A Planner/Portfolio can be used for students between 8-12 as a tool for organizing time, setting goals, and recording achievements. Parents and students may use the planner during weekly mentor meetings as they plan learning activities for the week.  It is a great tool for evaluating progress and recording achievements.  The information collected in this binder will be invaluable when students are preparing resumes and applying for post high school education. The student-created textbooks children are preparing for history and science will make a nice addition to the student portfolio.

​Planner Supplies:   One 3 Ring Binder,  Divider tabs (three sets of 5 tabs), Printed copies of the forms.
Student-created textbook supplies:  Eleven  1"  3 ring binders with blank white paper and lined white paper. (Students may continue to use notebooks already created during their Primary years if available.)   Students may use color pencils, map templates, computer-generated reports and graphics, word-processing, and other media to create their literature, science and history textbooks. 
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Sample Planner:  forms may be printed in compact (5/12 x 8 1/2")  or full page size 

Portfolio/Planner Organization
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Section 1:  5 Divider Tabs
Tab 1:  Learning Goals:   Click and print the forms listed to the right to put in this section. These forms may be used for goal setting and calendaring:
  1. Quarterly Goals:  Identify learning experiences for young children to participate in during the next three months.  Include goals in each of the areas of heart, mind, might and strength.  Remember that the joy of participation is the key at this age.  ​
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Tab 2:  Calendars.  
  1. 3 Month Calendar:  This provides a quick glance of weekly activities and other events such as field trips, family activities, neighborhood get-to-togethers, etc.  
  2. Weekly Compass:  At the beginning of the week, the weekly compass may be used to plan more detail and set learning goals for the week.  This form may be used as a guide for the weekly mentor meeting. If you use a binder that allows inserts on the binder cover, you may choose to slip the Weekly Compass in the binder cover for easy visibility​​

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Tab 3:  Life Skills:  This section includes a list of age-appropriate life skills children and youth can work on.  A recognition pin may be earned each year when children complete the list of items  
Tab 4: Experiences and Activities;  Reading and Service Logs    This section is used to maintain a list of books read, service experiences, leadership opportunities.  It is also used to record learning experiences such as field trips, camps, concerts, etc.  Pictures are  a great way to enhance this section of the portfolio and offer a visual summary of children's growth and learning. ​  Click on the buttons to the right to print a simple form to record these experiences.

If your family is participating in the Well-Educated Heart program from Libraries of Hope, you may use this section to track your stories from year to year as your rotate through the Story Resource Guide.  Click here to print reading logs for the Well-Educated Heart program.

You may consider printing the different forms in this section on different colors of paper to keep this section easier to manage.                     
Tab 5:  Awards/Recognition.  This section is to record any awards or recognition that children may receive.  The Log file to the right is to list the awards.  Achievement certificates may also be presented at recognition evenings every three months.  Parents may design these on 8 1/2" x 11" or 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" paper to fit easily into the binder.   
Section 2:  5 Divider Tabs  (Optional)
Picture
Create a tab for each subject:  Language Arts, Math, History, Science.  Add additional tabs as desired. Learning benchmark lists, reading lists, and other resources may be filed in each section. 

Science Benchmarks may be placed at the front of student-created textbooks instead of the portfolio.  Each textbook that the student creates becomes a wonderful addition to the complete portfolio.