At first, I was a little confused as to how to set up the Logbook. I knew that it was a basically a checklist, and I knew that the premise was simple, but I also knew that there was a little cutting and folding involved. Cutting and folding scare me (as most people well know). All I can tell you is that it is brilliantly simple and brilliantly flexible. If I can do it, anyone can do it. The best way to understand how to use the Logbook is to watch this video. Even if you figure that it's easy (and it is), watch it anyway.
Basically, you create your checklist, fold it over onto the date page (you can choose a dated or undated planner), and let your child check off his tasks (school, chores, both, or whatever you choose) as he completes them. If your child is task-completion oriented like mine is, it's perfect. The planner also includes extra sheets in the back for listing prayers and goals, memorized Bible verses, field trips, and more. It really is a comprehensive student planner. It's just done a little differently than most other planners you may have seen before!
The planner costs $15.00 for the printed version, which is comb bound, or $10-$20 as a PDF download (depending on whether you are purchasing a single use or family license). You can choose dated or undated versions (I prefer undated). If you choose the printed version, you can select from nine different cover designs.
If I decide to repurchase My Student Logbook, I will definitely choose the family license download. Since I have a great binding machine, I can just design a cover and print one for each of my kids, bind it, and give them each their own. That $20 price tag is a wonderful bargain. Already Michael and Mary-Catherine (9) really want a Logbook just like Nicky's.
Nicholas and My Student Logbook
Nicholas has always loved it when I have made lists for him. He is legendary for saying, "I didn't know," and "I forgot," and "You never told me." Lists fix all of those problems. I can go straight to the source and point to where I wrote down exactly what he was supposed to do...and that's fine with him! He likes being able to see in print what he is supposed to do at any given time. In the past, my primary failing with a list has been my seeming inability to make a new one for him each day. Even if it is only printing up a new copy of the same list, I fail to do it. Even if it's printing up a list and laminating it so he can check off the same things each day, we have failed because he has lost the list.
My Student Logbook has found a way around all of Nicky's and my foibles. It allows for the use of a repeating list without making me rewrite the list each week. It won't let Nicky lose it because it is bound and not a single sheet of paper. It has a pretty design on the front (Nicky loves patriotic things!), so he loves keeping it with his school stuff and he values it enough not to leave it lying around to get lost. He has always been a fan of the list, so he enjoys seeing what he needs to do and checking it off. Win, win, win, win!
I use the list for three different types of things: personal hygiene (I can't for the life of me understand how an 11 year-old can't remember to brush his teeth), chores, and school subjects). Because we don't do the same subjects every day, on days when we don't do, for instance, science, Nicky puts a dash, rather than a check. That way, there is no empty box to rattle his OCD brain. This system has been working so well. Both Nicky and I have really enjoyed it, and unlike all other systems I have used with him, I have no doubt that we will be sticking with this one. Like I said before, it is genius in its simplicity. For an ADHD kid with OCD, it is just what the doctor (or the Mama) ordered!
Many other different types of kids of all ages have been using My Student Logbook, so be sure to click the banner below to read about their experiences!
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