Today, I’ve got a Mother of Divine Grace hack for you, though really it works with any homeschooling method or curriculum. I’m all about creating routines and systems that simplify our homeschool – it’s one of the reasons we switched to Mother of Divine Grace in the first place. The student binder takes the independence of the student up a notch. It’s a place for the student to find all he needs to complete his daily tasks.
We are always working toward greater independence in our homeschool. As the number of children I am schooling increases, student independence is a real necessity. I created this student binder as a way to corral all the tools my son would need to complete his daily homeschooling assignments.
Last year I used a combination of a clipboard and folder for loose papers. It worked pretty well for our purposes, but I felt the need to streamline the process even more in order to simplify even further.
The main idea is to create a “go-to place” where he can find a rough draft of his day, his duties, and any of the papers he’ll need to complete his assignments.
Student Binder Contents:
- Daily Schedule
- Chore Checklist
- Required Reading List
- Printed Weekly Checklists
- Loose papers (this year we’ll need a sleeve for geography maps, printed poems, math tests)
This is NOT rocket science, but will definitely help organize the year ahead. I also like that it takes up much less room than a 3 ring binder. Eventually, we may have to graduate to that, but for now, this works.
While we use this with our Mother of Divine Grace Syllabus, it could work with any method of homeschooling!
Video Tour of Student Binder:
I thought it might be a lot easier to see than to describe- here is a short video.
Keys to a workable student binder:
- Make sure papers can’t fall out. (It’s important in our home to have something that little ones can’t disorganize at the drop of a hat!)
- Make it durable.
- Make it easy to use.
- Put in only the essentials.
- Make it flexible and changeable.
Looking to simplify as you plan your homeschool year? You may enjoy these other popular posts:
Creating an Intentional {Catholic} Booklist
Intentional {Catholic} Booklist Resources
Streamlining a Boxed curriculum
Summer Schooling with a Boxed Curriculum
Collective Learning: Inspiration for your morning basket
Saving Lunch: Using a lunch rotation to simplify your homeschool day
How do you corral all the paperwork your independent learner needs?
Great idea – thanks for sharing this! I have 4 children following the MODG syllabi this year, and came across your blog in my search for simplifying things in our homeschool. I love your ideas!
I’m so glad you found it helpful. I look forward to enrolling some day, but for right now, with just one child in the thick of schooling, I’d like to save the money. Best of luck with MODG, we love it!
This is great! We’re just starting homeschooling AND MODG this year (next week!) and I’m looking for all the tips I can get
Bonus for me – only with our youngest (grade 4) so my time challenges are a bit different (and no little hands to protect from). How did you make your family time schedule? It’s much easier to read than the ones I’ve come across, and it looks like it’s digital so I can adjust it weekly (as we’ll need to do in our crazy household). Thank you!
I’m glad you found all the MODG stuff helpful. I’m still learning as I go! As for how I created my schedule…. I have gotten to be very friendly with Excel. I use it to create all my own schedules, routines, etc. I love that I can customize it for our family. I would encourage you to get friendly with Excel (I actually use OpenOffice).If you would find it helpful, I can do a post on how I create my schedule step-by-step. I go more in depth on our schedule in my recent post: https://www.elizabethclareblog.com/habits-routines-and-schedules-oh-my/
Ahhh, Excel, of course! (I use OpenOffice, too!) Thank you – I wouldn’t have seen that on my own
I like that I can go and modify everything. Our life/needs seem to change constantly!