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MarilynW
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| Posted: July 08 2014 at 1:54pm | IP Logged
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I am not quite in Jen's league, but I do like shopping for supplies, especially as the annual sale starts!! I am trying to figure out the best way for the children to organize their work. I tend to prefer notebooks, especially for those that seem unable to use a hole punch and tidy away paperwork. For the younger kids I make up notebooks with my Procklick  Love it! For the high schoolers, I generally use notebooks with an organization binder (for course plans, schedules, typed up papers etc) and a binder for those subjects which have a lot of printed out material. I prefer note-taking and written narrations to be done by hand, as well as first drafts of essays and papers. Final drafts are usually typed.
I would love to hear how your older children organize their work. Last year my ninth graders each had:
- Lesson Plan/Organization Binder (dividers for each subject)
- Binder for quizzes/tests/final papers
- Graph notebooks for Geometry
- One subject notebooks for History, Lit, Composition,Theology
- Binder and filler paper for Latin
- Binder and filler paper for Chemistry
- Nature study notebook
- Sketchbook
- Timeline notebook
For high school we keep a binder for each grade with written papers to keep, records of paid and voluntary work, awards, transcript etc
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Marilyn
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Mackfam
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| Posted: July 08 2014 at 8:21pm | IP Logged
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This is a mix of all ages, but definitely includes older student's paper and notebooks.
Clipboard
Vehicle of choice for daily lesson plans, lists, memory work sheets, copy work in progress. Each child has their own (color coded) clipboard. Each Friday, after reviewing lesson plans for that week, I print a new lesson plan sheet, add the week # and dates to it, and put it on each child's clipboard. They're ready to roll Monday morning.
Proclick
I use this for almost everything *paper* that we need to interact with during the year - so copy work books, math mammoth, books I've printed - they all get Proclicked.
Files
I use a small, portable desktop file box with hanging files for some of those paper things I might use for planning, records, index needs, compilations, seasonal lists, blah, blah, blahs - all the normal papery *stuff*. These kind of papers are more useful and accessible to me in a file system that I can plop on the table, desk, floor - wherever I'm working. I like that the file box is transparent. I purchased very pretty file folders so that they can be seen through the box.  This is my working system.
Record keeping notebooks
One 3 ring binder notebook for each child. I punch lesson plans from each week after we've completed them and and keep each child's plans filed in their own notebook. I punch and keep plans in chronological order from the beginning of the year to the end. 1 page holds one week's worth of plans so that by the end of the year I have 33 lesson plan sheets and 3 end of term exam sheets. I also keep their annual booklists in their notebook as well as pertinent index lists I use to record what a particular child has done. And of course, volunteer records, lab work, transcript records...all that high school jazz...it all goes in the record keeping notebook. Also....if I come across a resource I want to consider in planning for that child in the year upcoming, I stuff the catalog page, web page (printed), piece of paper in a pocket in this notebook and then I consult it when I begin planning. This notebook is mostly an archive of sorts - it's not a "working" notebook. When Sarah graduated, I handed her notebook over to her. If you collect booklists, plans, resources used over the years...it makes an impressive body of work.
Math for all:
Quad ruled composition books - great to stock up on these at this time of year.
Nature notebooks for all:
8 x 8" field sketchbooks for all. We love these!
BOC
LOVE our Fusion sketchbooks for our BOC - and the hat tip for that TOTALLY goes to you, Marilyn!! Thank you!! In the back is a smallish folio and I keep century charts in there.
Digital notebooks - Evernote, Pages
I've converted almost all the papers that the kids need/use into digital files. It's just easier for me to manage the papers and also to organize them. They either work in Pages or Evernote and we keep in digital notebooks:
** written narrations
** outline/drafts/essay work
** end of term exam lists/papers
** lecture notes (Khan, labs, DVD lectures)
** keyboarding practice papers (not that I need to keep these...but it's handy to have a *place* to go (one file to open) when it's time to practice keyboarding skills.)
Marilyn wrote:
| I am not quite in Jen's league |
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 Oh, yes you are!! 
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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SeaStar
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| Posted: July 09 2014 at 5:41am | IP Logged
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Marilyn-
I you have an AC Moore near you, they have black sketch books very similar to the ones Jen linked at a very reasonable price. I bought the 5/12 by 8 size sketch books for $5 each... the brand is Pro Art.
Jen- when you switched over to the Fusion sketchbooks for your BOC, did you have the kids just start over? What did you do with their old BOCs, or do you start a new one every year?
I love the way the Fusion looks, but my dc like to look over all their old work every time we work on our time lines, so I am trying to figure out how to incorporate the old with the new... 
