minimalist homeschooling Archives

Minimalist Homeschooling: Cutting Down on Craft Supplies

July 15, 2016 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Crafting. I both love it and hate it. I love the feeling of making things with my kids. I don’t love the work of cleaning the mess up afterwards.

Despite this ambiguity, I have managed to amass a collection of craft supplies far larger than what will ever be used during my homeschooling journey. So, like my book collection, my digital homeschool resource collection, and my paper cache, my craft supply space has got to have a minimalist makeover.

Are you drowning in pom-poms, watercolors, clothespins, markers, and other craft supplies? Here are a few tips to cut them down!

How to Cut Down on Craft Supplies

Step 1: Designate a fixed space for craft supply storage. If you think that you really want to continue making crafts with your kids, set up a small space for storing supplies. Don’t let yourself buy or keep any more supplies that can reasonably fit in that space.

Step 2: Do a sort-through. Bring out all the crafting supplies you currently have and spread them on the floor. Let your kids look through them and come up with ideas for crafts and projects they want to make with them. If there are any supplies they don’t plan to use, set them to aside to donate.

Step 3: Make, make, make! Set a deadline for your kids to make their projects, but don’t be strict about it. Ask them when they’d like to make their crafts and then offer a gentle reminder. If they don’t follow through, just set those supplies out to be donated as well. Your kids will probably never miss them. 🙂

Need some ideas as to what kinds of crafts to make with your supplies? Check out this list of beach crafts for kids!

Get even more crafting ideas on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

This post is part of the How to Homeschool as a Minimalist series! Stop by Monday for Day 6: Simplified Lesson Planning!

Minimalist Homeschooling: Digital Decluttering

July 14, 2016 by Selena Robinson 10 Comments

Do you think of yourself as a hoarder? Have you ever watched Hoarders and thought “That’s not me. I would never keep all that stuff.”

I have. In fact, one of the reasons I’m slowly embracing minimalism in my homeschool is because I prefer to keep a smaller house with fewer possessions to take care of. When I talk about having too many books or feeling overloaded with paper, I’m really speaking about the amount that feels like a lot to me. To others, though, it never seems like much.

But I recently came to a rather surprising conclusion: I am a digital curriculum hoarder. Over the years, I have downloaded so many homeschooling printables and curriculum helps that I will never use them all. There’s just no way.

And now, I don’t even look at them because I get overwhelmed by it all. Guess what? It’s time to do some digital decluttering.

How to Declutter Digital Resources

Step 1: Organize the digital homeschool resources you have.

Open up the folder in which you keep all of your homeschooling downloads. And slowly start organizing them into smaller folders. Whether you choose to do it by grade level, subject, or type, just get them all organized so that you can see where they are.

Also, if the files have funny download names that include symbols or letters, rename the files to the actual name of the product. That way, you’ll know what they are without having to open each file.

Step 2: Look at your grade objectives and decide which resources you will use for each child.

Use a notepad or an open file on your computer to jot down which resources you intend to use for which child during this school year. If you don’t think you’ll need a specific resource this year but you might use it the next year, store it in a separate folder.

If you think you won’t need it for several years, delete it. By the time you need it, you’ll probably have found something more up-to-date.

Step 3: Do a purge at the end of the school year.

When you’re wrapping up your school year, take a look back at the resources you used. Did you love them? Keep them for the next child! Did you never get around to using them at all? You can probably delete those. If there were any that you were on the fence about, toss those as well. And make sure that every resource you get going forward is one that you really want to use.

Need help organizing your digital homeschool resources? See a simple way to do it with File Explorer!

Get more ideas for organizing your homeschool on my Homeschool Organization Tips Pinterest Board!

This post is part of the How to Homeschool as a Minimalist series! Stop by tomorrow for Day 5: Cutting Down on Craft Supplies!

Minimalist Homeschooling: Dealing with Paper Overload

July 13, 2016 by Selena Robinson 7 Comments

If you’re at home right now, go into your homeschooling space and take a gander around. If your room is anything like mine, you probably have more items made up of one material than all others: paper.

I had no idea how much paper I had accumulated over the past seven years of homeschooling until I started trying to simply our homeschool. And, oh boy, is there paper everywhere.

Worksheets, construction paper, writing paper, contact paper, butcher paper, drawing paper, graphing paper, planning paper – just paper as far as the eye can see.

This will probably seem unreal, but it’s absolutely true. I actually have planning pages that I printed FIVE YEARS AGO and have yet to use. I have no idea how much money I’ve spent in printer ink over the years, but I can guarantee it’s been a lot.

In this entry in the Minimalist Homeschooling series, we’re talking about how to deal with paper overload and free yourself of the paper trail!

Minimalist Homeschooling: Dealing with Paper Overload

First – I just want to clarify: I am not talking about getting rid of paper entirely. In our state, we have to keep certain records each school year and there are a few activities the kids completed that I’m saving for sentimental reasons. But a lot of this paper is just taking up space in my life.

So we probably (read: definitely) have too much paper on our hands. What do we do about it? We get real.

In yesterday’s post, I shared the tip that has been helping me declutter the most. Ask yourself: “Does this spark joy?” If it doesn’t, get rid of it.

With papers, we might tweak that approach to ask: “Do I really want to use this?” If you don’t really want to use it, put it in the “Get Rid of This” pile.

Personally, my pile consists mostly of extra drawing paper, old worksheets I printed but never used, old lesson planning pages that no longer fit our homeschooling approach, teachers’ guides I really thought I needed but will never, ever have the time to implement, and so on.

