Our Assignment and Record Keeping Notebooks~Using TOS Planner and My Custom Planner Pages

August 3, 2011 by 1 Comment

Over the years, I have worked hard to put together a record keeping book that would work for assignment too.  However, they have always been a little too much for my older children. 

This year, however, seems to be the year I figured it out. I have used forms from my The 2011-12 Schoolhouse Planners, my homeschool forms and a couple from Donna Young.

We have three books this year, one for each of my oldest two children, and one for myself. 

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The oldest children’s books contain:

Each of the sections above are divided by a colored piece of card stock.  I am considering adding sticky index dividers to help locate each section quickly.  My children are expected to fill in the forms each day with a  little help from me.  Keeping records is a life lesson you must learn, so what better way then to start them by keeping their own homeschool records?

My Notebook contains:

Again, each of these sections are divided by different colors of card stock. 

To make my notebooks, I use my laminator and laminate the front and back covers.  I then use my comb binder to bind the books.  We use these two gadgets nearly weekly in our homeschool.

As the school year gets in full swing, I am sure I will add forms.  How do handle the lessons, records, and lists you need to keep organized?

The TOS Planner links are affiliate links.  If you purchase anything through those links, I will be paid a small portion of your purchase price as an affiliate.  Thank you for supporting Peace Creek on the Prairie.

Filed Under: Christian Mothering, homemaking, homeschool, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, Homeschool Preschool, homeschool schedules, household organization, large family homeschool, Large family homeschool planning forms, Lifestyle of learning, Workbox system Tagged With: , , , , ,

Organizational Week~Getting the Homeschool Ready

July 20, 2011 by 3 Comments

We all have them, days when we walk through the house and want to turn tail and run because there are messes everywhere. 

As we move through the house, we notice there is very little that can be done with these messes…

What?

Where did it all come from?

Typically around here, it means we haven’t been home much or have been busy on the farm.

This week, I have been working in our office, as I got new shelves and that has made a huge difference.  I also have been pulling out the tubs I used when we did Workboxes.  We are again going to do this for our homeschool, though a little differently.  I am putting together student assignment/record keeping notebooks for my oldest children this year.  I have also made a daily schedule for our family.  It will be included in the student assignment/record books.  

I have also been printing off all our eBooks, Lapbooks, and making copies for the first few weeks of school.  I still need to rewrite our lesson plans, but I am feeling oh so much better about them right now.  Many have been asking how are organize our eBooks.  To begin with, I have folders in my documents on my computer set up.  Then when I print them, I laminate the covers, bind them with my comb binder, and write on the spines what the title is, then they go on a shelf, or in a workbox, or family box.  If they will be used later and don’t fit in one of the above areas, they go in a file cabinet drawer.

My lapbooks, are printed and placed in file folders, then in a file cabinet or the appropriate workbox.

I have also organized my computer desk and work area.  I have a new shelf (found at a garage sale) that all new books go into until I have time to enter them into our Home Library Database, and upcoming review items, curriculum catalogs and such all go there.

On top of that shelf I have a file organization center (another garage sale find) that eBooks that need bound go, our speech, and other therapy manuals are here, and our sketch books are here.  All my blog things are here too…notebook, ledger, review schedule and such.  My most used CD roms are stored on the side with a  book end.  On the top is a basket that holds all our family school materials.

I organized our baker’s rack in the kitchen and straightened my baking area on my kitchen counter.

I am working on our writing center tub right now…I need some ideas for it though.  What do you keep in your creative writing area? 

I need to figure out an accessible, but out of reach from little fingers for our games.  My oldest two are playing games quite a bit, but then there are those little fingers that are causing a few problems with lost pieces, scattered cards and such.

How are you organizing for the up coming school year?  Are you overwhelmed?

Filed Under: homeschool, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, homeschool schedules, household organization, large family homeschool, Large family homeschool planning forms, special needs homeschooling, vision therapy, Workbox system Tagged With: , , ,

Homeschool Forms…Need your opinions. ~Poll

June 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Well, I have been asked several times if I could produce homeschool planning forms that are able to be typed into and printed. The short answer is yes, however the software to do this is quite expensive, though I am looking into other options still.

Below is a poll to see if there is enough interest for me to justify the time and money needed to create such forms.

My thoughts are if I make these “fillable”, I will offer:

  • CD ROMs of the forms
  • eBook format or other downloadable format
  • Single forms through email download or such

Obviously the CD ROM would be the most expensive. I will offer free downloads of new forms created for those who purchase these.

So, can have my readers thoughts?

Filed Under: homeschool, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, household organization, large family homeschool, Large family homeschool planning forms Tagged With: , , ,

The 2011-2012 The Schoolhouse Planners are Here and Ready for You!!

