Product Reviews: So I'm Trying To Get Organized - Lapbooks

You would think that with all of the lapbooks my kids make, that I would have came up with some clever way to store them by now.  Honestly they were all over the place.  First we had them in a cardboard box but that tore and I ended up cramming them in our already overflowing bookshelves.  Then I bought magazine holders that the kids could keep on their tables.  That didn't work out well because they would get bent from taking them in and out again. Determined to get organized I found a portable file tote. Which worked great until the kids started fighting over it because the lapbooks were touching each others lapbooks.  So I went to Staples and found these really cool portable file boxes by Iris.  They are pretty durable and have a hinged top closure so I don't have to worry about misplacing lid. They can be easily stacked and have handles so the kids can tote them back and forth from their rooms. They currently keep them under their work tables because they are constantly in and out of them.  In bought them in store for about 9.00 each.  So for 18 bucks the kids stop fighting and I get to keep my sanity and precious bookshelf space! 

Back to Home School: Mini Office

Well, it's that time of year again, Back to School!  Or Home School for my kids. If your kids are anything like mine, they probably hate sitting next to each other to do school work.  There isn't a minute that goes by that I don't hear, "get off MY side of the table!" or "Stop looking at my paper!"  So after doing some searching on the interwebs, I ran into "mini-offices," and thought it would be a great solution to a couple the issues that the kids have.  This concept reminds me of back in elementary school, during state testing the teachers would take file folders and stood them up so we could have privacy dividers. Except these folders can be decorated or even better made into a reference source by adding all the information your child needs to refer to during a typical day.

For Teenie I chose some phonics sheets and math concepts that she is currently working on, and also some things that she is having issues with such as a skip counting chart.  For Sonshine I found liquid measurement conversion charts, prime and composite numbers chart and Roman numerals. I have found a great deal of information just by googling "free mini office printable" or by typing in what I was looking for specifically i.e. "printable periodic table of elements."  The beauty of these mini offices are that you can make specific ones for specific subjects, or if you are lazy like me, just make one that has all of the general information that your kid might need.  Either way it's win-win, because eventually after referring to the information and seeing it over and over, the kids will start to memorize it!

All you need to make these is 2 new or used file folders (or more if you need a bigger office), a glue stick and some printable (check out the links at the end of this post)
 I used 3 folders per kid.

 All you do is open up the folders and overlap them glue them in place with a glue stick and let dry.  When they are dry you can reinforce with clear packing tape.

Add your information and you're good to go. (Cute kid cameo apperence by Sonshine).

 

 Here's a close up of the mini office I made for Teenie.

Laminating will make them last longer, but is not necessary. You can also use strips of clear packing tape (get it from the dollar store) to "laminate" as well.  Kids can them personalize the front cover by using stickers or markers.
 
Some links to get you started:
Busy Teacher Cafe
Nicholas Academy
Maths Charts

What's Going On In My Neck Of The Woods....

 I have just realized that it's been a while since I have posted, the reason being...SPRING CLEANING!! I have decided to tackle the job of going through my craft bins and cleaning and organizing my craft/sewing area/dining area. I haven't seen the surface of my dining room table in about a month now because it's been covered in projects. I finally hit the last straw when I couldn't find any elastic and decided to clean my sewing table (antique desk with built in bookshelves). I still didn't find the ginormous Ziploc back full of assorted sizes of elastic that I was "sure it was around here somewhere." Sewing table cleaned and organized but still no elastic. So I decided to rummage through my craft totes. I decide to bring them all in from the garage, because it was a 190 degrees in there and so I could look through them without the fear of getting bit by a creepy crawly. Next thing I know, my hubby piled up MY storage area with his beloved car parts. Sigh..Now I am stuck with a mountain of totes in my dining room. So I decided to organize the bins themselves. See the thing with me is that I am lazy when it comes to some things, like looking for stuff, so I just buy a new one. This is how end up with so much s***. Then when that s*** becomes overwhelming, I put the s*** into a tote and put it in the garage. This is a vicious cycle of a lazy person's idea of cleaning. 

 I didn't realize how long the actual job would take. Between homeschooling, cooking and helping the kids make Mother's day gifts for their grandma's, I had a pile of mess in the corner of my house for days. Today I decided was the day, I took all four totes, dumped them out and started going through everything. I ended up labeling the totes, the first one I did was "Yarn Crafts" this is where I put all of my yarn, knitting needles and crochet hooks. I'm not really into these types of crafts, but now if I get a wild hair up my ass and decide that I want to knit something, at least I will be able to find matching needles. Then I realized I had a lot of clothing mixed in fabrics, I took out all of the stuff that just needed a repair (broken zipper, missing button, etc..) and put the rest of the clothing items (mostly jeans) in a tote labeled "re purpose/refashion." I folded up all of my large pieces of fabric and put them all in another tote. Then what I have left is scrap fabric. I keep almost all of my scraps because even the small pieces come in handy for making Barbie clothes. 

 I feel a little more accomplished, even though I still can't see my dining room table. I'm hoping to finish tomorrow, we may even be able to eat dinner at the table!  Oh, and I found my elastic (although I don't recall why I needed it in the first place).