This system I'm trying out is new to me. I have previously had stuff EVERYWHERE all over bookshelves and it was a pain to find what I needed so I'm doing something different and sharing it with you.
First I had to TRY (key word) to block out some time and space so I could concentrate. I took frequent breaks and had my favorite beverage on hand and make sure I was eating regularly. I put on some music or talk radio. You might want to try to get the kids out of the house if you can. Get all your supplies together: trash can, pens, pencils, markers, paper, sticky notes, white-out, labels for notebook dividers and so on.
Step One is to get rid of what is not working. Weed out stuff you don't need anymore or need to update. File away things you want to get to sometime/deal with later.
Step Two is to find a system and get started organizing it. I have one binder with folder dividers that I got at Target (they are dividers that hold stuff on two sides) which holds papers by subject (like English, Math, Science, History, PE, Art, Music). Instead of loose papers everywhere, I have them all organized and can whip out a worksheet if someone wants to do one or if I need to demonstrate a concept and need help doing it. For instance, in my Math tab I have worksheets for different grades, math game ideas and funny math problems I make up. In Art I'll keep the snowflake making cheater sheets the kids love in the wintertime.
In this binder I also keep other misc. things we might want to do like field trips or activities. This page says stuff like "hearing tests x 5" and "Exchange City."
In another binder I have a tab for each of my kids. I might file the grade overview I got from the public school to make sure I'm hitting key points. I file a copy of the table of contents of the "What Your X Grader Needs to Know" books by grade and highlight things as we complete them. We skip around, so don't think I'm all anal and perfect. I'm definitely no Homeschooling Nazi.
Now we have a system all set up. Next week we'll talk about the actual lesson planning for multiple grades Kerrie Style. We're a little unschooly, a little structured, very eclectic!
*I wrote this post in 2012 and now I do different things different years :-) Right now I am putting everybody's stuff for the day in one spiral notebook and sometimes transfer that to an Excel file so I can keep track of time. My state doesn't require that, but I like to see that I am actually accomplishing something!
