How to Organize Digital Homeschool Curriculum
Imagine how your homeschool book shelves look at the end of the year. What if you could reduce some of that by using digital homeschool curriculum.
I love saving on shipping and extra duty charges as a Canadian homeschooler. But when it’s out of sight, it is out of your mind. You may forget what you’ve purchased from previous years and end up wasting money and buying something else you already had.
Organization is the key to making the most of your digital homeschool curriculum. It’s a big deal, if you can’t find that grammar workbook you just purchased, it’s a waste of time and money.
Then you have to find something to use with your child which means more time and money wasted. After homeschooling for 9 years, I have a huge collection of freebies and purchased products that I need to organized.
This means I don’t have to buy very much at all each year except for my oldest because he gets the first of everything.
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How to store files
You need a back up for your back up. Think of it as a precaution just in case your computer dies. I like using an external hard drive paired with a cloud storage system like Dropbox or Drive. Dropbox gives you 2 GB for free while you get 15 GB for free with Drive. I use it extensively so I purchased the 1 TB storage for Dropbox to hold all of my pictures and videos.
Folders are your friends
Create subject folders to house your freebies and products so that they are easy to find. Within those folders you can organized them again. You can create folders by topic or grade levels. I also have folders for large purchases like bundle sales so I can see what I bought asap.
Name files accordingly
You know when you make a new curriculum purchase and it has a file name like pl23246, well that won’t help you find it again. Make sure you rename all of your file downloads so that they clearly state what they are and even add in grade levels if you forget. After you’ve been collecting a library of material, you’ll thank me later.
Where can you get digital curriculum?
Curriculum vendors may have the option for a PDF format such as Peacehill pres or Writeshop. Or you can take advantage of the large bundle sales. The 2020 Build Your Bundle sale is happening May 11th-18th.
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Thanks for such a thoughtful list. I love organizing on the cloud because I can access so many things no matter where we are or if we have a device break and have to move to a new one.
I would love the elementary bundle or the unit studies one. They’d fit well with our plans for next year.
I would go for the Charlotte mason, or one of the elementary school ones.
love the human body printables! Thanks for the mother’s day giveaway opportunity:)
Oh, and I would like to win the build your own bundle….
I’d love the Charlotte Mason bundle!
What an awesome moms day giveaway thanks!
I would love to win them ALL! Haha Probably the most beneficial would be the Elementary Bundle, so I’d definitely like to win that one.
I don’t know how I could pick just 1! So many great resources.
I would love the middle school and high school bundle
I would love to win the unit studies or elementary bundle! It would be a huge blessing to win anything though!!?
Thank you so much and Happy Mother’s Day! I have to find a way to get organized, that works! I am in a state that currently doesn’t require a portfolio or oversight, but I had a thought, what if they change their minds?! It happened in the state I grew up in and I remember we all had to go get tested and we were crying and beyond stressed. I don’t want that for my children, ever. I have a 2e gifted 4 year old, and a 2 year old, so o would probably choose the elementary bundle.
Thank you for arranging such a great mother’s day bundle giveaway.
I would like to win the Unorganized Mom Homeschool Planner. Thank you for offering the giveaway!
Probably Elementary or Charlotte Mason bundle.