Explandalbe file? Mobile schoolers... what do you keep your stuff in?

[TeacherMom]

Do any of you mobile homeschoolers use expandable files to keep school stuff to do in?
I am thinking of setting up weeks at a time, but maybe two or the whole month so that I dont get behind on ds' scheduling, and still can keep the classes Istraight outside the home,,, ie co oping and teaching the drama class a tdds highschool next year. SO I am thinking if I write my daily lessons for ds using my years outline schedule i plan to write up like I did for the drama class..
I will write down stuff like one gal here gave me the idea of..

Math_ chapterx page d questions pie matierieals needed protractor pencil eraser notebook for scratch pad...

English- Book such and such, page blah bla, materiels ,etc etc

SO I am thinking if I have a monthly first week with all the months work in one file, then each weeks lessons for each subject in another file, that would end up being like what 7 files or more a week. And then ds could idealy go to the next file folder do whats on the schedule in that file folder and even if we are off at a park, or sitting at the library we could carry it with us in the car and he could have acess...

Or do you think I should just carry my lap top , create an on computer file system with tthe same thing and try a box or zip lok bags or something for what subjects need, like math stuff, etc>



I am open to suggestions the things I am involved in are goign to cause me to be really orgainized or loose it, and my writting time will be wasted trying to catch up with ds' work load...

[wyomom]

When we are going to be away from the house I use the Brainquest work books. I stumbled across them last winter and the girls love them. It has all subjects at grade level and is very portable.
Otherwise everything at home is in piles on my desk. Drives dh crazy. As long as noone touches anything on there I am fine.

[Mrs. Mommy]

Otherwise everything at home is in piles on my desk. Drives dh crazy. As long as noone touches anything on there I am fine.

I shared this with my husband last night and he laughed as that is what my desk looks like. I am always telling the kids "don't touch anything or move anything!"

[TeacherMom]

i wish mine were jjust on a desk!
I mostly use my lap top now, but go to the kids ( main ) computer to do stuff too, school stuff is presently in a rolling cart box bin thing for ds, but though this is great for at home ( We also have books in many othe rthings and I really want to down size!)
when we are out I will either have us carry back packs or the folder file thing... I have to make sure I am organized since I am not just going to be at home and have to keep lessons straight for the school on a schedule I figured I may as well for MY SCHOOL too!

[StoneFamily]

Personally since we are going to be doing nothing but homeschooling while on the road. I keep the days work in a 3 ring binder. I have it sectioned off with page dividers Then I keep all the extra blank paper in a binder, and finally I have one empty binder. As she finishes her work it will get dated and placed in the empty binder till the lesson binder is empty. Then I will store the finished binder and start over.

This way it will be neatly kept. Hope you find what works for you!

[rhi]

We do a binder system even at home. I fill it each week with their weekly assignments, if it's pages out of a work book, I have the binding's cut of and three hole punched and then I put them in other binders. As they complete the assignments I take them out correct them and put them in a box to be stored for a few years or if it's sample week then I put it into that binder. I think the only book they then have to drag around is their math books.

[TeacherMom]

cool, I like this idea too, I have the binders but papers tend to tear out of them, I had been doing it that way back with Life pks too it worked well I could hole punch the books and everything for a while.
Then I went to folders in the binders holding the books...
Last two years we used binder for Science and History work but next year I think we have Binder for History, and nothing for Scence asits on computer, the cd would fit in a binder though and he coudlprint his tests up for me .... so maybe... English is three workbook forms, but he will use notebooks for those .. could us a binder for thhose too but if we put them in a back pack they get heavy.. so will probably use notebooks ( I have a million of them still!)
if I use the drawers on the one thread for at home, he could fill his file holder or a breif case like holder each morning with what we need to take with us... I coudl ahve them stored in the drawers in each lesson, and if anything is left behind I will be abel to see it clearly was not done!
Maybe I will even make color coded cards to place as Done, and Need to do .... As he finishes he could put everything in the bottom drawer?

Hmm Ok I am going to walmart to look at both school supplies and the drawers, found them for 10 at K online but ... if I can get them for the den and get it organised, I coudl do my file folders, measurements at the store too, see what will work and what wont?
I want it to be easy and efficient next year.. keep the ideas coming!

[rhi]

I also have a closet for our extra supplies and the books they work out of (and binders) and I have a binder for each kid for any of the correcting materials I need for their books on my shelf, each book is labeled and divided with dividers. I use a sticky tab for my place in the book as I move through correcting assignments, in each subject. Each week I write out their assignments for each kid in one of those planning books, without that thing I would be lost. If I could find one for on my computer I would be thrilled so I could back it up with the planning book my kids tend to take and follow if it's work they can do on their own.

[TeacherMom]

wow sounds reallyorganised wanna come help me out at my house? lol seriously!
I am hoping to write up a planner binder for ds this year in advance, but have to figure what extra stuff I have to do for drama first, so I need to get the calendar for that schhool first.. so....
Yeah, Then I can do the binder full of planner pages, and weekly adjust his "my daily lesson plans" which is really a list of what he needs to do for the day..... if do them weekly I could put that in the drawer as what he needs to do each day and he coudl stuff his back pack or file folder with those.... as well as gather the needed materials out of the drawers... WOW this is sounding easy enough to do but .. cann I really do it?
I am a sanquin, I like to do spur of th emoment haha, I am also a melancholy who likes to plan that is why I am back and forth so much, sorry , hmm, any more ideas? I may get this figured otu yet, nwo that I am down to one chiild homeschooling out of three!

