Do you want to know what I was not expecting when my oldest started Kindergarten?
Homework.
So when he immediately came home with a worksheet a night, we scrambled. I mean we had already just spent a bazillion dollars on supplies, but I sent all of those to school! So I was not prepared for him to need to cut and glue and create Kindergarten masterpieces at home so soon.
All the special days started. There were days he needed to bring items that started with a certain letter or items that were a certain color or items that were a certain shape.
Then there were the projects. He had Halloween, Thanksgiving, and 100 days of school craft projects.
I can be creative and have kids. So obviously we have some crafty stuff at our house at any given time. But let me tell you something, our first year of Kindergarten left me feeling underprepared.
Now we have a whole little DIY homework station. It wasn’t a big, huge thing to put together. It also didn’t take a lot of money or time or space. It does, however, help keep homework stress lower.
Because my kiddos are young and we have a baby, we store our homework and craft supplies on top of the fridge, take what we need down, and put it back up when we are finished. This keeps everything from getting scattered and out of the baby’s mouth.
Then we use the kitchen table as our workspace. Our house is small. So this saves space too.
Here’s what we keep on hand.
– There is a pencil box filled with pencils, crayons, and markers.
– We have another bin with other craft supplies, like glue sticks, scissors, paints, etc…
– There is a basket filled with activity books, coloring books, and blank paper. We pull this down on rainy days and longer breaks from school.
– For those days they have to bring a special item to school, we keep magazines so they can flip through and cut something out to take. 
That’s it. That’s our homework station. It’s easy peasy but keeps us prepared for whatever comes home in that daily folder.
What are your tips for staying organized through the school year?
BigAndPinkyToes 
I still have my kids’ pencil boxes. LOL! And everything else. Homework? That’s crazy…
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That’s impressive! How do you store all their stuff? Is there a system, or are you saving it to give to them or their kids one day?
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Such a good reminder that taking a few minutes to pull items together will save so much time in the long run!
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Thanks, it really seems to help us!
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Very nice, idea! My daughter just started school and we’ve experienced this surpring homework. 🙂 Same with you, we also have an area (a drawer) for her coloring and crafts supplies. She knows where and how to get them. There’s no baby so we can keep it where our daughter can reach it.
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Ah. Yes. If we had a drawer free I would try that lol.
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My sons still do their homework on the kitchen table even thought they both have desks in their bedroom. It’s a central location and I can help while making dinner or doing other things around the house, plus it keeps them on task we me in close proximity.
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I love having a kind of communcal workspace. I hope they like as they get older too.
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Such a great idea
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I keep all their papers and store them in a plastic container at the end of year. When I have time I usually go through it and preserve their favorite crafts. I store report cards and tests in a filing system.
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That’s a good idea. I save the best crafts and give as cards to family members for birthdays. One year we turned it all into a book. It’s a little pricey, but I may do it again.
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