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Hi Laura! We like to use a big 3-ring binder with tabbed sections for much of our dc's work too. You could definitely use loose leaf paper instead of composition books if you would enjoy that. I think the composition books just cut down on the filing of papers in a binder, and they also encourage dc to look back over the passage they missed the day before (if they did miss it), and remind themselves of the errors they made before studying the passage a second time to retake it. However, it would be simple enough to pull out the binder you put the loose leaf paper in and have them review that way too - so, if you like to organize with loose leaf papers, why not?!? Sounds like it would work to me! As far as page protectors, those are really nice to use because they prevent the ripping out of the papers over time. They are relatively inexpensive when bought in bulk, and they help better preserve dc's keepsake portfolios through the years. That is why we use them, at least, but they are not a "must have" by any means. HTH as you have fun setting up your organization methods for the year

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks Julie! I appreciate your response. I am so excited about starting HOD this year! I just want everything to go as smoothly as possible, and I do LOVE having everything in one spot!

I went searching for this thread tonight, so bumping it for anyone else that might need it.

hi julie! great info about organizing everything!
i had a ? about riley's schedule in the red folder? is this just a spreadsheet (duh, i know!) that you came up w/ with the time increments and can i do that in a program like excel, do you know?
thanks so much, heidi

I was looking through this thread again. My daughter is on unit 28, but I was curious about people's ideas for set-up. I know I used this when I set it up for her, very helpful. I wanted to say that we used the 1 huge binder for everything, with page protectors, and it didn't work very well. Too huge. I've had to take some stuff out to make it at all manageable. I like page protectors to keep papers from ripping out, but they make everything very slippery. The other problem I have, and I'm sure there is a simple solution I'm missing, is that the dividers are "hidden" because the page protectors stick out farther than they do.

I had her write her science questions on loose-leaf and put in protector in a notebook. I think using Julie's idea of the composition notebook would've been better--I'll do that in 2 years when my next one gets there. I will use a few different small binders as well.

I cut the timeline cards and put in a ziploc bag and that was a great idea. I tried having her put them on the back of a door--that didn't work so last week she took them all down and did the accordion style that is suggested.

I think next time I will do the suggestion that someone had for printing out the poems and putting them and notebook paper in a notebook together.

Anyone else have ideas that worked or didn't work so well? I'm about to head over and check out setting up for CtC. I know that my older daughter is using that right now, but she's a completely different person and she liked to do things her way and is very neat and organized. My next one about to start needs a lot of help in that area.

Gwenny,

Great idea to review what worked. And is so exciting getting ready to start next year. My dd is on until 25 now but we are going to go through June to finish and start back up in August with CTC.

For us, we use a 3" binder for my dd's history, science and poetry/writing. We used one student notebook for each of these subjects: vocabulary, spelling, grammar and common place book. We did not use page protectors though because then the book gets way to thick. And you didn't do anything wrong, the page protectors do stick out so then you can't see the tabs. We did not hesitate to punch holes in everything and then slap them right into the binder.

I also did cut the spine off of my teacher's manual and put it into a 3 ring binder as well. I found that I could reorder the pages as I wanted to be. So my first tab was the current week. This way I could show my dd everything she had to do for the week and she could easily find where she was in the book. I also highlighted (yes I marked the guide) everything that "I" in pink and everything that had a "T". And then I wrote in each box the number of minutes I thought each would take her to do. Even with 3 kids, this is great because I would do the same thing for everyone else. Once my dd finished it, she would pencil a checkmark. At the end of the unit, I could go back in and erase the check marks. I think put the poetry in the next tab. I put the spelling next. And then math in the next tab. Then I had the rest of the weeks of work in the next tabs. And then anything else I didn't pull forward I kept at the end. For me, this was a great fit because I kept everything close to the front of the binder that I was using regularly. I really liked that.

Also - this year my dd had her own desk. I don't know if others have the space for that but it was great! We kept her notebooks and stuff in plastic rectangular bin on the table. Then I had book ends where her TM (in the 2" binder) was on the out side of one end and her student binder (3" binder) on the outside on the other end. In between the two with the bookends we had all the books she was reading by herself at that time. Then we had a desk organizer to hold papers in a file folder for her that she could pick from for her writing activities.

Next year though, I want to acquire 1 more table for my home for my kids to use for school. But I would like the kids spaces to be a little bit more portable. So that no one has a specific "desk" and that they can around move and work anywhere they need to. So I am looking at getting each child a desk organizer like this: http://www.staples.com/Staples-The-Desk ... ze=certona. This way I can put all of their books that they are using in here and their student notebooks. It won't hold their binders though but I think that will be fine. And then it will also hold their pencils and supplies as well. This would make their space a lot more portable. So I don't know. I am still praying about it though.

I got some bins at The Container Store that I love love. They are also cheap! (kind of unusual for anything from Container Store) They come in 3 different sizes--widths.
I use them for a lot of things. Coloring books in one, drawing books, things that I used to put in magazine holders--these work better because all of the sides are high.

I have all of my Beyond items and Little Hearts items in them. I use the large size for those. They will fit a binder even laying it down long-wise. I'm able to fit all of their books we are currently working on, including the guide, and the spelling cards for the week, the index cards on a ring for the memory verses, even a pencil holder. They are long enough the there is room at the end to put those items sideways because it is longer than the books. (don't know how to describe it) They have holes for "handles" on both sides so they are easy to take off of the shelf and carry everything wherever you need to go!

Go to the container store website and type in multi-purpose bins and they come up. They are my new favorite office supply.

I will do that! Thanks so much for the tip!

We found that extra wide dividers that do stick out beyond the page protectors at Office Max. Also, I really like the one 4-5 inch9 binder, but I keep about 4 weeks in a separate binder for my son to work on. When he is done, the pages get moved to the larger binder. That is my preference because I dislike notebooks. Even when I was in school, I used paper and binders instead of notebooks. Anyway, my main point was to say that we found the extra wide dividers.

I'll have to look for those dividers!

thanks for this!

I love this post, but cannot view the photos! Can anyone help? Thanks!

scampbell2003 wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:15 am

Does anyone have a suggestion for setting up BHFHG and LHFHG?

Thanks for sharing that link from my original post on setting up BHFHG! Since then, Photobucket has had some issues. They were supposed to be resolved, but I see the images are still not showing. Frustrating! Anyway, I recently did a blog post for HOD on setting up these guides. I was able to include pictures in those posts, so I'll share those here too...

Setting Up BHFHG: https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2019 ... his-glory/
Setting up LHFHG: https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2019 ... his-glory/

In Christ,
Julie