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How To Organize Homeschool Books

How To Organize Homeschool Books

Books are a staple in most homeschool homes but it can get overwhelming and I know that by experience!

The organizational method that works best for homeschool books is shelving by subject. This method is going to make it easy for your children to find certain books and utilize your home library more often and easily

By Subject vs Alphabetical vs Others

When I worked at the public library the dewey decimal system seemed like the perfectly organized system. I loved looking up a book and knowing EXACTLY where it should be.

The problem was that the kids section was always very mixed up. The picture book section (where the really little kids and toddlers hang out) used a slightly easier method which was alphabetically. Those, were even more mixed up though. 

Kids, even older kids do not have the ability to see a sea of books and realize or care that their one book goes into a very specific spot. No matter how much we explain that if they put it back in that spot then they can find it later.

Now if you have 5 or 10 books this may work but if your looking at 50-100 or more books, its alot to expect from a child.

Convenience is Key

Here is a picture of our bookshelf in real life. A bit messy but quickly and easily able to reorganize. Kids are kids and we have to remember that. When it comes to books our efforts at this point is better spent getting them to read the books than having them organize them. We can work on organizing skills elsewhere and hopefully they will eventually apply that to their belongings including the books. 

The best way to organize is to not fight against the grain. Make it easy. Thats why organizing by subject is the best and easiest way. If each shelf is a different subject all they have to do is have their book land on the correct shelf. This is also going to make it much easier to find. They just have to go to the history shelf when looking to things about World War I. 

Things like noticing if there is a particular spot where books seem to pile up then put a small shelf or basket that can be emptied once a week will help with book clutter.

Aesthetically Pleasing

I know its tempting to put all the books in rainbow order to make a masterpiece. Or to flip them all around to make a statement. Remember our little homeschool libraries are workhorses. They are feeding young minds and that is beautiful in itself.

Kid Friendly System

If we are yelling at the kids everytime they put a book back in the wrong spot its going to seriously deter them from wanting to grab a book.

This easy kid friendly system is going to benefit everyone.

One extra tip for the very littles who maybe can’t read yet but like to explore the books and pictures. 

Labeling the books with something extra simple for them is going to start training them that books go in a specific place. 

Like placing an “S” sticker on all of the science books. Or what I did was pick a color for each subject and put that colored dot on all the books in that section. Then they just have to find the other books with that color. 

Having a home library for the little can be some work but its totally worth it when you see them freely pulling out books on their own exploring things.

Thanks for coming by for a read. Check out how I setup my small homeschooling space last year including my book shelf here. Also visit our Instagram to see what weare doing daily!