Allen Academy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I am trying to set one up, but I am not sure how I want to do it and would love to be inspired by your wonderful ideas :) Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Theophan Academy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Here is the table of contents for my notebook - this is the first year I did anything this elaborate, and I must say that it has been such a grounding and organizing focal point for me. Some might consider it unneccessary, but for those of us who really like the structure, it can be a very helpful tool, and saves me lots of time through the year. Table of Contents Prayers & Inspiration Morning & Midday Prayers Daily Schedule & Calendar Weekly Lesson Plans (these are mostly a schedule of assignments I do no more than 2-4 weeks in advance) Attendance & Assignments Record (this is where I track what we actually do - not the dream :) Overview for Year - all subjects and books used for each subject The following it is a page for each subject - usually a list of chapters, topics to cover etc - except the MA plan, which is a table with the topics we will cover for history, with books, art projects and other items that correlate Christian Studies Icon Study plan Grandma’s Stories (a lives of Saints book we read) Greek Myths Mathematics World and Modern Studies Middle Ages plan Middle Ages Art plan Explorers Unit Study - lesson plan page for Time Travelers unit study Explorers Readings Colonization Unit Study - lesson plan page from Time Travelers unit study Paddle to the Sea & Seabird CM Geography plan - from Tanglewood Curriculum core book English Studies Fifty Famous Stories Wonderbook & Tanglewood Tales Classical Writing: Aesop Winston Grammar Science Poet Study - list of poems Art Study - list of artists (3) and pieces to study a la CM Composer Study - list of composers (3) and pieces a la CM Spanish - check list of phrases/vocab to teach Field Trip Information - all the flyers I get for places I want to go Homeschool Information Tennessee Laws Socialization Articles - to give to those obnoxious people who ask if my kids are getting socialized :) Recitation/Memory Work - list of all memory work for the year - I used Hannah's grammar guide a lot for this It took me a while to pull it together, but now that I have a format I am happy with, next year I know it will come together much easier - and I really rely on it on a daily basis to keep on track - Hope this helps - Anne Marie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Amy, Your teacher book is what YOU need. Here's a link to mine: http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2007/05/my-coveted-teacher-book.html The purpose of 'my' teacher book is so that I can do school with my dd7 on the go. We can go over memorization, I have everything I need minus HER books. IF we are on the go and I have time ahead, I copy the TM pages of anything I might need and stick it in my binder. Inspiring Thoughts Memorization guide for all subjects for the year Calendar insert July 2007 - January 2009 (bought at WalMart) Attendance and Declaration of Intent storage in page protectors Math addition/multiplication charts, hundreds chart and math literature for K-8 list Bible - memorization scriptures and answer key to curriculum Classical Music lesson plans with supplemental reading lists History- customized lesson plans with copywork this has changed to 1 week of TOG Science - customized lesson plans with supplemental reading lists Art- Harmony Fine Arts Grade 2 lessons plans History (again, I know) Veritas History Song lyrics and SOTW 2 Activity Book I hope this helps you figure out what you need. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraL in OK Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 That's a great question, Patty Joanna. My answer would have been, I want to have all of my frequently referred-to papers or bit of info in one place. I use it at home only. So I have a 1-inch binder. At the very front I have the stuff I use every single day, or very frequently: our weekly routine (schedule, pie-in-the-sky idea, whatever!), a notes page for each boy for the week ('cause I make notes afterward rather than lesson plans beforehand), my copy of each boy's reading checklist for the term, my one-page school-year calendar with our holidays & planned breaks, and a Latin reference page that's useful right now. Then, a divider, followed by all of the previous notes pages for the boys in chron order. As the year goes on, this gets kind of full! Then, a divider, followed by a copy of the History Odyssey table of contents with my annotations, a printout of my plan for my younger son's SOTW year with activities etc., and then some additional info I found myself wanting. Then, a divider, followed by my overall reading plan for each boy for this year, and then my working pages from which I made the reading plans. There's some other stuff in there, too -- Cub Scout advancement & such, upcoming field trip info, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanna Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Hi, My teacher's notebook includes a weekly schedule for my 3 dc (gr. 1, 2 & 5), a section for each of their "independent education plans" (a list what curriculum I bought for them, when I plan to use it and which days of the week I plan to use it on -- has cured the "what did I buy this for?" syndrome:D. Also, in each of their sections I include our first day and last day of school surveys (homemade) which they fill out and includes some of their favorite things and goals for the school year. We add a photo at the bottom. It's fun for all of us to see how much they've changed (in height, in appearance, and in faves). I might save a picture or note that they have given to me saying how much they like homeschool or how much they love me (little encouragements go a long way on discouraging days). I have a reference section for me, and that's a hodge-podge of different things, from inspirational emails, scripture verses, my amblesideonline.com listing of composers and artists to study, to contact info, etc. Last section is for testing since I'm registered as a test administrator with Bob Jones Testing. My pencil case has binder holes so that goes in the front and has a highlighter, pens, pencils (for doing my schedule), correction fluid, stickers (for encouragements), and paper reinforcers (for those torn pages in each of our notebooks). Front pocket holds our attendance sheet so I can mark down our school days (I always kept count even before moving to a state that requires it). The nice thing is that I believe there's no wrong way to make one. I encourage you to make it fit your personality and be a reference point for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TolleLegeAcademy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I enjoy seeing these ideas! A little different than what you might be thinking of, but one thing I've thought about doing soon is getting a notebook and dividing it into 12 sections (for grades 1-12) to keep a running list of ideas and notes for future years and curriculum options/recommendations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in Hawaii Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 My teacher notebook has many of my answer keys in it, along with whatever Omnibus pages I'm working on, and a pocket thingy with a red pen, calculator, and post-it notes. I also keep my master