This week I'm putting together the kids' binders for the first period. Callie is focusing on the Ancient Middle East and Brent is all about Insects. Our main resource is the Thematic Units from Teacher Created. They were both downloaded as ebooks, so I can print just what I need.
We are saving money and looking out for the environment by using binders from last year. They don't have a lot of life left in them, when I do replace them I am looking at getting away from the vinyl. The Naked Binder makes some very nice ones as does Earth Binder. Earth Binder is especially great because you can replace the shell only and keep the metal rings as long as they last. The disadvantage, they are sold in packs of 10. We are using about 8 right now, so maybe 10 isn't too many. I have 2 binders, one for yearly records and one for the current period. The kids have 3 each. One for the current period, one for the upcoming one (this allows me to get it ready ahead of time) and an annual portfolio binder. The annual portfolio binder is where transcripts, attendance and samples of their best work is kept.
I'm organizing the period binders by weeks, normally this would be a 6 week period, but we are going to ease into it for the first one. We will be doing it in 8 weeks. Both kids thought this was a good idea. It's hard to start up when you've had so much time off. This should allow the kids to get back into the swing of things. The weekly organization helps the kids see clearly what needs to be done each week. In addition, both kids will be using planners this year to help organize their time.
We are saving money and looking out for the environment by using binders from last year. They don't have a lot of life left in them, when I do replace them I am looking at getting away from the vinyl. The Naked Binder makes some very nice ones as does Earth Binder. Earth Binder is especially great because you can replace the shell only and keep the metal rings as long as they last. The disadvantage, they are sold in packs of 10. We are using about 8 right now, so maybe 10 isn't too many. I have 2 binders, one for yearly records and one for the current period. The kids have 3 each. One for the current period, one for the upcoming one (this allows me to get it ready ahead of time) and an annual portfolio binder. The annual portfolio binder is where transcripts, attendance and samples of their best work is kept.
I'm organizing the period binders by weeks, normally this would be a 6 week period, but we are going to ease into it for the first one. We will be doing it in 8 weeks. Both kids thought this was a good idea. It's hard to start up when you've had so much time off. This should allow the kids to get back into the swing of things. The weekly organization helps the kids see clearly what needs to be done each week. In addition, both kids will be using planners this year to help organize their time.
ahh.. school