I can hardly believe it, but it’s already back-to-school season. Again. I am seriously loving all the school supply abundance in the retail setting. Always inspiring to me.
I know many of you are familiar with the in-the-classroom project I’ve been doing for my kids’ classes over the past few years. You know … the Personal Yearbooks.
I’m not going to repeat and reiterate everything in this blog post. I just wanted to bring this up – as a reminder to those of you who have considered doing this. And also, I want to be sure that all my new readers, particularly parents & teachers of school-age kiddos, know about this. Because it’s a way cool way to help young students create their own month-by-month documentation of a year in school.
I invite you to check out my Free Stuff page and learn all about it. (It’s a free downloadable PDF.) Why we do it, how we do it, supplies needed, plenty of tips, and all the ideas you need to get started. Share this with your fellow parents, teachers, friends with school-age children … anyone you think might be interested.
If you’re not able to take on the project yourself (perhaps you work full-time outside the home), just bring it up with your child’s teacher and you guys could always try to find a parent volunteer in the classroom. Most parents would be happy to do what they can to make this happen. It really is a treasured keepsake for the kids, and a very simple format.
Any of you who have done this, feel free to leave a comment with your own tips + ideas.
……….
I am getting a lot of questions about our pending school and child related scrapbooking products. This is a completely separate thing from this in-the-classroom Personal Yearbook project that the kids do. Yes, we are working on very cool, very solution-based products that will help you tackle all that childhood and school STUFF that accumulates with your kids … and even the stuff that you have from your own past.
We anticipate an early 2012 release date for these items. Because many of you are anxious to figure out what to do with all the pictures and papers and memorabilia that pile up – especially with a new school year starting – I will be addressing this topic in the coming weeks. We’ll talk organization and preparation. Can’t wait!
love what you do always becky
just wondering if (before you get too far into printing) if you can include an insert for us other countries of schooling….we dont use grades we do years…..is it going to be including other schooling names or just grade 1, grade 2…etc
I love what kerri bradford did with her silhouette cutting files….did one for US and another set for other countries…http://kerribradford.blogspot.com/2011/06/school-years-for-my-ukire-friends.html
thanks for letting us share what works for us….love that your a designer who makes the best stuff for us customers
I have so much stuff in bags waiting to be done. I am behind, but will catch up eventually.
Your reminder couldn’t be more timely! Thanks so much for sharing and providing the FREE download. I’m a teacher and school starts Thursday, so this couldn’t have come at a better time. I am thinking about implementing this project with my 5th grade class.
Hi Haley,
Are you planning on changing things a little for use with older kids? I have a 4th and 6th grader and would love to do this but I’m not sure they would be into the drawing parts of it. If any one has ideas I think a lot a people would be interested. Thanks.
Hi Haley,
Maybe this could be an idea to use for the older kids. I was thinking about what some other ladies have said about the older kids not wanting to draw anymore. Maybe as a teacher and you are doing it let the children take their own picture for that page then it is from their view of their favourite thing at that time and for the parents, ask the teacher if your child could take a few pics of the activity they want on their page. Then the children could document their own thoughts about the picture they took and maybe how it made them feel. Etc…..
I have a fourth grader this year, and am wondering what others have done for older students, or if they have kept the format the same. I also have a kindergarten student, and will be doing this with his class. Thanks for the great ideas!
I am so glad you are working on this. I got the school years project and it’s so filled with “stuff” that I have little room for actual scrapbooking. I’ve heard you say you scan your kids stuff, but I like the oversized colored photos and the feel of the crayon wax. I hate to lose that realness by scanning.
Thank you for posting this – I am booking marking it pronto!!! As a new homeschooling mom, this is going to be a fabulous project to work on. I had been wondering about school pics and yearbooks as we embark on this fabulous adventure and this just filled the gap in so many ways and it will be even better because it’s going to be all about my kids!!! Fabulous. TY TY TY!!
My daughter started first grade this year and I really, really wanted to do the personal yearbooks this year with her class. However, I work full-time, so I didn’t want to get myself over-committed and end up not being able to find the time do it right. I talked with my daughter’s teacher about it and she suggested that instead of creating one for each child in the class, I will create a few yearbooks that include pictures of all of the kids and then donate them to the school auction to raise money for the school. So, I am going to take the personal yearbook idea and kind of revamp it a little bit to fit my life! I hope it works out!!!
My daughter is starting Kindergarten next year and I am excited to ask her teacher if I can help take on this project for her class. We’ll see if she is interested. Thanks for making it so easy for anyone to start!
I am wondering what you do when you go once a month to take the pics/help the kids with their pages and a child is missing that day. Do they just not get a pic for that month? Is there a catch up time they can finish their page? My husband is a 3rd grade teacher and he probably has at least one student or more missing on any given day.
I considered doing this last year when my daughter started Kindergarten. It seemed a bit overwhelming when added to my existing scrap projects (all of her preschool stuff, her baby album, my honeymoon, several trips to Europe and Mexico) and with a new baby sister, and going back to work after maternit leave, so I decided not to tackle it. In some ways, I regret not having it, and still think it is such a great idea. Depending on who my daughter gets as a 1st grade teacher, I might consider approaching her with the idea and see if any other parents might want to help take it on. Maybe with 2 or 3 parents working on it, we could get it done. It is such a great idea.
Thank you, Becky. I had considered this project for my daughter who is in 6th grade this year but felt that it might be too much with other projects and responsibilities(PTA treasurer, Wolf den leader, you know the normal stuff). However, after really looking at it, it won’t be so bad. Once again you have created a completely doable project and given us all the tools we need. So I am approaching the teacher today so we can get parents permission at SEPs this week. This is my 3rd child with this teacher so I really want to do this. You are amazing and thank you for sharing this with your readers.
