Irishmommy Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I'm trying to get a jump on next year before our big move. I feel like the more organized I get ahead of time, the better. Who's with me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAutumnOak Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I am filing for next year too!...So far I have done my Elemental Science and and am working on my SOTW 1 Activity Guide (I bought both as a download)...I am planning to be done by July :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2Many4 Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I'm not filing this year. I filed last year and I don't know. I had WAY too many loose papers everywhere. It just wasn't for me. I'm keeping the books together this year and just trying to group papers that are already loose by the week they are for in my planner. I'll get together lists for anything I need as well and include that. I don't know if I could file again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I'm not filing this year. I filed last year and I don't know. I had WAY too many loose papers everywhere. It just wasn't for me. I'm keeping the books together this year and just trying to group papers that are already loose by the week they are for in my planner. I'll get together lists for anything I need as well and include that. I don't know if I could file again. I will tell you what I did about the loose papers. I kept the week's folder (I had made 36) in the back of their planners. As they finished work, I put it in the folder and put the folder back in it's place at the end of the week. This summer I will be going through all 36 and throwing away things I don't want to keep as samples of their work. I will be doing that later this month, then filing for next year in July. It's just an idea, but I had the least problem with loose papers than I've ever had before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I will only be filing monthly. I tried the whole year and last year and it was just too much of a kerfuffle--we had pages that were mis-placed and even weeks that were in the wrong place. So I will only file one month at a time. I do like filing. It helped make our day go so much smoother. We're just going to do it in smaller amounts. I haven't started yet, though. I am going to leave that for July. We will start back up in Aug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpnick in nc Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I am! I have done Science and Bible already (the ones I had as pdf's). I need to make copies of WWE1 and SOTW1 before filing those. I will not be cutting up workbooks - not this year anyway. I am making an index card for each week with supply and library lists. I have done up to week 10 so far. So exciting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Year Round Mom Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I'm with you in thought only. :tongue_smilie: (No actual filing happening yet; I'm still trying to get through the rest of this year!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishmommy Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 Well, I am only filing all the loose pages, I'm not tearing up the workbooks (yet). My filing didn't work out this year as I had hoped, but I am now going to use it just to organize myself. I know I have crafty downloaded items all over the place that I just forget to use, so those are the type of thing I am filing. Since I now have my binder (:001_smile:), I am planning to bind about six weeks at a time. So, that is how I am planning on using my files. I think that the filing didn't work out as well for me because I had some MAJOR curriculum shift going on this year (my dd wasn't ready for Core K). I feel much better about my curriculum choices for next year. I feel like we will be on track with everyone, so the files will stay in better order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishmommy Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 I'm with you in thought only. :tongue_smilie: (No actual filing happening yet; I'm still trying to get through the rest of this year!) I'm still trying to get through the year too, but I think the filing is helping me avoid pushing my kids too hard this summer. I want to wrap up school without making them crash and burn. I find that I have the most energy for next year before this one ends!:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I am in the preparation stages for scheduling and filing, does that count? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I tried filing last year and it didn't work out well. We had too many switches and things to make it work. For this year I bought a spiral binding machine and I'll be making my kids workbooks for the subjects with loose pages. I'll probably make them into 6-9 week blocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkistone Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I'm a newbie who is strongly contemplating filing (but I can't bring myself to tear up the pretty workbooks!) Someone kick me in the rear and just make me do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishmommy Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 I tried filing last year and it didn't work out well. We had too many switches and things to make it work. For this year I bought a spiral binding machine and I'll be making my kids workbooks for the subjects with loose pages. I'll probably make them into 6-9 week blocks. I had the same thing happen to me. I am also planning to do the same thing, I am using the filing to organize before I