I was reading on another site and I found a few good ideas for putting together a school binder for each student. I put them together with some of my own and thought I'd share. We have always used separate binders for each subject and I don't know why I never thought of putting it together before.

 *Students decorate the covers with things they like. (DD10 used webkinz, American girl pictures, and club penguin art, DD8 used Barbie, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, and webkinz)

*In the beginning goes a copy of the daily schedule, a monthly calendar (for outings, Elluminates, homeschool skates, conferences, etc.), a book-it log form, and a log for Study Island (and benchmark results).

*Then a divider for each subject. Math, Language Skills, Literature, Spelling, History, Science, Art, Music, and Handwriting.

*In the math section, you could keep: a chart for math minute results, math journals, word list for math journals, blank paper for book work, and assessments for the current unit.

*In the Language Skills section you could keep GUM worksheets by unit, Blank paper for compositions, Proofreading checklists, Vocabulary words, and assessments, and blank paper for journaling.

*In the Literature section, you could keep literature lessons, extra paper and assessments.

*In the spelling section, you could include spelling words for the week, spelling worksheets, and assessments. Perhaps also a list of missed words. In 4^th grade you could keep a map of the US to color the states as you learn to spell them.

*In History, you could keep paper (for history journals) and activity sheets.

*In Science, you could keep paper to record experiments, activity sheets, and assessments.

*In Art, you could keep your art prints (in sheet protectors), and paper for sketching.

*In Music, you could keep your worksheets.

*In Handwriting, there are lots of neat websites for practicing handwriting. My favorites are: http://www.kidzone.ws/cursive/index.htm and http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/learn/writing-cursive/. Print out enough sheets for a week or longer.

*You can get one of those pencil cases with the 3 holes to add to your binder. Keep pencils, crayons, scissors, and glue in it.

 This makes it easy to take school work along with you in the car, or at Grandma's! It also keeps all the kids papers in one place and gives them a calendar and a schedule to keep track of their day. I started one for each girl today. (One side note: don't buy subject dividers at Dollar Tree! They are made out of regular paper and I don't think they will last very long!)

Only 2 weeks until school!