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Setting up students' notebooks…
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Ok- here’s my question if I can get it to make sense:
I feel like I am slowly understanding how to do a CM education. Thanks so much to SCM!! But I struggle with organization!! I have a 2nd and a 4th grader. I would like to know how others set up the notebooks that your children do their work in? I really like using spiral notebooks or composition books because they are together and the loose papers don’t get lost as easily. But I feel like I can’t quite get it together as far as subject is concerned. When we go on nature walks we have a spiral sketch book that works pretty good for drawing and taking notes. But then when we read living science books and narrate them (my daughter does written narration and my son copies his narration as copywork)- they have been putting these into another separate composition book that we labeled “science”. I’m thinking it would make more sense to put everything science related into one book: the sketch book?? Or should I put all narrations into one book and call it the narration book, then have another book for copywork (penmanship)? Also, for history we haven’t started a Book of Centuries yet… mostly we just narrate history readings orally or my daughter writes a written narration. I would really love to streamline this process so everyone knows what their books are for and what goes where! It gets confusing for me because my daughter doesn’t do a written narration from the same book every day. She has about 5 books at a time that she is working through reading on her own: a biography, a history fiction, a science living book, a literature book, and a geography living book. She reads from 2 books each day and is just starting written narrations. I let her choose which book she wants to narrate each day for written narration. Since they are from different subjects, they are just kind of all over the place. At this point she is using loose paper, but I would really like to have it all together. I love to pick up a composition book and look through to see the progress. I realize I could file loose papers in a notebook, but I don’t always get it done. Any ideas would be appreciated. I guess my question is do I put things together by subject or type of work: example- history or narration? Wish I could upload pictures. Everyone does it differently. To make my life simple, I just bought a hard bound sketch book for each child. I think the size is 11 x 14. It works perfectly! Lined paper (with narrations and written assgnments) get glued in.We have a small sketch book to take along on nature walks, but most of the time we just wait until we get home to sketch what they saw. Anything that is done elsewhere, we just cut it out and glue it, like a scapbook of sorts. I see the benefit of having a book per subject, but for us (and simpicities sake) one book for the year works much better. 🙂
I use 3 ring binders with subject labeled tab dividers – I keep all narrations in the appropriate subject (narration is not a seperate subject). I usually print a combination of lined paper and a paper with an outlined box (for drawn narrations) and pages with both boxes and lines. I put them either in the front of the book or in the subjects for the kids to choose from to do their narrations. Since it is already in the binder, it is easy to keep track of that.
I have seperate spiral bound Nature Study Journals. I know that Nature Study and Science go hand in hand, but prefer to keep them seperate. I too like to look and see the progress, and it is harder to have a narration and science experiment results scattered in our lovely journals. =)
Having said that, I do have several binders for each kid – they are in 4th and 5th grades. I have all the Language Arts type things in one binder with the dividers. I have a history, geography and science. I have Life Skills and Handicrafts, Personal Journal and Scripture Journal, Math, Art etc… I let the kids color a page that had something to do with the subject and put it in the front clear cover, and made labels for the spines on the computer. I used different colored papers for each child and they all know which one is theirs. Since this is made by me I can pick and choose what subjects are in each folder, and what papers we like. I love that part. =)
We haven’t gotten to the point of needing more than a nature notebook, since my kids are still young. But usually when I ask my dh a question about how to organize something he asks me “what would work the best?” to which I rattle off several different reasons each option I’m considering, all very practical of course! Then he says, “Well, what would be more useful for YOU?” Most of the time that question points me a direction. I’d say if loose papers are a bother, and keeping all written narrations together is preferred for you the teacher, than keep the narrations in one spiral bound notebook or composition book. I’d lean towards keeping the nature notebook seprate from narrations, only because it seems to me that a nature notebook is used until it’s filled up – for more than one year (whereas daily narrations would quickly fill a notebook) and oftentimes the nature notebooks are sktech books anyway. I have written down some of my first grader’s narrations for myself so I can see he’s coming along, but keep them in a folder. He does his handwriting with workbooks right now since he’s still learning. I do know that some CM families buy each child a nice journal or composition book for copywork to encourage the student to do their best work.You could always change how you organize things later. Maybe next year your daughter has a binder with tabs for each subject? And have her be responsible for keeping her papers filed under the correct tab?
I thank you all for your ideas! It is so amazing to me how helpful people are here. I don’t know why, but this is one of those areas that makes me frustrated. 🙂 I think it is because so many of CM methods are so fluid, moving back and forth between subjects and tasks. Today my son read to me and narrated what he read instead of me reading something to him and he narrating… I told him he was done for the day, and he said, “No we didn’t narrate.” Then I told him he narrated what he read to me, and he said, “Oh, I like that. We did two things at once.” (He knows he has to read out loud to me and he has to narrate. Normally we do 2 separate things to accomplish that.) Yes, CM is very good, but so different from public school where everything is divided into subjects and class periods. I can make folders for that– but in CM it is more about the method (reading and narrating) than about specific subjects, because everything you read is living books that are good food for your mind. The same book could fit into the category of history, science and geography all at the same time. It’s easy to put textbooks into specific subject compartments, but not so living books. And then since LA is taught through all the books and reading…. it’s hard to put your finger on it.
