Homeschool families, like Tolstoy’s happy ones, are all alike: drowning in a sea of clutter. Home schooling a child beats all other organizational challenges hands-down. How do you count the clutter? The books. The papers. The biology experiments on the kitchen window. The six-foot-tall child sprawled on the floor, reading. The record-keeping. College admissions and testing and letters from the correspondence school.

Whether you are living in a disorganized pit of chaos and looking to make some changes, or just in need of a couple of fresh ideas to keep things rolling, this post offers some great suggestions.

Whether you are an individual family needing a convenient record keeping solution, an umbrella school, homeschool co-op or support group desiring to reduce administrative overhead, Homeschool Reporting Online offers online software solutions. They offer simple, secure online record keeping and offsite electronic storage and backup of student records.

Staying organized is much easier if everything is in its proper place. Details the use of plastic bins to aid in organization of your home school.

Yes, there is one downside to homeschooling. Does it happen to everyone? Are some moms more prone to burnout than others? How can you cope, and more importantly, how can you prevent it? To find out, Isabel Shaw asked her team of experts—dozens of homeschooling moms—if they experience burnout, and how they deal with it. Their answers may surprise you.

This article explains why formal homeschooling is often not the best choice for your very young child. Avoid burnout by enjoying the process of learning and living.

Record-keeping is an important part of your homeschool. Barbara Edtl Shelton lists the benefits of keeping good records, including the greater ease of evaluating progress, helping to set the direction for your homeschool, helping to preserve memories for the future, and more.

Destinations Homeschool Guidebook is a system with total flexibility and real accountability. Step-by-step instructions help you develop a plan for learning tailored to each child's unique needs. Are you unschooling? Destinations allows you to track learning from everyday life while measuring progress toward your goals. Using a formal curriculum? Destinations helps you adapt it to your child's needs. Includes instructions on use as a portfolio.

If you are suffering from CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome), then this is the place for you. Start with Babysteps and learn to set up routines, get rid of clutter, and put your home and life in order. Once you join up with the Fly Lady, you'll receive daily emails filled with FLYing Lessons to guide you through the organization maze.

Lesson planning for a larger than average size family can be a bit tricky. This sample planning sheet offers an easy approach to planning out schooling for a large family.

It is good to wake up in the morning and know what you are going to do that day in school. That is what planning lessons is all about -- being prepared -- so that you can be as stress free as possible.

Stuff! For homeschool families, it's everywhere. Books and papers. Art supplies. Math manipulatives. Science projects. Record-keeping demands its own set of materials: attendance forms, correspondence, testing, student portfolios, and piles and piles of paper! Find out strategies for storing kid's stuff, using color coding, organizing your desk, and more.

A homeschooling mom shares some simple ways to encourage children to help around the house based on the principle that one should never do for one's children what they could do for themselves. This leads to a more smoothly running household and the children's sense of pride in their own work.

If clutter and outside activities are taking over your life, you need a plan and some routine in your life. Get tips on how to plan and prioritize your work, and to respond appropriately with flexibility when life gets hectic.

The Swap Cookbook features homeschoolers' recipes for healthy families. These recipes are compiled from contributions to the Homeschooler's Curriculum Swap Forums.

Save Thousands of Dollars a Year

Jonni McCoy and her family are proof that you live on one income. The McCoys made a successful transition from two incomes to one while living in one of the most expensive parts of America: the San Francisco Bay Area.

Her Miserly Guidelines will help you save thousands of dollars a year on everything from groceries to electricity to insurance and household cleaners—as well as reveal the hidden costs of holding a job and common money wasters. Her practical, proven cost-saving techniques, strategies, tips, and recipes will help you live frugally without feeling deprived.

Parents learn what they really need, how to find or create materials and opportunities for less money, and how to organize their household for economical, happy learning.

The nine habits of highly organized people

Organizing consultant Kathy Waddill demonstrates how the simple act of being organized can improve your quality of life. In The Organizing Sourcebook, she presents nine organizing principles that can easily be applied to any situation, activity, or environment. The book gives you the tools for managing time; decreasing stress; and dealing with cultural, personal, and emotional change. Case histories illustrate how each strategy solved a specific problem.

The real-life stories of chronically disorganized people and the ground breaking, easy-to-learn organizing methods used to end their chronic disorganization in the area of residential clutter, office organizing, paper management, storage, and time management. Conquerings pages includes an extensive index, user-friendly summaries, quick tips, helpful photographs, and a resource section of products and organizations.

Homeschooling moms and dads can be overwhelmed by the demands on their time. Between their children’s educational needs; their roles as spouse, parent, and more; and their own individual desires and goals, these mothers and fathers struggle to accomplish all that must be done. In Help for the Harried Homeschooler, experienced homeschooler, author, and mother of four Christine Field offers sound advice for parents who want not only to achieve homeschooling success but also to reach a balance in their lives.

Organizing the home is one of those desirable and beneficial activities that remain elusive for many. This practical guide explains the many benefits - physical, emotional, and spiritual - of an organized home and shows how to attain them. Breaking down the process into 50 steps, the author uses her own experiences as a psychologist and professional home organizer to help readers clear away not only the physical clutter but the psychological blocks that encourage it and hinder organization. She tells where to start, encourages small steps, and explores the psychology of organizing. Next she addresses fundamental principles, including keeping tools where they will be used and making the most of active storage space. Finally, she shows how to get rid of excess stuff, including how to attack those never-ending piles and junk drawers, and stem the inflow of junk into the home. These easy exercises, tips, and stories will truly help readers organize their homes for efficiency, peacefulness, and well-being.

Hundreds of practical ideas for sorting, evaluating, and getting rid of all those material items that get in the way of a simplified lifestyle.

So you want to homeschool but don't think you can afford it. This book is a compendium of ideas for the family that wants to start or continue homeschooling on a tight budget. Includes ideas for making money as a stay-at-home mom, sources for inexpensive curriculum, affordable teaching tools, and ideas for low-cost field trips. Also discusses ways to run your household more efficiently and with less cost.

If you are thinking about homeschooling, or are struggling with a educational homeschooling curriculum that is difficult to use, let Dr. Ray and Dorothy Moore show you how to make homeschooling an easy-to-live-with family adventure in learning. This low-stress, low-cost program shows you how to build a curriculum around your child's needs and interests - and around a realistic family schedule. Instead of a cut-and-dried approach, you'll discover the freedom of a flexible program that encourages creativity and initiative.