Today I took the plunge.  I emptied the file drawer of the school materials from *year before last* and put them in a hanging file box.  They are one step away from the attic.  Of course, I still have *this* year's school work to deal with.  (Note: I truly hate the word "school" applied to our home education program, but it is easier to type....)  Much of this year's material will segue into this next year (fall) because some of the girls didn't get near enough done this year.  But that is another story.

I am here to tell you how I set up my system.  We are in ATI, which means we use something called Wisdom Booklets--a unit study program in which a study is typically done in about a month.  So, here's what I do (many thanks to Susan Mangione for the idea!):

1) I get a hanging file for each unit for each child plus myself.  Then, I label them all: WB33 Mom; WB33 Emily; WB33 Sarah; and so on... WB34...WB35...36...37..38...39...WB 40 Hannah; WB 40 Peter; WB 40 Jonathan.  When I am done, I will have 6 folders for each of 8 units.  Ideally, we would do 9 units of four weeks each for 36 weeks.  But rarely does the ideal happen around here.

2) I start sorting things into my folders--worksheets, booklets, whatever tools each person will need for that unit study.

3) At some point (I'm not there yet), I will estimate the particular calendar weeks we will spend on each unit, and I will begin to divide up and assign any other work for each child for that unit.  For example, I will have a sheet of paper marked with a child's name, the dates for that unit, and the particular pages or assignments in a subject (i.e., math) that they will do along with the unit study.  I drop those assignment sheets into each hanging folder.

There's more that can be done, but that's about as far as I take it.  This starts me out with our entire year planned out, materials divided up, some assignments made already.  It always works best to start the year organized!!  Trust me, I know what it's like to start *unorganized*.

As we finish a unit, I put all the unit things into one bradded folder per child.  Well, actually, they usually do it for me.  I try to have the same color for everybody for any given unit--just helps make it look orderly in the drawer and I can tell at a glance if I'm missing anyone's work.  That goes into the original labeled hanging file along with anything else relevant to that time period--math lessons or tests; writing projects; special events programs, art work, etc.

At the end of the school year, I have everything neatly bundled, labeled, and ready to be stored.  In the meantime, we can skim through the drawer and look back over various assignments throughout the school year. For a high schooler, I can choose to pull his/her files and store them separately so I'll have all the high school work together.

The reason I just now filed away year before last's folders is because I took off this past year from our unit studies.  I wanted a break and a change after 15 years of doing the same program.  In some ways, I am glad I did that--we became more involved in outside activities and developed many new friendships.  But it a lot of ways, I regret it.  I was much less organized, I had too much standard curricula going at the same time for so many grades, our family was disjointed as each child did their own thing and very little was done together.

So, I'm ready to get back to the "old" way of studying things as a family.  For the younger ones, since it's been 2 years, it will all seem "new" to them. I pray that my organization will pay off.  If I am prepared, I know I will be a sweeter mommy and the entire "school" year will flow much more easily.  I am actually getting a wee bit excited about starting up again....and we haven't even finished this year!

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Dear Lord, I need you.  Please help me follow through in setting things up for next year.  Give me wisdom, Lord.  Help me to know how much to supplement, and what things to use so the children and I are not overwhelmed with too much to do.  I pray that we can experience some joy again in learning things as a family and working together. Thank you for what I got accomplished today....help me to not grow weary in well-doing.  Help me to trust that in due season I will reap if I faint not.  In Jesus' name.