Trivium Academy Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I've been tossing this idea around but haven't done much with it. I've organized our year in quarters since we're using TOG (it has 4 units a year, 9-10 weeks each). Instead of having a LA, History, Science, Math notebook, how about a quarterly notebook? I could either pre-fill it, integrating everything together so it is a "do the next thing" or I could separate the subjects with tabs and only put a quarter's load of work in it. Would this be better than taking out the work each week and putting it into a daily folder and putting completed work back? Having quarter notebooks means there would be only 5 notebooks for the year (4= 1 for each quarter, 1 for poetry which is always separate). Shelf space would be lessened. That's the idea, what do you think? My brain is in "move" mode so I need help seeing the pros and cons of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I think that's a wonderful idea. I'm all for making things more effecient. Wouldn't it also be easier as you start to teach 2 children? It sounds like you would free up some time each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I like the idea of having separate subjects, and keeping all of the quarter's work together. We actually do something similar, but we separate by the semester. The thing I like most about this approach is that my guys tend to spontaneously look back over their work from previous weeks while the notebook is in front of them. When I used to give them only their work for the day or the week, we pulled the big notebook off the shelf far less often. With the regular review, their retention is much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 This sounds intriguing. I put all of our work together behind monthly tabs arranged by the week and then I bring out the daily work. After it is done, we have some binders where I put the completed work: Science, Copywork and then the yearly binder. The yearly binder has tabs for: Latin, Phonics, Math outside of the workbook, and History. I like this idea that you are bringing up of quarterly notebooks. Especially since I am looking on just focusing on core subjects (math and language arts including Latin) and letting the rest be independent study where we either make a lapbook, report or some other permanent display of what was learned. Do you think that you would have the quartly binders and then move the completed work to larger subject binders or just keep them in quarters? Do you give her all the work she needs at the beginning of the week? daily? or would you have it all done up for the quarter? I know my dd would be overwhelmed with anything more than daily but as she matures she may be ready for weekly. See, your idea is making my brain work and think about how I can use it for us. Like your idea and I think it could really work for you.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted May 30, 2008 Author Share Posted May 30, 2008 Right now our 1st grade stuff is in a box, all mixed together. I didn't take the the time to put it in one subject notebook like WTM says to do. I guess the tab-divided subjects for the quarter would be best for organizing purposes but the daily/weekly would be better for dd so she could focus on that day's tasks. Hmm. Right now I pull the week's work from the big binders and separate it into daily folders. She completes the work and puts it back in the folder and at the end of the week I file it back into the big binders and pull out the next week's work. She likes the satisfaction of finishing the work in the folder and it prevents her from looking ahead while trying to get the work done. Added: Doh! I could put all the work in a quarter binder, pre-filled and just pull the week's work out and put it in the daily folders. Transferring it back to 1 binder would be better than the multiple ones. I'd have to separate the subjects by tabs in the quarter binder b/c science isn't planned out for the year yet other than just knowing what we'll study. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisawa Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I like both ideas actually... so maybe I'm no help at all. *Ü* I like your folders and the hangy thingy....:D In our notebooks... I mean the girls notebooks, they place the weeks worth of work in the week it has been finished. If TOG is spread out, its spread out... It goes in the week it was completed. I dont get to tripped up about it. It will be spiral bound w/o my week tabs in them when its all done.... for the year. This year we only have 2 units of TOG in their notebooks.... and thats fine by me. All the other hard work they did in other subjects is also in it.... the only binders that are separate are Spanish and Science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I've been tossing this idea around but haven't done much with it. I've organized our year in quarters since we're using TOG (it has 4 units a year, 9-10 weeks each). Instead of having a LA, History, Science, Math notebook, how about a quarterly notebook? I could either pre-fill it, integrating everything together so it is a "do the next thing" or I could separate the subjects with tabs and only put a quarter's load of work in it. Would this be better than taking out the work each week and putting it into a daily folder and putting completed work back? Having quarter notebooks means there would be only 5 notebooks for the year (4= 1 for each quarter, 1 for poetry which is always separate). Shelf space would be lessened. That's the idea, what do you think? My brain is in "move" mode so I need help seeing the pros and cons of this. Jessica, you read my mind. I also have enjoyed my TOG quarterly notebooks so much that I have decided to put together quarterly notebooks of all the daily work. However, they got too big, so I decided to do monthly notebooks (9 notebooks of 4 weeks each). I am going to keep these separate from the TOG notebooks that I am doing again. I'm going to put all their daily work into these notebooks. This past week I have been busy tearing up workbooks and making copies of things I can't tear. I think my kids will really like this. I have decided to break it up into subjects rather than weeks. That way, if my gets get into it they can work ahead and finish their work for the month. Great minds think alike (either that, or seriously disturbed mind think alike!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted May 30, 2008 Author Share Posted May 30, 2008 Mindy How do you determine if something is worth the cost of copying? Like our Explorer's Bible Study, it's meant to be consumable but I've been using them as non-consumable. It would be much easier to tear and 3 hole pnch than copy each page. Is it worth $20 to buy another for ds later? I just copy right now but I'm really considering not. The working ahead (or behind ;)) is a great reason to separate by subject! Okay, I think I've got it now. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I too thought it would be a great idea to use a binder per unit and then divide the work by weeks. It didn't work out so well for us. I found that for us the unit binders were fine but we needed their work divided by subject. Sometimes assignments took more than one week (e.g. writing) or they'd have to refer back to a previous assignment. Subject groupings made this easier. Cinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELaurie Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Hi Jessica, I keep notebooks for different subject areas, as suggested in WTM, but ds 6 is doing K / 1st grade work this year, so I have combined my dc's work in the same notebook. IOW, I have one language arts notebook for the two of them, one notebook for history, one for science. That makes it easier to move toward having both of work in the same subject at the same time next year when ds 6 is more consistently doing 1st grade work. Given the difference in Camille and Danny's ages, personalities, and future interests, however, I don't know how this plan would work for you ;) Hmmm . . . I guess that offers no advice at all, does it? What I really meant to write is that, for me, the cost of an extra workbook for something like Explorer's is almost worth the $$, unless I plan for them to answer questions orally, or unless the workbooks are designed in such a way that ds 8 can consume part of them one year and ds 6 can finish them later. This is often the case with coloring books, for example. Ds 8 abhors coloring, so he has completed only a few pages in some of his books; ds 6 loves to color so he will inherit them later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted May 30, 2008 Author Share Posted May 30, 2008 I want so BADLY to finish planning out our 3rd grade year but I can't until we move. Really, I can't- it's in boxes, lol. I think 1 notebook to pull papers from will be a good way to streamline this, I'll still put them in the daily folders though. I love the folder hanging, I can stick her independent reading in there too which works well for us. Soon, I'll have all the organizing and planning I can handle. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 MindyHow do you determine if something is worth the cost of copying? Like our Explorer's Bible Study, it's meant to be consumable but I've been using them as non-consumable. It would be much easier to tear and 3 hole pnch than copy each page. Is it worth $20 to buy another for ds later? I just copy right now but I'm really considering not. The working ahead (or behind ;)) is a great reason to separate by subject! Okay, I think I've got it now. Thanks! Because of my job, I have access to a copy machine that I have permission to use for our schooling stuff, so I probably copy more than I might otherwise. PS. I only use it for things that would be legal to copy for personal use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5wolfcubs Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 I've been tossing this idea around but haven't done much with it. I've organized our year in quarters since we're using TOG (it has 4 units a year, 9-10 weeks each). Instead of having a LA, History, Science, Math notebook, how about a quarterly notebook? I could either pre-fill it, integrating everything together so it is a "do the next thing" or I could separate the subjects with tabs and only put a quarter's load of work in it. I did the "pre-filled, weeks work at a time, binder for the quarter" idea this last year. I bought tabbed pocket dividers (only 8 to a pack, so each week went in front and the 9th week used the back of the binder's pocket) and prepared everything for each week before the school year began. Things that could be hole punched were and things that I didn't want punched went into the pocket. Assignment sheet went in the very front of each week. Everything that didn't have it's own workbook (like MUS) went into the binder. When the week was over, I divided the papers between TOG and Everything Else and filed them in file folders (each child had 2 hanging files folders). It worked fabulously. For the first quarter. Because that was all I prepared! I attempted to prepare 2nd quarter during our week off and that quarter went okay, but everything wasn't ready. I didn't get around to preparing 3rd quarter during winter break and went back to making assignment sheets & copying stuff every Sunday night... :glare: What I get prepared before the "school year" starts is what always goes best. What I think "Oh, I'll do during our break" is half-hearted or not done at all. I have learned this about myself and need to plan accordingly. However, I don't think you have this problem! :) I like your daily work folders, and if that is working, keep it up! You know, you might not need a binder if you're putting things in the daily folders. What about an accordion folder? Oh, but you put it into binders afterwards, right? So having everything hole punched beforehand is a good thing!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 First Quarter Binder TAB- Bible - can be prefilled for each quarter (Explorer's Bible) TAB- Math - can be prefilled for each quarter (Horizons) TAB- Latin - can be prefilled for each quarter (Prima Latina?) TAB- French - can be prefilled for each quarter (Écoutez, Parlez) TAB- Composition - prefilled blank handwriting paper (PLL and anything else written individually) TAB- Phonics/Spelling (Explode the Code-wkbk and Simply Spelling-needs paper) TAB - History - needs to be filled before each quarter TAB- Science- needs to be filled before each quarter I may just make tabs for the curricula titles instead of subjects that way we cover everything. I already do the quarter planning, if I could get these prefilled with everything they can be prefilled with, it'll make it that much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profmom Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Maybe a dumb question, but how does it work to tear out workbook pages and file them into daily portions when workbooks very often have tomorrow's assignment on the back of the last page of today's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 In dividing them between quarter's there would only be 1 overlapping and those can be copied easily. End of 1st Quarter- back of last worksheet (copy) and put into front of 2nd quarter notebook, does that make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profmom Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 In dividing them between quarter's there would only be 1 overlapping and those can be copied easily.End of 1st Quarter- back of last worksheet (copy) and put into front of 2nd quarter notebook, does that make sense? Ok. I missed that you are dividing the subjects by quarters and not daily (this quarter's math, spelling... rather than today's math, spelling...). I think I understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachnmama Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I have a folder for each child that has tabs for each subject. I break apart all of their workbooks, copy pages etc. and place under each tab. Then each morning the kids know that the first page in each subject is what they are doing that day. I have created a chart 6 columns accross and 9 rows that I use for daily scheduling for the week. Days of the week are on top and subjects are along the side. I fill out what they need to do each day including piano practice and chores. They have a check mark in each box to check when work is complete. I have color coded daily folders that they put their finished work in and turn into me at the end of the day. I take their work and go over with them any mistakes, then I log all their work in daily planner that has a week per two page spread. I journal what was completed and anything extra we did ie. field trips, projects etc. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkgumby Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Wow - you are all so organized! I thought I was ready for the school year just by having everything together in a bookcase, but now I'm thinking I'm seriously underprepared! :001_huh: :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 Nah, if I didn't organize things this way- I'd be in a mess of trouble. I'd feel overwhelmed and never accomplish anything. It's more of a survival technique (at least for me) than anything, I'd love to be able to just pick up and go without so much thought. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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