Binders

[wonder3]

Does anyone actually use a 3 inch binder for each subject? I am a little confused by the instructions in the WTM. It refers to notebooks but in my area notebooks are spiral bound pads of paper. I am assuming it is referring to a 3 in. binder for Math, Science, History, and Language Arts. Has anyone found a better way to keep your child's work neat and organized? I want to keep most of their writing, history and science. Not sure about math. Thanks!

[desertflower]

I'm just starting my journey, so take this info as you will.  :)

 

At this point in time, I don't have a 3 in binder for math.

 

I believe SWB mentioned 6 binders:

1. Spelling - will most likely try to use it the way she mentions it.

2. Grammar - I believe this will consist of pages from FLL and WWE.  So far, I've only put FLL stuff in it.  We did WWE 1 orally since he was 5.  Haven't started WWE 2 yet.

3.  History - I have proclick together narration pages and copies of the coloring pages this way it's easier to travel with.  In the end of Ancient Times, I plan on putting this under the ancient times tab (taking out the spine).

4.  Science - No

5.  Writing - consists of 4 tabs.  Copywork, dictation, exercises and compositions.  I do use this binder.  Only copywork at this point in time.

6  Reading  - I believe this is called my reading notebook.  Mine consists of 2 tabs.  Narrations (2x a week) and memory work.  Memory work is in there.  Narrations may not be at this point.  It will be at the end of the year.  I have narration work (sotw and from the book The Way We Work) in a separate proclick notebook because it's easier to travel with. 

 

The 3 in binders are mostly sitting on the shelf.  I think it's fine to tweak as you go.  In the end of the "school" year, I suspect the work will be in there.  It's just we are in and out a lot and it's easier to travel with something like a spiral notebook. 

 

Perhaps someone else can chime in who is further along in their journey.  Hope this helps!

[Ellie]

Does anyone actually use a 3 inch binder for each subject? I am a little confused by the instructions in the WTM. It refers to notebooks but in my area notebooks are spiral bound pads of paper. I am assuming it is referring to a 3 in. binder for Math, Science, History, and Language Arts. Has anyone found a better way to keep your child's work neat and organized? I want to keep most of their writing, history and science. Not sure about math. Thanks!

 

When I was growing up, we used three-ring notebooks with loose leaf paper, as opposed to spiral-bound notebooks, or sewn composition notebooks. I don't know when "notebooks" became "binders," and I still cannot say that when referring the the three-ring thing I put my papers in.

 

So, yes, if I were doing WTM, I'd be using 3" notebooks for each subject. :D

[*Jessica*]

We're in our 7th year of homeschooling, primarily using the WTM, and this is the first year I have bothered with 3-ring binders. For the first time I feel organized, whereas before there were always papers floating here and there in this notebook and that. I don't have separate binders for all of those subjects, yet. I have one of the large ones separated out with tabbed dividers for each subject. At the end of the week I pull all of the completed work out and put it in the 3-ring binder. Once we get far enough into our year that the binder is getting full, I will buy another and put the language arts subjects into it to free up room. I can't imagine having a separate binder for every subject, though. My bookshelves would be full of mostly empty binders for so much of the year, and it is so easy for my boys to review things with the one binder. I know they wouldn't want to pull down a bunch of binders whenever they needed to review. I wish I had started doing this long ago!

 

The only subject that has its own binder is history, because we have different sections for medieval world history (summaries, men & women, wars & conflicts, religion & mythology, art, inventions & architecture, maps & worksheets, timeline, the Plague! Problem Studies for One unit we're doing), American history, and American geography.

[Kristie in Florida]

All the different binders help us stay organized, and then at the end of the year it is easy to consolidate what I'm keeping for the portfolio.

[Alessandra]

When I was growing up, we used three-ring notebooks with loose leaf paper, as opposed to spiral-bound notebooks, or sewn composition notebooks. I don't know when "notebooks" became "binders," and I still cannot say that when referring the the three-ring thing I put my papers in.

 

So, yes, if I were doing WTM, I'd be using 3" notebooks for each subject. :D

Yes, notebook. My kids don't understand me when I say that though. I also say 'ice box.' Ds posted a sign 'refrigerator' on the door of said appliance.

[wonder3]

Alessandra, that is too funny! I bet that you say soda instead of pop also. [emoji3] I come from the Trapper Keeper generation. Notebook and binder are both new for me.

 

Thanks for the ideas and responses. [emoji2]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Ellie]

Yes, notebook. My kids don't understand me when I say that though. I also say 'ice box.' Ds posted a sign 'refrigerator' on the door of said appliance.

 

I have recovered from saying "ice box." :smilielol5:

 

And while we're at it, when did "ice chest" become "cooler"????

[Alessandra]

I have recovered from saying "ice box." :smilielol5:

 

And while we're at it, when did "ice chest" become "cooler"????

Old habits die hard.

[Ellie]

Old habits die hard.

 

I will always say ice chest. It hurts my innards to say "cooler." :ack2:

[RootAnn]

The only year I did a binder was the year dd#1 did History Odyssey. It worked fine, but the binders are just rather cumbersome for the kids to deal with and papers were falling out all over the place.

 

Notebooks (sewn composition books or the coil-bound rip-out type) tend to be what we use.

 

 

[Excelsior! Academy]

No, we use these http://kccd.bncollege.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/FIVE_STAR_5_SUBJECT_ADVANCED_NOTEBOOK_WITH_POCKETS_AND_INDEX_CARDS_ASSORTED_COLORS/ProductDisplay?parentCatId=40702&imageId=703342&level=&graphicId=17&categoryId=40702&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=65148&productId=400000021273&topCatId=40510

 

[Coco_Clark]

I get away with having 1 binder for each kid. Maybe they are 3 inch? I can't recall.

 

Anyways, I have a booklist in front and then sections divided and tabbed as follows: LA DIVIDER spelling, grammar, copywork, SCIENCE DIVIDER, Notebooking, labs, HISTORY DIVIDER, and ARTS DIVIDER artists, composers.

 

It may be important to add that we don't necessarily keep Every. Single. Thing. We use the notebooks as review tools, not necessarily record keeping, so if he writes a spelling list 3 times I'll only keep one :)

[kalusignan]

I use binders, one each for History, Science, Grammar, Reading, and Writing. It just helps to keep everything organized. At the end of the year I go through and recycle 98% of everything. lol

[happypamama]

I have hanging folders, one per child for each of the six subjects (math, history/geography, language arts, science, fine arts, and health/safety/PE), where we put anything loose. However, we largely don't have much loose paper. They use composition books for things that require writing, like math, but history maps, notebooking sheets for picture and composer study, and lots else, are ProClicked into little booklets. History and writing essays, summaries, and outlines that get done on the computer do get filed into the appropriate files.

 

I save everything until the end of the year when we do our portfolios. Once our district says that they've accepted our portfolios, I recycle anything that wasn't important enough for the portfolios.

[almondbutterandjelly]

If there are going to be a lot of "loose" paper for that subject, I will use a binder (probably not 3" though) for it.  If there are only going to be a few papers, I will use a folder.  Some subjects have workbooks that I don't rip anything out of, so they get nothing.  Some subjects, like Algebra, use a composition book (because we lefties don't like spiral notebooks).  

 

But, way back in the dark ages of my first years of homeschooling, binders were an amazing solution to: What do I do with all these papers?

 

I did clean out the binders at the end of the school year.  

[HomeAgain]

We use binders.  In fact, this year I took the ones my oldest had used for 3 years, redid the dividers on the insides, and set them up for the little one.  I didn't even have to swap out the strips on the spines that have the subjects. LOL 

 

We only use two this year: language arts and math/labs.  Science has its own spiral journal for observation work, but the labs go in with math for lack of a better place. Copywork/dictation has its own book.  Art doesn't get a permanent home because he's too little.

[imagine.more]

I use one large binder for each child with 8 tabbed dividers (one for each subject) in it. I like having one year's work in one place and it's easier for the kids to just have one binder they pull out for all subjects. As the neuro-typical ones get older and are doing all the WTM suggestions I'll use sticky tab dividers inside the big plastic divider sections to differentiate between dictation/copywork/spelling or whatever else we need sub-divided.