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    • Homeschooling 101: What to Teach and When to Teach It
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How to simplify your homeschool binder

March 29, 2018 //  by Kara//  5 Comments

How to simplify your homeschool binder

How to simplify your homeschool binder ~
Written by Kara Fleck

Clucky, worn out, coming apart at the seams. I use my homeschool binder almost every day and it is in sad shape. It is heavy and crammed full, to the point where using it can be perilous thanks to a bent prong. I live in fear of it popping open and raining out papers all over.

It is a three inch binder with papers in the pockets, loose in different sections. Thanks to that bent prong I mentioned earlier, I cannot turn pages smoothly.

This isn’t working! Time for a homeschool binder makeover!

What to take out

I had articles and even ebooks that I had printed out because they were helpful. But do I really need them in my homeschool binder?

Would a digital system, like pinning the link to the article on a Pinterest board or a tear sheet filing system for hard copies be a better solution?

They don’t need to live in my binder.

What does need to be included in my binder are the papers that we use on a daily or weekly basis.

Everything else needs a different home.

More things I took out of my binder:

  • old curriculum schedules
  • articles I don’t refer to often
  • my kindergartener’s preK assessments (these can be filed away)
  • a morning routine we don’t follow anymore
  • monthly divider tabs for months that have passed (filed away until next school year)
  • a schedule for an extracurricular activity we no longer participate in
  • reader guide, curriculum for a book we finished last year
  • Books to Buy list, this needs to live in my purse so I have it with me when I’m shopping
  • several pages of the kids’ drawings and artwork (cute, but there is a better place for these)

How to simplify your homeschool binder

 What to leave in

I tried to leave in the binder only the things that we truly use and need to have access to on a regular basis.

I’m thinking “simple,” “useful” and “essential” as I make decisions about what to keep.

What I left in my binder:

  • our state’s homeschool requirements, our homeschool I.D. number
  • our attendance record (mine came from Mama’s Learning Corner)
  • current booklists for each kid
  • the Tell Me About Your Book activity list (I cut and pasted and printed this from Elizabeth Foss’s Real Learning years ago)
  • The Charlotte Mason List of Attainments (printed from Ambleside Online)
  • current week by week schedules for each kid (printed from our curriculum)
  • the Harry Potter discussion guide we are using right now
  • each child’s transcripts
  • extra blank lab reports
  • extra five paragraph essay writing templates

What to add

Now that I’ve slimmed down and streamlined, I didn’t want to add a lot to my binder. However, a few things that I feel will be truly useful have been added.

What I added to my homeschool binder:

  • some blank notebook pages to use as I’m planning for next year
  • I’d like to come up with a homeschool mission statement

By the time all was said and done, I was actually able to downsize into a smaller binder that I think will be more manageable. Here’s to less frustration when dealing with homeschool paperwork!

Do you keep a homeschool binder? What do you have in it? Is it time to give your binder a makeover and simplify your system? I’d love to hear how you keep the papers you need on a daily basis organized in your homeschool!

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

Category: organization

About Kara

Kara Fleck is a mother of four. She loves lists, knitting striped socks, and reading mysteries. Uncomplicated and unconventional, you can find her at K. Elizabeth Fleck.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jen

    March 29, 2018 at 8:15 am

    In PA, we don’t need to document anything for the school district until age 8, so I won’t need a book log or attendance record until we start our upcoming school year 🙂
    So my 1/2 inch binder has a copy of our weekly schedule, a calendar with our break weeks on it, poetry from the poet we are focusing on right now for morning time, a list of mapwork that goes along with our history readings and the booklet from our Simply Charlotte Mason artist portfolio we do at morning time. That’s all I need for now!

    Reply
  2. Jen

    March 29, 2018 at 9:04 am

    I used to have a binder for everything, much like you. Now the kids are older mind is very skinny as they keep everything. I love the layout you mention here. Divider tabs are my favorite! Thanks for sharing 🙂
    Jen’s latest post: Hope & Help for Successful Deschooling as a Working Mom

    Reply
  3. Katy

    March 29, 2018 at 5:31 pm

    I use a binder to keep track of everything too! And it definitely needs a clean out, because it’s really full and I’m not using everything in there. I talked about what I put in mine in this post: http://findinghomeblog.com/my-binder-system-for-homeschool-planning/
    It’s somewhat similar to what you have in yours. It’s always fun to peek at what other people are doing!
    Katy’s latest post: Recipe: Eat-Your-Veggies Spaghetti Sauce

    Reply
  4. Eli

    April 2, 2018 at 8:54 am

    What Harry Potter guide are you using? Thanks in advance! -Eli

    Reply
  5. A Magical Homeschool

    April 7, 2018 at 11:29 am

    Wait, I was supposed to be using a homeschool binder all these years? 🙂
    I love the sounds of yours and all the things you keep in it!

    Reply

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