Creating Your Own Scope and Sequence Binder

The past few years of home educating our children have been such a blessing. I have been privileged to get to know their learning styles and what makes them tick. I love seeing their little light bulbs go off and especially how they have been exploring God's beautiful creation as we're out and about together for morning trips to the park, nature walks and nature journaling. I can't imagine educating our children without God being the center as I know that

 

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (Proverbs 9:10).

 

I guess this is why the Charlottle Mason approach to home education appeals to our family so much. God is in everything.

 

In the past, we have been trying out different curriculum and methods of learning. I'm not going to claim here that this year "is it", the answer to everything I've been looking for as a homeschool mother. However, I've prayed a lot, asking the Lord to lead in our curriculum choices this year and have been so blessed to find things working out better and better for our little crew of learners. Although our Workbox System last year started out smoothly, it wasn't what was best for our bunch. I came to realize that we have five kids and I needed something that I could teach all five at the same time, while being interesting, Biblically based and FUN.

 

This is why I started my Scope and Sequence binder where I can keep notes and information within each subject more organized as we find what fits our family's learning styles.

 

What is Scope and Sequence you may be asking?

Well, I found a great blog post on it HERE.

 

I started with a simple 1 and 1/2 inch binder and three sets of colorful tabs. I also used www.simplycharlottemason 's website for the majority of our Scope and Sequence (we do use A Beka and Veritas Press for phonics, grammar, spelling, math and history).

I printed out the Scope and Sequence page from the website and placed that in front.

You can find that HERE.

 

I then took each subject and gave it it's own tab.

 The subjects that Charlotte Mason talks about in her precious books (I recommend reading Charlotte Mason Companion before attacking Mason's books as they can be quite complex) are as follows:

 

math, science, reading, copywork and transcription, spelling and dictation, English and grammar, typing, personal development, foreign language, history, geography, Bible, Scripture memory, literature, poetry, nature study, picture study, music study, hymn study and Shakesphere.

I then printed out (because I like having a tangible paper to see and write on) the pages for each subject where the website goes into depth on topic, making my notes where applicable.

 

I especially love placing other ideas and lessons behind these tabs that I find elsewhere. For instance, I LOVE (have I mentioned, I LOOVVEE) Higher Up and Further In's website and how she shares her ideas and lessons with her readers. Here are her thoughts and ideas for Picture Study and I printed them out, made notes and placed them behind the Picture Study tab.

 

Same here with www.onjustacoupleofacres.com . I printed out the pages and placed them behind the History section. They are a great source of information and my highlights are a quick way to find things. They're also a GREAT source of encouragement when a particular subject isn't going as smoothly as I planned. I can look back, remember to focus on what is truly important (and it's not how many workbook pages were completed) and then refocus on the simplicity that education truly is. How it is based on the Lord, exploring His creation and drawing my children closer to Him through every day that we spend together.