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 Comments are closed.
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