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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Mackfam
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| Posted: July 09 2014 at 7:44am | IP Logged
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SeaStar wrote:
| Jen- when you switched over to the Fusion sketchbooks for your BOC, did you have the kids just start over? What did you do with their old BOCs, or do you start a new one every year? |
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We definitely do not start a new BOC every year. One BOC follows a child from ~ 4th grade - 12th.
My John Paul is in 4th grade this year. He'll start his BOC this year, so he hadn't started yet when I made the switch. He'll start his in the Fusion sketchbook.
My oldest graduated - so that took care of hers. I tucked her BOC into her record-keeping notebook so that all of her collective work, booklists, etc. over the years was in her notebook which I gave to her.
The only one in the middle of a BOC was my 13 yo. We talked about my decision to move (once I made it - it really took me a couple of years to be convinced!), the new format, and he was fine with the move (he actually prefers the new format of black pen/ink drawings and lined pages). I saved his old BOC pages. I gave him the option of cutting out any favorite illustrations and gluing them into the new BOC (although, I cringed because I really didn't want to do that - it would mess with the clean aesthetic - but it wasn't a hill I wanted to die on, and it's HIS BOC!) Anyway, he wasn't interested in doing that. I keep his old BOC shelved behind his books on the shelf and he did flip through it every now and then when we first made the move, but after we started adding things to his new BOC, he has really kept his focus there. All in all, it's been a pretty seamless switch.
I'm going to use our old Homeschool In the Woods landscape orientation 3 ring binders (which I used for the kids' original BOC), to generate a simple Table of History record for my 1st-4th graders to use and I'll keep their TOH in those notebooks (because I've always thought they were so pretty!) This allows me to make use of those resources.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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pumpkinmom
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For a sketchbook or nature study I just recently bought this from Amazon and they are awesome! Great quality and cheap price! Of course, keep in mind we haven't used them yet since I'm saving them for the start of a new school next week. Before I was buying cheap ones and the pages kept coming out. This one is hard bound so I don't expect that to happen.
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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SeaStar
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| Posted: July 09 2014 at 9:45am | IP Logged
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Thanks, Jen- it sounds like you made the switch at a good time.
So, I am thinking he just started up the new BOC where the old left off, and you left blank pages for the rest?
If I switch, my dc would be starting a new BOC with the Civil War this fall.
I guess they would have a chance to redo all the "missing" pages as topics roll around again, right?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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Mackfam
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| Posted: July 09 2014 at 9:56am | IP Logged
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SeaStar wrote:
Thanks, Jen- it sounds like you made the switch at a good time.
So, I am thinking he just started up the new BOC where the old left off, and you left blank pages for the rest? |
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Yes. We just started with wherever we were in our history reading. And because their reading is so broad, it doesn't take long to start filling in.
SeaStar wrote:
| I guess they would have a chance to redo all the "missing" pages as topics roll around again, right? |
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Exactly!!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Angel
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| Posted: July 10 2014 at 8:30am | IP Logged
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My favorite notebook-organizational accessory are plastic pocket dividers for binders. I tend to be a stuffer and a piler, so binders don't work so well for me (or my kids). Instead I fill our record-keeping binders with these pockets and I just stick papers in them throughout the year. (Or at least I plan to stick papers in them... I don't always keep up. It's not just my kids who need organizational help, unfortunately.)
Last spring I decided to go with my piling tendencies and I bought some document boxes at Target for the papers that were spilling out of my binders because I never take the time to hole-punch -- booklists, helpful blog posts, etc. that I have printed out for reference and use every year for planning. When I need to use a set of papers (like now), I get them out of their labeled box and stick them in a canvas tote so I can carry them around with me in a sort of portable, contained, vertical pile. This has been working quite well, but I need more boxes!
We're redoing our computer room right now (which I'm excited about, because now I'll have a place to store office supplies without the kids knocking them all over the place!) so I'm thinking of ways I can keep that organized. The big paper issue in there is keeping up with printed paper/story/novel drafts that get sort of slung everywhere while the kids are working on revisions. I'm not sure how to deal with those. I do keep drafts of papers sometimes to show process, and as a writer, I would never throw away any prior drafts until I was done and had made a final (or final-ish) copy. My kids are pilers, too, though, which makes it difficult. I'm thinking either a basket/box on the desk or many more of those pocket dividers in a binder might help.
I'm still trying to decide what I want to do for the younger boys this year. I'm thinking about perhaps an Avilian system for them, which I guess would work well with a proclick, but I'm just not sure I want to go to the trouble of taking apart their workbooks (for handwriting, math, Latin).