bind. I think that the "workbooks" of bound pages will be great for my kids and me since we are always on the go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishmommy Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 I'm a newbie who is strongly contemplating filing (but I can't bring myself to tear up the pretty workbooks!) Someone kick me in the rear and just make me do it! Welcome! You aren't going to get my kick, I can't bring myself to cut up the workbooks. I know I'd end up with papers EVERYWHERE, that's why I'm going to bind up the papers after getting them all filed properly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I tried the whole year and last year and it was just too much of a kerfuffle You had Ken Ham in your home? :lol: Sorry, couldn't resist. :D I am not filing this year. Last time, I filed 6 weeks at a time, and that worked decently, but now that I have the Proclick, I'm just making workbooks for everything and DS keeps them in his school desk. I now print out a week-at-a-glance schedule that has all the details on it (lesson x.y in book z), and I also keep little post-it tabs in each of the workbooks where we are, so he just has to flip to that spot and do the next thing in most subjects. I have a language arts notebook that has blank paper for grammar, WWE pages for writing, and some narration pages for literature. I have a history notebook that has all of our SOTW stuff in it - narration pages, maps, etc. I have some math workbooks that are done on an "as we get to them" basis, so definitely not filing those. I did cut them up and spiral bind them though because they're so much easier to write on that way! Since I usually don't have a problem with getting things done in a week (HST+ keeps me very much on schedule), filing isn't really necessary for me, BUT... printing out everything we'll need for the next 6ish weeks is absolutely helpful to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosyl Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I won't be doing it again. I think it was a royal mess. My new motto is "confine the paperwork" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katydid Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I am contemplating filing this year and was curious about why so many people find the system so messy? I mean, I thought the point was that everything was filed away except the current week's papers. Am I missing something? How is this any messier than any other method of organization? (genuine question... I'm not trying to be snarky or anything.... ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I am contemplating filing this year and was curious about why so many people find the system so messy? I mean, I thought the point was that everything was filed away except the current week's papers. Am I missing something? How is this any messier than any other method of organization? (genuine question... I'm not trying to be snarky or anything.... ) I think the issue may be when the student is done with the work, papers are everywhere. I have a stack of papers right now needing to be filed again. :tongue_smilie: With the workbook method, everything is contained and doesn't have to be filed when the student has completed a lesson. I only have one student, so it wasn't a huge deal, but I can imagine it'd be messy with multiple students at one time. That's another reason why I'm switching to the workbook method (just turn everything into a workbook! :lol:). My kids can keep their workbooks in their own desks, and there's no mess. HST+ will handle the lesson plans and scheduling of everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishmommy Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 I think for me, everything just went everywhere. Toddler...need I say more? Papers pulled every which way. So, this year I am keeping everything bound (workbooks) and then binding all the loose papers. I am using the filing method just to keep it all organized until the binding begins! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captivated Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I'm trying to get a jump on next year before our big move. I feel like the more organized I get ahead of time, the better. Who's with me? I can't wait to get filing but it will have to wait till mid July. My oldest ds is getting married and my future dil and I are planning this wedding. :) Last year was my 11 yr homeschooling and with filing and work boxes (actually folders for us) it was our best year yet. I can't wait to get going with it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I'm not filing this year. I filed last year and I don't know. I had WAY too many loose papers everywhere. It just wasn't for me. I'm keeping the books together this year and just trying to group papers that are already loose by the week they are for in my planner. I'll get together lists for anything I need as well and include that. I don't know if I could file again. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceman Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 What is filing? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 What is filing? :confused: The Filing Thread (warning, there are 84 pages! :lol:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I'm not filing this year. I filed last year and I don't know. I had WAY too many loose papers everywhere. It just wasn't for me. I'm keeping the books together this year and just trying to group papers that are already loose by the week they are for in my planner. I'll get together lists for anything I need as well and include that. I don't know if I could file again. :iagree: I tried filing last year and it didn't work out well. We had too many switches and things to make it work. For this year I bought a spiral binding machine and I'll be making my kids workbooks for the subjects with loose pages. I'll probably make them into 6-9 week blocks. :iagree: I won't be doing it again. I think it was a royal mess. My new motto is "confine the paperwork" :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinF Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I have started filing with what we have in hand. I still need to order a few workbooks and print out the rest of TOG SAP's for the year. I will tell you how I managed our paperwork. At the beginning of the week I pull each child's file folder out. I take all the work out of their file folders and put it by day in their spiral organizer notebooks that I picked up at Walmart. Then each day I take their daily work and put it in a pocket folder that says Daily on the front. They do their work and then move it to their folder that says finished. I get the finished folder and usually try to grade things every day (but more like every couple of days). Once I grade the papers they go into their yearly binder (3in) behind the subject tab. It sounds complicated but it takes me less than 20 mins on Sunday to sort everything into their weekly folders and then about 5 minutes a day to put everyones work into their daily folder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinF Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 The Filing Thread (warning, there are 84 pages! :lol:) I think that thread has a life of it's own. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I'm filing! I started this weekend and finished the History notebook, and got 3/4 of the way through the Language Arts notebook (still need to type up and print out about half of the cursive worksheets). I haven't started the Bible notebook yet, but I bought all the folders yesterday, so as soon as my printer recovers I will be printing and filing again! I loved having everything so organized this year, subjects flowed so smoothly since I didn't have to run upstairs and print something out, and it was so much fun to look back over the history notebook and see how much we accomplished and learned. Big motivation booster!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katydid Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I think the issue may be when the student is done with the work, papers are everywhere. I have a stack of papers right now needing to be filed again. :tongue_smilie: With the workbook method, everything is contained and doesn't have to be filed when the student has completed a lesson. I only have one student, so it wasn't a huge deal, but I can imagine it'd be messy with multiple students at one time. That's another reason why I'm switching to the workbook method (just turn everything into a workbook! :lol:). My kids can keep their workbooks in their own desks, and there's no mess. HST+ will handle the lesson plans and scheduling of everything. OK, that makes sense. We actually don't have much work in bound workbooks (mostly stuff printed out) and the stuff that is bound, I just rip out as we go anyway (ds is very easily distracted by looking ahead in a book, plus it just seems easier for him to write on only one page at a time). If I do decide to file, though, I know I will have to be very careful about keeping my pretty plans well out of my toddler's reach... So those of you that are binding your own workbooks together, are they bound together as weekly work? If so, do you do it in order of daily work or just have subject pages together (ie. do you have, say, a Math page, then a L.A. page, then history, etc. or do you have 5 Math pages, then 5 L.A. pages then 5 (or less) history pages, etc.?). Does that make sense? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I think the issue may be when the student is done with the work, papers are everywhere. I have a stack of papers right now needing to be filed again. :tongue_smilie: With the workbook method, everything is contained and doesn't have to be filed when the student has completed a lesson. See, and I just put all those loose papers in notebooks. Problem solved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowfall Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I can't decide if I'm going to do weekly files again or not. I did it for the first 12 weeks for this school year, but I didn't cut up any workbooks or anything. I just did it for things that didn't go in a workbook and I included all my supply lists for each week, with notes for what extra books we'd be using and such. It worked pretty well, except that things kept needing to be shuffled because I might not get to something that week. So after the first 12 weeks I separated it out by subject, making sure I still had everything printed and ready to go, but just in its own folder. That didn't keep me as on task. I'd keep forgetting to do things until the end of the week because they were filed away in their own folders that I'd forget all about. (I'm talking about things like geography and Spanish, not the three Rs.) So the weekly files didn't keep me perfectly on track, but apparently they did help quite a bit, which leaves me totally undecided. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 So those of you that are binding your own workbooks together, are they bound together as weekly work? If so, do you do it in order of daily work or just have subject pages together (ie. do you have, say, a Math page, then a L.A. page, then history, etc. or do you have 5 Math pages, then 5 L.A. pages then 5 (or less) history pages, etc.?). Does that make sense? :confused: I'm going by subject and doing at least a 6 week period at a time. In the case of math, I have all of MM3A bound and all of MM3B bound. We're working through 3A right now. We may go out of order (we just finished chapter 2 and now are going back to do chapter 1, then will do chapter 3 next), but it's all right there and ready to go, easy to find. I put language arts in one book that has grammar, writing, and reading. Actually, one of my tabs says "Gramar". :tongue_smilie: Good thing I didn't put spelling in there! :D The grammar section has blank paper for doing R&S English. There is easily enough in there to get us through 6 weeks or more. For writing, I have the WWE sheets, and for reading I made up some blank narration pages and some copywork from the literature. I have a history notebook that has a schedule for each week, narration page for each week, and a map for each week. It also has the games and such we might play. I don't have a spelling notebook since we do all of that on the whiteboard. Otherwise, it would go in the language arts notebook. Things like the Singapore IP and CWP workbooks and the BJU Science workbook had spines cut off and were spiral bound so they'll lie flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 So those of you that are binding your own workbooks together, are they bound together as weekly work? If so, do you do it in order of daily work or just have subject pages together (ie. do you have, say, a Math page, then a L.A. page, then history, etc. or do you have 5 Math pages, then 5 L.A. pages then 5 (or less) history pages, etc.?). Does that make sense? :confused: I plan to do mine by subject in 6-9 week blocks, probably 9 since that's how our year is set up in 4 quarters (9 weeks each) I don't think weekly workbooks would work for me as they would be pretty thin to bind so that would be a lot of work. My oldest two won't have one for math because they use Teaching Textbooks and only use the CDs. Oh and for spelling and writing we just use notebook paper, so I will let the kids pick a few of those notebooks with the fun pictures on them when the back to school sales hit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I'm with you in thought only. :tongue_smilie: (No actual filing happening yet; I'm still trying to get through the rest of this year!) Here too! It's on my mind though. I just finished buying the last of what we'll need for next year, and I'm trying to learn HST+ so I can have lesson plans set up; I'll file based on those. I did buy PDFs of several things to print for the coming year (SOTW student pages and tests, Elemental Science, EM Geography, WWE student pages) instead of hard copies, since copying was such a nightmare on my home printer last time. I just wish RightStart would offer PDFs of their worksheets! Our school year doesn't start until mid-September when we return from traveling, so I have time. I think the issue may be when the student is done with the work, papers are everywhere. I have a stack of papers right now needing to be filed again. :tongue_smilie: This is true, but it was true for me before filing anyway :lol: I solved it by keeping my three-hole punch right next to my chair in the schoolroom. When pages are finished, I either put them in a stack to be punched later or punch them right away and put them in the binder I keep in the Desk Apprentice on the table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAutumnOak Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I'm not filing this year. I filed last year and I don't know. I had WAY too many loose papers everywhere. It just wasn't for me. I'm keeping the books together this year and just trying to group papers that are already loose by the week they are for in my planner. I'll get together lists for anything I need as well and include that. I don't know if I could file again. I think that is what I meant by filing...I am not taking books apart, but filing things that were printed out from downloads in filing crates...I can't imagine taking actual books apart...Maybe a workbook, but not anything else... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HistoryMom Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I don't have enough paper to file. Our daily school work fits in a big tote bag, which sits under the side table in our dining room, and my laptop. I just grab them both and take them whereever we're going. All papers get recycled, except for those I want to keep for their keepsake boxes. It does make me wonder why everyone else has so much, and we have so little. What am I missing? It is that I only have 1.5 young kids (1 HS, 1 afterschooling) to keep track of? Or is it that our approach is relatively minimalist? Or that we have few reporting requirements? Please enlighten me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catholicmommy Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I haven't been posting on the boards in ages, but I still read them at least every other day. We had a new baby in march, and we having also been doing a kitchen reno this spring that is making me crazy!! I haven't had time for blogging or posting. We will be doing it again this year. I have a love/hate relationship with files, but it does keep me on track, so I'm going to keep doing it. Love: -Having all of our things in one place ready to go... super organized and well laid out. - having the pressure on me to actually do school each day instead of giving in to the continual whines of the kids who want to watch tv, play wii, or