Homeschooling Notebook

Since I posted about our home management notebook, and our shopping and budget notebook, I thought I might as well write about our homeschooling notebook.

Even though our children are still in preschool, and we are not required to keep records, we thought it was a good idea to get into the right habits now.

Again, like the other two notebooks, I keep a clip on the front to hold whatever I may be working on. In this book, for the decorative papers I used vintage children’s prints.

The first divider is “Information” which contains a checklist of preschool skills, and a list of important websites.

The second divider has “Rules and Guidelines”.

The third divider is “School Calendar”. I use a highlighter to color code our calendar with school holidays, religious holidays and other days off. I have a yearly calendar, and then monthly calendars.

The fourth divider is “Attendance”. Here I mark each day that we did school. There is a sub-divider for each child that is in “school”.

The fifth divider is “Goals”, again sub-divided for each child.

The sixth divider is “Lists”. Here we keep book lists, library lists (lists of books checked out from the library and dates to be returned) lend/borrow lists (to keep track of books that we have lent out), etc…

The seventh divider is “Field Trips”, where we log our field trips; Their objectives, cost, location and date.

The eighth divider is “Lesson Plans”, again sub-divided for each child.

The ninth divider is “Journaling”. Here I can take notes, or jot down things I need to log, or ideas that pop up. Sometimes I may need to write a reminder to myself about a skill that needs to be worked on further, or anything like that.

The tenth divider is “Daily Logging Sheets”, where I log the time spent on each activity or subject, and the grade for each. Again this section is sub-divided for each child.

The eleventh section is “Transcripts” ( again sub-divided).

The twelfth section is “Notes”.

And lastly, I have a section for “Forms”, where I store blank copies of any of the forms I use in my notebook.

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Homemaking Notebook

I mentioned before that I had put together a home management notebook. I have really enjoyed seeing what other ladies have done with that concept so I thought that I would share mine.

I have a lot of sections in mine, so “bear” with me.

Just like my other notebook, on the front I have a clip to hold whatever I am working on, and in the inside front I have a baggy to hold my pens and highlighters (there I am with the color coding again:))

My first divider is “Inspiration”, where I store articles that I have read that inspire me in my vocation as wife, mother, and homemaker. The second divider is “Rules & Guidelines”, where I keep a copy of rules that we have for our family. The third is “Schedules”, where I keep a copy of our main schedule, a back up schedule for in case we wake up late, and a daily planner, to-do list and such.

The next section is “Calendars” which I color code to notate holidays and such. The fifth section is “Checklists” which has checklists for different areas of the house, and the children’s chore charts, a spring cleaning checklist, etc..

The sixth section is “Cleaning”. Here I store different cleaning tips I have found, my recipes for homemade cleaners and such. The seventh section is “Menus”, where I keep a copy of our different menus, and then “”Pantry Lists”, which holds copies of the inventories from my other notebook. The ninth section is “Food Information”, where I put charts that have the length of time you can freeze different foods, information on packing a lunch, and any other food related information.

The tenth section is “Health”. Here I have a list of herbal remedies and any other health information that I feel like I might need to access regularly.

The eleventh section is “Child Training”, where I have articles on raising children that I find helpful.

The next section is “Miscellaneous”, for, well, just that.

And lastly I have a section for pregnancy related information.

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My Grocery Shopping, Menu Planning, and Budgeting Notebook

Ok, so that is a long title for a notebook, but I haven’t figured out exactly what to call it yet. Any suggestions?

You have probably seen people talking (well, posting) about their household notebooks. Some call it a home management binder, or something similar. I have one and absolutely LOVE it, so I took the idea and adapted it for another area where I felt it would help.

We have recently began bulk shopping at Sam’s and Costco in an effort to become more efficient and also to save money. I have research new recipes and planned menus to use ingredients that we can buy in bulk. With all of this research and new way of shopping, I needed something to help me stay organized, thus the new notebook.

I keep a clip on the front to hold my shopping list (yes, I take it along with us, and yes, I have gotten a few comments about being very organized, hehe). In the front pocket I keep our current menu for the week, and any recipes I might need. I punched holes into a zip-lock bag to store my highlighters (yes, I color code, hehe), a pen, and a calculator. My first divider is titled “Grocery Price Lists”. In this section I have a spreadsheet where I write each item and it’s size, cost, and unit price, and what store we bought it from. As I write the price down, I highlight the item on the receipt so that I know it has been entered. I use color coding to know whether it is a recurring expense, a one time purchase, or an item that needs to be returned. I then put the receipt in a pocket under the last divider, titled “Receipts”. I have a pocket for each month.

My second divider is titled “Shopping Lists”, and that is where I keep our shopping lists once we are finished with them. I like to date them and keep them so that we can track whether we are staying on track or buying items that we did not include in our list. (we are sooooo bad about doing that, especially at Wal-mart, hehe).

The third divider is “Menus”, which is where I keep all of our menus.

The fourth divider is “Pantry Inventory” which has a spread sheet to inventory our pantry. I have not completed it yet, but it’s on my to-do list.

The next divider is “Freezer Inventory”. Same deal as the pantry one, and also on my to-do list.

Then I have a section for “Notes”, which is there in case I need to jot something down, or make a note to myself while shopping, or menu planning.

And then the last section is “Receipts”. Here I have a sheet protector for each month, and after logging a receipt I just slip it into the pocket. I like to staple my receipts into categories (Wal-mart, Bulk Shopping, Restaurants, Gas…) to make it easier for me to find a receipt. I have found this makes it so simple if we need to return an item, we know exactly where the receipt is.

Ok, so reading back through this, I have to acknowledge that I am a total dork and probably have obsessive compulsive tendencies (probably?), but hey, it works for us. I have to admit that I have my household management notebook, and a notebook for homeschooling in addition to this one, oh and I have one where I keep activities for the liturgical calendar too. Well, ok, I probably have an organization addiction, but my husband thinks it’s cute:)

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