April 26, 2011 by 4 Comments

I purchased my first The Schoolhouse Planner last summer.  I was impressed, and had an idea for another form.  In January, the call came out for suggestions, so I quickly put together my idea and submitted it.  Guess what?

My form is in each of the planners for the 2011-2012 school year.  I also have an article in the Special Needs Planner.

The Special Needs Planner has these added benefits:

  • Tons of forms to help you juggle school, therapy, and doctor appointments with ease.
  • Forms for routine tasks like doing laundry, creating a shower and a bathroom routine, washing hands, cleaning bedroom, getting ready for school, and brushing teeth.
  • Wonderful articles from well-known authors in the special needs community.
  • A 12-page Individualized Education Plan for the special needs homeschooler.

The Schoolhouse Planner has these great bit of information:

  • Plan and record all of the dynamic aspects of your homeschool year from top to bottom.
  • Schedule your social activities effectively. 
  • Organize your technological resources. 
  • Manage money wisely (and teach your kids this important life skill too).
  • Be the queen of your kitchen.
  • Foster family pride by establishing family goals and recording family tree information.
  • Record important medical information including medications and family medical history.
  • Run a successful home business.
  • Get ready for the holidays.

There are also Student Planners available for each level of school.  Primary, Intermediate, and highschool.  These will work great to help your students learn the bits and pieces of being organized.  They will be able to gain a habit of organization that will benefit them for many years to come.

Here are a couple of links of showing how I have used the planners in our home.

Homeschool Convention Binder

2010-2011 Homeschool and Household Notebook

I am planning to purchase the planners I will need for our year as soon as we have a bit of income coming in.  As in wheat harvest.   Spring is rough on the farm.  Winking smile

However, I know that many moms are getting ready to plan their year’s, so I think it is wise to let you all know why you should purchase the planners.

1.  You will have the most organized year yet.

2.  There are list of things to teach your children that many of us overlook. 

3.  You will be able to see at a glance what is left for a year, week, day or month.

4.  You can type directly into the planner pages.

5.  You will have very professional looking portfolios

6.  You will be able to remember those little things you forget every year.

7.  You will get a whole bunch of new recipes.

8.  There are article in each planner, and they are super beneficial.  You will learn so much and find out some great ways to improve your homeschool..

9.  You will have more time for many other projects, because you will better organized.

10.  You will be able to have an organized year, allowing you to spend more time focused on helping your children to grow in Biblical wisdom.

So, hurry over to The Old Schoolhouse Store, and grab the planners that will give you a most organized homeschool year.  You won’t regret it!

Please note, all links in this post are affiliate links.  I will earn a small amount of your purchase if you buy through them.  Thank you for supporting Peace Creek on the Prairie.  All funds earned are used towards my children’s homeschool needs. Winking smile

Filed Under: Christian Mothering, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, homeschool schedules, household organization, large family homeschool, Large family homeschool planning forms, special needs homeschooling Tagged With: , , ,

New Homeschool Form~Student Assignment Sheet

January 29, 2011 by 2 Comments

Student Assignment Sheet with check boxes Two page spread, has a place for all assignments, chores, and prayer list, with small section for something else. This is for the parent to fill in and the student to check off as they complete each assignment.

This has been added to my Large Family Homeschooling Forms page.

I hope you enjoy it.

What other forms would you like to see added?

Filed Under: homeschool, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, homeschool schedules, Large family homeschool planning forms Tagged With: , , ,

If you Could have Anything on a Planner Page, what would it be?

January 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I am reworking some of my planner pages.  I would like your input.

Do you like five days on one page?  or Three on one page and two on another with room for other things?

If you like the three on one and two on another for a two page spread, what are some sections you would like in the extra room on the page?

If you were to be able to have a planner with a section for lifestyle learning records, what all would it include?

I have many of my own thoughts on this, but as you all know, we can learn so much from each other.  Please let me know some of your ideas.

 

Thanks!!!

Filed Under: homeschool, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, large family homeschool, Large family homeschool planning forms Tagged With: ,

Two Things I have Found in Our Homeschool to be GREAT. Homeschool Snips & Tips Wednesday~ September 8

September 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

This year I have really found two things that I will work hard to be able to keep using in our homeschool.

The Schoolhouse Planner is one of those. The Schoolhouse planner is $39.95 for the eBook, and $44.95 for the CD rom.  I really like that you can print only the forms that you want.  There are also many lists that will be helpful for your homeschool, from presidents, to Bible Reading Schedule.  Did I mention delicious recipes?  Yes, each planner includes several recipes that mix with the seasons just perfectly.  I used this planner to make this notebook for our household. I use this notebook all day every day.  It goes to doctor appointments, homeschool meetings and any other meetings or events that you would want your menu, and master calendar at.  For our family, there are many forms that I have found very helpful for organizing many aspects of our homeschool and our household.  I really love the daily, weekly, and monthly to do lists.  I even have laminated them and use a wet erase marker on them, so I don’t have to print any more of them.  I carry one in my diaper bag/purse so I can easily add to my list when out and about.   In fact the Old Schoolhouse store is just about to release a series of the Schoolhouse Planner for Students.  If it is anything like the Schoolhouse Planner, it will also be one of those save so you can get it items.

