The curse of the flying sheets: when can I hope for an end? (kindergarten, school)
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The school districts where I live have different spiral notebooks for different subjects starting in about 2nd grade.
There are very few workbooks anymore at the elementary level, many schools only have math workbooks. That is primarily because of differentiation in learning (many different reading groups, spelling groups, etc) and more hands-on activities in science and social studies.
Syracusa, just get loose leaf notebooks, punch holes in the worksheets, and put them in the notebook. An early elementary child probably only needs one notebook with dividers. That's really all you need to do. You now have something just as useful as a bound notebook. If everything is in a bound notebook, work that needs to be turned in has to be torn out. That defeats the purpose you see in a bound notebook. As you have been told, teachers do not want entire notebooks turned in for grading. That is impractical.
You can use pocket folders to organize odds and ends. Have a folder for homework. When the homework and tests are returned, put them in the loose leaf notebook.
Once a grading cycle is over, the papers can be removed from the notebook and put in a file box at home. At the end of the year, you can pull out a few things to save. Have a file box with a file for each year.
A combination of notebooks and folders will solve your problem.
You and your child can work out a system that works for you. Organize the backpack, assist your child in checking it daily for things you need to see, like grade reports, permission slips and activity schedules (your child should have a folder for those and you should have your own files at home for them), recycle what becomes obsolete (that field trip is over and last month's calendar can be tossed). Homework gets completed on time, put in the folder to be turned in, and actually makes it into the teacher's hands.
So, for your first grader:
A loose leaf notebook, lined paper (see the links above), math paper (see the links)
A folder for things that you need to see: grades, permission slips, activity fliers.
A folder for homework.
Color code the folders, maybe red for things that need action and green for homework. Let him organize his backpack, so he sees how it makes it easier for him.
Art work can be scanned (or photographed) and only a few pieces saved each year for mementos. You can get an artist's portfolio for larger items.
Insisting that bound notebooks are the only way that will work will do nothing to help the frustration you are feeling.
Don't you love finding the notes that say you are supposed to supply something today or maybe yesterday.
Oh yes, usually it is something that MUST be signed and returned... three days ago. This is my same child who says he doesn't "need" to carry his backpack anymore. So the pockets also include little stubs of pencils for what work he does do.
Syracusa, just get loose leaf notebooks, punch holes in the worksheets, and put them in the notebook. An early elementary child probably only needs one notebook with dividers. That's really all you need to do. You now have something just as useful as a bound notebook. If everything is in a bound notebook, work that needs to be turned in has to be torn out. That defeats the purpose you see in a bound notebook. As you have been told, teachers do not want entire notebooks turned in for grading. That is impractical.
You can use pocket folders to organize odds and ends. Have a folder for homework. When the homework and tests are returned, put them in the loose leaf notebook.
Once a grading cycle is over, the papers can be removed from the notebook and put in a file box at home. At the end of the year, you can pull out a few things to save. Have a file box with a file for each year.
A combination of notebooks and folders will solve your problem.
You and your child can work out a system that works for you. Organize the backpack, assist your child in checking it daily for things you need to see, like grade reports, permission slips and activity schedules (your child should have a folder for those and you should have your own files at home for them), recycle what becomes obsolete (that field trip is over and last month's calendar can be tossed). Homework gets completed on time, put in the folder to be turned in, and actually makes it into the teacher's hands.
So, for your first grader:
A loose leaf notebook, lined paper (see the links above), math paper (see the links)
A folder for things that you need to see: grades, permission slips, activity fliers.
A folder for homework.
Color code the folders, maybe red for things that need action and green for homework. Let him organize his backpack, so he sees how it makes it easier for him.
Art work can be scanned (or photographed) and only a few pieces saved each year for mementos. You can get an artist's portfolio for larger items.
Insisting that bound notebooks are the only way that will work will do nothing to help the frustration you are feeling.
I think this is the best possible plan. If you start now, at the beginning of his school career, your son will internalize the system, just as you did with your workbooks. In a way, it's better, because the folder won't be restricted to just what is in a pre-printed workbook. You can include copies of tests or other work samples that he does. You could even have folders just for summer to keep in the habit. As he grows, he will have the basis for a life of reflection and a habit of journal writing. That sounds like something I wish I had done!
When you say "older", do you mean middle-school, pr perhaps high-school?
It ends in high school.
One thing that you have to understand is that it is very cumbersome for a teacher to collect 25 workbooks, take them home, grade the papers and then bring the workbooks back to school. I think that you are just going to have to deal with it.
Let me ask this: has the "flying sheets" system always been used in the US? If not, when was it introduced?
