MellowYellow Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 This is great, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicoryChick Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 Okay ladies, I too am done organizing and posted what I did and pics on one of my blogs: HERE I am very excited about starting this year and feel more prepared than I ever have. Thanks so much everyone (with special thanks to catholicmommy) for your contribution, ideas and enthusiam which helped to spur me on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 Okay ladies, I too am done organizing and posted what I did and pics on one of my blogs: HERE I am very excited about starting this year and feel more prepared than I ever have. Thanks so much everyone (with special thanks to catholicmommy) for your contribution, ideas and enthusiam which helped to spur me on! Great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 We just finished our first week of school. The file folders saved my sanity by a huge margin! Our days were crazy long and at some points discouraging but being able to have everything we needed in one spot helped a great deal. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 I've had the same thoughts and motivation thanks to having everything copied and filed. :D I did end up tossing a few things in the recycle bin, but only things that didn't mess up the order of everything else! I have also found that having only two things scheduled for Friday (art and US history) allows me to loop anything left-over and still have a shorter Friday while finishing off our week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosy Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 I'm LOVING my files so far! We just finished week 1, and it was so nice having everything right where I could find it and not having to stop everything to tear out a workbook page or look for a book. I did dip into week 2 for some things and move some pages in there that we didn't finish, but I stuck to the plan way more than I have in previous years--the files make it much harder to say "nah, we'll get that next week". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Jessica* Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 I finally got around to blogging about our file crate system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catholicmommy Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Sounds like many of you are off to a great start for the year! Thank you to everyone who posted such great ideas and twists to the filing system. Jessica, i especially love your pocket folders! Let me know how they work out for you. I haven't even decided when we will start school. I'm still in slacker mode :D. Wish me luck for getting motivated to get back at it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 (edited) . Edited May 2, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoyfulMama Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 One of the reasons we homeschool is because we want to do things our own way and not the way the school system does it. We do have a curriculum that we will be using in the mean time after we finish what we still have left and until November rolls around and I already know that I have time to finish before the following year starts with plenty of days to spare. So for me it all comes down to setting this up, yes, but setting it up so that it works for us the way we want. Nothing will ever be perfect but as near perfect as possible (my perfect that is, which is not necessarily the same as anyone else's) is good enough for me :tongue_smilie:. I love that you know this about yourself! On a side note, I bought myself a present. Rather than flipping through paperclipped bunches of papers, I decided I wanted something easier to flip through during the week. I wanted the simplicity of not changing what I had already filed into one week, while not having to dig for the history lesson pages for the week, and I didn't want to have to open and close a binder. So I bought a 10 pocket project organizer at Staples. (Staples website is currently down.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 (edited) Now that that planning and printing of science is over (again, can I say I LOVE eBooks?!), I'm having fun finishing the rest of the year. Right now I'm typing out and printing copywork sentences for ds#1 and ds#2. Ds#1 is doing WWE 4, but he's not quite reading for dictation yet (I'm easing him into it and he'll be doing dictation instead of copywork by the end of winter), so I'm typing his dictation sentences for copywork instead. I'm doing basically the same for ds#2 with WWE 2. Both boys get dictation daily in spelling, so they are getting the benefits without having to worry too much yet about extra punctuation or unfamiliar spelling. Up until now I had been writing their copywork on a white board, making the other child wait for their narration exercise. This way, it's all ready for them to go in their file. I'm also working on planning/filing our nature study. Last year I really wanted to do the Outdoor Hour nature study challenges from The Handbook of Nature Study blog but never got around to it. So this year, I'm filing one challenge each week in our science folder, and we can do it on Friday (theoretically our short day) or even on the weekend with dh. I think to go with it, I'll also make a reading schedule of the Burgess books (birds, which we have already read at least half, and the animal book) to go with our nature study plans. Last night dh sat and planned out ds#1's math through the end of November (we aren't planning anything for December as I'm due the 3rd; anything we do get done will be gravy on top ;) ). He's currently working through Singapore 3A, but he's 4th grade and is capable of doing 4th grade math - he's only in the 3A book because we started formal school with him later and I want to start in the beginning ... long story. So, we wanted to accelerate him and make sure we covered topics that he needed for 4A/B, and also make sure we had mastery on multiplication facts. So now I have a beautiful plan that I can type into weekly plans and file. :D We are also in week 6 of the files I did