Adventures of Preschool at Home

I LOVE to organize stuff!!!  This is probably one of the things that drives my husband CRAZY about me.  It first started at home but then carried over to my classroom and back home.  Now that I am a stay at home mommy and teacher at home I have been thankful that many of my teaching supplies are organized and easy to find with 3 busy boys!

Our classroom in our basement!!

Garment Rack

Calendar Pocket Chart on Garment Rack

Alphabet on Tree Pocket Chart

I got the Days of the Week and Months of the Year from my friend.

Your probably wondering why a garment rack in your classroom.  Well it works great for all kinds of reasons!!  I don't have the wall space or bulletin boards like I did in my classroom.  I had this in my classroom but I'm not using it for the same thing now.  It has become our moveable calendar, alphabet chart, number chart, days of the week, months of the year and misc things.  


I also have a basket on the bottom for books and then a stack of magazines laying across the two bars.

Util-A-Mat Reversible Floor Mats

Our basement gets kind of cold and we had these great mats that my husband bought to use to work out on but wasn't using anymore.  Our school area is tile so I thought adding the mats to our area would make it a little warmer and give us some cushion under our feet and bottoms.




Plastic Chairs

I found these at Wal-Mart at the end of the summer season a few years ago.  They were cheap but have worked great and clean up easy.














Wood Table






Nobody at church wanted this jewel of a table anymore to use in their classroom so it made the trip to my house and has been a very sturdy table for us to use.  Plus it was FREE!!






Daily Bins

I wanted a spot for all the items that we would need for each day.  I found these bins at Target in the $1 and $2.50 section.  I used my Cricut to cut out the days of the week to put on the side.  Here is a link to  similar ones from Really Good Stuff. 





Plastic Trays
I love these trays.  They work great for all kinds of different activities.  The ones I have came from Oriental Trading Company several years ago but I have linked you to ones that are very similar here.  


Book Bins

When I first started teaching I would go to Wal-Mart during their Back To School Supply Sale and got the empty 2 pocket folder boxes that they would just throw away when all the folders had been bought.  They were very sturdy and lasted for six years of teaching and then a move to the preschool at church for three years.  I finally broke down and bought what I thought to be enough bins from Target in their $1.00 and $2.50 section at the front of the store.  I linked you to ones that Really Good Stuff offers that are very similar to the ones I have.

Book Labels

A close up of a bin

I have a bin for each month of the year and many other categories.  All the books that are in that bin have a label on the front of it that matches the label on the front of the bin.  It makes it easy to know where to put the book back when finished with it.  I made some of my own labels but used some from the Meacham's website too.








Organization Station Pocket Chart

I loved using this in my classroom!!  Each child had their own pocket to put their work in and it made it very easy to grade all of their work and know what was missing.  Well I finally found a way to use it at home.  To organize all my stickers!!!  Each month has its own pocket.  The label coordinates with the labels that our on my books.






Shoe Organizer

I wish I would have bought a clear one but I wanted to get the project done.  It has been great to keep all kinds of little things organized in it....buttons, paint brushes, glue sticks, brass fasteners, roll magnetics, wiggly eyes, metal rings, pipe cleaners, feathers.....

Sump Pump....

When we moved into our house 9 years ago the basement was not finished.  As we designed the layout of the basement we had to work around a few things that were down there like the plumbing for the bathroom, hot water tank, sump pump, etc. We finished the basement but just recently got the top done for this corner bench.  I wanted this area to be usable since it was going to be in the living room area.   Hiding underneath is storage and our sump pump.  


With all the rain that we have had these last few days it is nice to hear the sump pump working too.  


The boys love to look at books on this bench and play I spy with the pictures hanging on the wall.  We have different pillows and blankets that the boys love to lay down on when using the bench.


I have different types of containers, sensory table items, etc stored in the cedar bins underneath.

"Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take it heart what is written in it, because the time is near"  Revelation 1:3

Hand me downs....

Hand me downs with three boys...I'm beginning to wonder what it going to be able to be passed down.