play outside, play anything other than school... lol - keep on track in each subject so math doesn't get left behind in the dust (or science LOL). - taking the time to go through each subject in detail before we start the year, so I am familiar with what we will be doing. Hate: -the time it takes to organize it (but it's actually a good thing.. see point above). - the papers that get everywhere (although I am convinced that there are two types of people out there.. the naturally organized people who don't seem to have a problem with paperwork or clutter because they somehow just deal with it as it happens, and the wanna-be organized types, who like to switch systems all the time, searching for the perfect one that will fix it all. I am a wanna-be organized person, so pretty much any system I use will cause me problems LOL). - having my files stare at me on days that i don't FEEL like doing school shouting out to me "don't be so LAZY!! get those kids to start their work like a good little mommy". (of course this is a good thing... but I still hate it LOL). Our second year of filing went well, although we slowed down so much in science that I ended up abandoning it altogether because i didn't want to have to rearrange my files to suit our slower schedule. I was hoping that filing science would make me actually DO it this year, but alas it still didn't work. I'm thinking that it's my own perseverance that's the real problem LOL. No system can force me to actually sit down and do the work with the kids.. I just have to DO it. I'm not sure if I will file my 6th graders stuff next year or not. I will be filing for the younger kids for sure as it's so easy to keep on track ,but I'm thinking about letting my older child have more control over how she plans her work out. I do love the idea of somehow making weekly workbooks instead of weekly file folders. I have been thinking about this idea for a few months... since I saw some threads awhile back of people making up these 'workbooks'. I would love to have a bound book for the entire week with all of their work in it. I think it would help with papers getting all over the place. I was thinking of the simple route and just using a big box of duotangs. Anyways, I'm sorry if so many people had a frustrating go of filing last year. It worked so well for us because i was desperate for something easy to use after I had the twins... and it was also very helpful when another new baby was born in the fall (so I had spent the summer organizing, so the fall would run very smoothly.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Congratulations! I wondered how you were doing :D - the papers that get everywhere (although I am convinced that there are two types of people out there.. the naturally organized people who don't seem to have a problem with paperwork or clutter because they somehow just deal with it as it happens, and the wanna-be organized types, who like to switch systems all the time, searching for the perfect one that will fix it all. I am a wanna-be organized person, so pretty much any system I use will cause me problems LOL) :lol: You sound like me. I posted above that I three-hole punch right away or make a stack and punch them all and then sort them into the binder. What I didn't say was that I started keeping them in a stack after repeatedly collecting them from all over the house and bringing them back down to the schoolroom. I also punched the last stack and discovered afterward that I'd punched several of them backward and/or upside down, and that I'd also punched holes in several pieces of scrap paper and a prized drawing of DD8's! So...yeah, you're not alone! Our second year of filing went well, although we slowed down so much in science that I ended up abandoning it altogether because i didn't want to have to rearrange my files to suit our slower schedule. I was hoping that filing science would make me actually DO it this year, but alas it still didn't work. Ahem :blushing: Here too... I do love the idea of somehow making weekly workbooks instead of weekly file folders. I have been thinking about this idea for a few months... since I saw some threads awhile back of people making up these 'workbooks'. I would love to have a bound book for the entire week with all of their work in it. I think it would help with papers getting all over the place. I love this idea too, actually. My main concern would be that if we get behind in, say, science with the folders, I can pop the Week 25 science folder into the Week 26 hanging file to catch up the following week. If we get behind when the pages are bound, I then have to deal with an extra week's book hanging around. My organizing junkie's little heart loves the idea of neatly bound work, but in reality, I don't think it would work for us. Maybe I'm not envisioning it correctly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbaby Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I have noticed a lot of people mention that they had more paperwork lying around when filing. Why is that? I'm genuinely curious, not being snarky. When we finish a worksheet I just shove it into an accordion style folder that I have labeled by subject. However, this is my first year filing and now you all have me paranoid that there are going to be massive amounts of worksheets strewn about the house:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 (edited) I have noticed a lot of people mention that they had more paperwork lying around when filing. Why is that? I'm genuinely curious, not being snarky. When we finish a worksheet I just shove it into an accordion style folder that I have labeled