Updating The File Crate...

Oh I LOVE this time of the year. I get to create a brand new planner for the next homeschooling year, and I get to update my FCS (File Crate System). 

I first spotted this brilliant organising tool on Dawn's Blog - she is an organising and homemaking queen! It all made perfect sense when I first read about it. It was a place to store all sorts of clippings, accounts, appointments, bits of paper that seem to lie about the house getting lost and keep on top of my week!

So here we are, three years on and I am in love with my FC and really cannot see my weekly life happening without it playing a key part.

About a week ago I realised that I only had a few more file folders left and it was time to clean out and update the crate.

So I ordered some tabbed file folders - which did not turn out to be the colour I thought I had ordered :( - but they will do.

Next I sorted through all the past years folders, threw out what was not needed and kept aside things that will be refiled (usually seasonal things) for the next year.

The crate was very dusty and had accumulated a host of little dust bunnies, so once everything was out it got a good clean.

Next came a little cerebral work:

*What worked/didn't work?

*Anything missing that needed to be added this year

*Organisation - was I happy with the way I organised my files?

Generally the answer was yes - all fine, but I decided to organise and mark my hanging folders as Dawn does according to seasons. The reason for this is that we (I) am quite seasonally organised. My life seems to be comfortable being molded by the gentle changing, shifting, ebbing and flowing of the natural world. So I created some pretty pink labels for my suspension files.

Next I printed out seasonally themed cover pages for my years file folders - using my Moms Toolbelt forms.

I labelled each folder with the week and stapled a cover sheet onto the front. This is where I write down appointments from my diary, any 'To Do's', meal plans etc.

Inside each folder I will have a shopping list, any clippings of things I want to make/do for the week, and appointment slips, bills I need to attend to - that sort of thing.

I added a few more sections to my crate this year which are homeschooling related. I have a folder with the girls A.C.E test papers, one for completed tests and one for homeschooling reports, plans and college info.

So there we have it, my File Crate updated for another year :)

**Do visit Dawns blog, especially her File Crate posts where you she explains in much more detail on how the folders are utilised each week.**