Yay!
You have developed a plan and implemented it! Now, mountains of completed work stumble your every move. Armies of walking paper soldiers visit you while you sleep. You dread another assignment because the children's completed work haunt even your waking hours. Really? No, it is not to that extreme. It sure did sound funny though. Recently though, that question did arise. What do you do with completed work? When and how do you check it? Have you found a practical method? Our family has found a method that works for us. Not only have we loyally stuck to that method, but we are expanding on it this year. Let me explain. First, I view loose papers as enemies! I dread those armies of walking paper soldiers. So, we did what any Texan would do, we lassoed them in. THE OLDEN DAYS In the younger years, the children completed much of their work in workbooks. This was nice because it kept everything together in one place. I checked it as they finished and at the end of the year I kept a few papers that were cute and tossed the rest in the mysterious depth from which they never returned (yes, the trash). The rule was...NO TEARING OUT THE PAPERS!!! If they did, I checked it, put it on the refrigerator for a few days, and then they put it in the trash. Oh, don't cry, they only did it the one time. Now, they know to listen and not tear out papers. Any loose drawings I would proudly display for awhile before they disappeared or I kept. We would take pictures of the projects and they too would mysteriously disappear (the computer sometimes has a mysterious depth too). That did make me cry. Still though, the loose papers seemed out of control. THE PRESENT DAYS As the children matured and moved out of workbooks (first grade for my children now), we developed our NEW and IMPROVED system... Every child has a spiral for EVERY subject. Spelling - Spiral Grammar - Spiral Composition Drafts - Spiral Composition Finals - Bound Composition Journal Math - Spiral History - Spiral + Plus History binder (more in a minute) Science - Spiral + Plus Science binder Music - Spiral + Student 1" binder for books or printed compositions ASL & Spanish - Spiral for notes Art - Nice Drawing spiral sketchpad with thick enough paper for most paintings & regular spiral for notes The subject binders have any information I want in them (timeline for History, etc), empty page protectors and dividers. IF they have any printed pages, worksheets, or other loose pages, they put the loose pages in the page protectors behind a divider. (Do you see a theme here?...heehee, no mountains for me). Once we finish a "unit", the student takes all loose pages in the sheet protectors and creates a lapbook or presentation. What does this accomplish? First, NO LOOSE PAPERS! Secondly, this teaches them that their work is important and not just "busywork". It also teaches them how to create presentations from a very early age. The younger children make "lapbooks" and the older children create "presentations". Although both use manila file folders, what is the difference? The presentation becomes more refined and professional looking as the children get older. I take those lapbooks and store them in a plastic Rubbermaid file cabinet. Special projects deserve special recognition. We take pictures and the project is prominently displayed in the house. Truth be told, I KNOW that the project will not survive the "love" of four children. Thus, after several weeks of the children "playing" with the project, it crumbles from the "love" of their own hands and they dispose of the remains. Otherwise, we gift the projects to others :). The only exception to this rule is.....if I have a particular fondness for the project. If I decide it must be kept, it mysteriously disappears into my "treasure chest". HOMEWORK? Time flies, especially when you are having fun. I don't have time EVERY day to check work. I check work two days a week. If any work needs to be redone, we have a review and it is "homework". If any work can not be found because it has become "loose" before I check it, it is also "homework". The children have insisted that ALL of their work it "HOMEWORK". Yes, it is. But, we have defined "homework" as "work that is to be completed outside of our regularly scheduled school time". They detest "homework" on the weekends, so they try to do their best the first time. END OF THE YEAR At the end of the year, I make portfolios/binders for each child with the year on the spine. We sift through all of the spirals and choose their best work. Once they choose, that work gets put into the YEARLY BINDER. Their lapbooks (presentations) get three hole punched and added to the YEARLY BINDER. Their Final Composition Journal and Art Sketchpad gets slipped into the front and back plastic binder pockets. GOALS Every system needs refining and improvements to ensure efficiency. Now...what we are working on for this year.... I would sad when I realized that our pictures of projects, field trips and memories of the year, at any moment, could mysteriously disappear from a computer crash. Yes, I have them backed up most of the time, but there are others on phones, memory cards, etc. (Or really when time has slipped and the pictures have not been backed up).... This year I assigned my older children design a yearbook. Their deadline is the end of the summer, so they are not finished quite yet. We utilize Shutterfly as the platform, have Shutterfly print it, and ship it to the house. Pictures of poems, field trips, family vacations, and other memories will fill our first Yearbook. My goal for this next year, in addition to our Yearbook, is to print pictures after a special occasion, have the children journal about their experience, and burn additional pictures to disc. This material will then be put into a Special Memories binder. Each year will yield ONE Portfolio Binder per child, a Classroom Special Memories Binder and a Yearbook. Eventually tall bookcases with binders will fill our house just for their "keepsake" work. My goal? To gift them their Portfolio Binders when they are grown and keep the Special Memories Binder and Yearbook until the time is right. I have to tell the truth...paper mountains still arise. Overall, I feel we have tamed the armies. We like our system and intend to improve each year. But, this is our family and this is our system. Try it on and if it doesn't fit, try on another. Always keep in mind, it is your time...to enjoy your children. Don't let the stresses of everyday life cause "homeschool" amnesia. Loss of focus of the WHY you began to homeschool. "Don't let schooling interfere with your education." - Mark Twain So, now, you have gathered books, ideas, curriculum, and momentum. How do those translate into paper? Into a planner? Step by step.