by subject. However, this is my first year filing and now you all have me paranoid that there are going to be massive amounts of worksheets strewn about the house:001_smile: Well, for me, it's because I'm a procrastinator :D I don't want to have to just put them back in the folder to have to pull them all again at the end of the year, so I have a binder in my desk apprentice. Sometimes, though, I'm in too much of a hurry to give DD the next thing she needs or help her or move on in the lesson before I lose her focus, so I just put it down instead of punching and putting away immediately. Also, we don't do all of our schoolwork at the table. We have no couch in the schoolroom, so anything that is lit-based (mainly history and science) we do upstairs. Then the associated papers travel upstairs and have to be brought back down. DD8 takes some things to her room--logic pages and extra things like that. DD5 has to do her Funnix stuff in a different room from us (because it involves sound and her responding out loud), and she likes to move around with the laptop. And so on! That's how our papers end up everywhere. I need a better system for sure, but if you're more organized than we are, you probably won't have a problem. And if you're just putting papers into an accordion folder, it can travel with you. My giant three-hole-punch doesn't travel well! :D ETA: And for us, it's definitely not more than before I started filing. Others may say that because they may have pulled apart workbooks, so they had more loose paper than they previously had to begin with and aren't good about storing it after completion. Personally, I'm disorganized with paperwork no matter what system I use. Filing neither helps nor hurts me in that way. It helps me immensely in other ways. Edited June 2, 2011 by melissel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishmommy Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 My thought right now is to bind by subject in 6-9 week increments. I seem to have papers floating around everywhere all the time, so the more "bound" we can get, the better. I think it is because I use tons of print outs instead of workbooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimm Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I didn't file last year but I am this year. (This will be our second year.) I'm not naturally organized, so I'm hoping that by doing all this organizing work ahead of time, I won't have much to maintain throughout the year. Each hanging file folder will have a manilla folder in it as a kind of weekly "turn in" folder. My kids are used to putting loose papers in a particular spot but right now it's just a bin with the whole year's work that I need to sort through. This way all the paperwork will be sorted as we move through our year and I'll be able to go through it and pick what to keep easily. :) I guess I'm alone in not finding workbooks easy to deal with. Individual papers, my kids bring to me or put them in the bin (some wind up other places, but mostly this is what happens). But workbooks get left random places and then when it's time to do math again (or whatever), the workbook is misplaces and they have to spend time looking for it. Filing will eliminate that problem. I'm weirdly excited about it. :) I know it will give me less flexibility but I'm hoping the structure will be exactly what we need to get everything done that I want to get done. I'm almost done buying my curriculum for next year. I'm just in the process of planning it all out. Some things are easy, just cut them up and put them in their folders (like First Language Lessons). But other subjects obviously take more planning. Mostly history. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIS0320 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I am filing but only things that need to be filed like loose worksheets, index cards with supplies and library books and lesson plans for each week. I am not taking a part anything already bound! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommydearest Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I used the filing system and it worked great for our family, so I am preparing to do it again next year. I didn't have any problems with loose papers. I had 36 weeks of work filed. Every Sunday, I transferred one week of work to each child's personal binder by putting it in subject folders on the left side. When each day's work was completed, they put it back in the right side of each subject folder. I kept a crate with large binders for each subject to store their completed work. When Sunday rolled around again, I would remove the completed work and put it in the correct subject binder in the crate. Then, I would open my filing cabinet and file the next week's work. Gosh, typing this makes it look more complicated than it is! So easy and neat taking care of it all in 5-10 minutes weekly. We finished school today and my filing cabinet is empty and my little crate is full of binders with all of our completed work for the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I will tell you what I did about the loose papers. I kept the week's folder (I had made 36) in the back of their planners. As they finished work, I put it in the folder and put the folder back in it's place at the end of the week. This summer I will be going through all 36 and throwing away things I don't want to keep as samples of their work. I will be doing that later this month, then filing for next year in July. It's just an idea, but I had the least problem with loose papers than I've ever had before. We pulled papers out of their files & put