Day 1 and I’m already sold. Why? Because the system works. I won’t make a complete decision yet, but I think we are already winning at life with our new basket system.

Why didn’t we start using this system sooner? Simply put, we didn’t know we needed it yet. Because you don’t know what you don’t know!

What makes this system so much more effective? It’s simplicity. It’s true that simple is often better.

Simpler Grading

No more searching for the book or journal or worksheet loose around the house. As a working, multitasking mom, I have a hard time keeping track of all of our children’s books like my husband. He’s home all day teaching them so he naturally knows what textbook they are on. However, when I come home from work to check in and do grading or review their work, I can never remember what book goes with which child. Especially now that the children are older, there are SO MANY BOOKS.

Simply put, it was a relief to grab the color basket of the child I wanted to check in with and go to work. I opened up the folder, reviewed the sheets and made notes on them for corrections or notes on how they did a good job. I placed it back in the folder for them and checked the journals. Binder clips continue to work as a marker place for their journals and workbooks. I went straight to the page and in 10 minutes I was already done grading a basket. What a miracle.

Simple and Fun for Kids

I noticed right away that the children were excited about having a basket for themselves. Another layer of ownership and autonomy. They no longer have to weed through a pile of messy books that are theirs or their brothers. Now they have only their own books in their own basket. It seems like it would be silly or a simple concept, but that is the point. It’s simple and it’s exciting because the child knows that they can find only what has their name and colors on it and work on it, keep it tidy or messy and own it. It’s their property.

• For eldest (NT) son – the comment I heard over and over was – “I love how neat and tidy and organized it looks!”
• For middle son – “that was cool. I like all my colorful folders and my stuff is right there.”
• For youngest son – “those baskets are so fun because I didn’t lose anything and you didn’t get mad!”

Simple Physical Instruction

The baskets in the cubbies stand out clearly, have the colored folder and make a defined mark in the space. Having a shelving unit devoted solely to baskets is simplicity at its finest. Not only does it declutter the area but it also makes a statement. This is where the baskets belong and this is where you can go to get your schoolwork. It condenses and streamlines the process. It makes it clear physically where to go, what to do and whose basket is whose.

Less Mess = Less Stress

There were precisely two books on the table after schoolwork was completed today. Not even on the floor! Not crumpled in a mess, not ripped, not even under the couch. Now, this could be a fluke. We aren’t completely convinced yet since it was only day one and we are still doing a lighter schedule because of reviewing subjects after a long break. But the point is, there wasn’t any MESS.

Why is this such a big deal? For us, each room in a our large Victorian house has a purpose. Sometimes singularly. But for our schoolroom, it’s a tighter space filled with many pices of school furniture, a table, chairs, shelving etc. We also like it as a board game room. So if books are strewn across the floor and table and thrown everywhere, we get easily agitated. Then there is a lot of commotion and we struggle to get to our board game- all because we have to fight the mess and set aside a chunk of time to have every hand picking up schoolwork.

Game Changer

Less mess overall then means less stress. We can both share the workload of checking the work completed and not completed, get through it, get the books and journals, notebooks and materials put away and get to what we really want to do. It’s a game changer.

Stay tuned, we are only getting started.