MamaSheep Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I heart my files too. This is our best year yet, and a lot of that is due to the files keeping me on track. Even with a fairly severe bout of illness for me that lasted from just after Thanksgiving until New Year's weekend, we've been able to keep going with at least the "big stuff" of school. That never would have happened before. Another thing I REALLY like about the files is that I have a really good idea where we are in the school year for each subject, and what's left. That saves me a LOT of stress. I will say, though, that I'm just as happy that I DIDN'T file the stuff I didn't file as I am that I DID file the stuff in the files. The first couple of years of homeschooling I would not have been able to judge as well which was which, so I think experience might come into play somewhat. For example, I knew that math is something where I just cannot predict what pace we'll go through. I really can't plan that more than a week or two in advance because some things they catch on to really fast, and then there's no point in doing sixteen more pages of it before moving on to the next thing. Especially with ds that approach only makes him LOATHE a subject. By the same token, sometimes I am surprised at what turns out to be a hang-up that we need to slow down and really spend some time on. So I was glad I didn't file math. And spelling is the same way. Other things, though, mostly the "content" areas as opposed to the "skill" areas, work really well for me with the files. The file tells me what topics we're covering that week in that subject, such as "Phonecians", "Earthquakes and Mountains", and "The Food Pyramid" (this past week's history, science, and health topics, which are all in the file). There's a science reading list for each child, and we read through however much on there that we have time for, and then there's a notebook page for dd (ds makes his on Word). There's a history section (all the stuff for one subject for both kids is paperclipped together) that has a map for each child, the SOTW test for ds, a lapbook project for dd, timeline figures, and any coloring pages or "History Pockets" projects that coordinate. Every Friday is "project day" and I have a project paperclip with instructions for whatever project we're doing that day, whether it's building a volcano for science, making a model of a mummy for history, or just baking cookies. I also have a short poetry lesson in there--basically there's a page with a description of some poetry term or technique, and a couple of poems that illustrate the topic; we all talk about it together. Health is also done together. In fact, a lot of out "content" stuff is done together, and then for some of it, like science and history, there's also individual reading and writing on the subject at each child's individual level. Art and music lessons are in there (we're learning to read rhythms and conduct hymns), and there's a page with a PE lesson. I am finding that having a schedule written out helps me fit the things in the file into the week in an orderly manner, and to make better decisions about what to skip, what to move to next week, what to double up on, or whatever. So for me, the files aren't the WHOLE system, but I really think they were my missing puzzle piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I love my files! I've changed from date specific to generic week numbers. I've added a tickler system too. (12 monthly folders and 31 daily ones. So bills and seasonal stuff goes into the monthly folders which is eventually distributed among the daily folders. I usually put about 3 weeks of school at a time into the daily folders too.) A few changes: I have a weekly sheet in each folder (not everything is file-able). I'm switching to a single sheet for every 6 weeks. I like seeing the big picture. I'm REALLY considering printing the public domain books (like Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare) and filing them. The ereader always seems to be MIA or have a dead battery. Plus, I love paper. This is a complete full circle for me. Life is funny. I'm going to beef up my almost 7 year olds work. He wants more challenge, so I'm trying to figure out how to do that without to much writing. I had to pare down a LOT due to life (drawing was dropped, the reading music was dropped, etc.). But with the files I was able to look at our list and make the best decision I could. Anyway, I'm officially sending virtual hugs to the person who posted this. It has been an anchor this year. It's workboxes (aka a 3-D schedule) for me! Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 It is still working for us. I use a file cabinet and it has been so nice and easy to pull out the file folder each week and put their work in their workboxes. I have weekly schedules in there but I didn't schedule math which is the only thing that really gets off track. I've been really happy with this system and will continue to use it.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 It's still working for us as well It has kept me more organized and accountable than I have ever been in the last 7 years. I love being on track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 It is still going so well for me. I LOVE it! It has been the best thing I've ever done in planning for my school year. I can't wait until this summer, when I can start over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PenKase Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I think, pretty much, if the paper is not stapled to my forehead, I'm going to forget about it pretty quickly. But I don't think that's a filing system problem - I think that's an I-haven't-had-a-full-night's-sleep-in-17-months problem. :lol: :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: This is me!!!!!! The only difference being that since my little aren't so little anymore, I actually do get a full night's sleep!