them in the kids' "working" folders (cute ones they used every day). When the work was finished it got "filed" in a 3 ring binder that holds finished work. No loose papers here. This year has been not awesome in many ways, but despite that, it's been our most successful school year ever, thanks to filing. I'm starting now, but that's partly because we plan to start school on *cough* Monday. I don't know if we'll make it (Rainbow's shipping time is apparently more than 3hrs, lol!), but that's kind-of the goal. "Summer" break for us will be Thanksgiving to Christmas, when we're (hopefully) moving & having a baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowfall Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I don't have enough paper to file. Our daily school work fits in a big tote bag, which sits under the side table in our dining room, and my laptop. I just grab them both and take them whereever we're going. All papers get recycled, except for those I want to keep for their keepsake boxes. It does make me wonder why everyone else has so much, and we have so little. What am I missing? It is that I only have 1.5 young kids (1 HS, 1 afterschooling) to keep track of? Or is it that our approach is relatively minimalist? Or that we have few reporting requirements? Please enlighten me? For me it wasn't about having lots of papers to file. I didn't. It was about having the few papers that I did have all neatly organized for the upcoming year, so that I didn't have to write it out in a planner or go searching and copying at the last minute. It helped me stay on track and not skip over subjects I might otherwise forget about. There weren't lots of papers, though. Just a few. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Welcome! You aren't going to get my kick, I can't bring myself to cut up the workbooks. I know I'd end up with papers EVERYWHERE, that's why I'm going to bind up the papers after getting them all filed properly! I still don't know where all of my Elemental Science pages are or English for the Thoughtful Child either. Worst of all, bits of my IG for TOG have gone awol. I want to sell it, but I can't find all of it.:glare: So, no, I'm not filing this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HistoryMom Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 For me it wasn't about having lots of papers to file. I didn't. It was about having the few papers that I did have all neatly organized for the upcoming year, so that I didn't have to write it out in a planner or go searching and copying at the last minute. It helped me stay on track and not skip over subjects I might otherwise forget about. There weren't lots of papers, though. Just a few. Thanks for this. It must be because I have a very simple (simplistic?) schedule then, with few children to manage and not much grading yet. We do every subject on every school day, so nothing to schedule out there. I just pull the next book out of the bag and we do that thing. When the bag is empty, or at 3pm, whichever comes first, we're done. I don't have to report, so I don't write down what we've done. I feel like such a slacker. I'm an organizing fool, so I'm looking forward to needing a more sophisticated system. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Thanks for this. It must be because I have a very simple (simplistic?) schedule then, with few children to manage and not much grading yet. We do every subject on every school day, so nothing to schedule out there. I just pull the next book out of the bag and we do that thing. When the bag is empty, or at 3pm, whichever comes first, we're done. I don't have to report, so I don't write down what we've done. I feel like such a slacker. I'm an organizing fool, so I'm looking forward to needing a more sophisticated system. :) It looks like the things you're using are pretty self-contained too. For 3rd grade, we used RightStart (tons of worksheets and scrap paper and journal pages), SOTW (activity sheets and maps for both girls), WP science (make-your-own animal pages, thin journal that I moved week by week), picture study (printed the paintings, one copy for me and one for them), logic pages from a few different resources, etc. And as another poster said, filing worked for us because if I lost track of a few pages, no big deal. If I lost track of a workbook (which, I hate to admit, happened fairly often), we were in trouble! So filing works better for us in that sense. You sound more organized than I am, so you'll probably be fine without it for now. As the kids get older, it seem to get more complicated though, so you'll probably find yourself looking for that more sophisticated system soon :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HistoryMom Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 As the kids get older, it seem to get more complicated though, so you'll probably find yourself looking for that more sophisticated system soon :lol: Hurray! Now I have something to look forward to! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAutumnOak Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 For me it wasn't about having lots of papers to file. I didn't. It was about having the few papers that I did have all neatly organized for the upcoming year, so that I didn't have to write it out in a planner or go searching and copying at the last minute. It helped me stay on track and not skip over subjects I might otherwise forget about. There weren't lots of papers, though. Just a few. :iagree: This is the reason why I am filing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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