Anyone ditch the filing folders already?

[guateangel]

I did! I had several weeks filed and it's just not going to work. I estimated how fast we would move and I estimated wrong. Some areas we are moving faster then anticipated and other areas slower. My dd decided to do a lot of art (dd is not artsy so this was a surprise and I was so excited) so we ended up going in a different direction for a few days and a lot of what I had filed was pushed back to later days. I can see us doing this often and I hadn't planned on it. I also learned real quick to use pencil in my planner instead of a pen. Oh well, hoping once I get the hang of things I can try it again. After all, this is my first year hs'n.

 

 

Ahhh, so much to learn...

[Snowfall]

I haven't ditched them, but it isn't going the way it's "supposed" to. We took 2 weeks to finish week 2 and will take 2 weeks to finish week 3. I'll still end up moving some things from week 4 up to week 3, and perhaps doing that every week (moving up from the following week) until we have a busy week. I don't mind it, though. It still lets me see how much we have to do. When DH goes back to school next week we won't be taking all these trips we've been taking and things will settle down, so we won't be spreading every week out. This still kept me honest, because I knew that even if I didn't finish it this week, I *needed* to finish what was in these folders, so I didn't slack nearly as much as I would have otherwise. Plus, it was nice having everything already printed out or copied and ready to go. :)

 

I can see where other people would hate having to move things between folders, though. If you don't need it to keep you honest or keep you organized, it's definitely a colossal waste of time.

[Guest]

We haven't ditched it completely....but it's not really working for us. We, too, are moving papers between folders and re-doing lesson plans. (Again and again. And again.)

 

I'll see how it goes the rest of the year before deciding whether or not to attempt it again next year.

[JoyfulMama]

I think much of my success last year in doing this (and why I am doing it again) was that I already had figured out how much "work" was the right fit for us. I had a number of years homeschooling already under our belts, and had done a lot of fumbling already. My expectations had already been tested, so I had a good handle on what worked for us.

Now this year I have three that I am teaching, however one is still PreK. Still she does do a bit of table time, simply because she enjoys it. I don't have her things filed, and I don't have much for my ds filed, but I do have our combined work filed. I have a plan.

And yet I am still sitting here on Sunday night making sure I am ready for the week ahead. Of course I am, as that is ME. (I'd have been done earlier, but I watched a movie.) I'm printing fine motor work for two children. I'm making copies of the history that I will need for my youngers (I don't copy ahead).

My prep means grabbing everything from my new weekly folder, separating it by subject and kid, and making sure I have what I need for tomorrow. There's no figuring out what needs to come next, or where did we leave off at, or where should we be? I make a few copies, and print out a couple things for my youngers, and I am good to go. I log in to the library web site, request a few books for next week, and I am completely done. Approximately 15 minutes.

 

It will take time to figure out what works best for YOU. Yes, you jumped on a bandwagon; hope you enjoyed the ride. More importantly, I hope you take the time to EVALUATE. If you don't evaluate what worked and what needs revision, your personal system will take longer to identify.

[bbsweetpea]

This is my second year doing a filing system and I have done better with the planning than last year. So far we are pretty much on target but we have only had one week of school so far.

[Closeacademy]

I think what is key to this systems is that you know:

 

what works with your kids

how much work they are cabable of/willing to do each day/week

what your teaching style is

that you are comfortable with your curriculum choice

 

If you have young children, you are just starting out with and/or are within those first 2 years of homeschooling, you are probably going to spend a lot of time redoing things.

 

Why?

 

Because those first two years are more about learning how to homeschool, learning what works and what doesn't and learning how to interact in a learning mode.

 

I hope it works out for the rest of you.:001_smile:

[Ravin]

I ditched the file system halfway through last year. We just don't have that much that can be filed, I guess, especially ahead of time. Some subjects we don't have consumable books for (math, FLL), others we're taking it entirely at DD's pace, not really planning ahead (Spanish).

 

And I learned to use pencil in the planner, which is where I'm really organized, a long time ago! Only completed items get written in pen.

[Renee in NC]

I never filed like others so, but I *did* make most of the copies/printouts that I need for the first quarter ahead of time. I also planned my lessons ahead of time. We've only done a week so far, but it is working. Some areas we are moving faster in and some are slower. My planning for this week took less than an hour, including printing a few things I still needed.

