Last year, one of our biggest challenges in homeschooling was focus. Little Britches had a hard time staying focused to the lessons because they seemed endless. He'd finish one to find there was another one to begin. He would always say "How much longer???!" I started writing the list of everything we were doing on the board, but this wasn't an ideal solution. He needed to have an element of control to make it work. When I learned about the
My Student Logbook by a small family run company called
My Student Logbook (yes, the same name), based out of Oregon, I wondered if this would assist in granting him more control over what needed to be done every day--as well as keeping me from having to nag him to stay on task.
Product Details
My Student Logbook is a small family run Oregon based company, that decided to make daily homeschool management more simple and organized. The result was
My Student Logbook, a system that is easy to set up that offers clear communication between teacher and student and accountability for the assignments given. These logbooks are designed so that a years worth of assignments can be logged all in one place for each child. This also helps the teachers use the logbooks to create transcripts! There is an excellent
product guide video for you to get an idea on how it works!
My Student Logbooks are 8 1/2" x 11", spiral bound, about 1/2" thick and have clear plastic covers. The core of the book is the 53 weekly pages which can be ordered in three styles:
* Predated August 1 – July 31, 7 days a week labeled Monday-Sunday
* Predated January 1 – December 31, 7 days a week labeled Monday-Sunday or
* Undated 7 column pages with blank heading space you can customize to your needs!
Each logbook also comes with 6 checklist pages for recording assignments. Don't worry if these aren't enough because the copyright allows you to photocopy more for your use!
My Student Logbooks are available in nine different covers so you are sure to find one perfect for your child. These books retail for $15.00. My Student Logbook is also available as an instant PDF download if that is more your style. These range from $10 to $20 based on your need of a single or family use license. These logbooks are ideal for 2nd grade and up.
For my review, I chose My Student Logbook Undated with a Dinosaur cover.
How Did We Use the Product?
One of the first things I did was watch
this video which explains how this book can best be used. It's so self-explanatory and looked easy. Next, I flipped through it to see what all was included in the logbook and there is more than just the logbook portion. There were some great pages to fill out with your kids like these...
I love these as being part of this book since I plan on using this book over the course of one year. I can save this to keep tabs on all that we completed for the year like a record book!
Once I flipped through all of the pages to see what was there, I jumped right into setting up the logbook. I started by cutting off the assignment page as directed and then taping it to the back of the first page. And then *poof* it was done and ready to use.
Here are some pics to show you how easy it really is...
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| The first page to cut... |
The sheets has step 1, step 2 and step 3...so easy to follow and use!
It really was as easy as it looked and I quickly had it ready to start recording information in. Once you have the assignment page attached, you can make any notes that you want, and date your pages (if you choose undated books).
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| There is always a section to make any notes about the assignments for the week. This hides under the checklist. |
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| How it looks once the page is taped on and folder over. Time to start writing! |
Once this was all attached, I pulled out my own planner and recorded all the things that were going to be done the first week. I love that you can just reuse this list until it's no longer valid--which might be a week, a month or even a year!
Here is the first week. I chose the undated logbook to maximize it's useage and to start it when I wanted to do--which happened to be in August. Here I listed out what needed to be done during the week, noted if there was time associated with it--or how much needed to be done. Then I labelled the week and added the dates. Now it's as simple as Little Britches checking off each day.
Little Britches really liked this concept and keeps his logbook near his area at all times to mark off and keep track of what is done and what is left.
When we didn't have to do a few things on the list anymore, I simply crossed them off and added anything new...I didn't see the sense of getting a new one yet.
If I cross something off, I carry that out across the page to keep the boxes easy to match up. You can see that I dated this one differently. You can really do whatever you want which is why I love it.
Once we started up a full week, our list grew longer, but the concept stayed the same...
I always go through and cross out the days that we aren't going to do something--if it's a 2 day a week or 3 day a week subject. If I decide we aren't going to do it, I put my initial so remind myself that he didn't skip it without my permission.
What are Our Thoughts on the Product?
Little Britches
"I love it. I can keep track of your stuff. It helps me from getting off task, and keeps me on track so I'm not dilly-dillying." (dilly dallying! LOL!)
Me
#1 It is incredibly easy to use and you can just open and go!
#2 It is spiral bound so it folds over and stays open to where you need it to.
#3 If you run out of assignment pages, the copyright allows you to make more.
#4 The undated version means you can start and end with as little page waste as possible.
#5 There is a "notes" portion where you can list details UNDER the main assignment list.
#6 This product fosters independence in my son to stay on task so HE can check off his completed assignments himself.
#7 Plenty of room for even the most vigorous of curricula
#8 Could be adapted for chores and/homework easily
#9 He loves it. What more do I need to say?
Would I Recommend this Product?
Yes yes yes! This product has completely changed my son's attitude about what he does every day because he can see it right in front of him. It eliminates the feeling of mommy just giving him endless things to do because he can visually keep track of how much is left to do each day. Because he has it in front of him, he can also see how much will be required of him each day/week. He enjoys telling me "I only have two more things to do before we are done!"
If you have a child who is like my son about their schoolwork, I recommend considering purchasing this product. Who knew that something as simple as allowing him to SEE his work for the day would make such a difference!
I would also recommend this product for those of you with multiple students because you can tailor each one specifically for what your child needs to complete. This also means that if you have children who are working mostly independently, you can quickly see that they have (or have not) done all their work for the day/week and can pinpoint things to be completed.
Don't homeschool? Use this product for chores and/or homework! It will work just as well for that!
Will I be purchasing any more of the My Student Logbook when this one is complete? Absolutely! It is definitely worth every penny of the $15 to not battle my son anymore!
Want to Learn more?
We reviewed the My Student Logbook: Undated Dinosaurs ($15.00) from My Student Logbook.
You know what my family thinks about My Student Logbook, but there were many other reviewers of this product!
To learn more about My Student Logbook make sure you check them out on these Social Media sites:
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/MyStudentLogbook
You Tube -- http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMxzpy91vov8a8nDpyp2ihQ
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thank you for checking out my review of this product. I really do 100% endorse it because it works so well. It works great in conjunction with my own planners.
I hope you have an excellent week. I am hoping to be able to share a recipe later this week, so make sure you stop back by!
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