So excited about this Homeschool help...

As you can imagine, I am diving into a lot of Homeschooling resources! There are tons of AWESOME homeschool blogs out there, and if you are homeschooling and blogging... I imagine you visit them for ideas.

Not to mention, I am sure that you have heard about Sue Patrick's workbox system.  And if you have not, I am giddy to tell you about it!!

I am SO stinking excited about this. Caleb thrives off of structure, and as his momma, I already know that this system will be a blessing to our homeschool. And ALL kids could benefit from this. Plus it can be used with any curriculum.
Who couldn't use these benefits in their classroom????:

• more efficiency
• more independence
• more motivation
• more variety

What is it? Oh goodness. MUCH has been posted about it, but in general, it is an organizing technique that creates independence and motivation in your homeschool.


And, being the organizing JUNKIE that I am, I immediately FELL IN LOVE. Not to mention, the Hiding the Uglies factor.


You can find a TON online about the workbox system, but I went ahead and got the book, and it was worth every penny. If you really want to do this system right, and reap the most benefits, I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of the book, or you can get the Ebook online.

I also stuck a copy of it in my store, so if you are going to buy it, you can just snag it from the homeschool section of my shop and send some pennies my way. Just sayin.


For more on what exactly the workbox system is, check out these links:
A Comprehensive Review of the Workbox System
A great summary with lots of great pics and ideas
A great homeschool bloggette tells her great workbox ideas

As for me. I am not going to go with the full-on clear boxes. I am going to use magazine files and sturdy clear plastic bags... but that is for a future post. To find all of the goodies I bought to get me started on my workbox system {insert giddiness here}, head to the Homeschool section of  My Shop.

Well. It finally happened.

Remember this post {click here for "hiding the uglies: dish soap"}
with this great idea???:
Notice any similarities between my soap bottle and my olive oil bottle???? {Folks. It has been like this at my house for years....like, ten}:

Well.
It finally happened:

********
And here lies an entire pasta salad,
covered in soap:

Hiding the Uglies: Books, books, everywhere!

Hiding The Uglies: In-Boxes

We keep these boxes in plain sight on the ledge of one set of our kitchen windows.

They are our in-boxes, and where we keep all of that JUNK

1. that you 'can't-toss-but-wish-you-could'
2. that you should probably should stick in some file somewhere
3. that you will get to one of these days
4. that you'd better not lose
5. that you cannot bear to toss

Three boxes: One for Daddy. One for Mommy. And one for Bills and Stuff We'd Better Not Lose!

And we call all of them "In-Boxes" since nothing ever seems to come Out of them.

What do you do with all of your Paperwork JUNK-ola? What works for you?

for more ideas on what to do with your Uglies, and How to HIDE them, Click Here for more Hiding the Uglies Posts.

House Tour: Children's Rooms: What to do with all those plastic-y, primary-color toys?

In our home, we don't keep too many toys in the childrens' bedrooms.

Well...... that is sorta true.

starting over:
In my ideal home, we don't keep too many toys in the childrens' bedrooms.
{at least, not the large plastic-y kind.}

In my ideal home, I will have a playroom where I can keep the door shut!
but, since our future "playroom" currently looks like this:
I know. I know. Wallboard and such for the playroom IS in the 5 year plan, I promise (as opposed to the 20 year plan... which encompasses the majority of the rest of our "life-sentence" blessing of a home).

I digress.

Soooooo, for now, we have a combination playroom/nursery. Fascinating, isn't it? This combo works for now, since both of my guys nap at the same time - hence, play at the same time.I will have to share the room in a future post, since for now, this post is about:
How to Deal with all those plastic Toys and toys with a bizzillion pieces??

Well, we picked the nursery room to house the toys because it happens to be full of closets.

Which brings me to point #1:
1. USE CLOSETS {insert angelic singing here}
........ ah. one of my favorite words : )

The best form of a closet for toys is an actual playroom. i.e. A large room with a door that is basically a huge, toy-eating, closet.

The next best form of a closet for toys, is, well: closets.
Here is The Joy of Closets in our playroom/nursery:
And behind most of those closet doors we have Junk Galore!!!!!
AND *gasp*, much of it is unorganized. Yes. it is true.
As exemplified here:
And shoved in here:

And rolled in here:2. USE BASKETS, of course.

Baskets really do work well for both Mommy and kids.

• They are easy for your kids to help with clean up time.
• They are a low-stress way of keeping it all together
• They are cheap and available everywhere, in all types of styles and colors
• They are ingenious for Hiding The Uglies. A MUST with plastic-y toys.

