Works for Me Wednesday: Mom Binder

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Have I mentioned that I am something of an organizational freak? It’s not so much that I’m organized; it’s more that, if I don’t keep everything in some semblance of order, I’m totally lost. That’s where my “Mom Binder” comes in. I began my binder when we used to do unit studies exclusively, for keeping everything together for the study. It’s evolved over the years as our homeschooling style has changed, but it’s just as handy as ever.

binder

I keep everything in a three-ring binder. In the front is the page protector that holds my lesson plans so they’re always easily visible. (I type them up in Word, using the “One Page Weekly Planner” form from Donna Young’s super-fantastic site. Oh, and in case you’re wondering why Wednesday is completely blank it’s because that’s our day for outside classes.)

mom binder

Behind that is a section for the attendance records that I have to maintain for our state and a section for our school calendar. Though it’s not set in stone, I do try to write out our calendar at the beginning of each school year so that I have a general idea of what we’ll be doing.

Following those two sections are sections for each of the school subjects for which I need to make copies: language arts (which has essentially become my “preschool” section for Nim’s stuff), history and science. Whenever I do my lesson plans, I’ll make whatever copies I need of any reproducibles for the week (or two weeks or month…however long I’m planning for).

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Next come sections for resources and library information. In the resources, I have my meal planning forms, this fantastic reading level assessment and any other miscellaneous instructions (like the instructions for games that tend to get lost if left with the games) or uplifting “mom devotionals” and things of that nature. The library section has a page that lists the pertinent information for the libraries we use: our card numbers, library phone numbers and hours of operation. It also contains the form that I sometimes remember to fill out listing what books we have checked out, which library they came from and when they’re due back.

My “Mom Binder” definitely works for me. Visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for one last blow-out week of Works for Me Wednesday before it moves to a new home and be sure to let her know how much we all appreciate three great years of Works for Me Wednesday tips.

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Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.

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15 Comments

  1. OMGoodness! I love the Mom Binder idea! I have a Family Control Journal which I use (cleaning zones, family schedule, etc) but this Mom Binder is specific to homeschooling and Mom-needs. Thank you for sharing!:)

  2. Love it! I am going to have to come back later and work my way through some of this!

    I totally need some of your organization!

  3. Hey, I do that, too. But mine is divided up by themes, since we do mostly theme unit studies. I’d be lost without my binder!
    Beth
    applesandjammies.blogspot.com

  4. That’s a great idea. I really need to get all my plans organised at the moment and this looks the perfect way for doing so. Thanks for sharing.

  5. You know how I love organization! I absolutely love this idea! I never know where to put all the reproducibles that we use… so this will be great to get me organized. Plus the books we will need at the library… I always have lots of sheets of paper everywhere. This centralizes everything! LOVE IT!

  6. OOOOoooh, FUN!!
    You’ve given me so many ideas, but it’s late and I’ll have to try them out later.
    Here I’ve been struggling to ‘keep it all together’ in a regular A4 spiral bound diary, but expanding into a binder means pages can be moved … see, I’m excited. How do you expect me to sleep well now, huh (LOL!) ?

  7. LOL alecat. Maybe I should put a warning on my blog: may cause sleeplessness. 😉 I’m the same way when I get an idea on my mind.

    Thank you all for stopping by and commenting. I love comments! I’m glad I gave you a tip you can use. It’s worked great for me.

  8. I have been working on my home binder for a year now (of course on and off), it is finally coming together. i will post about it in the next few weeks. I love your blog and follow it regularly even if I do not comment often. Thanks!

  9. Mine is not quite so organized, but I'm trying to get a better system going. Thanks for sharing yours.

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