Organization Binders, Part 3...

OK, last section of our Binders.  This is our Bible Study section, and it's honestly the simplest. 



It's one page, our Memory Verse page.  In theory, they're learning a verse a week.  This is a front and back sheet, too, and there's actually room for 52 verses, although I only used 35.  I give them the verse they're supposed to learn (it's already written for them, I made it out at the beginning of the year, thanks to some friends at The Homeschool Lounge), and it's their responsibility to learn them and recite them on Friday.  I do put them up on the whiteboard in our kitchen, too, so they can study it all day.

Well, those are our binders!!  Hope y'all enjoyed them! ♥

Organization Binders, Part 2...

OK, part 2, the School section.  This is pretty easy, but, again, my camera and flash hate me, so sorry if there's glare. 



First up, her weekly assignment sheet.  It has her name at the top, the week it is (this one is from September), and each of her subjects down the left side.  (This is actually 2 pages, I put them back to back in one page protector.)  Across the top are the days of the weeks, then the assignments are just filled in the boxes.  Again, I didn't make this, I think I got it fromA Virtuous Woman.  There's a bunch of free downloads there, it's an awesome site. 




Next, I got five page protectors, and put tabs on them, labeling them for the days of the week.  Each week, I print of the worksheets (usually on Sunday night), and put whatever they have for Monday in Monday's pocket, then Tuesday, ect.  When they're done, they go right back in the pockets.  Saves on the paper mess everywhere, and it lets them know exactly what they have to do for the week.

Again, sorry for the glare and for the wrinkles in the page protectors.    I'm actually about to redo this section, using the same basic idea, but I'm going to get the super heavy duty page protectors.  They work better. 




OK, last thing in this section is the reading list.  Basically, it lists the Book Title, Author, and the Date Read (or finished).

And that's it for school!

Organization Binders, Part 1...

OK, so many many moons ago (AKA... when the school year started and I was very, VERY pregnant) I promised someone on my MOMYS board that I would post some pictures of the way we organize.  Now, I can't remember who it was , but I DO remember saying it, so here ya go!   This'll be a 3 part series, so I'll be linking as I get them done.  Be patient with me!!

Basically, I got them each a 3 ring binder, and divided it into sections with tabbed dividers.  I'm addicted to page protectors and laminate (I honestly don't know a homeschool mom who isn't...), so everything's in page protectors, to help it last.  The sections are:

Calendars, Schedules, and Routines (which is in this entry)

School

Bible Study


This is what our binders look like.  OK, the front was *supposed* to be decorated, but apparently they decided they didn't want to.  Whatever, I try not to sweat the small stuff, it's their binders.    As you can see, our theme for this year is Fruits of the Spirit.  This is Katie's;  all of her stuff (binders, bins, organizers) is purple.  WalMart had great stuff that was color coded around July and August, for dorms, and that's when I usually pick stuff like that up, so that each kid has their own color.  Makes it easier in the long run for me.



This is basically what I used to separate the sections.  I like the plastic dividers, they're sturdier, and my kids have this amazing ability to destroy ANYTHING.  I also like the pockets, to keep their assorted papers that they just HAVE TO KEEP FOREVER!!!  (Which is a lot, lately.  Especially with Katie...)





Next is the monthly calendar.  This is actually Danny's, you can see if you look closely that his binder is orange.  It lets them know at a glance if they have doctor's appointments coming up, if we have vacations, road trips, stuff like that.




Back to Katie's... This is her weekly calendar.  Again, tells at a glance what they have going on for the week.  (By the way, I didn't create these calendars, they're part of a homekeeping binder I bought as an ebook...  but it's on the computer I had that crashed out on me, and I can't find the link.  But, I don't want to take someone else's credit.  If you know the link, feel free to send it to me, and I'll post it.  Until then, I'll keep looking, and let you know when I find it.)



This one's kind of hard to see, sorry.  But, it's her daily schedule.  I got this from using Managers of Their Homes from Titus 2 Ministries (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!)  I had to crop it a bit (the flash on my camera was hating me), but you get the general idea.



