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SallyT
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OK, we've watched The Trouble With Angels so many times that I cannot say that word without an exclamation point. But I'm talking about 3-ring notebooks here.
Some months ago, in some thread here, I stumbled across somebody's description of a 2-binder system for each child: a weekly binder for that week's assignments, with a "year" binder for all finished work to go in, so that the child has a keepsake "yearbook" at the end of the year. I believe this was a riff on the general theme of workboxes.
Anyway, we've been doing this for the past couple of months. It's been going well -- I'm more on top of my older kids' work than I've been in a long time, in terms of seeing what gets done as it gets done, giving written feedback right away, etc. They have to keep their binders in boxes at a station in the hall outside the kitchen, and I pick them up and check them when I'm walking past -- MUCH easier and more effective than our old system of me going, "Where is your paper," and the child in question going, "Uhhhh . . . "
For the younger set, I either copy workbook/CHC text pages and hole-punch them, or else tear them out and hole-punch them to put in the weekly binder. Right now, because we're just doing a handful of core subjects for the summer, our binders have been kind of boring, but here are some of my ideas for things to put in them (some we've done, some we haven't yet):
for my independent reader, I keep a slim chapter book in the pocket of his binder and change it out when he finishes.
for my learning reader, I keep those little CHC "Little Folks" folded readers in the pocket. We work on them together, but she likes to take them out and revisit them, too
calendar pages: Just yesterday, I gave each younger child a blank calendar page in his/her binder, and we filled in the month, numbered the days so that now we know when June begins and ends and how many days it has, drew little fish on Fridays, drew little monstrances on Thursdays for our parish Holy Hour, drew the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart for those feasts, and added a few other significant dates. Later I'll have them color it for the liturgical season.
Learning Wrap-Ups: each younger child has a pouch in his/her binder for pencils, erasers, and such, which cuts down on a lot of hunting for supplies. Both younger children have been reviewing basic addition and subtraction facts, so I've been sticking Learning Wrap-Ups in the pouch to serve as math some days. (we also keep rosaries in our pouches, so we don't have to hunt for those, either).
Saint and other coloring pages
printable garden, nature, and weather journal pages from Donna Young
math puzzle pages
word searches from online puzzlemakers
how-to-draw pages from various Usborne books, "Draw-and-Write" books, etc.
recipes to make together (haven't done this in a planned way yet!)
surprise story printouts from Baldwin Project
science experiments
copywork
art prints (I love color printers . . . ) for picture study
chore directions
maps, blank and filled-in
That's the list I've generated so far. And here's my question: what would you add? And what would you do with this system if you did it?
Thought this might make some fun planning talk . . .
Sally
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dakotamidnight
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We're doing similar to this, but not using binders. I'm putting it all in file folders in a filing cabinet organized by week.
Or at least that's the theory - we haven't started yet.
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Adriatica
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I was thinking of doing something like this, but using an accordion file to organize it all. I love your list--lots of ideas on there for me.
~Maryanne
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JennGM
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Sally, I can't think of Binders without thinking of the movie, either. I think everyday I would say "Take Out Your Binders" in the same voice as Sister. 
Are your ideas to insert in the binder finished assignments and then mainly extra busy work? Or is it all mostly daily assignments?
How would this work for non-workbook people?
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Erin
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Speaking as a non-workbook family, we have been doing this for years. At the end of each year I gather all the children's work together and bind into a binder or more if they have worked harder)
I include a progress report, certificates and all written work. A Language Arts section with a list of books read, copywork, dictation, spelling, grammar and creative/report writing. I tear pages out of their exercise books to go in so everything is together. Also the work from their notebooks-history, geography, science and their liturgical year notebooks go in. Plus various artwork from throughout the year. I store loose sheets during the year in a hanging file (one for each child) Basically anything the children do throughout the year I gather and store for the binder.
This is the one thing I have been consistent with for years and the children love looking back over them.
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Becky Parker
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This sounds alot like the Avilian System. There used to be a site that explained it beautifully, but I can no longer find it. We did this for a year before we switched to workboxes. I really only switched because some of my children were younger and their "work" didn't always fit into a binder. Puzzles worked better in a workbox.