quarter plan sheets in it, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArwenA Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Make you book unique and personal! My book contains: A calendar Our schedule Lesson plans Curriculum reviews Book lists Stuff I've printed of from the Internet Photos of my family Finished work that hasn't been marked our put in my dc books Copy and memory work Answers to tests Scripture Other inspirational quotes Orders and receipts for educational projects Library books to get, return, holds etc... Teachers guides if they fit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 My daily Teacher's book includes: In Front--Write-up of our daily routine First Tab--Our current circle time (we use this to frame our day) Weekly schedules of the written work for each day And any worksheets, copywork sheets or maps that we will use that week Second Tab--A phonics section which has a pocket for the trigger word pictures I have made and a list of my trigger word sentences for the various phonograms Third Tab--A math section where I keep my fun ideas and homemade manipulatives (they are stored in large envelopes that I have 3-hole punched Fourth Tab--An other section which can be anything that I think might be important for that week. I also have a larger binder where I keep the rest of the year's weekly schedules and any sort of enhancers (maps, fun sheets, etc). And in the front of this I have year long schedules for particular curriculums/subjects and a year's calendar. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhesa Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Mine has "Our House Rules" on the front. Inside, I have tabs labeled: Grammar Reading History/Geography Math Science Bible Art Spanish Music The first thing under those tabs is a lesson plan, if I have printed one. (for example: I stole from Trivium Academy for science lesson plans) Then, I have any printouts (lots of those from online), extra info, book lists, stuff I don't want to forget, even printed discussion threads. Mostly it's just an place to gather my ideas. I like seeing what other people use! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllSmiles Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 My Teacher Binder The First Section Contains: * Our school calendar *The kids’ individual schedule *A notebook page that contains a list of supplies we will need for the coming week(s) – I take this out and start a new one when I go shopping *A notebook page that contains the library books we will need for the coming week(s) – When I go to the library, I take this page, and then I start a new one *My kids each have their own individual Elan planner, but I make a copy of their current week’s assignments and put it in my binder. The rest of the binder is divided by subjects. I have one tab for each subject. Behind each tab, I have a very loose breakdown of what I want to accomplish in the year. I also keep the answer keys, lesson plans, songs, and notes we will need for that week. I’ve cut the binders off any of my teacher’s guides that I could so that I can have everything I need for the week in one place. In the language arts section I also keep a running list of all the books they have read for the year. I have a separate binder that I keep for curriculum notes. Once again the binder is broken down by subject. Behind each subject are notes I might need to use in the future. Things I have included in this binder: Possible book selections How to use a particular book, Problems others have encountered using a particular text Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I have separate home and school binders, so I don't have things like meal plans and cleaning schedules in mine - they are in the other binder. What it does have: tabbed monthly calendar daily lesson plans one-week hourly schedule (think MOTH, but different each day of the week) overview list of each dc's curriculum for the year syllabus for each subject area, and list of assignments for the year in each Bible memory lists, poetry memory lists, book lists resources: homeschool group directory and newsletters, schedules for art and music classes, hours for libraries and other places we visit, etc. hand-outs to give to other homeschoolers: book lists, notification forms, website lists, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Jenny Flint Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 One family notebook a la Flylady, with address book, cleaning schedules, yearly events, dates, to-do's to remember (like clean the patio furniture:rolleyes:). This book also has our attendance forms in it and our declaration of intent. Another binder which I only reference occasionally has a few real gem posts from this board and other resources that I am saving to help me to plan for future years. It also contains several great books lists and book lists organized by time period, etc. I have a notebook I use to scratch out my tentative plans for the rest of this year, next year, and beyond, create my goals and to see where I am in the big picture, and to organize my lists of what to buy. The notebook I use most is my lesson planner, and after many years I have realized that the only subjects that I really need to plan are history and science. This takes one page, numbered on the left hand side 1-36 for school weeks, and with two headers on top: history and science. assignments are listed according to subject/week. I have also recently added writing assignments to this mix, but they are very general, just to make sure we hit all the lessons within our writing program this year. I am relaxing more and more as the years progress. This is good for me, because I started out pretty tightly wound. Four notebooks for my teacher stuff would never have been acceptable to me when my oldest was in K. LOL.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen Academy Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 Thank you for all your responses - I'll be honest, I am not sure what I want from my teacher notebook, and seeing your ideas has helped me a lot. We haven't even really started formal homeschooling yet, we just do a little with DD(4) because she wants to. I am trying to plan ahead :) We are moving from Oklahoma City to Japan sometime in the next few months and will pretty much be homeless for probably 2+ months, so I really want to have something I can take with me to keep DD busy and on some sort of consistent schedule during all the chaos. Since she is still little, we don't do too much school anyway, but what we do, I would like to keep doing without too much interruption. Again, thanks for all you help :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narrow Gate Academy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 The sections run like this currently. 1. Our daily MOTH schedule. 2. A chore section (I try to squeeze a few things in whenever I have a bit of downtime.) 3. A yearly school calendar with the weeks we are planning to school highlighted. 4. Jessie's individual work = these are semester planners printed on blue paper for each subject. I mark the boxes over the weekend with what we want to accomplish and then mark them off a second time as they are completeed. 5. Violet's individual work = semester planner by subject on purple paper 6. Combined lesson plans for history, science, and geography HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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