child’s homeschool portfolio. I break it up into sections for subject and use homeschool binder printables to organize everything. Each child decorates their portfolio and then it gets placed on the shelf, where I store them for two years, per our homeschool state laws. 

Creative Ways to Showcase Projects

If you have kids, then you have artwork, no doubt! Keeping your homeschool organized and clutter-free doesn’t mean that you don’t get to show off your children’s homeschool projects and creations. You can also checkout these nifty ideas for displaying kids’ artwork.

There are some creative ways you can store paper creations:

  • cork boards
  • yarn and clothespins
  • add to a page protector and store in your portfolio
  • make artwork into cards

What happens in an un-organized homeschool?

In case you are wondering how bad it can get if your homeschool becomes chaotic and disorganized, just imagine having multiple children and getting a request from the school district to review your homeshool portfolios. If you weren’t organized throughout the school year, you may find yourself scrambling to put together portfolios. 

pencils in a pencil holder on a table with a pink overlap and text Free Homeschool Organization Resources

FREE Homeschool Organization Printables

There are many types of printables that can help you organize your homeschool. These homeschool organization resources will inspire you and help you to get started. 

Whether or not you are new to homeschooling, putting organization printables to good use can help you stay on top of the clutter and of piles of paper. Some of the most useful homeschool organization printables that we have used are homeschool binder printables and portfolio pages. 

Homeschool Binder Printables:

A homeschool organization binder is a clever way to keep all the papers in order. If you are homeschooling at your kitchen table for example, you may not want to drag out all the teacher manuals. Instead, you may want to store some of the answer keys in a teacher binder.

There are many types of homeschool binders that can help keep everything at your fingertips. You may have heard them called a command station. You can keep important homeschool forms in them as well.

Homeschool binders can be a great help for your children learn how to stay organized as well. If you’re not sure what to put in your homeschool binder, we’ve got a list of suggestions for you in this post: How to Build Your Homeschool Binder + FREE Cheat Sheets & Dividers.

There are many different ways to build a homeschool binder. You will be inspired to build many different types of binders. You will learn how to keep them organized with free homeschool cheat sheets and binder divider tabs and sheets.

different colorful homeschool binders fanned out with a light blue background

Homeschool Binder Printable Set – this set of printables comes with a homework chart, reading log, grade tracker and more homeschool organization resources.

Mom’s Master Homeschool Binder – I love these binder ideas. The cover is an adult coloring page just for moms. There are printable sheets for different subjects that you can customize as well. 

Homeschool Gradebook and Record Keeping Spreadsheet – This is an invaluable resource to keep in a binder for your high school students. 

Report Card and Progress Report Templates – Grades are best kept organized and all together. A binder is a wonderful way to keep your grades all in one place and organized.

Free Homeschool Forms to Get You Organized – These forms will help you keep track of all the important homeschool papers, along with record keeping sheets.

How to organize your digital files:

There are many benefits to using digital homeschool curriculum. Utilizing digital resources streamlines the amount of items you have in your home, but it can get unorganized quickly. There are lots of free homeschool resources to save and download to your computer and it can add up quite fast.

You need to stay on top of organizing your digital resources like you would with the physical ones. The resources and articles about organizing digital files below are very helpful.

Practical tips for homeschool organization:

Make Your Own Home Organization Wall on a Budget – There are many different printables and detailed directions on how to make your own homeschool organization wall beautiful.

Homeschool Organization wall in living room

5 Ways to Stay Organized in Your Homeschool – I love these practical tips, there is even a free homeschool organization quote to print out for encouragement. 

Homeschool Organization Without a Homeschool Room – Great practical suggestions along with free homeschool supply organization printables.

How to Organize in a Tiny Space Without a Homeschool Room – There are many ways to homeschool without a set space and yes, you can even do it in tiny spaces.

10 Days of Homeschool Printables to Help You Get Organized For Your School Year – Great homeschool printables to get you organized for the new homeschool year. 

7 Tricks to Organize Your Homeschool in Your Dining Room – Many homeschoolers do not have the luxury of a homeschool room, so a favorite alternative is the dining room table. 

Now that you are getting your homeschool organized, find out how to keep it that way:

boy sitting down on a chair at a table smiling with arms crossed over organized notebooks and folders cleaning out a closet pencils in a pencil holder and a traditional alarm clock on top of a book with homeschool organization printables shown at the bottom