first - I love having everything done for me. :D I am so glad to have found this thread - this school year will probably be the most productive of them all thus far (already it's been more productive it seems). I'm also thinking that after Little Bean is born, I'll be very thankful to have taken the time to file. Plus, dh is now getting inspired to finally organize his classroom (for the first time really in I don't know how many years teaching ... he said that it's not his strong suit ;) ). So, the boys and I are going to go in and label file folders for him and get all his tests, assignment sheets, supplemental worksheets, etc. Edited August 24, 2010 by MyLittleWonders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Just thought I'd take a peek at the last page of this thread :blush::leaving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Just thought I'd take a peek at the last page of this thread :blush::leaving: I just read your thread about finishing. Congratulations!!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 I just read your thread about finishing. Congratulations!!! :D Thanks! Now I just stare at it all. You know, it all looks so neat and ready to go. My dh is so proud of me:) I think he is planning something special (maybe a mocha or Chick-fil-a surprise) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 File!Say what? Say what? File! That's what we do! We File! We do for you! We turn around, touch the ground, Get back up, and File it down. Woot! Go Filers!!!! Hustle (clap) Get to it (clap) Filers (clap) Let's do it! :lol: You ladies are too funny =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 I'm also working on planning/filing our nature study. Last year I really wanted to do the Outdoor Hour nature study challenges from The Handbook of Nature Study blog but never got around to it. So this year, I'm filing one challenge each week in our science folder, and we can do it on Friday (theoretically our short day) or even on the weekend with dh. I think to go with it, I'll also make a reading schedule of the Burgess books (birds, which we have already read at least half, and the animal book) to go with our nature study plans. What a great idea! I always wanted to incorporate them but never could! Thanks for that :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 What a great idea! I always wanted to incorporate them but never could! Thanks for that :D Anytime. ;) I'm hoping that if I file one challenge each week with a corresponding journal page (either one of the free ones she has or something I've made) or supplies needed (index cards, for instance, to make our own "field guide" for our neighborhood), then we'll actually do it. The only concern I have is that I'm usually tired by Friday and I want to actually do it. But we don't have time to do it another day of the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted August 29, 2010 Share Posted August 29, 2010 Well, we're only about to begin week 2 of our school year, but so far I am LOVING having things in a weekly file. I'm still using our workbox drawers, which work out really well at our house, but it sure has been nice the two times I've sat down to prep for the upcoming week to find all the copying already done and the decisions more or less already made, and all I have to do is stick the appropriate papers in the appropriate drawer for each child and stick the sticky notes on the books, most of which are already in the drawers. I am glad I didn't pull apart our MUS books, though, as the pace we go through them is too unpredictable. But even those are all in one place where I can just reach up each evening and pull out the next page I think they need for the next day. I think this will really keep me on track with history and science, which has been hard for me to do. I had been doing the "we'll just do the next chapter when we finish this one" approach and progress was too s-l-o-w because I wanted to do ALL the fun stuff for each chapter, and then I would wind up in a hard spot at the end of the year trying to decide whether to just skip whole swathes of history, or extend over two years and disrupt my entire "big picture" plan, or what. This way I'm finding that I open up my folder and say to myself, here are the things we "could" do for history and science this week. How much time will we realistically have? Which of these things are most important? Which can I skip without feeling I've dealt a mortal blow to my child's education in this area? And then, if we go through faster than expected I can add something in, or if we're slow I feel confident that at least we're focusing on the really important bits, and then next week we can MOVE ON. I'm finding it very freeing. Just a progress report at the brink of week 2. FWIW. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted August 29, 2010 Share Posted August 29, 2010 I think this will really keep me on track with history and science, which has been hard for me to do. I had been doing the "we'll just do the next chapter when we finish this one" approach and progress was too s-l-o-w because I wanted to do ALL the fun stuff for each chapter, and then I would wind up in a hard spot at the end of the year trying to decide whether to just skip whole swathes of history, or extend over two years and disrupt my entire "big picture" plan, or what. This way I'm finding that I open up my folder and say to myself, here are the things we "could" do for history and science this week. How much time will we realistically have? Which of these things are most important? Which can I skip without feeling I've dealt a mortal blow to my child's education in this area? And then, if we go through faster than expected I can add something in, or if we're slow I feel confident that at least we're focusing on the really important bits, and then next week we can MOVE ON. I'm finding it very freeing. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted August 29, 2010 Share Posted August 29, 2010 We are starting Week 3. So far I have had to tweak some things but for the most part, the filing system is a success. I love having everything in its place already to go for the week. It frees up my weekends a great deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferB Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I JUST finished filing my last Student Page! Oh, that was quite a task. You'll know what I mean if you are familiar with the K12 curriculum. It has ALOT of student pages. But now I'm fully prepared for the school year, which starts a week from Tuesday for us. Now I'm tempted to split up my teacher's guides week by week in a binder like Sonlight does it. Should I do it? I still have a week left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonflyAcademy Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I spent nearly every free moment of the last week creating a file system.. What I came up with.. We are only on week 2 of school.. and I didn' t have it ready for week 1.. I was grateful for it this morning..as the stomach flu hit the house last night.. and I could still manage some school with the well kids today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truebluexf Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 As we enter week 2 I'm very glad I did some work ahead of time. :) I still have some tweaking to do but it's soooo nice to have so much done for me already!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poke Salad Annie Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I have created a filing system based on this thread. Thank you, thank you to all those who have posted how this works in their homes! I set mine up in a Rubbermaid Box Office from Walmart. I had bought the hanging folders on clearance for cheap last year not knowing how I would use them. Now I've got each subject set up in a hanging folder with manila folders inside holding the papers I need for future lessons. It is working great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Okay, yes, it's ONLY the first day of school.... I'm LOVING this!!! I think the kids are also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Something I'm learning through filing for the school year and now utilizing the plans/photocopies/etc. is that I'm finally feeling proactive in my homeschooling. With three youngsters, I have felt that I have been very reactive, never quite knowing when the next thing might pop up, or what surprise it may bring me. ;) Homeschooling, for instance, has often been very reactive - rushing around to make copies, trying to figure out when I wake in the morning what exactly we are going to do that day ... not that every day was like that, but more felt that way than not, at least sometimes. Now with everything done (well, almost done; I'm having fun planning our nature studies for the year) I'm feeling like I can relax when it comes to homeschooling, knowing it's already planned, I know what we are doing, we're studying things that are interesting, we're following through on subjects, and I'm overall much more relaxed about it all. So ... here's to being proactive, at least in one area of life, through the beauty of filing! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whybenormal Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I admit I didn't read ALL the posts, but I read pages and pages of them to get an idea of how filing would work. I devised a system and spent 3 weeks getting everything prepared. This is our second week of school and I feel so great about how it is all going! Thank you all for such wonderful ideas and great inspiration! You have changed my school for the better!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllBoys Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 We haven't started school yet (next week) and I am wondering how this is working for everyone. Has anyone done this with teaching textbooks? I would love to hear how you did that. Did you take that huge book apart? I think I am going to do that today, maybe. Also, my boys skip the video if I don't remind them to watch it before their lesson. I would like them to do this without me verbally reminding them. Should I put a checklist in the workbox drawer? One more question, how do you handle checking and corrections? I am thinking maybe they should bring it to me immediately to be checked so we don't end up with days and days to check. (not that that has ever happened) :blush: Usually I don't check until after the end of the day and then we have to start the next day with corrections. I usually have them correct anything they got wrong but I was remembering back to "real school" and they don't correct wrong problems. Am I being too hard on them? Thanks to everyone who has participated in this thread! You have helped me so much!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misidawnrn Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 You aren't going to belive what I did................. I strated filing. I have thought long and hard about this and if it would work, instead of pulling out papers from their books/binders every day. I planned for a 35 week year with more review stuff during summer. The thing that really pushed me to it was ABeka language arts. The teachers books are all laid out so nicely in daily lessons but I would have to gather pages from 3 different books. I only have one more thing to file and the whole year is in a box. For right now I am even going to NOT write lesson plans, we are just going to do what is in the file every week:D I hope it works, or I will be putting them all back in 3ring binders:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbie Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 We've been using our filing system all week. For the most part, it's working great. Allboys - I do have to write out a chart for them to check off. I can also add things like "practice piano" on the chart. I have to remind myself to check their work. My 6th grader is so independent now that it is easy to forget to look at her work. My 4th grader, however, tends to do all the easy stuff and leave the hard stuff for the end of the day or even tries to skip the hard stuff. She missed half of our family movie last night when I found out she skipped Latin. I know, "mean mom". I keep reminding my kids that in public school, they would have homework. If they get their work done, they won't have any. If