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Morning Time Binder Suggestions
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We have been doing some form of bible/catechism/scripture memory since my eldest was 2 during breakfast. We’ve changed it a bit here and there and have finally consistently added hymn study. My littles ages are 8, 6, 4, and 3. I would like to gradually add other family studies to this time. (poetry, recitation, etc.)
Now that I have readers, I would like to put together binders for this time. I’ve seen the idea other places. When we do catechism, I feel it would be great to have the catechism question they’re working on in front of them. Also, a copy of the hymn would be helpful. I thought about doing coloring sheets for my littles in a binder and other little pencil to paper activities for this time. Right now my brain is scattered and would love some more concrete ideas on how to put these together.
Do you use them? What do yours look like? I would love to know what you included during this season of life as well. I’ve heard Cindy Rollins talk about her morning time being 2 hours long! Whoa! With all littles I can’t imagine them ever being big enough for that…but wouldn’t that be a sweet time for family studies eventually?! So, do you mind sharing with me what this morning/circle/family study time looks like in your home? And if you use a binder for your children, what is in it?
I’m not a fan of binders for my kids. They always seem to end up with papers scattered all over the schoolroom! We are trying out 3 prong folders this year instead, and I like this system. Basically it’s like having a bunch of workbooks made from all our PDF curriculum. It’s much harder for pages to be ripped out, removed, or not placed in to start with! They have color coded folders for: Visits to Europe, CKE Earth & Space coloring pages/lab pages, SOTW coloring pages/maps, Burgess Bird coloring pages, MUS workbook/graph paper for writing out math problems, copywork (for 2 DC using Print to Cursive Proverbs), ELTL grammar passages, and Spelling Wisdom for oldest two…I don’t think I’m missing any! I started with 3 prong folders for myself, but decided I wanted a binder so I wasn’t flipping through a ton of folders while planning out my week!
Our grammar & poetry memory work is contained in index card sprial “notebooks”. For Bible, we are using this system: http://www.on-my-heart.com/ which we just started last month. As you can see, everything is contained in a binder ring. Previously we’d been using the Scripture Memory System, which is contained in an index card box. I had printed hymn sheets for each child, on cardstock, with all the hymns planned for the current year.
I have a binder with all my printed teacher’s guides and schedules in it. In the front I have my loop schedule (using Pam Barnhill’s Loop schedule planning page). I also have a list of daily subjects (math, Bible, Latin, phonics, etc.). After that, I have tabbed sections for each of my teacher’s guides. Each is marked with a post it flag to keep my place. I have tab dividers for Visits to Europe, Harmony Fine Arts (includes our art, picture study, & music study), Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades, On My Heart teacher’s guide, Christian Kids Explore lesson plans & resources, and probably a couple other things I’m missing! I keep my SOTW activity guide in a separate binder since it’s 200+ pages long!
Our “morning time”/family studies are probably 2 hours, but it’s the bulk of our school day, and we didn’t start out at 2 hours. We often take breaks for other subjects throughout our family studies.
For organizing our books, I have a 10 drawer cart (like you’d store scrapbook papers in). Each drawer holds one or two subjects’ current books, along with their folders. We just pull out one drawer at a time and get started! I have a label on the front of each drawer so they are easy to find.
Also, I’ve only been printing out one term at a time. I didn’t want to print materials for the entire year in case something wasn’t working out…not to mention it takes a lot of time to print it all out!
Thank you, Holly. Those are really good suggestions. I think a folder may work better as well. I have a couple of binders for myself and it works well. (Although, with not as much stuff! Wow. With a first and second grader, our curriculum has been pretty much open and go so I don’t have many teacher guides.)
I’m organized by nature. Having 4 littles makes that all a little up in the air from time to time. I enjoy hearing others’ ideas on how they organize their school (and homes). It’s a blessing to pick up tips from other moms.
Oooh! The Own My Heart thing is really nice! We do the Westminster Catechism though… I wonder if there is something similar out there. That’s great!
It’s funny that you bring up binders bc just last night I was out looking for 1/2″ binders for copies of the hymns we’re learning bc they are starting to pile up. I went to two stores and the smallest they had was 1″ so maybe I will order online or just get the 1″. I love your idea about calling them Morning Binders and putting coloring sheets inside for the little ones! I think my kids would like that.
Our morning “family devotions” time includes following the SCM Scripture Memory system (which promptly fell on the floor all over the place and has never been properly put back together), catechism (a younger and older version–we use the book Training Hearts, Teaching Minds, which is also a devotional) alternated with hymn study and then we pray for our day. Oh–we’re reading a very small passage from Luke, too, because we are constantly in the OT for our Bible lessons. It takes about 15-20 min and then they’re supposed to get started on copywork and individual studies.
Our boys are 14, 11 and 9 and the girls are 6, 4 and 2 so it is work to keep everyone focused. Today I had the girls look at books while I talked w the boys until it was the girls’ turn for their simple little catechism questions.
I think that if I make special morning binders for all of them it will help to keep it organized and the girls will feel more like it’s their time, too. Thanks for the idea!
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