 

I tear pages out of workbooks and put in the folder. I do copywork ahead of time. I have my printouts ready so I am not scrambling for them. Each child has *one* file folder, not 36.:D

 

I think the key is in the planning for me.

[Mallory]

I only filed, in seperate boxes, Science and History. Having those two subjects filed has been such a relief. I have all those sepearate kits and wkshts, and activity books all together and since there is only one subject in each file, it doesn't even matter if we move faster or slower.

 

But so far it has worked okay, and I am really hoping it stops us from having to drag science and history out most of the summer.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is, if you think you would like the filing system maybe there are still ways you can make parts of it work for you.

[Guest aquiverfull]

While I haven't ditched it completely, I've changed it a few times already. I was not able to get everything filed before we started school and I was only filing 9 weeks at a time to begin with. There is a lot with my little ones that I can't file, but for something like Right Start Math I've made a progress chart and they put a sticker on each lesson as completed, so I've filed those pages. I'm still working on filing slowly. I find it way too time consuming but so far, I like it.

[EKS]

There is no way I could file everything by week for a whole year. It's bad enough when I get off on my list by a couple of days in some subjects--to be off in a bunch of file folders would put me over the edge!

[*Jessica*]

I think much of my success last year in doing this (and why I am doing it again) was that I already had figured out how much "work" was the right fit for us. I had a number of years homeschooling already under our belts, and had done a lot of fumbling already. My expectations had already been tested, so I had a good handle on what worked for us.

:iagree: Although we only have one year under our belts I've been reading about homeschooling and what would be a good fit for our family since before I was even pregnant with my oldest son. I spent his kindergarten year learning his style and pace. That has made the filing system work so well for us. We're only starting week 3 today, but I am confident that this will continue to work for us for the entire year, and likely for many years to come! It is certainly not for everyone, though, and the sooner you figure that out the less work it will be for you. It is a LOT of initial work! Be glad that you figured it out so soon.

[Omma]

I did not read the whole big thread on filing systems because I am way too squeamish about this after my own disastrous tale from last year. I spent the whole summer setting up beautiful files for TOG for the year, along with weekly plans for most other subjects. The night before the very first week of school, my 9 ds came down with some kind of vomiting virus that affected us as a family for 4 full months and beyond. I could do basically no school for 2 of those MONTHS and it totally wiped out all my wonderful plans.

 

I switched over to BJU DVD's the beginning of November and was able to make it through the year, but I have sadly had to throw away so much of my hard work that I had prepared so that I am very skittish to ever try that again.

 

And yet, I have realized that when I don't have any long-range plans at all, I get far less done than I ought to... as I get side-tracked to do so many other activities that come up and seem so good at the time. Sigh...

 

Anyway, I can surely sympathize and empathize with everyone here who may be struggling in this area!

 

I think there can be a good compromise in planning out what needs to happen in order to get each subject done in a year on some kind of calendar planner (we use the big desk-top ones) and then have files for subjects so that we can be ahead or behind in any given subject without having to move files over. Not sure how clear this is sounding, but this is what is working for us.

 

Blessings to all to have a healthy, happy school year!!!!

 

Brenda

[charlestonmom03]

I am loving the file box and I am quickly realizing that the reason we were "behind" my plans last year had little to do with my child and a lot to do with me. It was a lot of work for me to make copies and put everything in the files (I only have the first 10-16 weeks done, and haven't even started on science yet due to a science curriculum crisis over the weekend). Last year I pushed assignments off because I wasn't prepared for them. It feels good to not be in that spot this year! Thankfully I only labeled my files by week number, not by date. We probably aren't going to get any schooling in this week because we have a virus running through the family -- but next week we'll just pick up and carry on.

[charlestonmom03]

I did not read the whole big thread on filing systems because I am way too squeamish about this after my own disastrous tale from last year. I spent the whole summer setting up beautiful files for TOG for the year, along with weekly plans for most other subjects. The night before the very first week of school, my 9 ds came down with some kind of vomiting virus that affected us as a family for 4 full months and beyond. I could do basically no school for 2 of those MONTHS and it totally wiped out all my wonderful plans.