I’m sure I’m making this all way too hard. I don’t mean to. I’m just one of those people who takes a while to get organized and into the groove of something. I ordered some of SCM books and I think it will help me so much to follow Sonya’s guides. I have the Early Modern & Epistles family study handbook, and 106 Days of Creation studies. I think if I follow the lesson 1, lesson 2, step 1, step 2, routine for awhile it will help me get my bearings.
Actually, I think I just answered my own question, because if I follow these guides, it tells me to “add to the notebook” so I think each child will have a notebook for each of those studies. Then we will each have a Nature journal (sketchbook) for nature walks and whatever else interests them in nature, and then also the family Book of Centuries. Then my daughter has her book of mottos and my son will have his copywork/ penmanship notebook. And my daughter will have a composition book for her Spelling wisdom dictation assignments.
I’m going to ponder all this info for awhile, and do what morgrace said– think about what would be most useful for me…
Thanks again.
I like the composition books with holes punched in them. That way they can live in a binder, but you don’t have to worry about tab dividers or loose papers. If one gets left out, you just put the whole book back when you remember, rather than searching for individual papers.
I like that idea jmac17. Don’t think I ever knew you could get composition books with holes punched in them. I”ll look. 🙂
They aren’t anything fancy, but they keep everything together. Mine say “Hilroy” at the top and “Exercise Book” and a place for the student’s name and subject at the bottom. Of course, they also have a big map of Canada in the middle of the page, so maybe it’s a Canadian thing. They came in packages of 4 or 5 for just a couple of dollars.
We have some nicer books with thicker pages that are about blank on top with lines on the bottom that we use for narrations with pictures. But the exercise books work for most things.
Joanne
I totally emphathize. I hate stray papers….drive me crazy:) I need simple, so everything has it’s own bound notebook as much as possible (I like the small composition books). They have a notebok for art, nature, science (Apologia notebooks). They also keep a language arts notebook where they do all narrations, spelling, copywork, dictations, grammar exercises. About the only things that are stray sheets are when they type a narration/writing assigmment or fill in their maps. I just keep them all in a stack until I get to them and 3-whole punch them into a binder…and I sadly admit this can be summer before I get to it:) About the only other thing that’s on stray paper that I save is if they drew something outside of their art notebooks. I keep their stray artwork in an accordian binder, labeled by age that lasts several years per child (and this also is kept in a stack until I get to them in the summer:) HTH some! Gina
I use Hilroy spiral bound note books which come hole punched for putting into a 3-ring binder. I can usually get the 80 page ones at Staples or Wal-mart in September for about 15 cents a piece, so I really stock up. The other books with the Canadian map on them are staple bound and I can usually get a pack of 4 for about a quarter in September. I really take advantage of the back to school sales in September.
Right now we are using several binders: Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Bible. I intend to steamline more next year and try to use no more than two binders regularly and just transfer the pages into other binders as needed. The boys do their independant work at my office and I need for them to carry as little as possible on a daily basis. I’ve already had to empty their math binders several times this year, and just transfer the completed pages into a really big binder when they run out of space. Next year I`m thinking one binder for Math, Language Arts, and Lit, and another for Bible, History, Geography and Science. I will have some sub divisions under LA and Bible, but this should cover just about eveything.
I feel like I am slowly understanding how to do a CM education. Thanks so much to SCM!! But I struggle with organization!! I have a 2nd and a 4th grader. I would like to know how others set up the notebooks that your children do their work in? I really like using spiral notebooks or composition books because they are together and the loose papers don’t get lost as easily. But I feel like I can’t quite get it together as far as subject is concerned. When we go on nature walks we have a spiral sketch book that works pretty good for drawing and taking notes. But then when we read living science books and narrate them (my daughter does written narration and my son copies his narration as copywork)- they have been putting these into another separate composition book that we labeled “science”. I’m thinking it would make more sense to put everything science related into one book: the sketch book?? Or should I put all narrations into one book and call it the narration book, then have another book for copywork (penmanship)? Also, for history we haven’t started a Book of Centuries yet… mostly we just narrate history readings orally or my daughter writes a written narration. I would really love to streamline this process so everyone knows what their books are for and what goes where! It gets confusing for me because my daughter doesn’t do a written narration from the same book every day. She has about 5 books at a time that she is working through reading on her own: a biography, a history fiction, a science living book, a literature book, and a geography living book. She reads from 2 books each day and is just starting written narrations. I let her choose which book she wants to narrate each day for written narration. Since they are from different subjects, they are just kind of all over the place. At this point she is using loose paper, but I would really like to have it all together. I love to pick up a composition book and look through to see the progress. I realize I could file loose papers in a notebook, but I don’t always get it done. Any ideas would be appreciated. I guess my question is do I put things together by subject or type of work: example- history or narration? 
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