My “invaluable list” was incomplete at 5, so #6 is a bonus – a binder!
I just couldn’t stop my 5 most invaluable items list without adding a binder as a bonus, because it changed not only the tidiness of our home, but also replaced my stapler and paper punch for larger volumes of paperwork.
I have never used a ‘box’ curriculum, something that arrives in the mail that you open and dish out to the children. I have always created my own. The one thing that changed when we moved 3 years ago, was that I bought a math curriculum. Until then, I had always created a list of what we wanted the children to learn that year and printed off worksheets from online. With paper organization not my strong point at that time, you may have thought my flooring was made of paper with the volume of my children’s math strewn across the floor.
When we moved from our 4,000 sq foot house to a 32 ft long camper I was lent a comb binder. The simplicity of this uncomplicated tool coupled with an innate desire to have things in order, has led to bound workbooks for very little money, and tidiness that is more easily achievable. The combining of the binder and the color printer, as well as Notebooking pages on occasion, has meant that the children have one book to find rather than loose pages to remember to punch holes in and file in a notebook. It has removed the headache from me while also helping them keep their own things in a tidy fashion.
There are comb binders and coil binders. Both work. I like the comb ones because I can easily open them and insert or remove extra pages as necessary.
The model number I have is …
However find something that works for you as there are many different styles on the market in various price ranges. Do make sure to consider the consumable cost of the combs, as that can vary widely.