[guamhsmom]

We do the binders as well, but I do have a really neat "file system" I got for about $12 at Kmart. I can't find it online but it is set up like this:

Front 1/2 is accordion files with tabs
Back 1/2 is for hanging file folders (comes with 8 folders)

It is about 1/2 an inch bigger than the height/width of a hanging folder, and about 9 inches deep. It is made of thick cardboard (recycled 100% I believe), and the outside had a bunch of different designs...I got the pretty red rose one.

I use this for traveling situations (like when we spend the day at the beach for "outdoor school" or other things like that. I LOVE this box!!

[KrisRV]

binders is what I used the 7 years we traveled, then store them in plastic container up the site of couch..

[chicamarun]

Where do you go to get the binding removed from workbooks? I'm looking at the workbooks I have for this year - and dd has AT LEAST 7 workbooks.... so I am thinking I would need a binder for each subject if I did that.... and they are big workbooks (at least when piled <G>)

[TeacherMom]

We do the binders as well, but I do have a really neat "file system" I got for about $12 at Kmart. I can't find it online but it is set up like this:

Front 1/2 is accordion files with tabs
Back 1/2 is for hanging file folders (comes with 8 folders)

It is about 1/2 an inch bigger than the height/width of a hanging folder, and about 9 inches deep. It is made of thick cardboard (recycled 100% I believe), and the outside had a bunch of different designs...I got the pretty red rose one.

I use this for traveling situations (like when we spend the day at the beach for "outdoor school" or other things like that. I LOVE this box!!

Yeah thats what I am kinda looking at, they have some also that are expandable file binder things, dd and ds both have used them in the past, I just remember a while a go today ... so If I did a binder for the monthly notes to myself .. that is about what I will do for the year at a glance type of organising, then weekly or daily do the dailylessons, trying to keep up wiht my year at a glance.... or at least a semester at a glance, so I can do the semester things I have for the drama class... I even figured how we can to go to the youth cafe and the library in cold weather or the park during nice weather on Drama days, cause its another town away 15 miles but twice that in time and longer on traffic days. We are planning to car pool so two days of the week we can drive and two days they drive and both our kids are going to earn thier fridays off all the time cause they are bright kids so thats cool !
So .... here I am trying to figure all this out hahaha, sorry I got off on a ramble there, but trying to talk to peeps here about it is difficult on the spot its eaiser

[StoneFamily]

I actually saved a bundle because I had tons of photo negatives in 3 ring binders that I boxed up and reused the binders. I hated parting with them because I collaged them....lol.

[TeacherMom]

yeah I have years of binders lol, Gave some away this year too!

[rhi]

wow sounds reallyorganised wanna come help me out at my house? lol seriously!
I am hoping to write up a planner binder for ds this year in advance, but have to figure what extra stuff I have to do for drama first, so I need to get the calendar for that schhool first.. so....
Yeah, Then I can do the binder full of planner pages, and weekly adjust his "my daily lesson plans" which is really a list of what he needs to do for the day..... if do them weekly I could put that in the drawer as what he needs to do each day and he coudl stuff his back pack or file folder with those.... as well as gather the needed materials out of the drawers... WOW this is sounding easy enough to do but .. cann I really do it?
I am a sanquin, I like to do spur of th emoment haha, I am also a melancholy who likes to plan that is why I am back and forth so much, sorry , hmm, any more ideas? I may get this figured otu yet, nwo that I am down to one chiild homeschooling out of three!

Last year was my second year. And we're a little different since we do use a charter school. However, I'm pretty much left up to my own devices on what I want to use and how I we do it as long as we cover standards. We do have to turn in sample folders twice a year for proof that we do school. Anyway, beyond that little ditty. I only plan out a week at a time. I learned last year we can get lost easy if I try to plan out to far in advance and we may want to run another way with stuff. Or the kids may say they want something else to learn. So in that area, I'm not organized. Heck I'm not even organized now since I have yet to go through their closet and get it re-organized for the next school year. But I still need to buy supplies for the year, only I will wait for the school's to start up and the local stores to have sales on that stuff before I buy them.

[rhi]

Where do you go to get the binding removed from workbooks? I'm looking at the workbooks I have for this year - and dd has AT LEAST 7 workbooks.... so I am thinking I would need a binder for each subject if I did that.... and they are big workbooks (at least when piled <G>)

I have a friend that owns a printing company and I take them down there and she cuts them off for me with her big paper cutter and then she three hole punches them too so I can put them in binders and then eventually when I need to put them in the school work binders then they are stored neatly in them too. She has the sort of business that does blueprints to the big stickers for the windows of cars. I don't think staples does this kind of work. Having the binding removed helped a lot this year, you wouldn't think so but it did.