they waste time during the day, they will. They've been getting up before me to start working. I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonflyAcademy Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 We haven't started school yet (next week) and I am wondering how this is working for everyone. Has anyone done this with teaching textbooks? We use Teaching Textbooks for Math for my 4th grader. In addition to the weekly files, I have a planbook and I wrote each lesson for TT that he needs to do each day.. He uses scrap paper, we don't use the text book (yet).. For my son, he found it distracting and our computer desk is small.. so he just uses scrap paper to work out problems and we use the computer program to track his progress. I queue the lesson, so he watches the lecture... One more question, how do you handle checking and corrections? I am thinking maybe they should bring it to me immediately to be checked so we don't end up with days and days to check. I correct after they are done for the day.. so it's just 1 days work to be looked at.. I then file it into a binder for the year that I have marked off sections for.. so Language Arts pages go in one spot, Math pages (we also use MUS) go in another etc.. This way I have a year long record of their work should my district have any concerns... I also have a daily chart for each child (it's a weekly chart broken into days across the top and activities/books across the side..) they know they need to check off boxes each day.. My 4th grader has some areas in which he can choose to do 1 or more things per day or skip and work more the next day.. such as his grammar sheets, explode the code, MUS practice sheets.. but other things require daily work.. such as Teaching Textbooks, History, Spelling.. I allow him to pace himself.. he isn't done for the day until his daily work is done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 We have been using our filing system for over a month now and it is working very well. There have been things that I decided to drop and those things were just removed from the file. Things I added are just dropped into the first file we use and I make a new grid for it so I can add it to our lesson plans when we get to them. I did not take my workbooks or textbooks apart. I put them in the first file that we will use it and then they are kept in our workboxes and the lesson plans tell us what page we are doing for that day. My older dd does have a checklist for her work that we keep in her workbox. I update it each week with the new lesson plan. For corrections--each day we review the last day's work and redo work that has errors. This way she is fresh and often sees her mistakes better than if we did them right away when her brain is still cloudy. Hope this answers some of your questions.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Jessica* Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 We haven't started school yet (next week) and I am wondering how this is working for everyone. Has anyone done this with teaching textbooks? I would love to hear how you did that. Did you take that huge book apart? I think I am going to do that today, maybe. Also, my boys skip the video if I don't remind them to watch it before their lesson. I would like them to do this without me verbally reminding them. Should I put a checklist in the workbox drawer? One more question, how do you handle checking and corrections? I am thinking maybe they should bring it to me immediately to be checked so we don't end up with days and days to check. (not that that has ever happened) :blush: Usually I don't check until after the end of the day and then we have to start the next day with corrections. I usually have them correct anything they got wrong but I was remembering back to "real school" and they don't correct wrong problems. Am I being too hard on them? We're finishing up week 4 and it's still going great! I ended up buying some clear plastic report covers to put all of their checklists in so I wasn't having to transfer things from folder to folder every week. I printed out a copy of their schedules which states which subjects we try to get to each day for the front. After that are the checklists and logs, including things like the FLL1 checklist, AAS checklist, reading log, memory work log, and small stickers for them to use after a lesson has been completed. We bought two of these desks at a yard sale and the boys keep their folders and checklists in their desks. It makes it look like school at home, but I like that they look more comfortable when writing than they did at the too big table we used before. As far as corrections go, my kids are still littles, so I do all of their work with them and we correct as we go. However, I think if I had more children, or older children, I would have them turn in their folders at the end of the day for correction and just hope I could keep up! lol I do think that correcting problems that they get wrong is beneficial, so I wouldn't skip it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllBoys Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 We use Teaching Textbooks for Math for my 4th grader. In addition to the weekly files, I have a planbook and I wrote each lesson for TT that he needs to do each day.. He uses scrap paper, we don't use the text book (yet).. For my son, he found it distracting and our computer desk is small.. so he just uses scrap paper to work out problems and we use the computer program to track his progress. I queue the lesson, so he watches the lecture... I correct after they are done for the day.. so it's just 1 days work to be looked at.. I then file it into a binder for the year that I have marked off sections for.. so Language Arts pages go in one spot, Math pages (we also use MUS) go in another etc.. This way I have a year long record of their work should my district have any concerns... I also have a daily chart for each child (it's a weekly chart broken into days across the top and activities/books across the side..) they know they need to check off boxes each day.. My 4th grader has some areas in which he can choose to do 1 or more things per day or skip and work more the next day.. such as