Organizing Your CC Year - for Newbies

If you've been doing Classical Conversations for a while and have your own system that is working for you, don't waste your time reading this post. Really. Go check out Yvana, Suzanne, or Beth, or take a look at the new Trivium Tuesday posts. It's okay; I don't mind. :)

However, if you're new to CC and don't really know how to begin organizing everything, I'd like to share with you a system that is working for me. Use it, change it, or point and laugh at it, but maybe it will be helpful to another family. :)

Let me preface all this by saying that a year ago, when I was brand new and struggling to wrap my head around what I had gotten myself into, I spent hours (literally!) on Brandy's awesome site, Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood. Most of my organizational ideas come straight from her (see her post here). So, thank you so much, Brandy!

Okay, first things first. Since you're still reading, I'm assuming you're new to CC. By now, you should probably have your Foundations Guide - 4th Edition. Since this will be loved and used for many years to come, you might want to protect this big boy. Get a binder and dividers. Use scissors and cut the comb binding to free the pages, then put them in page protectors. Once you've done that, you can breathe a little sigh of relief; spilled coffee or glitter glue close to your FG will no longer give you a heart attack.

I LOVE the Better Binders from Staples. They use rubber to reinforce the spine, so they're very long-lasting. A 1 1/2 inch Better Binder is the perfect size for the FG. I also love the Avery Big Tab Pocket Dividers. The divider tabs stick out past the page protectors! Thanks, Tammi, for introducing me to those this year - completely awesome! (And by the way, you probably don't know my friend Tammi, but she so could have her own blog! I get so many great ideas from her, and her Classical Notebook is insanely awesome!)

And here's my little command center in the kitchen of essential binders and resources.

Okay, so now that you've got your FG squared away, my next recommendation is to start a Cycle 2 box:

I bought this box from Staples, too (of course); I think it's around $16 (but I bought this one on sale for $6! Look for the sales!)

I have a hanging file folder for every week of CC. When I see something on C3 (CC Connected, on the CC website), Pinterest, or anywhere else that I think will work for that week, I print it off and file it. Done. I also file any small books that I'd like to read that week. Just to show you an example, here's what's in my Week 2 file:

I have my pin map pins ready to go from Sola Gratia Mom's Enrichment Teaching Plans, Science Snippets and History Highlights from C3, Diet Diner (file folder game about Herbivores, Carnivores, and Omnivores), skip counting mazes from Confessions of a Homeschooler (for Mary's Classical Notebook), History sentence copy work from C3, Illustrate the History Sentence worksheet from C3, tri-fold board pages from C3, and a map coloring book I picked up at a scratch-and-dent store. Basically, anything having to do with Week 2 goes in the folder.

So, the night before Week 2 starts, I get the folder and sort the papers/books into this:

All the History stuff goes in the History slot, Science in the Science slot, etc. Then I switch out all my tri-fold board pages. The folder will be empty after this, and everything will be out and ready for the week. Then, whatever I don't get to that week goes back into the folder before Week 3 starts, including my tri-fold board pages. I keep everything for the next time Cycle 2 rolls around. And here's the tri-fold board:

 It holds a page of memory work for each subject, as well as the timeline cards for the week. I get all of these from C3. The idea for the board also came from Brandy at Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood.

So, if you're new to CC, hopefully some of these things will give you ideas of how you can organize and plan for your upcoming school year, because it's going to be GREAT! With God's help, you CAN do this! You just need to get into a groove and find out what works for your family. My way is not the only way to do it; this is just what works for us. 

Do you have any questions about anything? Something maybe I can help you with, friend? I'm no expert, but I'd love to give it a shot! Or, if you do things a different way, please share what's working with your family. I'd love to hear your ideas!

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