Storing school work can be quite a task. You want to keep everything yet you don't want it to keep you! As the school year starts to close for many, we are left with mounds of paperwork. What to do? This is the way I organize our homeschool goods which also offers itself as a memory maker.
What I do is prepare two binders for each student per grade. I then take a "school picture" for the year and slip it inside the binder cover. This serves to label the owner of the binder as well as providing a memory of what your child looked like at that specific age. It is also special to decorate the covers with scrapbook supplies, stickers or clip art. I must admit to color coding the binders according to their clothing in the pictures but that is just my obsessive compulsive nature coming out. You can also have your students do their own decorating and paper organizing as a year end project or beginning of the year project.
Inserting tabs into your binders (such as Bible, science/nature, math, etc., or according to unit of study such as bees, pioneers, pilgrims and so forth...) is the final touch. Then I simply file the school work in the proper category. You can start this up at the beginning of the year and add as you go or you can prepare it at the end of the year once you know what you have to work with.
It also helps to label the spine of the binders and it makes a pretty presentation on your school shelves. You can color code each binder to your children's favorite colors or you can just have fun and do whatever you please.
I also include pictures of the field trips taken that year, pictures of larger projects, science experiments and charts that will not fit into the binder. I make little scrapbook sheets (or have students do their own) by pasting these pictures down on card-stock and jotting down a few words pertaining to them. Then, I simply place these memory pages into plastic sheet protectors to keep them safe in the binder. How do you organize your school work?
"Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another:
and the LORD hearkened, and heard it,
and a book of remembrance was written before him
for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name."
and a book of remembrance was written before him
for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name."
~ Malachi 3:16
All the fine print. This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays, The Scoop, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop, Wow Us Wednesdays, Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Five Star Frou Frou Friday, and Shabbilicious Friday. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. This post may contain affiliate links (which are merchant links that help to support this site at no additional cost to you if you purchase an item through them).
Love it! We have done lap books in the past, but am looking for an alternative and have decided on notebooks. I like this decorating idea! Thanks for sharing (visiting from Domestically Divine).
ReplyDeleteYou will LOVE doing notebooks! They are so fun and flexible and organized :)
DeleteWe keep school papers in a binder during the year. It's amazing how much paper they bring home every day. I threw away almost everything that wasn't "graded" or somehow sentimental, and I still FILLED a 3-inch binder. I had the papers organized by subject but didn't think to make tabs!! My oldest finished first grade today. I just pulled the papers out of the binder yesterday, wrapped them in rubber-bands and put them in the file-box I use to store drawings. We don't really have the space to store every year's papers out on the shelf (too many books!!). I do love having the papers organized!!
ReplyDelete~Kristen @ Trial & Error Homemaking
Thanks for sharing Kristen!
DeleteWhat neat projects- and I can see how involved the kids can get by helping you make them! My mother had all of my work in a large red binder with loads of sheet protectors. My mother in law has her children's in a small booklet- scrapbooking has gotten better and more organized over time I think! :) Something I definitely want to do with my kids one day.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing Nicole! :) Scrap-booking does add an element of fun!
DeleteWe do this too! Although I never thought to add a photo of the child. I mainly do it for a 'portfolio' of their school work to show that yes, we do actually do school in the event I ever had to prove it (Lord willing that never happens).
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention that but YES, good point, these binders are a proof that we ARE educating our children… Thanks for sharing that important aspect as well. It is always wise to be prepared in these uncertain times.
Delete