Next we have her morning routine....



... and her bedtime routine.  And that's it for the Calendars, Schedules, and Routines section.

Getting Ready

We are *almost* ready for school!  I say almost, but really, that means a lot of the planning is done, now I gotta get to the ordering part.    Patrick hates this part, but this year, he's been REALLY wonderful about everything.  We should be ordering the majority of our curriculum this week, and picking up the rest in the next couple of paychecks.

I like to keep my two olders on the same page.  They're only 18 months apart, and it's SO much easier than seperating them.  Besides which, they're both doing really well, so why shake things up?

This will be our first year doing textbooks.  This will only be our second year of "formally" homeschooling, and I swore I wouldn't use the things when I started, but here I am.  With the babies, and Sean running around, it's just too much for me right now to try to plan unit studies or CM studies.  I get overwhelmed, so this works for us.  I'm hoping to get Teri Maxwell's Managers of Their Schools soon, to help me out with scheduling and ideas and things.

We've decided on Rod and Staff, because I REALLY like how Scripture and Bible is incorporated into EVERYTHING.  (Patrick likes the price, so it all works out well!!)  So here's what we're using:


Reading, Reading Comprehension, and Phonics:  Rod and Staff Grade 2 Bible Nurture and Reader Series,Bible Nurture and Reader Series, plus we'll be supplementing with CLE and Pathway Publisher's series, if we need to.

English:  Rod and Staff Grade 2 Preparing to Build, and Climbing to Good English, Grade 1.   We didn't do a whole lot of English or Grammer last year, so I figure a refresher is in order.

Math:  We're finishing up Basic Math Grade 1 in Rod and Staff, then moving on to Working Arithmetic Grade 2.

Spelling:  Rod and Staff Spelling by Sound and Sequence, Grade 2

Handwriting:  Danny is finishing up Grade 1 Penmanship for Christian Writing, and Katie is finishing up  Grade 2.   They'll both be advancing when they're ready... Handwriting is a real pain for us.

Health:  Proper Manners and Health by Rod and Staff

Social Studies/Civics:  Our Father's World by Rod and Staff

Music:  Beginning in Music for Grade 1, since this is our first year doing music, by Rod and Staff

Art:  Katie is working on Artpac 1, and Danny is working on Bible Pictures to Color, where I read him a Bible story every week, and he colors the matching page, every week.  Art is not my strong front.  LOL

Home Ec:  We're starting off withFuture Christian Homemakers (you can download their handbook for free at their site!) for both of them, and then (eventually) moving on to Pearable's Home Economics Level 1.Home Economics Level 1.  We want them both to have a good, solid foundation for when they have their own homes.

Bible:  We'll be doing a bunch of different things here.  We're starting off with a Fruits of the Spirit Lapbook, and we'll be sort of starting our own Adventurer's club (which is run through our church, although our local church doesn't have one), and that will teach some church history and such.  We'll also be doing a doctrinal study, called God Loves Me 28 Ways, which we started and never finished, so we need to do that.  Eventually, we'll also be adding the Pearable's The Narrow Way curriculum for character building.

Science:  Apologia's Exploring Creation with Astronomy


History:  Mystery of History Volume 1

Other stuff:  We're working on our Adventurer's honors, and Katie is going to begin a study in Beautiful Girlhood.   We'll probably start Danny on a study with the Pearable's The Christian Gentleman's Series:  Lessons in Responsibility for Boys, Level 1. 

We're also looking for projects for them to do, something to keep their hands busy.  We fully believe it's very important to keep them industrious, but we're at a loss on how to do that.  So, we're looking.  (Any ideas for age appropriate, semi-long term projects would be GREATLY appriciated!  We live in a small town, but still in town, in a single-wide trailer in a court, so space isn't exactly in abundance, but we'd still like to figure out *something!*) 

So, I think that's our year in a nutshell, as far as books and curriculum goes.  Hopefully I can get to where I can show you some of our organization this evening, if we ever find our camera cord.

In His Love,
Kristi