But for my dd, I could definitely go back to this. It's a great way to keep things organized, be prepared and foster that independence I am working towards.
Great ideas Sally!
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"Charlotte can't breathe, sister!"
"Take off her binder!"
 Oh thank you for the morning chuckle! *Love* that movie!
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SallyT
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More random thoughts:
We do have a bin for each child which holds anything that doesn't fit into the weekly-assignment binder: books, puzzles, etc.
The system is easier for the kids who can read and work independently. I've just essentially put lesson plans, schedules, and so forth, into my older kids' (12 and 16) assignment binders, and all they have to do is turn the page, see the work laid out for them, and do it, filing all written work in their big "finished" binders as they go, for me to read and write back to them about. Their boxes hold the books they're using, and each one has a shelf of independent reading which corresponds to a reading list in their binders. It's just a way for me to keep track of what they're doing as they do it -- I have this terrible tendency to forget what I've assigned, even when I have it recorded in my own binder -- and to keep stuff from disappearing into their rooms or under the study couch. And it's easy for me to make sure that I'm giving feedback and they're seeing it. Somehow this "post-office" system seems to work better for, say, making suggestions for improvement, than my saying it face to face to them. It seems to feel more like feedback to them, and less like, "Mom is criticizing me!"
For them, the things they're turning in right now include math and grammar exercises, journaling about reading they're doing independently, and, for my 16-year-old, exercises for the intensive composition mini-course we're doing this summer.
For the youngers, I'm still figuring out how to make the weekly binders work without making schooling all about workbook pages and busywork -- though they really like workbook pages. I've found some interesting variations on the workbook-page theme already: Donna Young has some great printable nature-journal-type pages that can be folded into mini-books, and we were doing those before and managed never to collect them, so that's one thing I want to include. I could punch one or two holes in the folded pages to make them a permanent part of the binder, which would then REMIND us actually to do nature journaling on a regular basis. (See, this is really all about the fact that I lose the thread of so many things that I mean for us to do. I have to have things together and in my face, daily, or they will not get done.)
I've been putting together an Old-Testament history timeline project for the two youngers to do with me starting this fall, so each week we'll have lists of directions (like, "Monday: look up River Jordan in encyclopedia, read and narrate"), copywork, paper for illustrations, etc, in our weekly binders and books in our boxes for read-alouds and independent reading. We have a timeline scrabook which we've been working on as a family for years, off and on, so my thought is that we'll fill that portion of it with illustrations, fold-outs with copywork or written narration, photos of hands-on projects, and so forth, like a lapbook.
I'll just use the weekly binders as a way to keep our plans in front of us, especially as my soon-to-be 8-year-old will be more able to do things independently than his younger sister. If he can just look at what he needs to do next and do it, that will free me up to work with the one who can't quite manage that yet. Having each child's materials and to-do list collected in an easily portable format means a) we don't waste time hunting down paper, crayons, etc, and b) we can take our work with us when, for example, we spent a whole day at church between the noon Mass and parish Holy Hour the same night. We have friends who drive an hour to be at church and then stay all day and have "study hall," so even though we live nearby, we do the same thing. Packing up for those days has been so much easier since it's become a matter of just putting binders in a bag. Then we have all our school supplies, our rosaries and little holy books for Holy Hour, everything we need for the day, all in one place.
Anyway, I've been a disorganized person in search of a system for way too long, but this seems promising . . .
Sally
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Sally,
Do your kids have any trouble moving their papers from one binder to the "completed work binder"? We had some issues with that so I had my kids put their finished work in a box and I put them in the finished work binder. That caused more problems though! Maybe it was the age of my kids, or just their lack of responsibility. Thinking about this, I'd really like to try it again with my dd who will be 6th so she shouldn't have any problems with it. I was just wondering if you (or anyone) had problems with this and how you dealt with them.
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SallyT
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Becky --
The 16-year-old does this with no prompting from me. I occasionally have to remind her to read my comments on written assignments, but with her, once we got over some initial "Why do I have to do this silly system" resistance, it's gone very smoothly.
The 12-year-old is also pretty reliable, though he likes to do lots of assignments on one sheet of paper, so it can be several days before I see a whole lot of work all at once. Still, he's getting it done, and I just deal with it as it comes in. He's demonstrated that he can cope with the responsibility, and he likes having some control over what he does. So far, so good.
