Inside: If you have on your to-do list “tackle the homeschool clutter” this summer, use these five questions to get the job done quickly. Plus tips on how to re-home materials you’ve decided to get rid of.
This week, I’ve passed our homeschool cabinet several times and thought to myself, “I really need to declutter our homeschool stuff.” Since we transitioned fully into unschooling four years ago, there are a lot of materials that we will never use again.
Still, it’s hard to let go! Life of Fred Math. Story of the World. I Can Read It! Books. I’m not usually sentimental, but I struggle to let go of them.
They’re filled with the nostalgia of our earliest homeschool days when life was a little simpler and little less stressful. I hadn’t had my youngest yet (if you’re thinking about having a fifth child, I have thoughts), and life had a much more predictable rhythm back then.
But after five years, it’s time to get honest: we will never use these homeschool materials again. They’re officially homeschool clutter, and I need to pass them on.
If you’re also struggling to figure out what’s homeschool clutter and what’s worth keeping, these five questions can help.
Declutter Your Homeschool Stuff: 5 Questions to Help You Decide What’s Clutter and What’s Not
Depending on the magnitude of your homeschool materials collection, you might need to break up your homeschool decluttering into chunks. Decision fatigue is real, and do NOT underestimate how much nostalgia will impact your decluttering.
Before we start, I want to clarify that some homeschool supplies are straight up trash. Half-filled workbooks, books with broken spines and torn pages, quarter-filled paint bottles. Don’t waste your energy trying to give them away.
I also want to acknowledge that for many homeschooling families, money is tight. The pull of “just in case” is strong, especially because homeschool materials can be super expensive! I wrote these questions with this in mind.
I believe that these are the best questions to help you sort through your homeschool supplies and materials, decide what’s clutter and what’s not and let go of homeschool clutter with confidence.
1. Are these homeschool supplies and materials for a specific skill my children have already mastered?
If your child is already reading, and you don’t have younger children (and aren’t planning to have more at all or anytime soon), it’s safe to declutter the reading curriculum.
If your child is already spelling like a champ, you don’t need to keep that spelling curriculum. If their handwriting is amazing, ditch the handwriting paper.
They’ve already mastered telling time? Then why are you keeping that Learning Resources clock? They’ve mastered money? No need to keep the board games about money.
You get the idea. Outgrown materials need to go.
You Might Also Like: Does Unschooling Reading Really Work? Conclusions from a Mom of 5 Readers
2. Do these materials/curriculum work for my child’s learning style?
It’s tempting to hold onto the curriculum YOU love or that worked really well for older children. But if it doesn’t work for the child(ren) in front of you, it’s time to let it go.
I held onto books like Life of Fred Math and Story of the World and The History of US because I leaned heavily into learning through reading aloud when my kids were younger. But the past is the past.
Today, they would much rather learn those topics through videos on Kahn Academy. And that’s ok! I need to let them go.
3. Can someone else benefit from these materials while I have no firm plans to use them?
The most compelling reason to sell or give away homeschool materials is for them to be used! I know there are other homeschool families who will scoop up my homeschool giveaways.
If you know they’re going to sit on the shelf for more than a few years, and you do not currently have younger children who will eventually use them, why not put them in the hands of other homeschool families who can use them today?
I took several free Big Fat Notebooks from a friend who was no longer homeschooling, but my kids haven’t touched them and probably won’t. They came to me for free, so I’m giving them away for free in our co-op Buy/Sell/Trade group.
If you decide to give them to friends and you think you might need them in the future, you could ask that they check with you when they’re finished before giving them away.
4. Do I need to make room for new homeschool materials?
We only have so much space. For years, we homeschooled in 1200 square feet. It was tight! I couldn’t keep bringing in more and more homeschool stuff without getting rid of something.
If you haven’t established a container limit for your homeschool materials, now’s the time.
Maybe you decide that one bookshelf is enough, or maybe two. When your set “container” is full, it’s full. Time to get rid of something, if you want to bring new things in.
5. Will I ever use these again, and if I did need them, is there a free or cheap replacement?
I’ve held onto Story of the World books for five years now. They’re sitting on a shelf gathering dust. If my kids want to learn history, we can use Kahn Academy or Crash Course.
Time to let them go.
No one in our house likes or uses charcoal pencils. Why am I keeping them? They love markers, colored pencils and paint. I can let these go.
Life of Fred has too much problematic text for me in 2026, and besides, I tried them out with my youngest and she rejected them right off the bat. Buh-bye, Fred.
Ask yourself why you’re holding onto certain homeschool materials “just in case”. If that’s stretched beyond 2-3 years, it’s probably time to declutter those materials.
What to Do With Homeschool Clutter (After You’ve Decided to Get Rid of It)
There are a few ways to get rid of homeschool clutter, depending on your time and capacity. Here are a few ideas…
- Find a local homeschool curriculum sale to join.
- Give them away in a local homeschool group or co-op.
- Sell them on eBay or in Homeschool Buy/Sell groups.
- Find a local homeschool store and consign them.
- Donate children’s books in good condition to your local library or little free library.
Larger book sets and more expensive, popular homeschool curriculum is likely worth the time and effort to sell. All About Reading sets, for example, get snapped up quickly.
Make sure to evaluate your time and energy for selling materials. Is $50 worth your time to list items, respond to messages, go to the post office, etc.? If not, give the stuff away, instead.
If you do plan to sell, set a time limit for yourself. If the item sits for 15 days, drop the price to move the items quickly.
Also keep in mind that late spring and early summer are the best times to sell your homeschool clutter. Popular items should move quickly, and you’ll get the most money for the materials.
Don’t Just Declutter Your Homeschool, Declutter Your Entire House
After you finish decluttering the homeschool supplies, why stop there?
If you’ve been around a while, I sound like a broken record, I know, but it’s true that the best thing I did to set myself up for homeschool success was decluttering our home and embracing minimalism when my kids were small.
Now I spend less time cleaning, organizing and reorganizing our home. I have more time to spend with my kids, invest in their education AND work part-time.
Trust me: decluttering can and will change your life.
Don’t know where to start? Here are 101 easy things to declutter right now, decluttering habits I do without even thinking, and the first post in my Declutter in a Year series.
You’ve got this!
Read Next: 7 Tips for Decluttering on a Low Income (Because It’s Different)
