Tippy Tuesday: Homeschool Notebook System

I'm a newbie to homeschooling.  So what is contained herein may be ridiculously elementary to some of my more seasoned readers (pun intended).  But I truly believe that keeping organized when it comes to papers, records, and such is a HUGE help to a woman's stress level and enjoyment of whatever tasks are allotted to her.

I would like to first say thank you... a HUGE thank you... to all of my college Home Ec professors for instilling in their students the idea of "notebooks."  As grueling (and sometimes silly) as it seemed to put together notebook after notebook for every single class, some of them even being the final for the class, it was a priceless lesson in keeping information organized in a way that sets you up for smooth sailing and easy recall.  I still reference several of my Home Ec notebooks for various things in life, and it is so wonderful to just go to a shelf, immediately locate the subject I need, and then quickly turn to the information I want.  About as fast as a real-life Google machine!  ;-)

Some of...MANY

So for those who are not familiar with a "notebook" system or the curious who just want to see pictures of mine, here ya go.

1) Purchase a clear-view binder in the right size for all the areas you need.  For example, I am teaching two children this year in two grades.  I know I need a notebook for unfinished worksheets to pull from as we go through lessons.  I know I need a notebook for completed work.  I also need one for Judah's official co-op work as well as one for his attendance record since Kindergarten is official.

2) Create spine labels and title pages in Word (or whatever you use, Mac people).  I like to have the school, subject/contents, and the year.  It can be tailored to whatever you wish!

3) Print.  Carefully cut the spine labels and gently slip them in the spine.  It can be frustrating, but patience is key.  Then slip the title pages in the front cover.  Include labelled tab dividers for what you need.  Judah's "Completed Work" notebook has tabs for Handwriting and Math as those are the two subjects he has worksheets/papers for this year.  I also have the same dividers in his "Kindergarten Worksheets" notebook. When tearing out and hole-punching the worksheets (now I know why "Teacher Work Days" exist...), I like to also tear off the front cover and title pages of the workbook.  It makes the separation nice and also allows me to have the workbook information for whenever I want to reorder that book (for Elijah and then Eden in a few years).

 4) Admire your shelf of neatness and ease of use.  :-D

As an added tip, I've always been a woman of color.  I used it for high school research papers, undergraduate thesis, home decor, Bible marking, organizing, classification, you name it!  How lovely it was when I discovered that Sonlight knows how well color can help one organize!  With each core, they send a sheet of colored label paper so that you can mark each book if you choose.  So far, I've learned that preschool is orange, and Core A is pink.  Easy to tell at a glance which books go with which grade.  Especially once we retire the books to our family shelves until the next round of homeschool begins with Eden!

Next week, I'll show you my homeschool filing system...