Last spring I attended the Schoolhouse Expo online.  I have to say, it was the best online homeschool conference I have been a part of.  If you are in need of encouragement, starting out, or just plain love to hear wonderful people speak about homeschool, the Schoolhouse Expo is for you.   At the Expo, you will find encouragement, information, door prizes, and more.  I am sure you don’t want to miss out on this event October 4-8.

Those are my Homeschool Tips for this week.  Share yours below by adding your URL to the linky.  Don’t forget to grab the button to add to your post.


Disclaimer~by ordering through the above links, I will earn a bit of your purchase price. Thank you for supporting Peace Creek on the Prairie.

Filed Under: homemaking, homeschool, Homeschool curriculum review, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, homeschool schedules, household organization, In the Kitchen, large family homeschool, Large family homeschool planning forms Tagged With: , , , ,

Our 2010-2011 Family Homeschool and Household Notebook with Re-usable daily, weekly, and month lists.

July 6, 2010 by 15 Comments

Many of you know, how I enjoy to come up with ways to lessen our paper usage. Last spring I shared our School Binders and Page protectors. I got to thinking this year as I was printing and making homeschool forms for our school that it would be nice to do something similar for our daily, weekly and monthly lists. I came up with the idea to use overhead projection sheets over those forms. Below, I will share pictures of our household book that I have put together. This year, I am using one book that include both our homeschool and our household information.

After much prayer and a lot of reading of reviews, and looking over samples, I finally bought the 2010-2011 The Schoolhouse Planner from The Old Schoolhouse Store. I really like many of the forms that is has. I have used several of them in our book for this year. I also used many of my own from the Large Family Homeschool Forms page. I made the cover for our book and the divider section pages using Microsoft Publisher. I used my new comb binder to bind it. I love having my comb binder and use it regularly around the home and in our homeschool.

To begin the project of designing our book, I selected the different pages that I wanted in our book. From daily, weekly and monthly to do list, to homeschool forms, household forms, medical forms, and a Bible reading plan. They are all in here.

After printing all the pages, I started the punching of the pages for the comb. It took quite awhile, but was worth the time. Next I put the pages in order and put them in the binding comb.

What I love most about this book, is that I can use a wet erase marker each day, week, and month for our to do list and menus.

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Here is the cover, I also placed an over head projection page over the cover, to help protect it.

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Here is my daily to do list, notice the red text? That is written on the over head projection plastic page—tonight I will erase it and write down our to dos for tomorrow. This is one of the TOS planner pages.

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Here you can see the plastic is pulled back to give you a better idea.

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Here is our weekly planner. I have our menu, a brief homeschool plan, and special housekeeping plan here. I also have my blog post schedule here. This is a TOS planner page.

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Here is what my divider pages look like. I made them out of cardstock.

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Here is our Bible reading plan for the year. This is one of the TOS planner pages also. I really like how it is broken down.

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My comb binder. I really love this gadget. It is one of those, won’t be living without it now that I have one items. ;)

Do you have your household notebook done? What are your secrets?

Disclosure: I am an affiliate for The Old Schoolhouse. By ordering through the links in this post, I will be paid a portion of your purchase price. Thanks for supporting Peace Creek on the Prairie.

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Filed Under: Christian Mothering, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, homeschool schedules, household organization, large family homeschool, Large family homeschool planning forms, review, year around homeschool Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

From Workboxes to Study Binders—Streamlining the Large Family Homeschool

May 12, 2010 by 9 Comments


As a mom of six children, streamlining our home has become a habit. I constantly look around and try to find ways to make everything flow smoother. Our house is laid out in a way that is choppy, as in lots of walls, cutting up the “flow” of the floorspace. I like wide open spaces, so this has been a bit of an issue. However, I can’t fix it, but I can do things around the home to make it better. Streamlining our home, whether in the kitchen, through chores, or in our homeschool has become a hobby. Today I will show you how I have streamlined my large family workboxes to save me time during the week, take up even less space, and be easier to grade and record.

I spent many hours last summer trying to figure out how to set up workboxes for our large family. We have loved them, and we are not completely getting rid of them, but I have found a better way to streamline it all for our family. I only have to get in our boxes on Saturday, I can set up the whole week on Saturday, and my children are still learning independently without a lot of direction from me. As in, I am not constantly telling them the next thing. I interact with them and am involved, but they are able to move from subject to subject without my direction.