 

This sounds so completely miserable! It would make me sick to have throw away all that hard work. We've had a vomiting virus here over the weekend and I thought giving it a week to run its course was very generous -- 4 months would about do me in. I hope you have a much better year this year and everyone in your family remains healthy!

[Halcyon]

I only filed, in seperate boxes, Science and History. Having those two subjects filed has been such a relief. I have all those sepearate kits and wkshts, and activity books all together and since there is only one subject in each file, it doesn't even matter if we move faster or slower.

 

 

This is what we did-since Science and History are filed separately (we didn't do one big file for each week) if we go slower or faster in those subjects it doesn't impact all the other subjects.

[robsiew]

I think what is key to this systems is that you know:

 

what works with your kids

how much work they are cabable of/willing to do each day/week

what your teaching style is

that you are comfortable with your curriculum choice

 

If you have young children, you are just starting out with and/or are within those first 2 years of homeschooling, you are probably going to spend a lot of time redoing things.

 

Why?

 

Because those first two years are more about learning how to homeschool, learning what works and what doesn't and learning how to interact in a learning mode.

 

I hope it works out for the rest of you.:001_smile:

 

:iagree::iagree:

 

This is the start of our third year... I instituted the filing system about 1/2 way through last year. I was at the point where I know how fast (or slow!) my kids work and our curriculum is nailed down. I still end up doing some refiling if unexpected things come up... what I end up doing is not moving all the material in every folder... I create a "stack" that goes in front of the group of folders for each child for the week. I take from that stack and add the papers we haven't gotten to to this stack. Then, if we have a lot of weeks left I'll shift everything... otherwise if we only have a couple weeks left in the cycle I'll just pull from the pile each day.

 

Most weeks we are more or less "on" though... it's only the weeks we end up missing a day that I hadn't intended on. ;)

[Wheres Toto]

Last year I pushed assignments off because I wasn't prepared for them. It feels good to not be in that spot this year! Thankfully I only labeled my files by week number, not by date. We probably aren't going to get any schooling in this week because we have a virus running through the family -- but next week we'll just pick up and carry on.

 

I did the same thing - I numbered my folders not dated so if we take off a whole month it won't matter. I also am using it to have things together since I had trouble with that last year.

 

I have a pretty light workload in each weeks folder - enough to finish a "year" in 36 weeks but not pushing too hard and with a 4 day week. My kids are still very young and are working at least a year "ahead" so I don't feel too much pressure to get a lot done. If we end up with a bunch of extra time in a day we'll play games, go outside and do Nature walks, etc.

 

I also filed History and Science separately by topic so we can take as long as we like with them. If we really love studying dinosaurs, we can take as long as we like and it won't put our core subjects behind.

[Guest]

If you have young children, you are just starting out with and/or are within those first 2 years of homeschooling, you are probably going to spend a lot of time redoing things.

 

Why?

 

Because those first two years are more about learning how to homeschool, learning what works and what doesn't and learning how to interact in a learning mode.

 

 

:iagree:

 

This is us. This is why it hasn't worked. This is why I'm not giving up on the system completely...

[Robin in DFW]

I tried to set this up 2x only to take it all apart.

 

I think this system would work great for very young students, but my dc are older and use too many textbooks and have lessons that vary in length so much that we are always adding a day or taking away a day for completion.

 

I just couldn't make it work and I am an organization NUT!!! I am one of those people that put labels on everything...I would label the drawers in my kitchen, if it wouldn't ruin the wood. :tongue_smilie:

 

Great idea...bad for me personally.

[ChrisOR]

I didn't file weekly. I'm setting up subject files, with everything ready to go (pages taken from workbooks, holes punched, things like artist study prints in page protectors, maps printed, etc.).

 

I just didn't think I could do weekly files with a new baby due at the end of September, and an easy schedule of school planned for October.

 

But the filing idea did inspire me to be get more organized in advance of the baby's birth.

[Satori]

I took what I knew would work for us. First of all, for me, filing everything weekly is way too strict and would quickly end up being a disaster. I'd spend more time working on trying to keep to my weekly files than actually homeschooling. Instead, I scheduled out our entire school year in advance for each subject. I used an online scheduler. I prepared and put in file folders anything needed, in file folders separated by subject.

