Easy File for Homeschoolers

Several weeks ago I won a Homeschool Filing Kit by EasyFile from the Biblical Womanhood blog. Cool , huh?

Here is a bit of info about it from EasyFiles website:
"EasyFile has a set of colorful labels and tabs developed specifically to keep homeschool papers and records organized and accessible. By creating a "home" for the myriad of school papers you deal with on a daily basis you can ensure assignments, tests, administrative records, lesson plans, budgets, curriculum materials, etc. will have a place where they "belong" - leaving you with a more orderly home and less time wasted shuffling paper."

I have worked on getting my EasyFile system put together, slowly but surely. This isn't the time of year I would normally work on such a project, ( I would usually do something of this nature at the beginning of or in preparation for a new school year). Nevertheless, seeing that I won it and agreed to write a review of it, I dove in.

Things I really like:
Having my papers all in one place, and yet it is portable, (I put mine in a plastic file box similar to the picture above), so I can take it to other parts of the house if I need/want to.

Having such a great selection of folder labels that are already made up to help me figure out everything I could put into the filing system. Almost everything you can think of is already printed up for you! (there are extra blank labels too you can fill in)

This is a great motivator to get all my homeschooling stuff organized. Everything from end-of-the-year testing results put into a file for each individual child (I had been storing them altogether by year, which wasn't very efficient), to all those loose "I might use them someday" papers that I never remember to use because I can't find them (and actually file them by subject! woo hoo!).

I think this system would be really helpful to moms who find themselves organizationally challenged, too. This system makes it easy for anyone to get organized.

One Caution: Be sure to get the 1/3 cut folders and hanging files. I bought mine online and the folders I got were right, but the hanging files, though I thought had said they were 1/3, were not. Oh well. Still works.

One bonus side effect: Since I had several files in our "family" file drawers that had homeschooling papers in them, I also started working on our family files using a similar method ( file tabs on one side, folder tabs on another). What I have gotten done looks great! I also was able to pull out and shred (with the help of my 5 y.o. son - he loves to help shred papers!) a LOT of really old paperwork! I hope to have a day of teaching all the kids about filing and hand them the stack of bills and papers I have saved up to file (ugh!) and have them sort them while I re-do the files I already have for those items. Then, we can tuck them into their newly organized folders and thrill at the sight of a very neat and easy to find things in, file drawer! Okay, the kids may not thrill at the sight, but I will! If you don't already have a home file system, EasyFile has one of those too.