his grammar sheets, explode the code, MUS practice sheets.. but other things require daily work.. such as Teaching Textbooks, History, Spelling.. I allow him to pace himself.. he isn't done for the day until his daily work is done... I miss the TT program keeping the gradebook, that isn't available in the higher grades, he is in Algebra 1. I usually have one of the boys do math while I work with another on piano but maybe I will take your lead and queue up the lesson first! I'm not sure why that didn't occur to me, although one of the things I like about TT is it is one thing they don't need me for the whole time. I guess I was hoping for them to be more independent (and responsible) and watch that lesson. Oh well, baby steps. I think the daily check off chart is something we need to implement. Is this something I would made up or is it from one of the online scheduling programs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllBoys Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 For corrections--each day we review the last day's work and redo work that has errors. This way she is fresh and often sees her mistakes better than if we did them right away when her brain is still cloudy. :001_smile: That makes sense to me, I might try this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathkath Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 We aren't doing this fully, but what I did last week was bind all of this week's pages with a coil binder to make a notebook. It was very portable and tidy. There were no loose pages to get lost or cause clutter. I put more in than I planned to do, and we ended up doing more. I think I'll be doing that again for the next few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 We're in the throes of week 3 now, and I admit this week had me a bit concerned. I've been feeling icky all weekend--not "sick" per se, just feminine yuckiness IYKWIM. I am still not up to snuff. Also, we took Monday off for Labor Day, which left me with a 4 day week. BUT, having it all in the folder, with my weekly plan sheet in there made it pretty easy to prioritize things and eliminate the ones that seem less essential this week. Ok, so there won't be an art lesson and we're dropping one day's worth of PE and only doing dictation once this week instead of twice, and a few things like that. We ARE still going to be right on track for week 4 by Monday. This is a good feeling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbie Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 So far so good here. Labor Day did throw us off. I knew it was coming, though. I think I put too much math in last week, so some pages rolled over. I put everything in their files each week in a binder with tabs for each subject. If something didn't get done that I feel can't be skipped, it just stays in the binder for the next week. I'm trying to do checking daily, but it doesn't always happen. I do go over mistakes with them at some point in the week and have them re-do some errors, like math. The best thing so far about this program is getting their work together Sunday night is a breeze. So much of my work is done. I still have some filing to do for 2nd semester, but that is a long way off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Knoll Mom Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 I found a new advantage of the filing system. We went on vacation for nine days and after we came back I front-loaded their Monday and Tuesday folders with all of their independent work for the week. This kept them on track for the week, but still gave me some time off to get unpacked and everything sorted out after being gone. Of course the rest of my week will be heavy teaching days, but it is worth it not to lose those school days for the kids. Yay files! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misidawnrn Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 I jumped onto the filing system a few weeks ago and so far it is working well. I put our math, Abeka Letter and sounds, spelling, BJU bible pages and GWG pages into it. I actually am liking it very much...I am not having to go through all of the books and make lesson plans, figuring out what to do next etc. I also corresponded our weeks with our Elemental Science so if we are in week 4 of our file, we should be in week 4 of ES. That makes life easy-peasy! I didn't put SOTW in it because I do that here and there and don't want to tear apart that book. I also supplement BJU bible with MFW bible reader. We also use Zaner Bloser handwriting just for practice that I didn't include in the file folders. I just made up a schedule for DD and lamintated it that has Math 1 page Letters and sounds 1 page Spelling-copy spelling words and 1 page if given Bible.... Science... history... handwriting 1 page... etc etc So, DD just has to do what is on her schedule for the day, cross it off and move on. She knows to do one page in handwriting workbook for example, without me having to tell her. I am trying to get her to work a little independantly where possible in preparation for further down the line. At first I thought...UGH who would want to put it all in files for the whole year...then I did it and LOVE IT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThelmaLou Posted September 26, 2010 Share Posted September 26, 2010 We're about to start week 5 of the file crate system, and I just wanted to weigh in with a progress report. This is my first time to comment on this thread, but I did read the whole thing a few weeks ago. With 5 boys, it took me a long time to plan, rip, file, etc...I'm also using HST successfully (after several failed attempts). Things are going beautifully! A couple of weekends some of the boys had extra work to do because of not finishing during the week. They know I'm determined to stay on schedule so school doesn't spill over into the summer for the first time in a long time. I absolutely love throwing things away at the end of the week. I'm not keeping math and grammar daily work, for example, but just the tests. For the first time in several years, I'm reading aloud to my boys every day and doing science (elementary level) twice a week. We're even doing