Files vs. Notebook

I noticed last year on the message board I haunt that many moms jumped on the filing bandwagon.  The way I understand it - you assemble all worksheets into 36 file folders.  If you are in your 12th week of school, you pull out the worksheets in folder #12 and do them.  It helps you stay on track. 

But, life happens and sometimes we get off track in one subject or another.  Then what?  You would need to refile all of the worksheets for that subject or skip some to catch up.  Some moms/dads came up with the idea that you could instead put the worksheets into one notebook by subject and take out what you need as the year progresses.  All your worksheets are together and ready to be used but it allows for a little extra flexibility.

I know me.  Filing would fail me within the first week (we have frequent bumps and learning plateaus).  I've decided to try THE NOTEBOOK (in caps because the thing is a monster).  I thought today would be a good time to start filling it, so I've spent a good portion of the day copying Core Knowledge worksheets.  For now I think I'll leave bound workbooks...well...bound.  I think.  We'll see what works.

Why do I do this to myself?

Yep, I'm going to complain about science one...more...time.

I can't find a science textbook that I love, so I decided to pull info from several difference science books/encyclopedias.  Of course, the order is different in each book which has me flipping all over the place.  I'm making this harder than it needs to be.  Shoot me!

Books I plan to use:

• What's Science All About (Usborne)
•  The Concise Science Encyclopedia (Kingfisher)
• The Usborne Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia
• The Kingfisher Illustrated Nature Encyclopedia

I guess I will eventually drag in the World Book Encyclopedias and our Core Knowledge books too.

Why am I making this choppy, "all over the place" study of science?  Because, I thought Rod & Staff's science textbook was ... too choppy.  LOL!

It has all fallen out of my head.

My brain is apparently a sieve.  I went on a road trip with my parents for 10 days and when I came back I could barely remember how to play my favorite game (Runescape).

And then there is homeschool...it feels like something I may have experienced in a past life.  LOL!  It seems like a distant memory.  How in the world am I supposed to jump back into planning for this fall when I can't even remember what we were doing prior to our summer break?  Thank goodness I can look at the sidebar on this blog to jog my memory.