mom2denj Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I really want to start one. Could you please share what you include in yours? I have some ideas, but I would like to hear what you do. Thanks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 OH, this sounds like a lovely idea and would love to hear where others have taken this. Sadly, for me, I think it would end up going the way of my beautiful scrapbooks that sit on my scrapping table calling out to me to work on them. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Fairy Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I've been considering this myself, and found some really good ideas here (fyi, has a Catholic flavor, but suitable info for any homeschool mom, imo). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2boys Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Mine mostly contains my long-range plans for each of my children. I also have a section that contains great advice I have read on these forums. When I read something that really resonates with me, whether it is general homeschooling advice, or regarding a particular curriculum, I print it out and add it to my notebook. I also have several pages of inspiring quotes that pertain to parenting and education. (Many have come from the sig lines of the Hive.) :D And I have a list of our family read alouds and a list of our field trips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Once a month I write my mother (who died in 2007) a letter about how "her only regret" is doing. (On her death bed, she told me her only regret in life was not seeing kiddo grow up.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugarfoot Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Once a month I write my mother (who died in 2007) a letter about how "her only regret" is doing. (On her death bed, she told me her only regret in life was not seeing kiddo grow up.) Totally off-topic here, but my grandmother wanted so much to see my children, as well as those of my cousins, grow up. I keep her in our daily conversations with my littles, who never knew her in this life, which helps me feel like she's still here with us, which I'm sure she is in some way. My DD4 is named for her. I have a binder that includes things we need for the upcoming weeks: maps, music notes, printables, etc. I know one mom who keeps records of each child's progress, such as where they are in each subject, what each one is working on in music lessons, what 4H projects they're doing, etc. in one notebook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I made a really pretty binder for this. Then quickly realized I need about 10 of them for my size family and ditched it. Then I repurposed a sonlight binder for this purpose and it works wonderfully! Tho not as prettily. I have a file tab for each child being officially home schooled and one for "littles". There are also tabs for home making, calendar, and Mom Notes. In each child's section I keep my outline of materials used and lesson plans for the current year (divided by subject and including any answer keys) any testing or other records, and some work samples or momentos of their school year. In the homemaking section, I keep my a printable copy of my standard grocery and non grocery lists, an internet and contact sheet that I add all my need to know stuff like user names or Internet addresses, plus copies of any organizational or school printables (don't you hate it when the site disappears?), the monthly budget and a few other odd items. Calendar is actually a parish calendar that I ripped the binding off of, hole punched and inserted, plus a printed two months on each page calendar for next year. This way if I need to remember to do something way in advance, I can mark a reminder as far ahead as needed. Plus I have all the liturgical info readily available. In front of this I have a weekly plan sheet. It has spaces to note calls, errands, whatever for the week. Mom notes is just a section of loose leaf notebook paper where I can jot info as I come across it without loosing it. Read about an interesting program here? Note it. Catch a neat idea for a project? Note it. It is just a mess of scribbles only I can decipher. It is also sometimes the most important thing in the entire binder. The Big Blue Binder stays on the table in the school room where I always sit while we school during the day for ease of use. Because I'm sure not carrying it around! A full sonlight binder is HUGE!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I blog for my hubby, mother and the few other rellies who read it. That's mostly a bit of waffle about what we've done for the day, but sometimes I put short term plans in. I also have a word document with my long term plans and lists of things to remember. It is ridiculously long and it doesn't even include the 60 pages of my Amazon wishlist... Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 During our first several years of homeschooling I kept a weekly log of everything we did. I actually created a form for this, with an area to list books read, games played, places we visited, videos we watched and other things. I'm sorry I didn't keep it up, as it is wonderful to look back on. I also kept a spiral notebook next to my computer in which I listed book recommendations, ideas and tips gleaned from this and a couple of other forums. I also did planning with that notebook -- for the next day or the next several years, depending on how harried or optimistic I felt! I still want to put together a scrap book for each boy of all our homeschooling years, with photos and copies of my log and copies of art and papers they wrote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaissezFaire Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Yep. The front cover of the notebook has our school calendar for the year. I have the days off marked in red on the calendar and then I have the weeks color coded by term. Inside I have what course each kid is taking, course descriptions, the weekly calendars that I make up to schedule each subject. Also I have pages with ideas for next year and curriculum I want to check out later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Mine has: *Calendar - A monthly calendar with tabs. I keep our daily commitments and events on this, so that I can use it in planning. *Reference - A print-out of the library hours/ phone numbers, YMCA hours, etc. A copy of policies/calendars/schedules/etc. from each activity dc are involved in. A copy of the state homeschool regulations (used to keep our letter of intent and excusal letter here, too, when we lived in Ohio.) *Subjects - This used to be a list of all the assignments for each subject area, and it still is for 8 yo's subjects. But for my olders, it is now the 1-3 page syllabus I create or they get for each class they take. *Lesson plans - This is where the weekly plans go, including lists of books and supplies for the week, assignments, etc. *Book list - Running book list for the year. *Planning - This is where I work on the next year's plans, keep our overall goal list, etc. I have a cover I made with a picture of flowers and some Scripture verses. I have to get a new binder at least once a year, because it gets so much use, but I always get the same color of blue and use that cover. That makes it easier to find. :D There's no home management stuff in it; that's another binder (actually two) altogether. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Mine has our: Yearly calendar monthly calendar Nature & science ideas for the month read aloud log weekly school plans {if needed/applicable} homeschool journal {where we record exactly what we did} Other various lists I use the journal in it daily where as I don't always use everything else in it that often. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabel Lee Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I really want to start one. Could you please share what you include in yours? I have some ideas, but I would like to hear what you do. Thanks!!! I do more of a logistical planning notebook divided by subject with some features others described, but then I started putting future planning ideas in the back of ea. subject section and I added an "Inspiration" section in the back. This got to be too big, too detailed to keep up with, though. So, I went to the store & got a simple 9 x 12", 1 day per page day-timer calendar notebook. There are 2 columns per day, so that works nicely w/ the number of kids I homeschool. I write a list of subjects ea. is to do on ea. date (never more than a week ahead), and I cross them off as we do them. There's room for me to add notes as I'm teaching: "ds10 struggling w/ dividing fractions; look up that website that demonstrates it well, and try manipulatives?", "ds7 spelled important inportint - add to bonus word list" or "work on transition between paragraphs & what constitutes starting a new paragraph w/ ds10". This helps me tweak & stay with their learning flow as I'm planning the next day and the next week. Oh ya, the latter notebook acts as a log of what we actually accomplished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2denj Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 Wow!!! Thanks all!! I have taken lots of notes and learned a few things too! Thanks for the inspiration. I am a box checker and I truly believe this will keep me organzied and on track!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I have a yearly school planner I make for myself. Most of my forms come from donnayoung.org I change it up a little every year, but this is what is in this years: Cover page with theme for the year Calendars - yearly, monthly, and attendance syllabi - I do one for each subject, including weekly plans (which always change) I label my plans by week (week 1, week2....) instead of date Schedules - We tend to change our schedule about 4-5 times per year, these are blank forms Reading & Media List - this is for read- alouds, his own reading, and any dvds we watch Weekly lesson plans forms - these are blank, but enough for the entire year. I schedule 1-2 weeks at a time. This year I used my pro-click binder and bound it together. I simply file it with our stuff at the end of the year. I also have a binder with long term plans. I have it organized with A to Z dividers (I had them on hand). The sections are: A - encouragement B - On education (general) C - On education (classical) D - Misc long term schedules E - Latin F- Writing/Rhetoric G - Logic/Philosophy H - Grammar/Mechanics I - Great Books J - Literature (non Great Books) K - History (non Great Books) L - Mathematics M - Science N - Computer O - Japanese language P - Religion Q - Fine Arts S - Community Opportunities T - Misc. Electives U - Study Skills V - Volunteer W - Grade level notes X - College prep (testing, etc) Y - Transcripts/ Graduation Z - College I'm also putting together a binder with blank forms I use. I tend to forget about things on my computer, so if I find a great form I'll print it out and file it in the binder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayAlice Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Once a month I write my mother (who died in 2007) a letter about how "her only regret" is doing. (On her death bed, she told me her only regret in life was not seeing kiddo grow up.) Wow, this put a lump in my throat. What a beautiful thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 OH, this sounds like a lovely idea and would love to hear where others have taken this. Sadly, for me, I think it would end up going the way of my beautiful scrapbooks that sit on my scrapping table calling out to me to work on them. :glare: I can soooo relate LOL---it sounds like a good idea though.....will have to keep that in mind..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Once a month I write my mother (who died in 2007) a letter about how "her only regret" is doing. (On her death bed, she told me her only regret in life was not seeing kiddo grow up.) :grouphug: What a wonderful thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 :grouphug: What a wonderful thing. And in the end, I believe it will be my grandchildren who benefit from those letters.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyzenthlay in Pa. Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I also have a word document with my long term plans and lists of things to remember. It is ridiculously long and it doesn't even include the 60 pages of my Amazon wishlist... Rosie That's what I have too! I also copy quotes and posts, I keep in word files by subject, with downloads & specific subject book lists. I create a file each year and put copies or move them to my, example, 2010-2011 year file. That's so I don't forget things. I also make a favorites file each year for important links I don't want to forget. I also have from an old HS planner, pages on setting goals for myself and each child.The goal setting gets narroed down to a simple mission statement type thing for each of us. It keeps me on track for the big picture. The mission for each year also helps when in the spring I want to freek and start having thoughts of public school would be so much easier, I'm tired, we only have half the algebra done or why are we still struggling with something, I can look at what I said I wanted to accomplish and see yeah , we are getting there. H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Yes. Mine isn't a planner but rather a place for reflections and musings and dreams. I do a short "book report" on books I've read that have a significant impact on my thinking about HSing. I started it a year before we actually began to help me think through the various approaches and philosophies. I do include some reflection on curriculum - why we are using it, how it is working and what I like or dislike about it. But since we've just started, there isn't much of this. I write down quotations, books I'd like to read and random thoughts concerning our educational journey and our family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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