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Wendi DeGrandpr
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| Posted: July 04 2006 at 9:13am | IP Logged
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Not sure if this is the right place for this topic -
How do you all organize your papers to be corrected/reviewed/filed etc and how do you keep it from getting out of hand.
I find that no matter how organized I am when we begin our schooling the papers just start piling up and next thing you know I cannot find anything. From this point on our days slowly get less and less productive. I really need to do things differently this year - especially with more dc in the loop.
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God Bless,
Wendi
Mom to four blessings
"We can do no great things - only small things with great love." Blessed Mother Teresa
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Willa
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| Posted: July 04 2006 at 10:15am | IP Logged
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Here is how I did it:
I bought an accordion file for each child. They divided it up into subjects and when they had completed a paper or whatever, they slipped it into the right place. OR if they were younger, I did it once a week on Friday when I was making lesson plans for the next week.
My highschooler at the time also had a five-subject notebook so he could work on sequential things like math and grammar, and he had a big binder where I put handouts and transcript information and things like that that would otherwise be loose, flying and at the bottom of the pile. It was not necessary to have all that for the younger kids.
This fit into my Flylady routine of having every day devoted to something -- Friday was my lesson-writing and filing-paper day and if I kept up with it (!!) and with the accountability checks for the older kids, it worked pretty well.
I colorcoded all their binders and folders and my own copy of their lesson plans was in the same color binder, so I could grab it easily out of the shelf without bothering to squint to read labels or whatever. IE oldest was grey, second was blue, third was red, etc.
My maximum # of students at that time was 6 -- 3 high schoolers, and 3 gradeschoolers, but right now I have only 4! I sort of miss those days.
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Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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Mare
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| Posted: July 04 2006 at 10:24am | IP Logged
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Wendi,
I have the same paper problem.  This past year, I had the girls just pile everything that I needed to review on top of a table in the the school room. Well, I carried that idea with papers I printed off. Not a good idea in the long run. The papers got moved around to different drawers and then I couldn't find what I needed when I needed it. 
I'm a woman on a mission this year.  I went to Target and purchased a cute pink and green plaid binder and a matching expandable file folder. I figured I might use it more if it looks cute. Sad, I know...
I labeled the dividers on the file according to subjects and each of the girls have a divider assigned to them as well. The binder is used to hold lesson plans, some catalogs and any thing else related to homeschooling. I'm carving time out each day for school planning and filing of papers. I hope that if I make it a priority, then I'll be able to keep up with the paper filing much better this year.
HTH,
Mare
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 04 2006 at 12:06pm | IP Logged
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I think I have done something similiar to others. I have purchased binders for all my kid's finished work. (They each have their own set of binders.) I did the same thing last year, BUT, this year, nothing will be put into the binders until I have seen it. (Unless it is a notebooking page or something we have worked on together.) Then (and only then) after it has been checked by me, will it go into the binder. It has to be this way because I discovered last year, after waiting way too long to check my ds's math work, I discovered that he really wasn't getting the concepts at all. He would just do the lesson and stick it into his binder not really caring if he did it accurately. I found spelling words that were practiced incorrectly as well! What I'm trying to decide is, should I have a special time each day when I check all their work, or should I tell them "when you are done with this bring it to me and I will check it immediately." It seems the if I have them bring it to me right away, I will check it just to get it done and move on. If I put it into a pile for later...well... the pile tends to get so big I can't find the amount of time necessary to go through it all, so the pile get's even bigger, etc, etc, etc.
For me it really boils down to discipline. I've tried umpteen systems, but I know now that if I don't do MY part, purchasing the binders isn't going to help. This is certainly one of my weaknesses! I'm sure if I was more diligent, any system would work. So, as I think about habits to work on with my kids, I have one more to add to my own personal list.
Becky
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SuzanneT
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| Posted: July 04 2006 at 5:18pm | IP Logged
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Wendi,
We use "Mom's In-box" for anything that needs to be looked at, checked, corrected. I try to correct before the next lesson (sometimes that might be the 5 minutes before I call dc to the table  ) If I am on top of things, I put corrected papers with the next day's lesson plan. Then, if it is a long term project, the papers will go into dc working binder. Finished work goes into the front pocket of their portfolio binder. Everything is then put in the appropriate section on Friday. We also clean out book bins on this day.