Here is a basket hiding behind a chair in our playroom:

Yes. The baskets in Caleb's room do hide a few, choice, plastic-y things:

And I just had to include the basket of plastic-y toys in our bathroom that I keep tucked behind the tub:

Can't see it? Can you????? Ah. Hiding the Uglies is so satisfying!:

And point #3, 3. EDIT, EDIT, EDIT

On a regular basis, I DUMP all of the toys out of a closet or basket, and I sort them into piles. And then, I begin to edit. Here is my method:

1. When my kids are NOT LOOKING, I remove the giveaway pile. This is stuff that my kids don't play with hardly at all. I give it away.

2. When my kids ARE looking, we set aside some toys that we are going to give to charity. I let my kids pick these. Then, we give it away.

Editing is SO important.

It is important for your kids to learn how to part with STUFF. It is only stuff after all. Plus, if toy areas are overflowing, I believe it is too overwhelming for kids' imaginations.

So EDIT AWAY!

So, what do you do with all of your plastic-y, primary explosion of toys??????????

House Tour: Children's Rooms: Stuffed-Animals

Today, I am continuing my Decorating Series called House Tour.
{the one where I am taking a tour around my own home and sharing my thoughts. CLICK HERE to see my first House Tour post: Children's Bedding}

Today's edition of House Tour continues with Children's Rooms: Stuffed-Animals. If you have a child, well... you have stuffed-animals. And depending upon how much your child loves these critters, you may have enough to start a small army. A very soft, fluffy, cuddly, comforting, room-invading army.

So, what to do with these darling thangs??
Unless you are Stalin-mommy, you need to acknowledge the fact that these precious things give your little ones comfort and joy. You should incorporate them into decorating.

But. Please. Do not just stick 'em all on a shelf or a bed, or they will become the focal point of your child's bedroom. Hence: room-invading army.

What to do???? Glad you asked :)

1. Display in Moderation
Many of you have seen these pics of Caleb's room before. This time, take special notice of the stuffed-animal displays. Trust me. He has many more than this, but only a few are on display. This keeps the things from taking over:
Here are the only two that are currently on display in Christian's room. I know that he will have more as he gets older because he really loves stuffed-animals: I think that putting a few lovely or important stuffed-animals on bookshelves (a few. did I say a few? like 2, maybe) is a good way to feature and preserve treasured stuffed-animals, like in the pics above and below.
Below is a pic of Caleb's bookshelf, and at the top you can see two bears. The one on the left is a special stuffed animal that I gave to my grandma soon before she passed away:
2. Give favorite Buddies a place of Honor

Does your kiddo have a favorite, treasured stuffed-animal? Well then. That precious thang deserves a place of honor. Preferably, right smack dab in the middle of the bed.

This says to your child:

what is important to you is important to me.

Nevermind if that particular animal is very, very bedraggled. The seat of honor is where he belongs:
3. Hide the Troops, thereby Hiding the Uglies

Ooh, yeah. You knew it was coming! Hide those Uglies, peeps.

As I said earlier, if you display all of your stuffed-animals, they will become the focal point of the room. Therefore, you must find a way to contain those animals that do not make the cut.

Do they make the cut?
Ask yourself: Is this stuffed-thang any of the below....
1. Priceless to my child?
2. Really, really cute to look at?
3. Enhancing the theme of my child's room?

If not, well... it is time to Hide that Thing.

Here is how we hide 'em at our house:
Baskets:
Window Benches:
Insides of regularly-used closets:

4. Another display option: Feature Stuffed Animals that fit into your theme.

When Caleb was a baby, his nursery had a lamb theme, so we displayed a lot more stuffed-animals at that time:

Do you see my little cutie-patootie?? amongst his lambs?:

Many of the lambs (now that he no longer has a lamb theme) now reside on his his dresser inside the closet. {fear not: We have kept the most important ones out}:

Well. There you have it.

Now go and take control of that precious room-invading army!!!

For more House Tour, Click Here.

And be sure to enter my Giveaway, which ends this Friday, by Clicking Here!

Hiding the Uglies: Dish Soap

Time for another Hide The Uglies post!

Soooooo.

Instead of this:

How about trying this??:

I used a former Harry and David dipping-oil bottle, and I now use it at my kitchen sink, filled with dish soap. You can purchase specialty bottles just like this at boutique-y stores, too. Just be sure that it has a pour-top spout.

Voila!!

Hide those Uglies, bloggettes!

Want more of Hiding the Uglies? Click here.