experiments, so my boys think they've got a new mom!! I'm only filing by subject right now, because I'm insecure about doing everything by "week 1, week 2", etc...) But now I'm scheduling out with HST two weeks at a time and filling their binders with two weeks' worth of materials. One of my favorite features of their binders is the little peel and stick cd holders I put at the fronts of several of their dividers. Everyone has his own Phonetic Zoo disc, DIVE cd, etc... The only things they need besides their binders are their textbooks (non consumable) and reading books. Pencils, rulers, flashcards, cds, etc... are kept in the notebook. Nobody's losing anything, and we don't have a million different spiral notebooks for each boy's subjects. I saw that no one had commented on this thread in a while, and wanted to thank everyone who contributed helpful posts. This is the most successful I've ever been in revamping my entire homeschool, and it's working so well for us. It came at just the right time. Several years ago, we were doing just fine with our previous system. But when ds #5 was born, everything went to pieces. While he was still a toddler, we went through a major home fix-up, sold our house, bought a new one, and moved my folks in with us. The last 4 years have been utter chaos. This is the first school year since before my youngest ds that I feel like I've got my head above water. Just wanted to share our happy success! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDSMom Posted September 26, 2010 Share Posted September 26, 2010 So are you using crates/drawers at all or just the binders? Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted September 26, 2010 Share Posted September 26, 2010 It's going really well for us also. We're going into week 5 and are right on track despite a few days of being under the weather. It's amazing how motavating the plans are for my kids. They love the idea of having an end point. I didn't rip and file. I did type up lesson plans and make copies to file. On days when I'm stressed and hurried I don't have to think about what we're doing for history or science. I just pull out my plans and there is all the thinking already done for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted September 26, 2010 Share Posted September 26, 2010 We are two months into the filing system and it is working great for us. I love the fact that it is so easy to put together the school week. I just pull out my file and everything is there. I also kept my workbooks in tact and just stick them where we start them. All the texts and workbooks are kept in our workboxes.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbie Posted September 26, 2010 Share Posted September 26, 2010 Lisa - Thanks for sharing your success!:001_smile: We too are enjoying the file system. I did, however, stretch week three over two weeks. Labor Day was part of the problem and other personal stuff. When I saw we were falling behind, I made the decision to stretch the week over two. It worked out fine. I'm a little nervous about next week. I'm hoping we will be able to jump in at full speed. I think I will have a better idea of whether or not this is working after the first quarter. I'm sure we will have other slow weeks. I just don't want to make a habit of stretching out weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThelmaLou Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 So are you using crates/drawers at all or just the binders? Linda I ripped everything up and filed it by subject/child in a crate. Each boy's tabs are color coded, and then they have a different file folder for each fileable subject. Each week (or sometimes two weeks at a time), I pull that week's work from the individual folders and insert in binders. This is also when I remove the previous week's work and either toss it or file it. So...I store both completed work and work to be done in the crate, and I keep current work in the binder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDSMom Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 OK, Got it! Thanks Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 Two months in and still loving it. I'm already thinking about how I'm going to file next year's curriculum. I've been wanting to get started on next year too; but then I made a list of what I needed to still finish this year (we decided that one chapter of Latin every other week was too slow so now I need to photocopy and file the other half of LfC A, plus for some reason I never bought the boys' math books for the second half of the year, so I have lesson plans to write for those when I receive them), that I'm holding off on next year until I have this year finalized. ;) (I'm also making 16 days of lesson plans mostly for dh to do with the boys between Thankgiving, Little Bean baby being born and winter holidays.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 It's going really well for us also. We're going into week 5 and are right on track despite a few days of being under the weather. It's amazing how motavating the plans are for my kids. They love the idea of having an end point. I didn't rip and file. I did type up lesson plans and make copies to file. On days when I'm stressed and hurried I don't have to think about what we're doing for history or science. I just pull out my plans and there is all the thinking already done for me! My kids are finding that motivating too. We've put up a tree poster (from a teacher bulletin board set) with little tagboard owls in it. The owls are numbered from 1 to 36 and we're taking an owl out of the tree at the end of each week. Dd especially loves it when we get to pick an owl from the KnOWLedge tree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 My kids are finding that motivating too. We've put up a tree poster (from a teacher bulletin board set) with little tagboard owls in it. The owls are numbered from 1 to 36 and we're taking an owl out of the tree at the end of each week. Dd especially loves it when we get to pick an owl from the KnOWLedge tree. I love this idea! I think my boys would too. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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