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flaura Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Filing has worked great for us. We are even a wrk ahead! The only thing I would do differently is not cut up the math workbooks. The pacing of math is so uneven that it works best to keep it out of our file folders and just make sure to spend time on it everyday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 It's officially a complete thing of the past here. My ds7 is just one of those kids who makes leaps and stops...I unfiled all of his things and reorganized by subject fairly early on. It worked well for dd5 until she got *really* bored with ETC. It's not worth fighting a 5yo at phonics when I have other materials to use with her that she is happy with so...bye bye files. My 4yo will devour as many preK coloring pages as I can throw at him...so his stuff is still in files...a few weeks left. Also, when Lulu had their $20 off sale, I bought 2 MM workbooks. ds7 and dd5 were THRILLED to have the workbooks. They love the shiny cover with the Mammoth.:lol: That was a nail in the filebox coffin....at least until the novelty of the workbook wears off. I've come full circle, I think. I have each subject planned out for the next several months, and weekly/daily checklists for each child. I use the subject planner to fill in the checklists a week at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Jumping in here to say that filing really didn't work for us either. I regret cutting up our Elemental Science books. I'm not sure if the program would've worked better for us if I didn't. Well, probably it would've, but with the books cut up it got very confusing. I need to put all those pieces back in order. Maybe some day I will even get them rebound! As to the rest of it, things came up in Sept. and Oct. that slowed us a bit. Then, my Dad had hip surgery in November, which turned out to be a HUGE deal and affected our school time alot. I changed up a few things in the fall and am changing even more now. Sum it up to say, it couldn't work with all of that going on. The only areas I really felt it was helpful in were picture study and art projects. That isn't enough for me to bother. Glad to hear it is working for so many of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) Jumping in here to say that filing really didn't work for us either. I regret cutting up our Elemental Science books. I'm not sure if the program would've worked better for us if I didn't. Well, probably it would've, but with the books cut up it got very confusing. I need to put all those pieces back in order. Maybe some day I will even get them rebound! As to the rest of it, things came up in Sept. and Oct. that slowed us a bit. Then, my Dad had hip surgery in November, which turned out to be a HUGE deal and affected our school time alot. I changed up a few things in the fall and am changing even more now. Sum it up to say, it couldn't work with all of that going on. The only areas I really felt it was helpful in were picture study and art projects. That isn't enough for me to bother. Glad to hear it is working for so many of you. One thing I did when I cut up the WWE workbook in order to copy the pages for my son, was put it in a binder with page protectors. This may help you put back together and salvage your Elemental Science materials. I love our files but like several others said I just made it work for us. First of all I bought boxes that seal and I am really glad I did because my little one has used them on numerous occasions as stepladders to climb on my lap :lol:. He also would have been pulling out stuff since he tried it once when he found them open. Good thing I was faster :D. Another thing I did was put everything in file folders by subject. I only cut workbooks and I actually left a few (like Songschool Latin) which I actually use as a textbook and them I make my own copywork pages etc. I made a very detailed schedule and lesson plans on Excel. The goal was to use HST+ but alas it just did not work for me like my own personal files that I made where everything is concentrated the way I want. I will be using HST+ for consolidated record keeping but will input what he have covered after we are done. My schedule and lesson plans do not have specific dates nor are they even tied to days of the week. We can just pick up and go from where we left off, which has worked great for us since we ended up taking more time off than we should have during the holidays :tongue_smilie:. We use workboxes but once again we are using our own system there also. Even when I don't have the time the night before to put things in, since we return Adrian's notebooks and our books, TG's etc. in them I just grab the worksheets from my file boxes (which I always have next to me) out of the subject folders and off we go. All in all I would have to say that the system has worked and is working great for us and mostly (I feel) because I took the time to think it through to see how I wanted to