Homeschooling in a Small Space

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

Dear Friends,
Recently, I wrote about homeschooling in small spaces, specifically in a RV. We will fill and use the space we have, whether it is small or large. In a small space, we get more efficient, and we have less stuff. We have to make choices on what is important to us.
My home is not a large home, and when you consider that we had 8 people living here a few years ago, you know that I had to make decisions on what we actually needed versus what we wanted.
Some of you are thinking you have too much stuff and need to rent a storage unit. Please don’t! You can declutter down to the things that you need. A storage unit is a temporary fix, and you will soon fill it. Then you are stuck paying rent for who knows how long. You can live with less stuff. I know homeschoolers like to collect things. It’s something you need to resist as much as you can.
Remember that she who has the most books does not necessarily win. You can homeschool with a lot fewer books than you think. You just get creative in using what you have!
Read this testimonial from one of our homeschool readers:
Dear Flycrew,
 
Thank you, Tami for the homeschool flying e-mails.  When I first found Flylady I wasn’t homeschooling (well, maybe I was, but now I’m schooling 3 with a toddler, so life has shifted).   Flylady has made a great difference for me.  The homeschooling oriented emails are just fabulous for my current season because you address encouragingly and succinctly the things before me every day.  
 
A few days ago you gave a shout out for RV homeschooler organization tips. Well, I’ve only been in this RV for a month, with only a week of official RV school under my belt, but my best tip is that as homeschoolers we don’t really use all those curriculum books all the time anyway (or I don’t!)  Having fewer books helps us focus on the essentials, and not feel guilty for never using that “perfect” art curriculum I was given, etc. 
 
I designated a cupboard for school stuff. I got a couple zippered pencil bags for pens, pencils, and markers. I didn’t get one bag per child, but rather one per station so wherever they’re working they can access writing utensils, without arguing that “so-and-so has my pencil.”  I also have a sterlite drawer tower in the cupboard with one drawer for each child’s books, so they can easily get out and put away their own materials.  (I used this before downsizing to the camper, and it worked well for us.)
 
Maybe the best thing about living in a camper is how much less space you have.  No, really!  It helps me stay on top of things and be less distracted.  It gets messy fast, but it also cleans up fast! This applies to relationships, too.  All this to say, the camper forces us to address issues quickly rather than let them drag out and get bigger. They feel bigger sooner, when they’re still actually small enough to resolve pretty easily.  
 
Sincerely,
Anna
Your Zone Mission today is to clean out the fridge.
Your Home Blessing for today is to wipe your windows and mirrors.
My menu plan for Wednesday is clam chowder.
Have a great day!

 

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About Tami

Tami Fox is a homeschool mom of 6, who in age from 26 to 11. She and her husband have homeschooled for 17 years and have graduated three of their children from their homeschool. They are currently homeschooling 3 boys who are in grades 11, 9, and 6. They use hands-on learning and unit studies to ignite the fire of learning in their children. Tami is a homeschool author and conference speaker. You can contact her by email at Tami@TamiFox.com. Buy her book, Giving Your Children Wings at https://tamifox.net/giving-your-children-wings/.

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