The Live The Adventure Letter 
Organizing homeschool materials and curriculum is part of the rhythm of homeschooling. The easiest way to organize your homeschool is to keep a limit on what you buy and keep in your home and then develop systems for what you do have. Here are three keys to keeping control of it all.
Tip #1: Buy Slowly
When people start homeschooling, there is the temptation to buy everything in sight. They are worried about not doing enough or covering every possible subject so they go on buying sprees. Soon their house is full of curriculum recommended by friends, family members, experts, speakers, and bloggers.
It’s far better to buy slowly. Start with a few quality products from sources you trust, and add as needed. If you purchase things slowly and add them in gradually you run less risk of your home and life being overrun with curriculum, materials and other assorted sundries you felt you had to have to be a good homeschool mom.
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Tip #2: Get Rid of the Failures
All homeschoolers buy things that end up not working out. It’s an inevitable part of homeschooling. There is no virtue in holding onto something that doesn’t work for your family. It quickly adds to the clutter and endless piles that threaten all homeschoolers.
Give the failure to a friend or sell it (if legally permissible). At the very least, donate it to a charity so someone else can find it and use it. Some homeschool co-ops and support groups have lending libraries and yearly sales where families can trade, borrow, and buy curriculum.
It’s tempting to hang on to things because you paid good money for them. Getting rid of them means accepting you made a mistake. We all make mistakes. Model to your children how to properly deal with mistakes and failures.
Tip #3: Develop Systems
Systems are patterns and ways of doing things that become automatic. Systems we create ultimately serve us and free us up for other things. When we have systems in place for planning, grading, attendance, and filing, we are much more apt to stay on top of our homeschooling responsibilities.
The internet is full of ideas for how to organize a homeschool. The right way to do it is the way that best serves you and your family. No matter how wonderful a system might look on a homeschool blog, if it doesn’t fit the needs of your family, then it isn’t for you. Experiment and find what seems natural for the flow of your homeschool family.
Organizing your homeschool isn’t about fancy bins and folders. It’s more about a mindset and eliminating things that aren’t necessary. With the excess gone and systems in place, you will find your homeschool humming along in an organized fashion most days.
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Our school could use some practical tips for homeschooling. I have a household of varied ages from 12 years old down to 9 months. Record keeping and organization, not to mention working subjects for different ages groups is a nightmare, especially when much is designed for a traditional classroom setting.