set it up for our family. If anyone wants to see more details of our set up and pics I have three posts in our blog. Link in my siggy under Homeschool Organization. Edited January 10, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Filing is going well for me, though as I'm going, especially now with an infant in arms, I am realizing how I need to tweak it to work better. First, what is working: *I filed by subject within the weekly files. So, in week 20, for instance, I have a file for Latin, a file for history, a file for science, etc. That way, if we don't get to something (we haven't done history or science since dd was born ... we will get back to it in February I think), I can just move that individual file to the next week. *I did not cut up spelling (AAS), grammar (though we are only doing MCT now, we were alternating with FLL and GWG), or math. I did plan out math so I had an idea how long I could expect to be in each level of Singapore and how LoF would fit in for ds#1. But, I did not tear up those workbooks. And, I don't even plan spelling or grammar ... usually we get to 2-3 spelling lessons a week, but sometimes less; we do one Practice Island sentence a day (averaging 4 a week), but we read the other books until we get to a part that feels natural to stop. *The workbooks that I do cut up, like a PP said, I put in page protectors in a three-ring binder. Then, I can pull them out and photocopy what we need for the actual lessons. For Latin, I pull out 4-5 chapters at a time and just tie them together with yarn in their page protectors. Then I have the lessons in front of me and the huge 3-ring binder can stay on the shelf. What isn't working this year, which I plan on tweaking now as we still have approximately 17 weeks of school left: *I wrote lesson plans for each subject all together. So, week 20's lesson plans are all on the same grid. It looks nice and neat, but it's not working because if I need to back up history but get through Latin and math, I have the next week's lessons on two different pages. It is getting a little confusing. I only write out lessons for Latin (chapter and page numbers for each day), math, history, science, and make notes on what we are doing for art and nature study each week. I use a weekly planner grid from Donna Young. So, what I'm going to do this week (I'm calling an audible and taking it off to work on interpersonal relationships :lol: ;) ) is print out the 6-week lesson plan grids from Donna Young and plan each subject 6-weeks at a time, and keep each subject on a separate sheet. So, I should end up with five 6-week planning sheets at a time. That way I have the freedom to move one subject to the next week and not affect my planning of the other subjects (what I do is use a highlighter to "check off" assignments as we do them). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Yeah, I think the big metal file cabinet would be best for you, IF you could find a place for it. I can't imagine keeping up with 6 file boxes! This is what I am thinking of doing and then pulling it out week at a time and put in in these: http://www.mardel.com/search/default.aspx?keywords=pocket+file Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Hah! That's all I've got to say! Didn't work at all for me. I'm very happy for those who it did work for, though. It was a great idea for me. In theory! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveBaby Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 This is what I am thinking of doing and then pulling it out week at a time and put in in these: http://www.mardel.com/search/default.aspx?keywords=pocket+file That is what I use!! I like filing, but I need to tweak it as well. I filed by week and put each subject in each child's file. I'm going to refile everything that is a combined subject and file it by itself (history, etc.) so if we don't get to it that week, I'm not constantly shuffling papers. I can just move that file to the next week. I also want to plan a 6 week block for each subject instead of all subjects, so again, if we don't get to something or have to slow down/speed up in something else then I'm not trashing 6 weeks worth of plans because math is going slow. I have all of my "stuff" drug into the middle of the schoolroom floor. I was going to work on it this week, but I think we're going to do some painting in the basement and re-arranging, so it will have to wait!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 That is what I use!! I like filing, but I need to tweak it as well. I filed by week and put each subject in each child's file. I'm going to refile everything that is a combined subject and file it by itself (history, etc.) so if we don't get to it that week, I'm not constantly shuffling papers. I can just move that file to the next week. I also want to plan a 6 week block for each subject instead of all subjects, so again, if we don't get to something or have to slow down/speed up in something else then I'm not trashing 6 weeks worth of plans because math is going slow. I have all of my "stuff" drug into the middle of the schoolroom floor. I was going to work on it this week, but I think we're going to do some painting in the basement and re-arranging, so it will have to wait!! Yeah I am going to start by subject. I know the other way will NOT work for us. :) What don't you like about the file hangers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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