The Binder and The Compass

I wrote previously about My Brain (what I call my binder). I've come to realize that I am not utilizing this Recipe Ingredient for Success (see Leadership Education by Oliver and Rachel DeMille) properly for my kids. Yes, I need my own binder to organize our homeschool and to complete my Scholar Phase, but my children also need their own Binder. I had binders for them, but they were not truly learning to record their own learning and organize their own education.

Today we each organized our own binders, cleaning and archiving the previous year's work. Each person completed a Compass (see Leadership Education by Oliver and Rachel DeMille, Ingredient #16 - The Binder) in the following key areas:

1. My Strengths
2. Top 5 Personal Classics (including their Central Classic)
3. Areas I Need to Strengthen
4. Skills I Want to Learn
5. Books I Want to Read
6. What is my "Mission"?

Formerly I called this list "What I Want to Learn or Do", but I realized this was falling very short of what each person needs. It did not list strengths, it did not include the classics, and most of all - it did not lead them to their mission. I was not inspiring them to keep records since I was doing so much of that work for them. Now they will be bringing this Binder with them to FEC (Family Executive Council) meetings each week to "Return and Report" on what they are doing.

We will revisit and rewrite our Compass every 6 months. I previously used the Educational Self-Assessment and MAP, but I feel for my kids we'll start out with the Compass as organized above. This was a lot for them to think about and took about an hour. For now, it is enough. Later maybe they will be ready for the more detailed items I am using.