Summer is in full swing. We went to Texas 4-H Round-up in College Station. The girls are doing Shakespeare Under the Star performances this weekend. I’m sitting in a library in Luling while my younger two are at a multi-county 4-H officer training this morning. Tomorrow, my oldest two and I will attend training to be volunteer water monitors for the San Marcos River Authority’s Stream Team. It has been busier than ever this summer. My to-do list keeps growing.
I had some time yesterday so I began the classroom clean-out. This is an annual thing, but this year I decided to do a little re-arranging. Our table, which doubles as a second dining table when we have guests, always feels too small. The long desk that sits against the wall acts more like storage than a functional desk. So I pushed the desk to the center of the room to make a larger central work area. The large bookcase was moved over, opening up a large space of wall.
Know what a classroom with a large wall space needs? That’s right. A big white board. The existing white board is about the size of a wall map, 3′ x 4′. I sent this plan to my husband and told him to be on the lookout for a large white board.
He immediately found an affordable, barely-used 4′ x 6′ magnetic white board on Facebook Marketplace in the town where he works and picked it up at lunch. I love how God provides even the little things, like whiteboards.
Last year’s binders of school work are out of the bookshelf and packed up in a red Sterlite tote in my garage. I have many totes full of past years of school work, too many. Every year a new one goes in. My goal this summer is to get some of those totes of old school work cleaned out. It is so hard to let go of some of it. It is just totes of papers taking up space in our garage, space that I need for other things. But, every little lapbook or project or even math workbook holds homeschool memories. This task is on the list.
Another tote holds textbooks, curriculum materials, educational games, and math manipulatives that my girls have outgrown that needs to be sold or donated. The big Ikea rug that was in that room is also in the pile, as is the smaller white board that has been replaced. A pile of things that I need to list on ebay and Facebook to sell or give away. Another set of tasks for the list.
The bookcase is already getting stocked with next year’s books. The laptop charging station is now on the drawer cart. I still have some things that need to find a new place in the room, like our rock collection.
Our first day of school is planned for August 18. So, I have roughly two months to finish organizing, make remaining curriculum purchases, and restock school supplies. Once I get everything (mostly) in place and the maps hung, I will post pics of our 2025-2026 homeschool space.
North Star Homeschool Resources 