2nd January, 2008
For Lori
….who is deprived of a See’s Candy Shoppe in her state
and wishes she lived near one,
because Whitman’s just doesn’t cut it.
BTW, Lori, this is the bottom row in the 5 pounder…they have a top row too.
You probably gained a pound just by looking at these, so go drink 32oz of water and jump on the dreadmill for an hour.
Good girl.
Posted at 11:18 am | Comments (5)
2nd January, 2008
How I organize our library books
We love the library! Without it, I don’t know how I would homeschool. Of course, technically speaking, I could still do it, but it would be bare bones (and checkbooks too, what with needing to purchase all the books instead). YAY for the library!
Anyway, my love of the library aside, I thought I’d share a few things that have helped me with keeping up with the scads of books we borrow on a weekly basis.
I do all of my book requesting, renewing and keeping up with due dates all online. I don’t know if there are library systems out there that aren’t online yet, but I’m sure there are bound to be a few, and if you’re library is one of them, you should move. Or picket your library every day, chanting “JOIN THE 21ST CENTURY!!! SET UP AN ONLINE COMMUNITY!!!” Of course, just asking your librarian might work too.
We have 4 library accounts, and each Friday morning I log into each one. I renew all the books due on that day for another week (if needed) or have the children gather the books that need to be returned. I make sure nothing else is due before the next Friday. On the off chance any are, I renew or return them. The goal is to make sure NOTHING is due until that next Friday.
Once that’s all done, I go to my Outlook and record that books are due next Friday. It’s a formality, but there are still times I forget, especially if it falls on a holiday or we have other plans etc. If you have Outlook and haven’t used the Calendar feature yet, you should consider it! It’s so simple and quick, and what I like about it is that when you create an “event”, you can choose if you want it to remind you of it and when – from hours to days or weeks ahead of time. It has been a lifesaver for me! I’ve used stickies and dayplanners and home management binders (still use one), but this has been what’s worked best for me. I check my emails daily, and if I’ve preset a “reminder” feature for that day, a window pops up to let me know it when I open my email folder. Before I started using it to remind me of when library books are due, I’d frequently forget. As a side note, thankfully our librarians know us well and have been very kind to waive overdue fees for us, though I don’t ask or expect them to. Did I mention already how much I love the library? ;)
As far as storage of library books go, we keep them in several places around the house, each by “category”. For instance, right now we have a slew of Christmas books checked out, so I have those in a book by the Christmas tree. My girls love to curl up in a nearby chair or couch and thumb through or read them.
For fun/miscellaneous books, I put those in a basket in the family room.
For library books that are related to their school studies (for instance, the Egyptians etc.), they go in a basket in the school room and are looked at with supervision at specific times.
For books I want to keep aside to read aloud to them, I put those in a basket by my desk or in their school book shelf.
The baskets are great because they look nice, are easy to use and keep the books contained.
Finally, I try to keep running “lists” on what library books we’ve particularly liked or found helpful, for school subjects, literature, leisure and holiday. I save them to Word docs, though I have been more lax with it lately as I’ve found several great resources online with great book lists by grade, subject or reading level.
Anyhow, though basic and probably very common, this “system” works wonderfully for us! Hope it helps someone else. :)
Check out Rocks in My Dryer for more great tips and ideas for your home!
Posted at 7:56 am | Comments (5)