With the youngers (almost-8 and 6), this is all a very hands-on thing. We work together, and I transfer finished work myself to their big binders as we finish it. Gradually, as they mature, this will become their job, but I'm trying to establish a rhythm. I keep both binders together in each child's box and get them out for seatwork at the kitchen table, so that it's no trouble to shift a page from one to the other. They seem to like that little ritual -- ah, something done (and done well, or we wouldn't consider it finished)!
You know, as I write all this, I realize that I'm making my homeschool sound like this paper-shuffling enterprise, which it really isn't! We're all about reading aloud, writing in our own journals, going outside, visiting museums, being hands-on . . .
Some of my systemizing, frankly, is a response to our last round of state-mandated standardized tests which, while I take these things with a grain of salt, did point out some areas where we need work (like, we're great at math concepts. Computation, not so much right now), and even without those, each child has something which he or she needs to work on, in a small-dose but steady way. The binder business helps us to stay on track, to have all our stuff together (not a foregone conclusion in my house), and to make sure that we're hitting these little areas daily before we go out to be unschooly in the garden. And I figured that the kids would like to see their progress over the course of the year, too -- just looking at my 8-year-old's handwriting in the past month, since we've been working through CHC's handwriting course, is a reminder of how much a person can improve in a basic skill with gentle, regular practice. But I'd really like for all this to be more lapbooky/notebooky than workbooky, if you know what I mean.
But, yeah. Big kids can handle the transfer of papers. Youngers, not yet.
Sally
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JennGM
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SallyT wrote:
Becky --
The 12-year-old is also pretty reliable, though he likes to do lots of assignments on one sheet of paper, so it can be several days before I see a whole lot of work all at once. |
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This made me LOL!!! Is this a total boy thing? My brothers were the EXACT same way. It was this idea of conservation : very tiny writing, minimal use of words, sparse use of the pen, very few papers used.
Basically, allergic to writing.
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That describes my boys too Jennifer! My daughter on the other hand, will go through pages and pages so she can decorate and add flourishes and finishing touches!
Thanks for the explanation Sally. I think my dd could handle the paper transfer thing okay. And actually, if I establish the rule that I have to check the paper before she puts it in the "finished" binder that might keep me on track with checking work too!
I understand what you mean by wanting things to be lapbooky/notebooky rather than workbooky. I think no matter what method you use though, there is still alot of paper involved with educating our children. Having a system to keep it organized is a great thing. We don't do lap books much, but we do some notebooking.
I could see this binder method working in that case though, because our notebooks are really just small binders. Instead of putting the page into the "finished" binder, it could just go into that particular notebook.
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Angel
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JennGM wrote:
SallyT wrote:
Becky --
The 12-year-old is also pretty reliable, though he likes to do lots of assignments on one sheet of paper, so it can be several days before I see a whole lot of work all at once. |
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This made me LOL!!! Is this a total boy thing? My brothers were the EXACT same way. It was this idea of conservation : very tiny writing, minimal use of words, sparse use of the pen, very few papers used.
Basically, allergic to writing. |
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What is the deal with this??? One of the things my 13 yo ds dislikes most about algebra is that the problems have to spread out and take up more paper. He wants all the problems to fit on the front of one piece of paper. So he starts at the upper edge of the paper in the top margin, skips steps, and squishes in everything he possible can onto that one piece of paper, making it impossible to read! I keep telling him that *we will buy him more spiral notebooks if he needs them.* But all he does is write a teeny bit bigger.
Ok, that had nothing to do with binders (of any sort , but the schoolish portions of my brain are off-line right now so I'm filing this discussion to look at later. 
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SallyT
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Angela and Jenn - My brother at that age used to go around shutting all the drains in all the sinks in our house. Thirteen-year-old boys seem to want to conserve things in the least logical way possible.
Becky --
One of the things for me about having the finished-work binder is that that prompts me to check work more carefully. I hate to admit how not-careful about it I am sometimes. If there's a BINDER sitting at a STATION in a preordained PLACE, then I'll do it. I can pick it up, and with the older kids, read through a couple days' work, or even a week's, at once (I do weekly plans with them and let them order their work schedules). If something needs re-doing, I put it back in the assignment binder with commentary and directions. When it's done, it goes back to stay.
