Learning and Teaching with Preschoolers Blog

Kicking Clutter to the Curb

8/9/2014

This is the year that clutter gets kicked to the curb. That everything will have its rightful place and I will never have to look for anything again.

Does clutter or mess stress you out?

Just looking at these pictures stresses me out all over again.

Over the summer months the organization process started in the storage room.

I have tried to kick clutter to the curb in the past, but I started the processes in the classroom first and never made it to the storage room and clutter always oozed its way back in. It was like the storage room had a life of its own.

So this year I took a different approach and started where the mess begins in the storage room.

By starting in the storage room we would be able to put things away in there rightful place instead of making stacks in the classroom of items that we used frequently.

Organization 101

I needed to go back to school and take the beginners course on organization and this is what I learned.
* Being clutter free means having a strong why statement or statements.
* De-clutter before you start to organize
* Make different piles Trash, Donations, Recycle and Keep.
* If you have not used it in two years or more then it is time to get rid of it.
* If it is broken get rid of it.
* Create zones
* Everything needs its place.

Puzzles for rotation

Curriculum and small group tubs

Books organized by themes

Math and Language games

It feels so good to be able to walk into the storage room and find what we need.

Still would like to get storage containers to match throughout, but all in good time.