It has finally happened at our house were some of the pants my oldest son has been wearing either will get handed down as play clothes or turned into shorts or turned into something else.  He loves to slide on the floor like he is playing baseball all the time.  I kept telling him that he was going to get holes in this pants and finally it started happening in not just in his jeans but his wind pants and dress pants for church.  
I was talking about it one day with someone at church and they gave me the idea for the jeans to buy patches and iron them on the inside before they start wearing them to give it extra support.  So I cleaned out the two older boys dress drawers and got their jeans and headed to the basement.
I turned the iron on and got the rest of my supplies...patches, scissors and a ruler.  I used the ruler to measure how far up the jeans the hole was starting to be or already was.  Here are some pictures.

These 7 pair of jeans took me about 10 minutes total.  Hopefully it will work and I will be able to pass down ALL of them and still have some that are nice looking.










"And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."  Hebrews 13:16

Garage Job

The garage...the place where most things get thrown here and there.  I have to say our garage gets that way more often then I want it.  So yesterday during nap time I started the task of cleaning, organizing the shelves in it.  I figured if I started with just that area maybe it wouldn't take too long and it would get done while the 3 boys were napping.
So shelf by shelf I went through boxes, crates, tubs, etc.  I took everything off and looked through it.  Stuff either went in the trash can, garage sale pile, recycle bin, paint recycle pile, tool box, sports equipment box, husband needs to go through pile, including his 5 pair of tennis shoes or neatly put back on the shelf.
I have to say I have lots of empty space on the shelves and under now!!  Task accomplished!!  Now to have the garage sale and take the paint to recycle.

Most of these boxes that are left are from my husband changing jobs back in Dec '11 and me staying home from teaching.  I am trying to talk myself in to going through my school files and recycling some of them.

All the shelves.  This weight bench is for sale and I am really hoping it leaves soon!!  

What's left for the garage sale.  One load is already at my friend's house.  It feels good to see stuff going out the door!!!

The paint is ready to go to the recycle center!!!

Tornado Season

Well here in Missouri tornado season has already started.  It seems really early but we did have a very mild winter compared to normal.  Last year as many of you know Joplin, MO got hit with a tornado.  Well with having lots of family and friends in that area the word tornado brings back images from May 2011 of the tornado struck town.
Since then I have been thinking that I need to do an emergency kit and have it in the basement and talk with my boys about what we would do if there is a tornado.  So I have been searching the web to come up with ideas but haven't found very much.  Here is what I have so far, most things I already had here at the house so I didn't have to buy anything.  I am sure I will keep coming up with new things to put in our kit but at least I am some what prepared as the season is upon us.  


Our Tornado Kit

• Plastic Box-should keep moisture out
• Extra Shoes-Ones your kids have grown out of, hand me downs or pick a pair up of the clearance rack.
• Socks for everyone
• Glow Sticks-already had them, you can find them in the dollar bins at Target or in the camping section at Target and Wal-Mart.
• Blankets
• Bottled Water
• Straws
• First Aid Kit-School Pencil Box
• Bandaids
• Scissors
• Whistle
• Tooth brushes
• Toothpaste
• Baby Stuff
• Formula-Liquid-Free samples, just in case mom can't help
• Diapers
• Wipes
• Food
• Change out every few months
• Toilet Paper
• Paper Plates
• Plastic Silverware

There is still room to add which is good because I keep coming up with new ideas.

Here are just a few links that I have found that might help you too.
How to Make a Tornado Safety Kit
Tornado Safety Tips
Tornado Safety Tutorial
Best Be Prepared
American Red Cross

Part 2 of organizing Classroom

Labeling the toy bins!!

My husband laughs at this but he will admit that it has helped him with cleaning up the basement and our boys' bedroom.  The boys don't have to keep asking me where everything goes when its time to clean up or where a toy is that they want to play with.  We have three of these, one I picked up at a garage sale, one grandma bought and the other I got half off at Babies R Us. The one from Babies R Us is bigger then the other two.

I got the idea from my wonderful friend about putting labels on the side.  I dumped each bin out and took pictures and then printed them off on mailing labels.  I need to take some more pictures as my oldest son recently had a birthday and I purge some toys that the oldest two have out grown and put them away for the youngest one.

Hope this helps you with some of your organizing at your home or classroom.