Making It Count :: Binders and Routines for Kids

It's Making it Count Tuesday! Twice a month, Sarah and I are co-hosting the Making it Count Tuesday link-up. Start with any one of those fabulous ideas you have found online. Then, do it. Make it. Cook it. Create it. Take it from the screen, give it life and let it bless your world. When you're done, snap a photo, write about it and share it with us.  Make your time online count.

Bet you thought I had forgotten about this! Don't worry, Sarah won't let me forget. Sorry it is late, though. My wishy-washy nature and life worked against me this week, but I think I've finally gotten it figured out.

I love the Mass. I love that every single word and movement down to the smallest detail has great meaning. I love that if I were to travel back in time to the days of the apostles and attend church, the heart of the Mass would still be the same, and I would recognize a great many of the parts and words. I love that my participation is required and the familiarity of the motions, words, and prayers frees me to focus on God instead of merely being a spectator at a service. I love that the Mass is always the same, and I take great comfort in that.

Another part of the Mass that has come to be the same for me is the little whisper that comes soon after we return to the kneeler after communion. "Is it almost over?" comes the question from one side of me or the other. My response is a whispered, "yes," but my thoughts are more along the lines of, "Really? It is the same every single week. One more prayer. Two more verses. A couple of announcements. Yes, it is almost over."

So that tells me that my kids just can't get it. Despite the patterns and routines that I create in our days, unless I spell it out for them on a regular basis, they can't see that it is the same. This is why we get, "Are we there yet?" for trips we have taken many, many times.

So in an effort to aid them in knowing what is coming next and how much more they have to do, I adpated Chelli's pseudo-workbox system to use for this school year. I am also using her binder system too.

John's binder loaded for the first week of school. Here is one of his PAL Reading sheets.

I took each binder and added one pocket for each day of the week. I did label ours with M-F, because we do different things on different days. If Monday's work gets missed some of it will be done Tuesday and some will not be done until Wednesday. I expect to shuffle some papers. Into the pockets go all of the sheets we need for that day. Their math is in a workbook, so will not go it, but many other things will.

Olivia's grid set up for the first day of school. I decided to try attaching them to the front of the binder. Will have to see if they prove to be a distraction there.

I also used the workbox labels from Homeschool Creations. I was able to find most of what I need. I am using Circle Time for memory work, but memory work is new to us so I can call it anything at this point. I created an eight square grid for John and a twelve square one for Olivia. Every thing in our day won't go on here -- just the schoolish things we do. They can pull them off as we complete each thing and see what they have left to do.

I imagine both systems will be adapted as the school year goes on, but this gives us a good place to start. And I hope it helps them figure out how much is left and what we are doing. For their peace of mind and mine.

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