kandty Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 I have our lesson plans in a binder for my boys. All our books are in a hutch in our dining room. This has worked well for us in the past. Now that my youngest is in second grade, we have a lot more stuff. I feel like I spend way too much time during the day organizing and getting stuff ready to use. I have avoided the whole work box idea because I felt like it would take too much time everyday putting stuff together, but now I think it would take the same amount of time (maybe a little more), but I would be doing it after school time and not during time I am suppose to be teaching my kids. My question is how do I implement this tomorrow and be ready for Monday with only using stuff I have on hand? I don't have time to search post and blogs to see how to do, so I was hoping I would be able to log into the forum in the morning and have some quick answers in front of me. :lol: I have thought about this for two days now and hoped to start today on reorganizing the school work for Monday morning, but was incompletely uninspired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
island-mama Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 I don't know what everyone else does, but I make up all my lesson plans ahead of time in basic outline format so that I know what I should be doing day by day. My daughter has a binder for each subject: the lesson plan for that subject is in the front, and I make necessary copies for the week (or as far in advance as I want, really) and put them in sequential order. We have only to open each subject folder and we know what to do for the day. I order library books for each subject week by week and have them on hand. I also make up copywork a week in advance to put in her English folder, based on the readings we will be doing. Is this a lot of work? Yes. But I can do it all on a Sunday evening and it saves me SO much time during the week. I hate the scramble to prep while I am supposed to be teaching. It throws us all off and feels very stressful to me. However, I am a super organized person, so keeping ahead of myself seems very natural. I think a workbox would work the same way-just keep a week ahead of it and then file it all on Friday or Saturday. Don't know if this is helpful at all, but it works for us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenoraddict Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 I don't know if this will answer your question, but here's what I do: Lesson plans are in a binder. I write them out a day ahead of time. The boys have their own binders for different subjects, and all binders are kept lined up in the corner of the room. On the opposite side of the room, each boy has a bin (which closes) to store his text books. Each boy is responsible for getting out and putting away his own books and papers. I have a large basket for teacher manuals and a smaller basket for library books. Next to that smaller basket is a bag for the "used" library books awaiting return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairy4tmama Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 We use a very modified workbox system purely for organizational purposes. I think you could "implement this tomorrow and be ready for Monday with only using stuff [you] have on hand?" I use a magazine holders(but only because is what I had on hand it could really be anything) 1 per child plus 1 for our family lessons, 1 for me ( teachers manuals, lab annotations,etc.) each child's box has all of the books they will use that day, Loose papers get slid in between books so that they stand up neatly. If possible I add any supplies they will need crayons paper and the like but that is because we work at the dinning room table and out school stuff is all kept on bookshelves in the living room. If something doesn't fit in the box such as a large book or container of math manipulatives I just set it next to their work box and remind them to grab it when they get their work box. We do not utilize any of the other parts of the system, though I can see the value in the method outlined by Sue Patrick they haven't worked for us. So, if all goes well I load the box over the weekend or the Friday before (but more often then I'd like I do it on Monday morning) Each day the kids get out their workboxes, they work thru every thing in there box and then they tidy up there area but they don't put their box away. I use the opportunity to reload the box for the next day so that ideally my prep for the next day happens at the end of our lessons for the day. I find that much of the books we use stay in their boxes and its just a matter of looking at the next chapter or lesson and adding the materials they will need and moving the book mark. I remove any completed work or work that wont be continued the next day and add any books and materials for the next days agenda. This takes me about 15 to 20 minutes, it took longer in the beginning but that's the average now that it has become a routine. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Thanks everyone! Still struggling getting this done today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mamabug Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Do you just need all your supplies in one place and portable? What about loading up a wagon and pulling it around the house? Also, if stationary is good as well, I love this from Staples. http://www.staples.com/Staples-The-Desk-Apprentice-Rotating-Desk-Organizer/product_597003 Kimberly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Just an update as I got this done just now. I have a cabinet in our dinning room/kitchen that I keep almost all our current books and other stuff. So, I wanted to continue using this, but all I could put into this is baskets. And I could only fit 4 medium sized ones that I already have on hand. So, I went through the lesson plans for this week and put every book we were going to be using into a basket for each kid. One I couldn't fit everything so he got a second basket that won't be needed until Thursday. I made copies, copied down assignment for my oldest that he can do on his own, and got everything together that we need for the week. I stacked my remaining books in a pile and put them in my cabinet that will be used in upcoming weeks. I like that my boys just need to pull out the basket to work from and I have everything ready for the week! Hoping for an easier week! Now just need to finish a few other projects since we are starting a couple new things this week and I don't have it completely together yet. Thanks everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 It looks like you've got a plan, but I wanted to share how I have my week organized in case you see an idea for later. I posted about it here. He has a desk near bookshelves in which I keep all our stuff. I made laminated cards for things that I couldn't tear apart or is not a worksheet, such as history and science. I love that I can take the binder with me anywhere. My older dd is taking an hour class once a week, so I can grab this binder and have school work to do while we wait on her. Dd is visiting her aunt on the north side of Atlanta and we'll be picking her up Tuesday. I can take the binder so that ds can do work in the car. The trip is about 3 hours total, so he can get quite a bit done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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