Homework Caddy

The start of school is days away and that brings lots of fun and excitement.  But one thing I can guarantee that none of us are ready for is the dreaded HOMEWORK.   I am especially worried this year that the homework load will be increased greatly with a soon to be 4th grader.  And then also juggling the needs of a 1st grader into the mix.  Trying to fit homework into the busy day is always a chore but it is important to carve out dedicated time to get it done.   I have found that there is nothing worse than getting the kids wrangled together and ready to go and then having to do the mad search for homework supplies - we need to locate a sharpened pencil, where did that eraser go, a green crayon is necessary......   And last year it got even more complicated with needs like a protractor.  REALLY?  Who has one of those just laying around?  I ended up having to find a printable one on-line and cut it out.  It worked, but was pretty lame.  

So this year I have created THE HOMEWORK CADDY to help alleviate these issues.  A place to keep all of our supplies centralized and within easy reach.


And making it pretty, just adds to the fun!   I started with a basic caddy I found at Target and painted over it with black magnetic paint and then craft paint and added fun papers and embellishments.
The magnetic paint helps to create a system to contain some of the smaller items like paper clips, erasers, small stapler and pencil sharpener that would just get lost in the bottom of the caddy.

I then created two cups of supplies, one for each child.  Sometimes it is best to separate the girls during homework time to reduce distractions.  This way, each girl can take her basic cup of supplies to her own area (kitchen counter, dining table, great grandpa's secretariat.....) and not have to go back and forth to find what they need. 





Then it was time to put all the supplies into the caddy.  I started with the girls' school supply lists and tried to have most of those items also in the caddy.   Scratch paper is very handy to have around along with a dry erase white board for practicing spelling words, long math problems and parent demonstrations. 





So now our caddy is complete!  I have no fantasies that we are going to breeze through homework everyday with no problems, complaints or tears (oh, I forgot to add the tissues!) but I hope this system will make the chore just a little easier to manage.

I shared this post on Made By You Monday