Suzanne
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: July 05 2006 at 5:31am | IP Logged
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The other day I was daydreaming abour taming the "paper monster", which seems to invade our home each year. We already use binders for our childrens' work. They keep lesson plans in the front and put completed ones in the back of that section once they finish the week.
Why not use two sets of pocket dividers for individual subjects. You could keep unfinished work in the front half, behind the first divider, and your child could place completed work in the back, in front of the second divider for that subject. Once you check the completed work you could either slip it into the pocket of the second divider or behind it, since some subjects get too bulky to fit inside pockets. With lesson plans and work all in one place you can easily check each child's status without hunting for everything.
Binders really are a godsend! We are on our third year with some wonderful cloth-covered zippered ones, with several pockets, which have been much more durable than standard binders. BTW, plastic dividers last much better than the paper type.
Happy Summer planning and organizing!
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All for Christ, our Saviour and King, servant
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marihalojen
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| Posted: July 05 2006 at 7:51am | IP Logged
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Last year I used one small binder for work to be done - it was divided into 5 sections, 4 for each week of the month and 1 for further in the future plans. I found that really helped as I could place papers and ideas under the right week and not have to go hunting that day or week for something I knew was...somewhere
Once a week everything from the small binder for that week went into a larger binder divided by subject.
I'll probably do something similar this year, it worked better than old systems. For lots of kids I used to have inboxes and outboxes in the classroom for each child. Something similar might work in a home vs. classroom.
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Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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ALmom
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| Posted: July 06 2006 at 6:53pm | IP Logged
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I have a 3 ring binder for dc- one for them with their work and plans which works for older dc. They leave me post it notes when they need something graded. I try to rotate dc - but with 6 dc, I don't think there is a painless method! The only solution for my youngers is for me to review papers very regularly (like close to daily). This past year we spent hours hunting for pieces of work that the 8 yo had written on various pieces of paper that were strewn everywhere, unlabeled and aah. It was panic mode to find everything, backtrack and count days for our state's legal requirements. When we found various papers we still had to decipher them. He didn't always follow a certain order, often skipped around, etc.
I'm hoping to solve the paper problem soon - it is solved for the 18 yo. She just graduated and we loaded up the trash with all but a few very special items - rather bitter sweet but our house is less of a fire hazard!
Janet
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Wendi DeGrandpr
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| Posted: July 08 2006 at 12:35am | IP Logged
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Lots of good ideas here. I am in the process of looking at our paper flow etc so this really helps me. I am taking one day a week to try and get organized and prepared for the upcoming school year. So far I have had two days. I spent the first one clearing off my desk and working on routines, and today was my second day which was spent working on menu planning. I am trying to be more efficient and disciplined in many ways so these were the best places to start. I think the focus of my next day will be organizing and filing the rest of this years work and then evaluating the books etc we have. I think I have some decluttering to do. As I do all of this I am thinking about paperflow and how it will be most efficient for all.
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God Bless,
Wendi
Mom to four blessings
"We can do no great things - only small things with great love." Blessed Mother Teresa
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rivendellmom
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| Posted: July 08 2006 at 6:17am | IP Logged
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I use three ring binders for each child. Every year I print a new cover for them with their name, the year and a picture of them. Inside I have slotted pocket dividers for each subject. The lesson plan is placed before each divider. When they complete something they put it in the pocket of the divider and I check all the binders after dinner. If their work is not done well, (to the best of their ability) then they have to do corrections instead of our family activity that night. If they just didn't understand it, then we'll do that lesson again the next day. This way I stay on top of correcting and they are held accountable to Dad, who wouldn't ever see any of their work if I didn't review it then. He also is great at motivating the kids. I sit in the kitchen and correct while they do dinner clean up. I keep any answer keys in a seperate binder for me with my yearly goals.
Before the binders everything got put in an inbox and I didn't grade it for ages.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 10 2006 at 8:23am | IP Logged
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This is sort of a different topic because it is about paperwork other than the student's, but does anybody use something like this:
http://www.easyfilesolutions.com/homeschool.cfm
for your other paperwork? I think our binder system will work well for the school work, I just seem to have a lot of other stuff I need to organize, and I've yet to find the system that works for me. I'm thinking about information on various topics for future notebooks, inventories of homeschool books, stuff that comes in the mail that I think I need to keep, etc. What do you do with all that???
Becky
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Organizing Paperwork