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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MarilynW
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| Posted: July 15 2014 at 3:44pm | IP Logged
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I am still deciding....I wish there was the choice of hard back spiral bound composition books. Even the poly cover subject notebooks do not stand up well.
I did buy a couple of hybrid notebinders from Coscto - they may work well for my boys for Biology, where the boys can take notes like a composition book, but also file away (hopefully) print outs, labs etc
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Marilyn
Blessed with 6 gifts from God
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DianaC
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| Posted: July 23 2014 at 4:37pm | IP Logged
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MarilynW wrote:
| I wish there was the choice of hard back spiral bound composition books. |
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I have seen hard back spiral bound notebooks in Walmart and Michaels. They are referred to as ‘journals'. Most are about 5”x7”, but they did have a few that were either 8”x10” or 8.5”x11”. The prices ranged from $3 - $5.
Also, I had been pretty excited about the flex binders that someone recommended a while back. We looked around and finally found a couple on clearance at Target. While they are a good idea, we found that they are not as easy to add/remove pages. You can easily add/remove in the back, but not between pages that are already loaded. That was a big pitfall for our use.
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: July 23 2014 at 4:40pm | IP Logged
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DianaC wrote:
MarilynW wrote:
| I wish there was the choice of hard back spiral bound composition books. |
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I have seen hard back spiral bound notebooks in Walmart and Michaels. They are referred to as ‘journals'. Most are about 5”x7”, but they did have a few that were either 8”x10” or 8.5”x11”. The prices ranged from $3 - $5. |
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And, lots of these in TJ Maxx and Ross, etc.
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Suzanne in ID
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MarilynW
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| Posted: July 23 2014 at 5:09pm | IP Logged
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DianaC wrote:
MarilynW wrote:
| I wish there was the choice of hard back spiral bound composition books. |
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I have seen hard back spiral bound notebooks in Walmart and Michaels. They are referred to as ‘journals'. Most are about 5”x7”, but they did have a few that were either 8”x10” or 8.5”x11”. The prices ranged from $3 - $5.
Also, I had been pretty excited about the flex binders that someone recommended a while back. We looked around and finally found a couple on clearance at Target. While they are a good idea, we found that they are not as easy to add/remove pages. You can easily add/remove in the back, but not between pages that are already loaded. That was a big pitfall for our use. |
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Thanks Diana. Just checking that the ones you saw are lined? I have a trip to Michaels planned. Which section are they in?
I too was disappointed with the flexbinders - I looked at them and tried them out, and did not find them easy to use. So I am just using regular viewbinders.
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Marilyn
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MarilynW
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| Posted: July 23 2014 at 5:10pm | IP Logged
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SuzanneG wrote:
DianaC wrote:
MarilynW wrote:
| I wish there was the choice of hard back spiral bound composition books. |
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I have seen hard back spiral bound notebooks in Walmart and Michaels. They are referred to as ‘journals'. Most are about 5”x7”, but they did have a few that were either 8”x10” or 8.5”x11”. The prices ranged from $3 - $5. |
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And, lots of these in TJ Maxx and Ross, etc. |
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Thanks Suzanne. Just checking with you too - that the ones you have seen are lined?
I have a TJ Maax gift card that I have never used - I will have to go and look there. I didn't know that they did school supplies!
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Marilyn
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: July 23 2014 at 5:16pm | IP Logged
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Yes, lined , spiral. In the STATIONARY section....by all the little notecards and recipe books, etc. TONS of 5x7 size, and sometimes bigger.
And, many of them have pretty nice papaer....thicker than a regular composition notebook.
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Suzanne in ID
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DianaC
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| Posted: July 23 2014 at 5:17pm | IP Logged
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MarilynW wrote:
Thanks Diana. Just checking that the ones you saw are lined? I have a trip to Michaels planned. Which section are they in?
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At Michaels, they had some in the aisle that has the $1 - $5 items (like the one spot at Target) and also some in the aisle with kids activity books. Some were blank and some were lined.
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mrsdgason
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| Posted: July 25 2014 at 8:00am | IP Logged
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I had to google what a Proclick is. Now I'm coveting one
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CrunchyMom
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MarilynW wrote:
I too was disappointed with the flexbinders - I looked at them and tried them out, and did not find them easy to use. So I am just using regular viewbinders. |
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I found the flexbinders useful for something like a full term of Math Mammoth or copywork, but I have not been using them since I bought spiral coils and am having dh bind things using the binder at work.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Notebooks/Binders/Flexbinders?
