Homeschool Summer Cleaning Checklist
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Checklist and tips for the end of the homeschool Year clean out. When it’s time to clean up your homeschool room/area before you can enjoy summer break, follow the checklist and tips.
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End of the School Year
It is almost that time of year. Your reaching the end of that math book. You and your kids are feeling the end is drawing near to your homeschool year. For those of us that follow a traditional school schedule, May represents the drawing near of school ending and the beginning of summer. I am all ready to start getting rid of things that I will no longer need.
It’s time to pack up the curriculum and move onto summer. It is a much welcomed time for our family. We homeschool with a lot of pizazz and go full force, but there is something about May that makes us ready to “ring the school bell” one last time. We are ready for summer. Trips to the mountains, beaches, museums, parks, friends houses…. Anything but the routines of the school year.
Here Comes Summer!
One of my favorite aspects of the school year ending is purging and cleaning out our homeschool goodies. Piled in our home is nine months of art projects, math worksheets, manipulatives, books that are now too simple, dioramas, “inventions”, old dried out glue, finished curriculum, broken crayons, dried out markers, scraps of papers, oh my crazy list of too much school stuff could go on and on.
These things need to get out of my house and into the donation bag, the trash can, or up for resell on Ebay. I welcome the feelings of joy that come from the clear out! Sometimes it is not easy to know where to start
I put together this summer homeschool cleaning list for those of you who like a little bit of direction and that oh so good feeling of checking off a list. Print it up, put it on a clipboard, and begin the summer clean-out of your homeschool room (or cabinet).
Get your Free Homeschool Summer Cleaning Checklist Here
I don’t know about you, but cleaning seems much more rewarding when I can check items off a list! It just feels good, doesn’t it? Having a checklist for some reason makes me feel more productive
Yearbooks, Memory Books, Portfolios, OH MY!
Keeping a memory book has been my favorite addition to our homeschooling. We work on it throughout the year. We add pictures and collect our favorite work samples. My children always enjoy looking through them and sharing them with grandparents and friends. I wish I would have started sooner. But I guess it is better late than never.
In regards to portfolios, I have never kept an official one. What I do is have a file folder for each child where I place additional work that they are proud of. For Science and History, I have always kept art notebooks where we place all of our corresponding projects (that is for another post however).
Here is a link to the article on memory books that you mind find helpful.
Materials and Supplies List
What Do I Do With School Materials That I No Longer Need?
There are so many options when it comes to leftover curriculum and books. Below is a list of options for you:
Give the curriculum away!
Are there any other homeschooling families that may be in need of the curriculum that you used with your children? Some families struggle to afford curriculum, so passing it on to them can be a true blessing.
Sell your USED curriculum
I often sell my used curriculum on Ebay.com. Listing it during the summer months is best because that is when other homeschool families are looking to get their curriculum for the next year. Your buyers are saving money by purchasing used curriculum and you are able to make money to purchase your new curriculum (or used :-))
Anther great place to sell your used curriculum is a yard sale or to a group of other homeschool families. You can organize a used curriculum sale and trade with one another.
Donate Your Used Books and Curriculum to Your Local Thrift Store
Get a tax deduction by itemizing your donations to your local thrift store.
Recycle Your Used Curriculum
If the curriculum is consumable, then it may be best to recycle it.
The Difficulty in Cleaning
One area where we continue to struggle is parting with art projects. My daughter who is super artistic gives special attention to the art she creates. Tossing any of them is not easy for her. I do encourage her to only keep her favorites, but I am allowing for slow growth in this area. Taking pictures of her creations does help. I do forget to put the pictures in her memory books, however. 🙂
Let me know of tips or tricks you have to cleaning up your homeschooling year and getting ready for the summer.