 

I feel totally prepared and great about this school year! I won't be able to "break" my system, because it's flexible. If we go faster in one subject, no biggie, as I didn't have things planned out by weeks, only sequenced each subject. If we get sick for a week (we never get sick though), no biggie, my online scheduler doesn't care, it just slides everything to the next day.

 

Although I didn't copy the file system exactly I'm glad I went through the thread. Usually I plan out lessons only four months in advance, this time it was nine months in advance, PLUS, I pre-printed/pre-prepared everything I was able to. Things are going to go so much more smoothly this year.

[Tress]

I didn't file weekly. I'm setting up subject files, with everything ready to go (pages taken from workbooks, holes punched, things like artist study prints in page protectors, maps printed, etc.).

 

I just didn't think I could do weekly files with a new baby due at the end of September, and an easy schedule of school planned for October.

 

But the filing idea did inspire me to be get more organized in advance of the baby's birth.

 

Make that 'new baby in December' and yeah, what she said :).

[ThreeBlessings]

I'm not a filer. :) Can't do it. I do have all our work planned out for the year at homechoolskedtrack.com. This way if we don't do a lesson it will move to the next day that subject is scheduled, automatically! I do go through and make copies etc any copies ahead of time, but just for however long I can get ahead, no set time. I also make notes as to supplies and books we'll need during the lessons on skedtrack. I will go and look some weeks ahead on each subject. It is easy because you can print the entire year view for each subject. I use a highlighter to keep track of where we are on that. I do like to get our upcoming work for the week ready each weekend. That's about it!

[Satori]

:iagree: Yep, I use Homeschool Skedtrack too and that's pretty much how I've been doing it all along. The only changes is that I am trying to print off things that I'll need for the whole year, but I will not be tearing up any books or workbooks to do it.

[runamuk]

The filing system isn't working for us, so I'm going to back to what I was doing last year. It's very similar to the filing system, but a bit more flexible.

 

I've made a rough plan for the next six weeks in my planner of what I think we'll cover. Sunday afternoon, I see if we're on track and adjust accordingly. I then write up a weekly schedule for each child, print up/tear out the pages they will need, and put it all in a binder, divided by subject. I put the binder and any extra books/materials they will need into a small crate on the bookshelf with our other homeschooling materials.

 

This works better for us because I don't need to adjust for more than a few weeks at a time if we get hit with an illness or need to take some time off.

 

One benefit for me of the filing system is that I plan more and better when I do it for a longer period of time. We're less likely to get off track or miss something when I have it all planned out several weeks in advance.

[ChrisOR]

I've made a rough plan for the next six weeks in my planner of what I think we'll cover. Sunday afternoon, I see if we're on track and adjust accordingly. I then write up a weekly schedule for each child, print up/tear out the pages they will need, and put it all in a binder, divided by subject. I put the binder and any extra books/materials they will need into a small crate on the bookshelf with our other homeschooling materials.

 

 

 

Do you put all 6 weeks' worth of work in the notebook or just one week at a time?

[Mommee & Baba]

We haven't ditched ours. This is the first year doing the filing system and the workboxes and so far so good. We're in week #3 of our schooling. It's been so NICE having the system and the workboxes.

 

My only complaint is..I didn't schedule ENOUGH hands on crafting activities and "extra" filler basics. For example...my 2nd grader LOVED that last year we did SO much hands on activities and crafts that this year we've only done 2 so far...and usually we did 2-4 a WEEK! So it's been a HUGE adjustment. However I like that it's not so packed with crafts...but with my K5er...she had more book work than last year because she's ready but I literally ignored the FUN aspect of school too...so I've had to spend a couple hours printing and filing some hands on fun activity worksheets for her to do and some other basic skills things...next year I'll remember that just putting holiday crafts filed and the projects and crafts from the curriculums are NOT enough. So next year I need to throw in ART for sure into the schedule.

 

This coming week I'll be searching for some other fun activities to add to our morning routine of school to help fill that void.

[catholicmommy]

I think much of my success last year in doing this (and why I am doing it again) was that I already had figured out how much "work" was the right fit for us. I had a number of years homeschooling already under our belts, and had done a lot of fumbling already. My expectations had already been tested, so I had a good handle on what worked for me.

