I spent several hours last week sorting and organizing the boys' books. Since we home school, I am always on the hunt for good books. Sometimes I will buy duplicates of certain books, because I forget what we have at home. After hours of organizing, I now know which topics we have covered and it's more fun to look for new books. Here are a few ideas to get you started.Step 1--Pull out books that your children have outgrown or that you no longer need. I keep a few for sentimental purposes, but I realize that most books will yellow with age.
Step 2--Sell, donate or pass on those books to a friend. I have prepared three boxes of books to sell at a local home school curriculum sale, to help offset next year's costs.
Step 3--If you do not own a bookcase, consider investing in one. There are many options for every budget. Don't forget my first challenge (rain gutter bookshelves). Instructions: http://raisingolives.com/2009/07/raingutter-book-shelves-tutorial/
Step 4--Organize books in a way that suits you and/or your children. I have arranged ours in the following categories...
**Fiction**
--Christian Fiction/Chapter Books
--Classics
--Fiction/Chapter Books (by author)
--Picture Books
**Non Fiction**
--General Science/Weather/Space/Rocks and Minerals/Health and Human Body/Nature
--Animals/Dinosaurs/Sea Life/Mammals/Insects/Reptiles
--Geography/World/USA/States within the USA
--History/US Presidents/Missionaries
If you have the space, use magazine boxes or even plastic shoe boxes to store units studies. For now, ours are just crammed on shelves.
Step 5--Store over sized books in a basket.
Step 6--Solicit the help of the entire family to keep the shelves organized. I showed the boys where to find their books and encouraged them to return them to the same spot.
