Operation: Get Organized for School FAILED

[Kaleidoscope]

UGH.

 

I had a plan but I seem to have forgotten just where I was going with it or how I was to get there.

 

Older Kids:

Last year I used magazine files to organize all our school work for the day. The kids had a checklist so they knew what to do on their own and then we'd also work through the same boxes as a group to do the group type activities.

 

In their magazine files they either had their workbooks and then spiral notebooks or small floppy pocket notebooks that held everything.

 

It worked so why did I mess with it?

 

For some reason I decided I wanted to move to a binder system. I had it in my head that we had very few workbooks this year and that somehow this binder set up would work out. They were going to work through their binders for their independent work and then... well I'm not sure what else.

 

I liked that they could theoretically take their binder to their seat and have all they needed on hand to do their work. That meant less running around... or at least less excuse to look like they weren't running around.

 

But somehow it's not coming together.

 

I'm sure I had a reason for thinking this would work.

 

I've searched all my blog links and such and found nothing that helps me sort through whatever it is that isn't working.

 

Anyone here use binders to hold the majority of your kids work? Anyone know any links about using binders?

 

In their binder right now they have folders for various subjects. There are some info pages in page protectors.. things they will need to refer to regularly such as memory work and other notes.

 

Maybe the problem is not everything for the year can fit in the folders of course so I need a solution for what to do with what we aren't using yet and then what do we do with what we have already used.

 

Maybe I need to add 2 magazine files to the system. One for coming up and one for all finished... in each box there would be a set of folders or manilla envelopes holding the papers not done or already done.

 

Hmmmm... now to go see if that helps anything.

[Mom2OandE]

Hmmm. Well I'm doing a combination of the two. I'm have magazine boxes for LA, Poetry & Bible plus a once a week box. I may end with a math box too. For those important things that I need to keep after they've been done they will either be in a notebook which will use for a few subjects or I will put them in a expanda file by subject and at the end of the year I will just wrap it up and pack it away in case we need it.

 

I am doing binders for Science, RoadTrip USA and Spelling Connection (which I'm actually using for handwriting practice). Once the work is finished it will be filed to the back in order so that the current work is at the front.

 

Not sure if that helps you. Good luck, organizing is one of those things that's necessary but it can be stressful.

[happycc]

the ink situation is driving me crazy. We use refill ink and suddenly my HP printer says it is counterfeit blah blah blah and won't print my stuff.

 

Grrr!

 

 

We have a binder system and not enough bookshelves for them. So then I stuff them in different places and it drives me crazy.

 

We need more bookshelves. Oh I just need a whole bigger house. Our school takes up so much space that we can;t even have a couch in the house. We had to block off the fireplace and use that area for storage with those plastic bins with drawers to store homeschool stuff.

 

I can;t seem to find a better way to organize this drama! I fear that when I do reorganize it becomes mass craziness because none of us remember where we decided to place things and we go back to the original spot hoping to find it. More wasted time.

 

Besides we MIGHT be moving again and don;t want to spend too much time organizing/reorganizing before the move.

 

 

I need to find some drawers or some kind of filing paper thing for my kids to pull out the worksheets they need to work on independently each day. I have a filing cabinet and I can see it become a mess with the three of them pulling stuff out of them daily. Maybe bind the worksheets in one big fat book all in order? But then if they skip a day ugh!