I can only speak from personal experience growing up, which is not American experience. At the beginning of the school year, first day of school, we entered the classroom excited as Heck to receive the new textbooks for the year. New in content, not necessarily in form - as we often inherited them from the previous generation. Language Arts, Math, History in early elementary school, later also other subjects such as Biology, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, etc - never a Jambalaya of topics lumped in as Science (Science of what?).
The textbooks were waiting for us on the desk, on the first day of school (yes, provided by the state for free). Sometimes we would even get them brand new from the print, and that new textbook smell was so exciting only now I realize what a pathetic geek I was. I couldn't wait to browse through them and see what we will learn by the end of the year!! ...or . Thank goodness I wasn't alone.
The things to write on throughout the year (notebooks) were the responsibility of parents. There was a list of stationery parents were responsible for buying by the time the school year started, including lined notebooks for writing and checkered for math. That was law. You COULD NOT do math on any other type of paper. All very, very affordable for everyone.
Children were given a class schedule in the beginning of the semester and they were expected to pack the appropriate textbook/notebook combination for every subject accordingly, the night before.
The problem of children not keeping the notebooks for too long, losing them or whatever, was never heard of as a "general issue". Some children probably did it but they had to pay the price. It was simply expected you would be responsible for your books and take care of them - yes, starting 1st grade.
K did not exist. Most children handled their duties just fine.
I am not sure what happened if you did happen to lose a notebook, but I do remember my mother had me re-write an entire notebook of about 50 pages in 1 st grade, because the one I had was disorganized and with bad handwriting. So had to do it all over again.
If you lost a textbook, your parent could easily replace it for not much money (available at regular bookstores any time).
Then again, those publishing companies making our textbooks were state owned. The companies that would provide curriculum for children here today would expect to make a killing in the market, I suppose...which is probably the reason states cannot afford to buy textbooks for all the children it needs to educate, which is ALL.
Some private guys making a killing (aka interests of "business") comes before the interests of public education. This is the only way I can explain it.
This is why I am curious whether America has always had the "flying sheet" system or was it introduced at some point along the way....
I must admit, I did not read much on the history of education in America or worldwide.
The flying sheets are a result of copiers in schools and a movement away from textbooks. It used to be much harder for teachers to create tests and worksheets because they had to be run off a mimeograph machine. A stencil first had to be created before copies were made. Copiers became common in schools in the 1980s.
I question your comment about textbook companies being state owned. What has happened is a consolidation of the textbook industry with many of the smaller publishers being bought out by the major players like Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin.
Quote:
Originally Posted by suzy_q2010
It's been a long time, but I remember organizing my school papers with a three ring binder, a set of tab dividers (one for each subject), and a hole punch.
I got a new binder (one!) each year and notebook paper. I took notes on the notebook paper and punched holes in any handouts and added them to the notebook.
I hated spiral notebooks. If you had to hand anything in, the torn edge was messy.
My kids used the folders with the pouches. I still think the loose leaf binders were better.
Get the kids the supplies and make them responsible for corraling the mess.
I had never heard of the math paper you are describing. Maybe this will help (has math and handwriting templates):
I remeber doing the same thing except my mother bought notebook paper that was prepunched for the loose leaf notebook. It seemed to make more sense than the folders that kids now use.
I remember doing the same thing except my mother bought notebook paper that was prepunched for the loose leaf notebook. It seemed to make more sense than the folders that kids now use.
Yeah, I used notebook paper, too. The hole punch was for things like tests (mimeographed!) that did not already have holes.
Over dramatic much? We make a pile of school work and fliers, etc that come home. When I get the chance, once/week or so, I go through the pile and recycle almost all of it. One of my kids loves art, and I'm not going to squash his creativity by making him keep it all in a bound note book. Some of it I display, some of it I recycle. Go to Target. See what they have. I'm sure there are many options.
I actually have a somewhat different complaint - the number of things we are expected to print out at home. Is this normal everywhere now? We have to print registration materials, homework sheets, all kinds of things that used to come home on school paper, now use up my paper and ink.
Over dramatic much? We make a pile of school work and fliers, etc that come home. When I get the chance, once/week or so, I go through the pile and recycle almost all of it. One of my kids loves art, and I'm not going to squash his creativity by making him keep it all in a bound note book. Some of it I display, some of it I recycle. Go to Target. See what they have. I'm sure there are many options.
I actually have a somewhat different complaint - the number of things we are expected to print out at home. Is this normal everywhere now? We have to print registration materials, homework sheets, all kinds of things that used to come home on school paper, now use up my paper and ink.
Nope. They'd be SOL with us. Half the time our printer prints everything horribly, even with a new cartridge and I would not be able to go buy a printer just for this purpose. I already get annoyed with the assumption that EVERY kid has their own computer at home with internet! Yes, we have that (obviously) but there have been times in the past when we did not.
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