It will take time to figure out what works best for YOU. Yes, you jumped on a bandwagon; hope you enjoyed the ride. More importantly, I hope you take the time to EVALUATE. If you don't evaluate what worked and what needs revision, your personal system will take longer to identify.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

Exactly what i was going to say. I too have been hs for a number of years and know what is too much work and what is not enough for us. I also know when i'm just slacking off instead of needing to adjust things. The key is to be able to know the difference. No system will be perfect becuase life is unpredictable, but a good system will helpmkeep you on track when you just don't feel like doing it anymore. Don't feel bad about having to move things around. I don't think that is really a waste of time. If she likes art now, maybe she wont go as fast with it later in the year, and it will still be nicely filed for you when you want to slow down to a more regular pace. In the meantime, you know where to find it and its not a big deal to pull it out of a few weeks ahead. The system should not make you feel like a slave to it... Or a failure if it doesn't work out exactly as planned. YOU are the boss :D

[FO4UR]

I am tweaking it to fit us. Some things work well filed by the week, and others work better filed by subject. I filed some of our math, but the main lessons are NOT filed so I can keep the flexibility. I filed handwriting paper for SWR, but that does NOT impact how fast/slow we move through it. I did file the WISE Grammar pages for all 36 weeks, only to decide to pull those out and file by subject to maintain more flexibility there. Live and learn.:001_smile:

 

Filing a page entitled "Narration" has been a very good thing for us. I actually write them down and save them a couple times per week now.

[Sahamamama]

We haven't started our new school year yet (January 2011), but even though it's a few months away, I have started to get our materials filed and in order. I would like to have everything READY and DONE for 2011 by this October 31st. When the pumpkins come out, The Great and Marvelous File Box, the numerous charts, the ordering, the organizing -- everything will be DONE and ready to go. That's the goal, anyway! The reason for this is that I need to save all our extra time (and money) in November and December to get ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas & all three girls' birthdays at the beginning of the new year. :willy_nilly: Last year was not fun, honestly. I don't want to do that again! :tongue_smilie:So this year I'm spreading out the preparations and giving myself a deadline.

 

The filing system here is going to work for this reason: I am not tying it into HAVING to finish a certain amount of work in a certain number of days. I am not making it my Task Master. I will not be accountable each week to The Box. :tongue_smilie:Instead, the Box will report to me. Yes, Ma'am! :D

 

What I want The Box to do for me is this: Remind me again, what was that subject we never get to? :001_huh: Remind me again, where did we leave off in our Read Alouds? :001_huh: Remind me again, which twin had her phonics lesson yesterday (they're identical, give me a break)? :001_huh: I can get so foggy sometimes. I waste time finding my "place." I think it will be nice to have a built-in teacher's aide to remind me "just do the next thing....."

 

Instead of setting up a rigid "this must be done in one week" type of system, I am lining up for each subject what I think is a reasonable amount to cover in the course of an entire year, then I'm dividing this into 36 "Weeks" -- so far, the same system. Into each week I'll put not just our Seat Work, but also our Geography, Bible, Doctrine, Music, Science, Read Alouds, Memory Work, Handicrafts/Art, and Nature Study.

 

In using the files, though, we are going to take the time we need to do everything that's in there. So if it takes us five days to do "Week 1," that's fine, we're on track.... If it takes us a few days more or less, that's okay, too. But what The Box will do is make sure we actually DO our Science lessons and Geography lessons for Week 24 before we move onto anything for Week 25. Everything in the file for Week _____ must be done before we move onto the file for the next week.

 

I think there is a lot of flexibility in doing it this way, but there is also a built-in discipline (that I want for us). We might have a day when we do nothing but Math, but the folder is only going to have so much math work in it.... so then we are "forced" to move onto something else. There's also the flexibility of fitting our school into our real lives, instead of trying to adhere to a rigid school-like schedule that never works for our family. My husband's hours and days are all over the place. When the girls haven't seen him in days, we put school aside when he is home. Daddy matters more than "finishing the folder." ;) Or, the other side of it is, Let's see.... Daddy is coming home late today, so we have a longer afternoon before nap time, let's do our Science lesson for the week.

