Inevitably, every summer, my heart begins beating to a drum of minimalism. The burden of stuff becomes overwhelming. I want to get rid of everything. Clean slate. Somehow we accumulate more and more through the school year, until I’m suffocating under teacher resources, educational games, and supplemental activities. Put a stop to the madness. When you feel this urgency to torch it all, it’s time for the Great Schoolroom Purge.

This is a 3-step program. Are you ready?

Step 1: Remove kids. Take it from me, you want the kids to be with grandparents, or at least preoccupied, during your purge. You know that saying, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure”? I’m convinced this always holds true for kids. That once-hated book suddenly becomes a weepy child’s most cherished item. It’s no fun to pry supplies from your kids’ clutching fingers.

Step 2: Remove everything from your bookshelves and homeschool area. Everything. This includes art supplies, manipulatives, books, tests, games, maps, you name it.

Step 3: Round up at least five bins or boxes and label them with a plan. These are my labels: Keep, Save, Sell, Donate, Trash. Below is what each of these means.

Keep (in the schoolroom).

These are things I’ll use again for the next school year. For instance: our A Reason for Handwriting workbooks, or the Saxon curriculum that the next child is ready to use, and the manipulatives that go along with it.

Save (outside the schoolroom).

This is tricky. Sure, you might get plenty of use out of it with another kid in a year or so. But is it worth storing? Is it something you can get from the library for short-term use? Did you actually enjoy using it the first time around? Can you just buy it again cheaply, when the time comes?

If you get through these questions and decide it’s still worth saving, put it in a tub labeled with the year that you’ll need it. For now, get it out of your homeschool room.

This also includes your classics, most of which don’t need to be kept with your curriculum. If your treasured books are cluttering up your classroom, find a different spot in the house to store them.

Moving on…

Sell.

The key to success here is to list the items for sale immediately. When selling curriculum online, list on multiple sites and price reasonably. Check used prices on Amazon, or within your local sale groups. (If you aren’t yet a part of a homeschool sale group in your area, find out if there’s an email chain, Facebook group, or online forum you can join.) Bump the post as often as allowed.

Set a sell-by date, and stick to it. As this date approaches, drop your prices.

Now, here’s the tough part. If that date arrives, and you did not sell your now-deeply-discounted items, do not hesitate: put that box of books and materials in your van (we know it’s a van). Do not—I repeat, do not—go through that box again. Get it out of your house. The next time you’re running errands, drop the box at a donation center.

Donate.

Speaking of donations, there will be items that go in this pile right from the start. If you won’t keep it, and it’s not worth selling, give someone else the chance to enjoy it. Flashcards that your kids have mastered? Probably not worth selling. Give them away.

Trash.

If in doubt, throw it out! Games missing pieces? Discard. Torn or damaged books? Dispose of them. Items that you hated using and wouldn’t want to torture anyone else with? Trash it. Play some music and free-throw the junk right into the garbage can (or recycle bin).

You’re done! Don’t you feel better?

In your schoolroom, you should be left with ONLY what you are using for the next school year.

Kick up your heels for a minute and then relax. The Great Schoolroom Purge is completed for the year. Take a break before the Great Curriculum Buying or Lesson-Plan Making commences.