Back to School Planning and Organizing

*This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Office Depot, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #inspirestudents http://my-disclosur.es/OBsst

I can hardly believe we’re starting our eleventh year of homeschooling!  Our oldest has graduated, our middle daughter will graduate this year, and our son is a seventh grader.  How time flies!

Over the years I’ve been asked lots of questions.  First time homeschool moms are always a little overwhelmed so I like to tell them three things…

1.  Homeschooling is a full time job

2.  You may ALWAYS be behind on the laundry

3.  Your house will probably never (or rarely) be as clean as you’d like it to be

I don’t say these things to discourage but to emphasize the fact that school needs to be a priority everyday and to stress the key to successful homeschooling…ORGANIZATION!

Here’s how we did our Back to School Planning and Organizing…

Organization requires the right tools, so our first stop was Office Depot for some much needed school supplies.  

The kids got great deals on PaperMate mechanical pencils with extra lead and erasers (in really fun colors) Uniball pens (black, blue and red) and of course…a large pack of Sharpie markers!

Now is the perfect time to shop and save!  You can save $5 Off your purchase of $20 or more on Select Newell Rubbermaid Brands (PaperMate, Expo Neon Window Markers, Sharpie, Uni-Ball, & Mr. Sketch). AND this week (Aug 24-30) they have amazing deals on select PaperMate Flair 4pk’s (only $4), Sharpie 12CT Asst Fine & Ultra Fine Asst ($6), and Sharpie Dozen Box Black Fine & Ultra Fine ($6). 

Before you go, sign up for your Office Depot Rewards to save even more money!  We homeschoolers love saving money!

Once the kids were all set, I started looking around for myself.

This InJoy is just for me!  I love pens that write in unusual colors.  The display was huge and I had a tough time deciding, but in the end I chose this fun blue color.  

Once we had all of our “tools”, it was time for ME to get ready.  That means PLANNING.  

Having a daily chart of all our subjects helps us stay focused and on track.  However, even the best laid plans sometimes need to be adjusted….so I always write them in pencil.  

Once I was all set, it was time to get the kids ready…

New school supplies put a smile on everyone’s face!

With all the color choices of these Paper Mate mechanical pencils there should be no confusion about whose pencil it is.  

The tougher questions is… which one to use first?

Cool new discovery…roll up eraser!

The Sharpies made setting up his notebook easy…and fun, too!

Did I mention we have a few Sharpies?  Can you ever have too many?!  These will come in handy for all sorts of projects this year.

Once the plans are made and work is complete there’s still one very important thing….record keeping.  It’s extremely important for homeschool moms to keep good records.  I use a traditional grade book and my new fun InkJoy pen.

School does take up a large portion of our day…it is a full time job.  But that’s not where my organization ends.  I still need a way to keep up with everyone’s activities and let’s not forget about dinner….

I find it easiest to keep everything on one weekly calendar page using different colors for each person.  Once everyone’s schedule is complete I do my meal planning around the days activities.  

I don’t feel quite so “Stretched to My Limits” when I’ve taken the time to

do some Back to School Planning and Organizing!

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