 

I figure there are 52 weeks in a year.... We have no money or plans for taking a vacation, so we get to use all 52 weeks, if need be. That gives us plenty of wiggle room. There are some weeks when the weather is so lovely, I don't want to say "This is a school day, let's do math drill." I'll line up "the work" and then we'll work through it as the year rolls along. I think it should be just fine.

[catholicmommy]

 

The filing system here is going to work for this reason: I am not tying it into HAVING to finish a certain amount of work in a certain number of days. I am not making it my Task Master. I will not be accountable each week to The Box. :tongue_smilie:Instead, the Box will report to me. Yes, Ma'am! :D

 

What I want The Box to do for me is this: Remind me again, what was that subject we never get to? :001_huh: Remind me again, where did we leave off in our Read Alouds? :001_huh: Remind me again, which twin had her phonics lesson yesterday (they're identical, give me a break)? :001_huh: I can get so foggy sometimes. I waste time finding my "place." I think it will be nice to have a built-in teacher's aide to remind me "just do the next thing....."

 

Instead of setting up a rigid "this must be done in one week" type of system, I am lining up for each subject what I think is a reasonable amount to cover in the course of an entire year, then I'm dividing this into 36 "Weeks" -- so far, the same system. Into each week I'll put not just our Seat Work, but also our Geography, Bible, Doctrine, Music, Science, Read Alouds, Memory Work, Handicrafts/Art, and Nature Study.

 

I think there is a lot of flexibility in doing it this way, but there is also a built-in discipline (that I want for us). We might have a day when we do nothing but Math, but the folder is only going to have so much math work in it.... so then we are "forced" to move onto something else. There's also the flexibility of fitting our school into our real lives, instead of trying to adhere to a rigid school-like schedule that never works for our family. My husband's hours and days are all over the place. When the girls haven't seen him in days, we put school aside when he is home. Daddy matters more than "finishing the folder." ;) Or, the other side of it is, Let's see.... Daddy is coming home late today, so we have a longer afternoon before nap time, let's do our Science lesson for the week.

.

 

Yay! You have a great attitude. This is very similar to how we did things too, although i NEEDED a long break in the summer so i forced myself to work harder through the year so we could enjoy time off later, but itnwas very flexible. Somewhat similar to a loop system in that you actually get to those other subjects that tend to be forgotten.

[tennismomkelly]

Instead of setting up a rigid "this must be done in one week" type of system, I am lining up for each subject what I think is a reasonable amount to cover in the course of an entire year, then I'm dividing this into 36 "Weeks" -- so far, the same system. Into each week I'll put not just our Seat Work, but also our Geography, Bible, Doctrine, Music, Science, Read Alouds, Memory Work, Handicrafts/Art, and Nature Study.

 

In using the files, though, we are going to take the time we need to do everything that's in there. So if it takes us five days to do "Week 1," that's fine, we're on track.... If it takes us a few days more or less, that's okay, too. But what The Box will do is make sure we actually DO our Science lessons and Geography lessons for Week 24 before we move onto anything for Week 25. Everything in the file for Week _____ must be done before we move onto the file for the next week.

:iagree: This is exactly how I've been using the file system and it's working out perfectly for us. :D I love it!! :001_tt1:

[runamuk]

Do you put all 6 weeks' worth of work in the notebook or just one week at a time?

 

I put only one week's worth of work in the binder at a time. :)

[prairiegirl]

We started school last week so we have only been using the file system for a week. I have had to tweak some things but for the most part it is working well for us. I love having everything in one spot and already to go. I don't have to hunt around for the math book or math manipulatives. It is saving my sanity.

 

I have the file folders marked by Week #, not date. We just keeping working through the week's worth of work regardless of how long it takes us. If we get to a week (like this one) where we will probably only get 3 days of work in, I am not going to let it stress me out. We will just continue on until we get the work on that folder finished, then will move on to the next folder. I had to give myself a talking to last week when I started to get all OCD about not getting the work done on the right day. My talking to helped. I refuse to get stressed about this. My purpose for the file folders (having the work all in one place) is turning out to be a success, the rest doesn't really matter.

[Homeschooling6]

I haven't started yet but I decided to file by subject instead of weeks. I don't understand the weekly filing because if one week doesn't work out and we get behind, then it ruins the rest of the weeks.