I am so glad you posting this again and everyone is leaving tips. I want to do this for my son’s 3rd grade class this year and I think the teacher is on board with me doing it as well. I need to figure out all the details and school starts next Wednesday so I am super excited to read everyone’s tips and ideas. THANK YOU Becky for the free download!!
I did this with my daughter’s first-grade class last year and they LOVED it! I have a first-grade teacher who requested I do it for her class this year even though my daughter will have moved on to second grade. In my case, I worked with the kids individually in the hallway on their projects (at the teacher’s request) and that was very time consuming, so I am hoping to streamline it into the classroom this year.
I recommend cutting and printing as much as far ahead as you can. I got behind last year. You will not believe how fast each month will come around. As far as when a kid was absent, I only had this problem once because for most events, I could go back to shoot the absent child’s photo another day. Most things were not time-specific, so I could capture the student reading another day, so to speak. I ended up doing two pages for April because one of the students missed the field trip the teacher and I decided to do for that month’s page. And another child missed Field Day, which was our backup plan. It wasn’t that hard to do an extra page by then.
I am curious about the older kids with this project. I don’t know how many years the coloring will work. I know it wouldn’t have with my sixth-grader last year.
Honestly, I’m disappointed to see that the release of the school/childhood stuff is being pushed back again. Once I get, twice I start to lose faith it will ever come out. I think I’m going to start investigating other options.
Yay Becky,
I’m excited to see the new school project stuff coming out in 2012. My son starts kindergarten late January next year over here in Australia so I will keep everything and document all I can until it comes out. I’m also a teacher but don’t go back to work until 2014 but I will definately be doing the in class project in my class. I love it.
And I was thinking about what some other ladies have said about the older kids not wanting to draw anymore. Maybe as a teacher and you are doing it let the children take their own picture for that page then it is from their view of their favourite thing at that time and for the parents, ask the teacher if your child could take a few pics of the activity they want on their page. Then the children could document their own thoughts about the picture they took and maybe how it made them feel. Etc…..
Thanks again Becky for being so inspirational.
Becky,
Although I do not write you often, I do faithfully check your blog and find much inspiration from your view/way of doing things. I am a Kindergarten teacher with three children of my own (around the same ages as your children). As a Kinder teacher, I have been making memory books for my students for the past 12 years. Even though it takes a great deal of personal time, I continue to do this because I too feel it is an important activity. As my own kids are going into second and third grades, I realize that many of the primary and upper grade teachers don’t do any sort of memory keeping. I think they see it as a “cute kindergarten” thing. This year I am returning to a job share, which means I will work every other week (I need to be mom and wife more!). I have decided to implement your idea of memory keeping in my children’s classrooms, but I am also going to offer this to my staff as an idea that they can do as well. I am sure with a bit of guidance, we can organize some parents that can begin this year and continue this project during their children’s time at our school.
I thank you so much for all that you give to many of us, which I know…takes away from your family!
-Michele
I love this idea!! Thanks for sharing it Becky! I put my own little spin on it and I think it turned out great! The kids LOVED it! Go here and take a peek:
http://cathyb1991.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/07/time-capsule-breck-in-2nd-grade-2010.html
This is a wonderful project! I am so happy to find it as we home school our kids ( this is our second year) and last year, I was left a little sad at the end of the year, and our kids had no yearbook. This is JUST what I needed! Thanks so much!
I started this with my daughter’s kindergarten class this week. I’m thrilled with how easy it is and how little time it really takes to do. The kindergarten teacher loved it and is going to do it with her afternoon class as well so it’s clearly a hit!
One thing that was challenging was explaining to the children where to write/glue/draw the various pieces. I ended up with kids who put their picture on the wrong page etc. because they can’t read and are just learning to write in many cases. The solution I’ve come up with is to mark each place so I can easily describe it. For example, I put a red dot where the picture should be glued so now I can just say “glue your picture on the red dot”, then there is a purple star where they can write the sentence about the picture…etc etc. Thought I’d share in case this helps somebody else doing it with younger children.
Here’s my son’s 2nd grade personal yearbook. I really had a great experience doing this project with his class last year. I got to see how he interacted in the classroom and got to know his classmates and his teacher. I highly recommend it if you have the time.
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=7905454013/a=97514885_97514885/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
And here is my daughter’s kindergarten personal yearbook from last year.
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=7905453013/a=97514885_97514885/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
[...] Personal Yearbooks [...]
Last year for my sons 1st grade class I did a very custom – more detailed version of Becky’s with the entire class of 23 students. I have learned ALOT in doing it. It came out amazing and I’m glad I did it (and so do all the mothers who said they cried over coffee reading it and how they will always keep it) but I won’t do it that way again. (A little background- I am a professional photographer and used to be a graphic designer and used to own a large SB Weekend Getaway Retreat.)
Some Lessons learned:
1. 23 students x 10 months = 300 hours of printing, designing, taking photos, assembling, class time etc. It is amazing how the “simpliest” page turns out to 30 hours of work.
1. KISS: yep the old saying – Keep It Simple Stupid. Well I didn’t head that advice and it was a huge time snatcher.
2. I still won’t use Becky’s download template because I like things more personalized but I will come up with something similar that can be used for every age and can use in my daughters Kindergarten class next as well as 2nd , 3rd 4th etc. Once I get it done maybe Becky will post my downloadable files for you to have.
3. