Do you follow the binder/notebooking system laid out in TWTM?

[In-Paradisum]

I love how simple, cohesive, and practical it is. I would love to hear anyone's thoughts! 

[arliemaria]

My husband really wants us to do this, but it seems impractical to me. We have a history binder since this is the first year my son is producing a decent amount of output in that subject. It is already frustrating me a month in because so many holes have ripped. I need to buy hole reinforcements. 

I have him keep a reading journal/commonplace from Sarah Makenzie’s suggestion. We do his grammar exercises in a single spiral bound notebook. I have kept a simple binder for their poetry from a Laura Berquist suggestion when my oldest was little so we just add to that.

[PeachyDoodle]

We've done it for years. When the binder gets full, I pull out a few samples of the best work from each section and save them in a portfolio binder. I hope one day the kids will enjoy looking back on how they've grown.

[prairiewindmomma]

We did for several years. 

[FairProspects]

Yes, sort of. My 6th grader has a composition book where most of his work related to literature and language lives. Both boys each have binders that are combined English and history with dividers for different aspects of work.

[Rachel]

4 hours ago, FairProspects said:

Yes, sort of. My 6th grader has a composition book where most of his work related to literature and language lives. Both boys each have binders that are combined English and history with dividers for different aspects of work.

This is basically what we do. I started with what is suggested in WTM, but over the years have tweaked it to fit our needs and routines. 

[2_girls_mommy]

yes. The more we follow any subject ala WTM, the better it goes for us. The history we did exactly as in logic stage and in grammar stage completely, and is the subject we follow WTM for the most. We have tweaked for high school for whatever our needs are each year. We still have an LA binder for each kid and a science binder as well.  

 

[Petrichor]

I don't even recall what the WTM notebooking system is ?

My 9yo doesn't produce much when it comes to written work, and when he does it's either in his composition notebook or it's a math worksheet that gets tossed in the recycling bin as soon as it's been reviewed.

[Moonhawk]

Yes*

*This year we have limited storage space. Basically, everything has to fit into their backpacks and be under 7 lbs. So, we started off with a 1.5" binder for most of the write-light subjects and memory stuff and any handouts through different topics. Then they have separate really thin binders for history and science. So far this has been working. Eventually when the smaller binders fill up we'll be putting the overflow into the bigger binder (if there's room) or into a organizer accordian that fits on the small shelf we have. 

[katilac]

We did variations on it. 

[arliemaria]

16 hours ago, Paradox5 said:

I buy reinforced lined paper. No more rips!

WHY DID I NEVER THINK OF THIS!? It is in the Amazon cart now.  Any tips for a third grader who still uses two lines to write? I am trying to get him to write smaller.  I just put college ruled in the cart.  If he is uses two college ruled lines that must be smaller than he is writing now.

[Sarah0000]

I have a first grader and he keeps just one composition book that has his history and science narrations and other random assignments and creative doodlings. He simply uses the next page so there's no organization to it. I figure when he's older and can organize it himself and maybe when he transitions to direct written narrations we can upgrade to the WTM way.

[aprilleigh]

We did for some things - at least we tried to. I also scan everything into PDFs periodically, and before we discard anything.

Science - I basically ignored all the recommendations because to me (a science educator) they made no sense. We use an integrated science curriculum, heavily supplemented with some of the resources SWB suggested and a few others I have handy. DS is a Boy Scout, so we also integrate a lot of his STEM merit badges. The binder layout that SWB suggests for science would never have worked for us, mostly because of the level of integration. He keeps a binder to collect his work together but our organization is as integrated as our curriculum. In the rhetoric stage that will change significantly, since I will essentially be teaching him introductory-level college courses.

Math isn't binder friendly - at least not the program we use. I made him keep notes and problem sets neatly organized so he can study from them, but that's it.

Language arts are another area where we skipped the binder in the grammar stage - for the logic stage we're using binders for writing only. We used the workbooks for the writing and grammar programs SWB and her mom wrote, so I either kept them in a file folder in my desk or kept them in the workbook until he was finished. Reading and spelling didn't add enough to justify a binder, either. None of this is something he refers back to, so I keep them for my records only.

History, on the other hand, was well-suited to keeping a binder. It's more than just a record of his work, it's his own reference to remind himself what he learned. Since I periodically scan everything it's not a big deal if something gets damaged beyond repair. I may offer to have the entire thing reproduced in bound volumes one day if he expresses any interest in keeping them.

[EKS]

I did for about three seconds and then dropped it.

[aprilleigh]

On 10/14/2018 at 11:37 PM, Paradox5 said:

HWT paper in narrow. I just had mine start using the one line skipping a line between writing. They worked out the sizing after about a week. Absolutely use college ruled. I never used wide, not even for HWT.

I'll second this recommendation. HWT narrow is just about perfect for that - by the time you finish the pack you should be ready to move back to regular paper. My kid also doesn't like wide-ruled, but at 12 he's definitely ready for college-ruled. Narrow-ruled, if you can find it, is awesome (it's what I used in high school and college when I could find it). I write small, so even the college-ruled seems a bit big for me, but it does have the advantage of more space for proofreading marks.