I'm hoping with filing by subjects it will work. I just finished filing my last subject and hopefully soon I'll blog about it but for now if you're interested you can read how I'm pulling things together on my blog under "Filing Adventure" label.

Blessings,

[LunaLee]

... but my dc are older and use too many textbooks and have lessons that vary in length so much that we are always adding a day or taking away a day for completion.

 

That's why I just made folders with the chapter # and titles on them for history and science. This way I can file whatever is relevant to that chapter, no matter how long it takes.

 

FWIW, not all of my folder have something in them, and I'm also not done filing. I've got two weeks left...

[Sahamamama]

:iagree: This is exactly how I've been using the file system and it's working out perfectly for us. :D I love it!! :001_tt1:

 

Oh, good, that's so good to know. It dawned on me about halfway through this year (end of June) that we were doing things the "wrong" way (for us) -- we'd schedule our Seat Work every morning, then a Weekly Subject (Bible, Doctrine, Music, Story Telling, Science). After that, we'd have lunch, then do a long Read Aloud as a group. We also would try to fit in picture books and chapter books in the evening. We had "on" weeks and "off" weeks scheduled on the calendar. It looked good on paper... it didn't actually WORK in real life.

 

For balance, I need to be on some sort of loop, something that will say to me, "Ma'am, step back from the Seat Work. The next subject in the line-up is not Math, which is done for this time-frame. We are committed to doing a Science lesson, a Geography lesson, and more Memory Work review before going back to Seat Work." Unfortunately, I would be all about the Seat Work without accountability to be balanced. At the young ages of my children, they honestly learn more by doing things, playing, going places, and being read to..... oh, and having conversations with adults.

[KrissiK]

Wellllll....... I filed weekly and we're using A Beka LA and Math and it works out great if we have school every day as planned. But.... tomorrow I have an unexpected dr. appt. just made today with the dermatologist and so we won't be having school tomorrow. So, that kind of screws up my filing a bit. Because we'll do Tuesday's work on Wed. and then it all gets backed up. I'm not ready to chuck it yet... but I do believe by our October break I'll be needing to do some re-vamping.

[Rosy]

NO WAY am I ditching my files! It's the best organization move I've made (other than cleaning out my shelves). I love having all of our papers readily available and all in once place. We have done some shifting around...but that's just part of the maintenance process, as far as I'm concerned.

[Lori C- Texas]

I am LOVING our system. We just started week 4 and it has only taken me about 15 minutes to prep school for each week.

 

I also use homeschoolskedtrack.com and have our year planned out in there also. Our file system is just all printables and workbook pages with list of supplies for activities and experiments and booklist.

[FairProspects]

It is working fantastically for us in our content areas (history and science) and helps us stay on track to move through material on-time (or skip unnecessary parts). For skill subjects, we just work on the next thing.

[mommy4ever]

I know we'll be modifying as we go, but it's a learning curve and if all else fails the lessons are still planned and ready to go when we are.

 

I am already seeing the girls getting ahead of what was planned, but that is ok.... why? Because I planned so it gets done, if it is done sooner, so be it. I know for next year to make it meatier...

[MerryAtHope]

I filed by subject instead of by week--and for some things I only printed off 6 weeks so that I can re-evaluate after 6 weeks, to see which things we'll really use and how we'll use them, LOL!

 

It's all good, it's part of learning how you homeschool. You'll still be able to use the things you got ready even if you can't use the weekly files--just pull out the next thing when ready for it!

 

A couple of things I think I could have filed more precisely--but for the most part I'm happy with them filed by subject & will tweak as needed!

 

Schedules--mine are mostly blank and I write in what we do as we do it, LOL!

 

Merry :-)

[catholicmommy]

Wellllll....... I filed weekly and we're using A Beka LA and Math and it works out great if we have school every day as planned. But.... tomorrow I have an unexpected dr. appt. just made today with the dermatologist and so we won't be having school tomorrow. So, that kind of screws up my filing a bit. Because we'll do Tuesday's work on Wed. and then it all gets backed up. I'm not ready to chuck it yet... but I do believe by our October break I'll be needing to do some re-vamping.