In a previous post, I discussed WHY a planner is important...as a guideline to keep you organized. I also reiterated the importance of allowing room for "out of the box" learning time. Now, I have my planner complete for the 2011-2012 school year. My planner begins the "curriculum" October 1st. Keep in mind that we will spend September with "out of the box" learning...projects, compositions, and math that will be interest based or focused on aspects with each child that need strengthening BEFORE we buckle down to the "curriculum". Therefore, even though my spreadsheets start in October, we will start school a month before. Here is my "step" by "step"..... 1. Decide layout I have tried many different layouts and planners over the years. I have discovered a few things. a. I do NOT want to print a bunch of pages. This takes up too much time and is costly. b. I like a three ring binder (so pages can be easily moved) with my detailed planner AND a thinner bound planner to carry with me everywhere. c. Individual child planners are just a waste of my time. We are more efficient if we work off of a main planner. If they want to set one up for themselves, that is fine. So, this year I decided on a white three inch three ring binder with "D" rings that will stay at home. I also really liked the layout of the "Greenroom recycled 2011-2012 planner". The "Greenroom" planner has a layout that I have used in the past, but I printed the pages out and inserted them into my three ring binder or bound them into a spiral. It has a schedule section, 2011-2012 overview, Long Term planning with monthly important dates, Monthly views, Monthly notes, Daily Planning, General Notes, Contacts, and Resources. These are the same type pages that I used to print out. This saved me a lot of time. Now that we have the basic layout, let's begin. *REMEMBER**** This is YOUR binder, change it, tweak it....make it individual! I am just letting you know what is in MINE ;) 2. Big Binder a. Calendar Page - Although I have the calendars in the small planner, it is nice to have a basic overview one in the big binder. Also, I use recent pictures of the children, print them out double sided (one year on each side), and laminate it. It is such a nice touch when I open the binder. FREE HP Calendars - http://www.hp.com/hho/hp_create/calendars-single_page.html b. Tabbed Divider - Bible
Remember, these guides are tailored to my family. They are to just give you an idea. This is by no means me claiming this is what YOU need to teach your children. (Sorry, legalities here ;) ). How did I come up with my plans? First, I started with Social Studies from Story of the World and the Core Knowledge Sequences. For later in the year, we will be going over what interests the children and wrapping up any ends from the Core Knowledge Sequences. I figured out how much I thought we could cover in a month. Then, I set "themes" for each month and the SOTW Chapters we needed to cover. I then made a list of corresponding "Reading List" from Story of the World, "Literature as History", and we will add books from the "1000 Good Books List". I also noted how we could use these themes in Art, Science, etc. In Science, I used the Core Knowledge Sequences to note what we haven't covered so far in seventh grade (some topics we have already studied in lengthy detail) and used the Prentice Hall Science Explorer set as a basis for study. I bought this whole textbook set, in excellent condition, for cheap off of www.half.com. I did the same idea with monthly themes for science. Then, I used references to fill in the blanks.
g. Tabbed Divider - Field Trips - This is the section I put in Field Trip planning information, journal, photos, etc. h. At the back of the white binder, I have a plastic envelope to keep miscellaneous loose items. This finishes the white binder. Although this is still a lot of printing at first, I reuse much of what is in the binder for the following year. Most of the un "reusable" paper I get from the Dollar Spot at Target. So, last year, I printed off the book lists and Curriculum Sequences. I saved the sequences in another binder and use each grade as needed. Since they are in sheet protectors, I can store them in the Sequence binder until needed. 3. Small Planner - I have filled in the information except the weekly details. On the monthly notes, I have put in our basic books needed from the library so I can remember which ones I need if I do not have the big binder with me. I will fill in the weekly details only two weeks at a time. This allows for change without a bunch of scratching out since I can not tear these out or move these like I can in the binder. I can carry this one everywhere with us. We can school at the park, doctor office, Grandma's house, etc. I hope this helps to explain how I have done my binder for this year. I am sure it will continue to evolve over the years. But, remember, the point is that you CAN change it to fit YOU and your children. Also, if you get off of the organization "bandwagon" and stop going by the planner, you can easily "get back on". But, remember, it is a guideline. Homeschooling allows for many moments in which homeschooling children soar WITHOUT a planner, try to allow for this. NOTE: Out of the list above and my resources list, I have bought over the years: Story of the World - All volumes, test booklets, and practice pages (New) Writing Strands - Two volumes (New) Harcourt English (half.com) Scott Foresman Literature and Integrated Studies (half.com) Prentice Hall Science Explorer (half.com) Spanish Immersion (ebay.com) Hooked on Phonics (whole set from the thrift store for $12) Progress in Mathematics (half.com) Singapore Math (New) What Your _____ Grader Needs to Know (Core Knowledge) (half.com) Portfolios - State of the Art Program (thrift store) In addition, I have a whole library of reference books, textbooks, curriculum books (Konos, Abeka, etc) that I got at the thrift store or off of Freecycle.org Since I reuse the books for many years, my investment cost per child decreases. Still, I buy books cheap (except a few that I decided was worth buying new), buy school supplies on clearance after public schools start, find free or cheap field trips, exchange teaching classes, etc. Homeschooling doesn't need to be expensive :) |