With the youngers, I am making sure that things are finished and correct the first time around -- for them the finality of "finished" is very great, and their frustration levels would be through the roof if I did with them what I do with the olders, whose work is all about process a lot of the time (writing, especially, though that's also true of a lot of math).
I am trying to think of more fun and creative things to put in both younger and older kids' binders, though, as well as just basic work. Essentially I want to treat these as very portable workboxes with flat stuff in them. So I would welcome more ideas in that direction.
Sally
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Becky Parker
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SallyT wrote:
One of the things for me about having the finished-work binder is that that prompts me to check work more carefully.
Sally |
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This would be very helpful for me!
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Becky Parker
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SallyT wrote:
I am trying to think of more fun and creative things to put in both younger and older kids' binders, though, as well as just basic work. Essentially I want to treat these as very portable workboxes with flat stuff in them. So I would welcome more ideas in that direction.
Sally |
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These might be already included in your list but as I was ordering some materials to go with my dd's study of ancient Egypt next year, I came across some fun things that you could probably get for any study:
~ Dot to dot books (the ones for older kids are very detailed). You can get them for some history and science concepts from Rainbow Resources.
~ Maze books (once again,you can get some very difficult books)
~ Punch out activities like this or this
~ For an older child, the TOPS science experiment worksheets would work well. I'll be using them for my dd in 6th next year and I was just looking at them. They are designed for independent work, although a parent will need to be around to provide needed help.
~ My younger kids really enjoy the Draw Write Now books. They are themed so I've had them draw the pictures from various themes, and do the copywork, as we study them. You could really use them for an older child as well, having the older kids do the more detailed coloring techniques. The copywork might be a bit simple but they could convert it to cursive.
HTH!
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SallyT
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Those are some great ideas. I have a couple of TOPS books already, which have been gathering dust on the shelf; I also own, not Draw Write Now, but a couple of similar books in the Draw and Write Through History series. These do feature cursive copywork, which my 7-year-old isn't ready for, but I'd planned to use the drawing pages, copying them to put in binders, and then pull some simple copywork and write it out myself in manuscript for both youngers to copy, as part of our timeline project.
I love the idea of punch-out activities! And complicated dot-to-dots!
I had also thought of incorporating a book which I've had for years and always underutilized: Barron's Math Wizardry for Kids. It's a brilliant antidote to drill-and-kill in math (though frankly, drill-and-kill is kind of what we need right now), and I never remember to use it. So if I run off some activities from it for "math lab" a day or so a week, or even a month, and put them in the binders, then maybe these things will actually get done.
This was what attracted me to the idea of workboxes in the first place: that we might actually use more of the things we have on our shelves. Binders are a cheap and portable alternative, but I want to use them to accomplish the same thing.
Thanks for the ideas!
Sally
PS: You can preview the Math Wizardry book here.
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I have the Math Wizardry, and that's a great idea, trying to incorporate we have.
How about elaborating on the Science Experiments ideas? Have a resource with various experiments related to what we are studying. Make a worksheet to fill out as they do and complete, with some various "science inquiry", hypothesis etc. question & answers.
Surely there is something already written out there. I find I have loads of experiments, but it's choosing, finding some that are easy and doable, and then keeping track of it.
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SallyT
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I would love more detailed ideas for notebooking/binderizing science -- as you say, it's the "already done" and "easily do-able" that catches my eye at this stage.
By the way, I notice that there's a Science Wizardry book, too. I've never seen it up close and personal -- has anyone else seen/used it?
Sally
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Have you looked at pre-made notebooking pages?
Notebooking Pages: Nature and Science
Boy Scribe (Includes geology and astronomy pages)
Both of the above include variations on weather pages, and recording the weather daily, keeping a rain guage, etc... would be good science activities which would work well in a binder system.
Also, I know that we kept notebooks in several of our science classes where we had to redraw or trace the illustrations from our text. Couldn't a page in the notebook have a sticky note for the assignment without containing the actual work. For instance: "Draw, color, and label the parts of a cell as found on page 37 of XXX"
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Topic: Binders!