 

This is exactly why I started filing in the first place. All those little appointments, sick days and 'i just don't feel like getting the kids to start school today' days are what caused my 36 weeks of school to balloon into something more like 46 weeks. For some, they don't mind schooling for that long.. but for me, I wanted a break and I wanted to get to the end and see my progress!!

 

So, I realized that in a regular school, if a child missed a lesson because of an unexpected (or not) doctors appt, the teacher didn't make the entire class wait until the kid came back before moving on in the subject. The child either skipped the lesson, or did it as homework later, after maybe a brief oral review with her teacher or parent as to what was missed. No big deal, and the year keeps going along according to plan.

 

Missing a few days sprinkled here and there is no big deal because most of the schoolwork is so incremental and built on daily practice of little things. Over time, all the little things done consistently add up to mastery of the material. What IS a big deal is missing a big chunk all in a row at the end of the year because you or your child are burnt out and needing a break... or just quitting the subject all together. Does that make sense?

 

So, if we have a week where there are things going on that stop me from getting to a math lesson or writing or whatever.. I either toss it in the garbage and move on, or quickly review it orally, do a few practice problems and then move on. I still finish my week's work... some of it gets done orally and most of it gets done the normal way. This way, I am staying more or less on track to finish near my ideal last-day-of school on the calender.

 

for me this is the real hidden strength of the filing system. For others, this is a big stumbling block. It took me awhile to get to this point, but I finally realized that if I wanted to end the year sane, :D I needed to take control of our weeks and the curriculum and I AM THE BOSS!!!:D:D No curriculum or TM is going to rule me!

[TN Mama]

NO WAY am I ditching my files! It's the best organization move I've made (other than cleaning out my shelves). I love having all of our papers readily available and all in once place. We have done some shifting around...but that's just part of the maintenance process, as far as I'm concerned.

 

:iagree: We are only in our 2nd week of school, but I LOVE the files. When I switch out my weeks (filing old work and putting in the new), anything that did not get completed will be in the front of the weekly binder to be completed before other work.

[woolybear]

I haven't ditched it.....yet. And I don't think I will entirely. It's not smooth sailing here, but that might be for a few reasons. I see how well the filing works for certain subjects--picture study, art projects, nature lessons, composer study....anything that isn't really dependent on dc either learning certain concepts or anything that isn't overly involved. The jury (me) is still out on history, science, and math. I'm not sure I'm glad I cut up my Elemental Science books. It's MORE confusing right now. Though that might just take a bit of getting used to. Plus some of it is going right into binders, so I'm not sure if that made sense.:001_unsure:

[ChicoryChick]

I took what I knew would work for us. First of all, for me, filing everything weekly is way too strict and would quickly end up being a disaster. I'd spend more time working on trying to keep to my weekly files than actually homeschooling. Instead, I scheduled out our entire school year in advance for each subject. I used an online scheduler. I prepared and put in file folders anything needed, in file folders separated by subject.

 

I feel totally prepared and great about this school year! I won't be able to "break" my system, because it's flexible. If we go faster in one subject, no biggie, as I didn't have things planned out by weeks, only sequenced each subject. If we get sick for a week (we never get sick though), no biggie, my online scheduler doesn't care, it just slides everything to the next day.

 

Although I didn't copy the file system exactly I'm glad I went through the thread.

 

This is what I did too!

[woolybear]

This is what we did-since Science and History are filed separately (we didn't do one big file for each week) if we go slower or faster in those subjects it doesn't impact all the other subjects.

 

There's no smilie for a light bulb over the head, but I'm thinking this might make tons of sense!!! Thank you.

[johnandtinagilbert]

I don't do weekly, but instead follow subjects, too. Not for every subject b/c many of my materials lend nicely to grab and go, but for areas where I have heavy copy counts (TOG, Science), I file via combined lesson (TOG weeks in their own copy, even though our time frame is longer than one week).

 

I have a lesson planner I PENCIL in every 7 weeks (we break after 7 weeks) and just make sure I build a light enough load that if we miss a day, we can either skip it, or make it up rather effortlessly.

 

The rest stay in their happy little binders (from the publisher) and sit on a bookshelf near my writing board so I am able to refer to my planner, grab and go.

 

So, yes, we're sticking to our version of filing for several years, successfully.