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Brittany juggled the baby on one hip while she carefully stepped over Legos® to reach for a coffee cup. After pouring herself a steamy mug of caffeine, she headed for the dining room table. Four children were writing in their math workbooks, but upon careful inspection, two of them were drawing pictures instead of solving equations.
There were toys strewn around the table on the floor and three messy stacks of papers and books at the end of the table.
She sighed aloud. How could she educate her children in all this mess?
After shooting up a quick prayer, she took a deep breath and started homeschooling.
Moms, take a deep breath. You can thrive, not just survive!
Homeschooling in Spite of Chaos and Clutter
Start with prayer
Commit your day and your challenge (clutter and chaos) to the Lord. He will answer your prayers.
Create Storage Space
The first step to control clutter is for everything to have a place.
Storage totes work great for homeschool students to store books, workbooks, papers, and other items in. Children can store the totes in a stack in the corner or in their rooms, bringing them to the table at the beginning of school and putting them away when school is over.
Bookshelves are another option with everything put back on shelves at the end of the school day. You may also consider renting mini storage units from a local climate controlled storage facility to store your child’s books, papers, and other school items. Since it’s probably a small but important amount of items, a mini storage service should be able to provide you with all the extra storage room you’ll need.
Give Everyone a Straightening Job
Even toddlers can pick up toys and put them in a bucket or toy box. Three-year-olds can sort toys correctly.
We often think of giving kids cleaning jobs, but most families need more time straightening.
Brittany can divide up straightening jobs:
- Toddler picks up the Legos
- Oldest turns messy piles of books and papers into neat piles (clutter is still there, but looks better)
- Youngest picks up toys on dining room floor
- One child collects breakfast dishes and mugs, depositing in kitchen sink
- One child picks up everything that has fallen on the floor and tidies the table
Children often do better with their own straightening job, rather than working together on one task.
Teach Kids to Clean, Organize, and Schedule
Questions and Answers about Chores & Homeschooling
Schedule in Straightening Each Day
At the end of the school day, before Daddy comes home, the entire family can straighten up the house. Having a set time each day gives Mom hope that there will be an end to the clutter, at least until tomorrow.
Living with Clutter
Homeschooling is messy and produces clutter. During school hours, the house will get messy. It’s okay. Relax.
Every homeschool mom has book piles and/or paper piles. Choose a spot to store those piles that isn’t visible when you first walk into the house. Tuck them in a corner if you can find one. Keep the piles neat.
The most important thing about your house is not how tidy it is. What matters is that peace and joy fill your heart and splash out to your children. That comes from resting in Jesus. When we make peace with the clutter, the feeling of chaos will disappear.
Freedom to learn, explore, and create creates some clutter, but it doesn’t have to lead to chaos. Embrace the lifestyle of learning and the temporary clutter that comes with it. It is a short, precious season. Freedom to learn, explore, and create creates some clutter, but it doesn’t have to lead to chaos. Embrace the lifestyle of learning and the temporary clutter that comes with it. It is a short, precious season.
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Meredith Curtis, homeschooling mom, writer, speaker, and publisher, loves to encourage families in their homeschooling adventure. She is the author of Joyful and Successful Homeschooling and HIS Story of the 20th Century. You can check out her books, curricula, unit studies, and Bible studies at PowerlineProd.com . Free Reading Lists for all ages are available at JSHomeschooling.com. Read her blogs at MeredithCurtis.com and PowerlineProd.com and listen to her at Finish Well Radio.
I am Letting the peace of Christ rule in my heart since as members of ONE body we are called to PEACE!
This takes much patience and love for just myself. I believe this calm and steady in me effects my whole family, especially during the homeschool hours!!!! From experience, You CAN homeschool in the midst of clutter and chaos!!!
Wow did I need this now! I have toys and books all over the place! I am trying to clean and get rid of stuff and find space for stuff all at the same time. Well I hit a wall. I have throw odds and ends away or find a place for it. I know I am drowning in stuff, it makes it hard to focus and manages . Thank you for your helpful advice
Love these tips and the reminder to relax!
Thanks for the glimpse of perspective, and the simple suggestions for tidying up. I needed the reminder that the first step to putting things away neatly is to have a PLACE for them to go! Then instead of hearing the overwhelming “Clean up this mess!” they can hear the much more doable “Put your books back in their bins.”
I like the suggestion of assigning kids their own tasks. My kids fight a lot when they’re cleaning.
The Lord opened up my heart to homeschool and this website has been such a blessing to us, so thank you!!
This has been one of my struggles. Thanks for the words of wisdom!
I have often struggled with the idea that school materials have to stay in a designated area. When we lived in a small apartment with our five littles, I dreamt of days of having a home with a school room. That day arrived along with two more littles 🙂 And we STILL end up doing school in almost every room of the house except the school room! I have found myself needing to let go of the ideal and embracing the chaos. The totes are a great idea! We have tried bookshelves and backpacks, but maybe totes will help me breathe easier. Learning happens EVERYWHERE, so I also need to be joyful in that!
I struggle with this. The kids end up playing with the stuff that they’re supposed to be putting away. Ha ha
Chaos and clutter is a pretty good definition of our house most days. My kids don’t seem to even notice it, but it will drive me nuts! Thanks for the tips and reminders. We shall all survive!
I find it difficult to focus on school when my house is messy, so this is helpful!
We homeschool at the dining room table which has pros and cons. Pros are that we have a cabinet that houses all our stuff and closes up so no one can see inside. Cons are that we have to have school done and cleared off the table before meals. But it is doable. We also institute cleaning up before meals, and right before Daddy gets home. My 6 year old helps with the vacuum cleaner and my four year old helps pick up as does the 2 year old. It has been helpful to have a cleaning routine—another thing we do is the whole family cleans together on Saturdays for about 30 minutes. This is huge for my sanity—seeing everyone cleaning alongside each other and also getting things clean in the house. While I can embrace the messiness that comes with homeschooling, it is also nice to have things tidy and done and there is a sense of pride in what we have all accomplished—-together.
At a certain point, “managing” clutter becomes well-nigh impossible when you have ten people in a small house and WAY too much stuff. 😉
We homeschoolers tend to be pack rats, esp. when we spent lots of money on curriculum that we HOPE will work for “one of the other kids” when it doesn’t go over well with the initial recipients. Thinking, “I should sell some of this” also means we keep hanging on…at a certain point, there is more freedom and peace to be had by just going through stuff and getting rid of much of it (esp. free to others at church, in groups we’re in, or even to local thrift stores instead of just into the trash).
That’s becoming a lesson that’s more and more clear the longer we do this (oldest kid is almost 21, youngest is 6 mos!)
Great post! Very helpful and encouraging…thank you!
Very timely. Thank you.
Thank you for these helpful tips! There can be balance between homeschool and clutter. Our children will soon be grown and on their own. Embrace the season of clutter as rearing children is more important than a spotless house.
Thanks for tips for daily tidying. It’s nice to know I’m not the only homeschool mom with paper piles!
I’m thankful you wrote this. It is very helpful.