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Make organizing homeschool paperwork easy sign on top of Thanksgiving file folder

There are so many wonderful homeschool resources available online these days – printable unit studies, reading lists, writing prompts, coloring pages, and so much more. These printable resources are only helpful though, if you can find them when you need them. Thankfully, I have a way to make organizing homeschool paperwork easy.

You just need a place for everything. I told you it was easy 😉

Storing everything in a digital file is one option, but I tend to forget about all of the awesome homeschool ideas if they are out of sight. I need my homeschool paperwork in a place that I will see every time I sit down to write lesson plans.

Make Organizing Homeschool Paperwork Easy

A simple small filing box makes organizing homeschool paperwork quick and painless.

1. Buy a small filing box and hanging folders

Sale

Pendaflex Portable Desktop File, Document Holder for Home and Office, Plastic Organizer Box, Side Handles, Hanging File Folders, Tabs & Inserts, Letter Size, 9-1/2 x 12-3/16 x 6 Inches, Black (23013)

PORTABLE ALL-IN-ONE FILING SYSTEM: Receive everything you need to get organized right out of the box—a portable file box, 5 letter-sized hanging folders…
GRAB & GO FLEXIBILITY: Take your plans from the desk to the work site, keep files at hand at a shared desk or coworking space, or spread out in the…
CLEAN & COLOR COORDINATED: Your modest black frame includes 5 black files for a practical, put-together monochromatic look; or change up the color-scheme…

Last update on 2026-10-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

I like this filing box so much that I have two – one for household stuff (bills, receipts, insurance paperwork, etc.) and another for organizing homeschool paperwork. Different colored file folders makes it easy to quickly tell these boxes apart. This is my favorite filing box because the size is perfect – not so big that it takes up a lot of room, but still has plenty of space for lots of unit studies.

2. Label each hanging folder

Label the hanging folders and hang them in chronological order. There are two ways to label the folders:

By month
By holiday/theme

I have a generic folder for each season as well as a folder for each holiday. For example, I have a fall folder as well as Halloween, Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving.

3. Fill each folder with the appropriate papers

organizing homeschool papework by theme - Thanksgiving in a file folder

File the paperwork as soon as you print it. Do not set it down first! Filing it immediately will prevent the paperwork from being lost.

I fill my folders with anything that might help me either teach the holiday or can be a fun addition to a boredom busting basket.

For example, my Thanksgiving folder contains:

I’m sure I will add to it as I come across great resources throughout the season.

4. Find a home for the filing box

One key to organization is that everything needs to have a home – a specific place where you know it will be. Keep the filing box close to where it will be used. In my home this means my filing box lives under my desk. This keeps it near my printer and my lesson plan binder. It is convenient to pull it out when I sit down to lesson plan.

Sure, I could stick it in a closet, but out of sight is out of mind for me.