I have taken my page protector binder (see here too) another step.

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I have started loading the binders with five days of work on Saturday. I insert my children’s workbox cards in page protectors, so they know when to do those items. The page protectors with workbox cards, do not have other assignments in them, but further instructions for the workbox activity if needed. All the actual workbox activities for the week are placed in a tub on Saturday. When the children come to a workbox card, they get what they need from the tub.

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All of their assignments for the entire week are in this binder in the page protectors. It has streamlined our school immensely. What used to take three to four hours now take two to maybe two an a half hours.

Each day’s work is behind it’s own divider. When my children finish a worksheet or writing assignment that is not in a page protector, they put it in the page protector that had that assignment instructions written on it.

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Finished work ready to be graded.

Then I can grade it and record it. I then put it in their portfolios saving them for our records.

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Our school is now ready to go by Sunday evening without me worrying over it. I have an assignment log ready for them in a page protector, that they mark off on the page protector, when I grade the assignment, I pull it out and mark their grade in the appropriate box. When the week is over, the grade/assignment record goes in the portfolio.

So, now you are wondering how I incorporate workbook assignment. No, I don’t tear out all the workbook pages. I put a sheet of paper in a page protector with the workbook assignment written on it, it also has any example or extra instructions on it. I write all this in pencil, so that I can make any changes easily for the next week, in hopes of not wasting or using a ton of paper. The student just marks on the assignment record/grade sheet that they completed that subject, so I know where to find it to grade it. These still go in our completed work bin, as do their binders at the end of each day. When I grade them, I place everything back on their desk for them. They are now easily ready for the next day. If I don’t get it graded, we just get the stuff out of the completed work bin and move on. I will get it graded by the time I am ready to refill their binders. I don’t like it to work that way, but you know how life goes.

Our homeschool, and house are running much smoother. In the evening rather then trying to fill workboxes, I am able to spend time with everyone. My husband is loving the extra forty-five minutes we have. On the weekends, it is only taking me about and hour to fill four binders, plan the week, set all workbox materials in a tub for use through the week, and fill out the assignment/record sheets. Workbox activity tub.

For us, this has worked out better then I could have imagined. I was somewhat panicked earlier this spring wondering how I was going to keep up the workboxes, garden, livestock, farm wife, meals, food preservation, and all that comes with my role as mom, wife, farm hand, livestock care taker and the many other responsibilities that would be for me to tend to. This appears to be the answer.

Filed Under: Christian Mothering, dysgraphia, homeschool, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, homeschool schedules, large family homeschool, Large family homeschool planning forms, special needs homeschooling, Workbox system, year around homeschool Tagged With: , , , , ,

I will be Working on More Large Family Homeschool Forms this Week-Tell me what you want!!

March 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I am going to be working more on the Large Family Homeschool Forms this week.  Are you looking for something?  Getting ready to plan for next year? 

Some forms that I am working on are:

Single Subject Planner Form-will have places for 4 or more students, and plenty of space to plan for one subject for each student, from projects, to copywork, to reading

Large Family Reading Log-a log to record all the books that your entire family reads

Yearly Planner-Plan your yearly units here-room for 4 or more students

Monthly Planner- Plan for field trips, reading, projects and such here-again for use with 4 or more students

So, while I am in the form making mode again, tell me what you are looking for.  Maybe I just don’t know what I am missing by not having it. 

Filed Under: homeschool, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, Large family homeschool planning forms

Lots of Large Family Homeschooling Forms

March 1, 2010 by Leave a Comment

As part of my blogs ministry, I will be posting most all of my planning pages that I have designed for our family’s use. If you like these forms let me know. You are welcome to use any of these forms, but they are copyrighted through my blog’s copyright policy on the homepage in the right sidebar. I encourage you to share this page with your homeschooling friends, by having them visit this blog. Thank you.

To find the forms, click here.

If there is a form you would like customized for your family, I am willing to do that too, though depending on how much customizing you are asking for, I may charge a small design fee, that will help me keep these forms coming.

Filed Under: homeschool, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, large family homeschool, Large family homeschool planning forms

Another Homeschool Form-Weekly Reading Planner

February 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I created this to help keep what and who should be reading what.  Clear as Mud?  Well, that was how our reading schedule was too, until

Weekly Reading Plan

If you would like a Blank Weekly Reading Plan, let me know.  I will make  one up for you.  I will need, how many children you want listed, what subjects each child will be reading, and what color you want the name shaded if any. 

Enjoy!!

Filed Under: homeschool, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, homeschool schedules, household organization, Large Families, large family homeschool, Large family homeschool planning forms
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