Whether you’re still finishing up your homeschool year or taking part in a summer reading challenge (we’re actually doing both), you’ve probably got lots of books lying around and lots of places you need to mark in those books.

Maybe you’re like us and just grab whatever’s handy to mark your place—an index card, a piece of scrap paper, or a (hopefully) clean tissue. But whatever you use, you’ve probably had your bookmarks fall out and get lost sometimes, especially if there are littles involved. Or maybe you’ve done like me and forgotten to use a bookmark at all—and then wasted minutes at the beginning of a lesson trying to find your place.  

Pros of Sticky Tabs

Enter the sticky tab bookmark. Some brands are definitely longer lasting than others, but I’ve found that the Post-It brand can last for months of sticking and re-sticking as we move through a math or reading book. As long as the children aren’t allowed to play with them, that is!

Best of all, sticky tab bookmarks don’t fall out whether the book is stacked carefully on a shelf or thrown in a pile with other work. Don’t be fooled by cheaper paper tabs, though—they might work as a permanent indicator for a page you want to reference again and again, but if you move them around multiple times, they quickly lose their stickiness.

How to Use Sticky Tabs in Homeschool and Beyond

I love how the tabs come in different colors so I can keep track if I have multiple children working through the same book. As long as we remember to move the tab at the end of each day’s work, we can open right to where we left off. And because they can stick on the side just as well as the top of the page, I usually place them right above the paragraph where we need to start next so we don’t even have to search for that. 

If I need to make a quick note about something without marking in the book itself, it’s easy to write on the sticky tabs with a ballpoint or felt-tip pen. The bigger ones can even be used in place of expensive tab dividers to mark sections in a notebook or school book. If there’s a useful reference page you’re always turning to in a particular book, try marking it with a tab—it saves time and reduces wear on the pages. My husband often uses his to mark different places he’s reading in his Bible.

I also use them when working on taxes or other paperwork to mark questions I need to discuss with my husband, our tax preparer, or others (color-coded, of course). The tabs would be expensive for one-time use like this, but I’ve found it easy as I get each question answered or task finished to take them off and replace them on their little plastic holder for reuse later.

Amazon carries this multi-pack of different size tabs, each in multiple colors. It’s currently still the same price as when I bought it on sale last year (check the link for current price), which worked out to be more economical than the smaller packs available at my local Walmart. The bigger tabs work better for more long-term use (like in a math or phonics book), and the small ones for more short term use. 

Try adding sticky tabs to your desk drawer toolbox; they might just make a happy little difference in your homeschool day.