And guess what? If you’re feeling guilty about tossing all this paper, just take it to your local recycling center. They’ll be happy to take it off your hands!

Going forward, I’ll be printing worksheets, planners, and other pages on a strict need-to-use basis. If I don’t need it that week, I’m not printing it. Period.

Need some non-paper related homeschool planning ideas? Check out Homeschool Planning board on Pinterest!

This post is part of the How to Homeschool as a Minimalist series! Stop by tomorrow for Day 4: Digital Decluttering!

Minimalist Homeschooling: How to Declutter Books

July 12, 2016 by Selena Robinson 9 Comments

I never thought I’d ever utter this next sentence, but: I have too many books.

There. I said it.

That was tough.

If there was an organization for Book Collectors Anonymous, I’d be at my meeting every week.

I’ve always loved to read and, when my husband and I decided to homeschool our children, I was off and running to the bookstore. Books about homeschooling, books with homeschooling activities, classics I’d read as a child that I now wanted my kids to read, new children’s books that were written by promising authors, out-of-print books featuring wonderful hobbies I still wanted my kids to learn…you get the idea.

But after seven years of homeschooling, I realized that I just have way too many books. As part of my experience with minimalist homeschooling, I’m..gasp…getting rid of some of my books. If you’re ready to learn how to declutter books, here’s a look at how I’m doing it.

Minimalist Homeschooling: How to Declutter Books

I’m going to borrow from the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up to explain how I decide it’s time for a book to leave my home. In that book (and, yes, I realize the irony of quoting a book about getting rid of books), the author says to touch each item in your home and ask yourself: “Does this spark joy?” If it doesn’t, out it goes.

For me, I look at a book and think “Do I really want to use this book for our homeschool or do I feel like I should use this book for our homeschool?” If it’s there just because I think I should use it, it heads out the door.

Pictured: A look into my storage closet (almost)

Some homeschooling books are super, duper famous. And they are wonderful resources for many families. But, over time, I’ve realized that some of them are just not a good fit for us, especially since we’re homeschooling kids with ADHD. So there’s no point in keeping a homeschool library that won’t help with our specific educational goals.

“If a homeschooling book is in my closet just because I think I should use it, it heads out the door.”

Now, this is not to say that I won’t keep buying books. But buying them because I only think I need them or, worse, keeping them long after they’ve served their purpose, ends now.

So, what have I been doing instead of hoarding more and more books? Why, visiting my local library, of course! And there are so many great and trusted tips for homeschooling available online now, that I don’t really need as many homeschooling and education books as I did years ago.

Do you have a way to declutter books? How do you decide what to keep and what to get rid of? Share your tips!

Don’t miss these great homeschool organization posts!

Need more ideas to get your homeschool organized? Follow my Homeschool Organization Tips board on Pinterest!

This post is part of the How to Homeschool as a Minimalist series! See all of our minimalist homeschooling tips by clicking the image below!

What is Minimalist Homeschooling?

July 11, 2016 by Selena Robinson 7 Comments

Confession time: I’ve struggled off and on with homeschool hoarding for YEARS.

I didn’t get a lot of support when I was a homeschooled student and I swore that my children would have all the books, resources, and materials they’d ever need. As a result, our bookshelves and closets are stacked to the gills with homeschooling supplies.

Here’s the problem: I will never in my life ever use all of those things. In fact, I’ve had things put away for years that I have found after my children are too old to use them. For example: I have a book full of toddler activities that I haven’t opened in nearly nine years (since Tigger was a toddler). Guess what? I no longer have any toddlers.

As my kids get older and my confidence in homeschooling grows, I’m finding that I don’t need nearly as much things as I thought to give them a quality education. So I’m stepping into the world of minimalist homeschooling.

What is minimalist homeschooling? And can a confirmed homeschool hoarder really embrace minimalism?

What is Minimalist Homeschooling?

Here’s where it gets a little dicey: what minimalist homeschooling actually is looks different in each family. For me, minimalism refers to a lifestyle that challenges people to make the most of what they have without buying more things. In short, it’s simplifying your life by getting rid of unnecessary possessions.

This lifestyle is well supported by the Bible. 1 Timothy 6:7, 8 encourages us to be content with “sustenance and covering”. Well, when it comes to homeschooling, I’ve got plenty to be content with. Too much, in fact.

So, it’s time to get rid of my unnecessary homeschooling things, no matter how much they may mean to me personally or how much money they may have cost me.

Can a Homeschooling Hoarder Become a Minimalist?

Since I’m a hoarder (when it comes to homeschool stuff), I know that embracing minimalist homeschooling is going to be tough. The challenge for me is letting go of my fear that I won’t have something my kids need when they need it. Which brings me to the most important reason why I’m venturing into this lifestyle.

I do not want to homeschool out of fear.

I’ve never been one to homeschool out of fear of the public school system. Nor do I homeschool out of fear that my children will do “something wrong” if they’re out of my sight. But I have been hoarding homeschooling materials out of fear that I won’t be a good enough teacher. And that fear has been draining the joy out of the homeschooling experience.

My hope is that homeschooling with the bare necessities will help me see that I am teacher enough for my kids, even without a closet full of supplies.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of my journey with you all in the next few days! Do any of you homeschool with a minimalist perspective? I’d love to hear how it’s going for you!

Need to homeschool on a budget? Grab my ebook How to Afford Homeschooling for just 99 cents!

Get more ideas for planning your upcoming homeschool year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

This post is part of the 10 Days of Minimalist Homeschooling series! Stop by tomorrow for Day 2: Books, Books, Books!