Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Homework Basket

This is not a normal post for me but in honor of "Back to School", I figured you wouldn't mind plus I was told I "HAD to post this". Soooo, here you go, Aggie!


The other day a friend was over and upon seeing my "homework basket" said she needed to do something like that for her daughter, who just started first grade. Then, in passing, I mentioned something about the homework basket to another friend and she said "you HAVE to blog about that". Who would be interested in reading about a homework basket? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the homework basket is worthy of sharing. I don't know about you but I have one son who protests EVERY day about doing his homework. This basket makes homework a much calmer time in our house. We might always stress about the fact that we HAVE to do homework but we never have the stress of having to search for a sharpened pencil, a certain color crayon, scissors or a highlighter. It's all in one place and it's accessible to my kids. And my favorite thing.....it's easy to clean up!




My homework basket sits on a shelf in my living room near the kitchen table where my kids do their homework.  I couldn't tell you where I got this basket. Ok, I might have an issue with baskets. I just counted 12 large baskets in my home. Most of them have a purpose or are decoration, so I tell myself. I have baskets to have an attractive place to store doggie toys to magazines in the bathroom. Anyway, I like baskets. This homework basket is nice because it's has a handle for the kids to haul it around and it's sturdy enough that it won't break when my boys pretend that the stapler is a basketball. Inside, I purchased zip bags to hold colored pencils, already sharpened pencils and pencil sharpeners, markers, scissors and hole punchers, post it notes and index cards, liquid glue and glue sticks, free homework passes, crayons and some fun stickers, etc. It's all in there and the zip bags are easy to open and close and clear so you can see what is in it before grabbing one.



The homework basket came about because I needed somewhere to put all these school supplies. I couldn't just leave them out on the counter and if they ended up in my junk drawer in the kitchen...forget about it. So, if an effort to organize all these supplies in one place, the homework basket was born. The best thing about trying to make our things more organized, I realized how much my older son appreciated just reaching for the basket when it was homework time. It started out small with just some pencils but as the homework projects grew and required more supplies, so did the basket. It was an odd plastic basket at first but then I wanted something more attractive so I decided to put one of my many baskets to work. And what about BUYING all these supplies? Did you see the Sunday ads? You can get all these supplies for pennies and make up your own basket for little $$$. Also, I am pretty sure you already have all these supplies lying around or in your own junk drawer.



I am not the most organized person. I know this about myself and am working on it.  I am trying to help my children be organized. No stressful scavenger hunts when it's homework time. Just reach over to the basket and it's there.

Look how happy he is.  Now, go DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

Ingredients:

One large sturdy basket.
Four to five clear bags.  (I actually got bags from Staples labeled "Check Envelope" and they were 10 cents each!!!  Can't find them then use Ziploc bags)
Pencils
Big fat erasers
Pencil Sharpener
Scissors
Glue Stick
Liquid Glue
Crayons
Colored pencils
Hole Puncher
Ruler
Post It Notes
Markers
Highlighters
Red Pen
Stickers


3 comments:

  1. I love it!

    I didn't even think about the fact that all of those school supplies you buy for your child for school...you have to have a set for at home too. My son just started Kindergarten this week, so I am learning!

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  2. So glad you love it! Didn't think it was much until everyone else did!!!!

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