The following is a handout from the Oct. 17th Tuesday Night Mommy Meeting ....

WHY ORGANIZE?
1. "Let all things be done decently and in order."
(I Corinthians 14:40)

"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace."
(I Corinthians 14:33)

2. Maintaining an orderly homeschool inventory keeps us from spending extra money to buy duplicates of items that we lost, or forgot that we already have.

3. Organized supplies require less time and energy spent looking for what we need. Our time is too valuable to waste it on searching for things. Besides, it is inconvenient to interrupt lessons by having to clear off tables and desks, or find lost pencils, missing chalk, and misplaced books.

4. Teaching and studying amidst a lot of clutter day after day is distracting, discouraging, and mentally tiring. It's actually stress-relieving to have an organized house.

SUPPLIES
-- Bookcases and shelves are an excellent investment not only for books, but for models and displays.
--Stackable containers filled with pencils and pens, crayons and markers, math manipulatives, letter and number magnets, etc. Make sure they are labeled. Clear plastic shoeboxes and empty baby wipe containers work well.

TIPS
 Keep boxes of the same shape and size stored together so that they stack neatly.
 Arrange books so that they are easy to find, which may simply mean placing all of the science books on one shelf, history on another, and so on.
 Throw away all the worthless stuff like ballpoint pens that don't work, broken toys, torn outdated maps, half-finished preschool workbooks that the kids have long outgrown, piles of old magazines, dried-out Play-Doh sets, puzzles and games with missing pieces.
 Things should be stored as close as possible to where they are most likely to be needed
 Buy extra quantities of often-used essentials (such as pens, pencils, and paper) so there will be a supply handy in every room.

HELP! I’M DROWING IN CLUTTER!

 Try to handle papers only once. Read them, file them, or discard them, so you don't keep re-shuffling the same papers.
 Keep a tote bag equipped with bookmarks, notepad, pencil, scissors, stapler and highlighter pen. Use it to store all the newspapers, magazines, and books that you want to browse through. The tote bag can be carried from room to room. When you have time to sit down and go through it, take notes, clip and staple what you want, then dispose of the rest.
 Keep a box or basket in a central location to toss in things you find around the house, then set aside a certain time each day or once a week to return the items to their original locations.
 Remove clutter at its source by picking up after one activity before going on to the next.
 Remind children to put their toys away before getting something else out.
 Make cleaning fun by playing lively music, singing a clean-up song, setting a timer, or racing the clock (keep track of how long it takes and try to beat the time previously set).
 When picking up, put everything back where it belongs. Don't just keep moving the clutter around from room to room. Remember that keeping the house organized as you go along is a lot easier than waiting until it's in total chaos!

KEEPSAKES:
 You don't have to keep all of the drawings your children make and every report they write, but don't throw away any masterpieces without their approval. At the end of each semester, decide together which creations are worth saving.
You can store them in a variety of ways. :
 Clean, never used pizza boxes (large, yet flat and stack nicely)
 Large 3 ring binders and page protectors
 small rubbermaids (IF you are selective about what you keep and all your treasures for the entire year fit inside WITH the lid closed!  )
 Picture album – take pictures of projects, field trips, etc. rather than keeping the actual project. 

RESOURCES

• Schoolproof, by Mary Pride
• Classroom Organization: It Can Be Done, by Dinah Zike
• Clutter Free; Clutter's Last Stand; Not For Packrats Only; and The Office Clutter Cure, by Don Aslet
• Confessions of an Organized Homemaker and Confessions of a Happily Organized Family, by Deniece Schofield
• Managers of Their Homes, by Teri Maxwell
• Maxwell Family website www. titus2.com
• www.donnayoung.org organizational forms
(Many ideas taken from an article by : Teri Ann Berg Olsen)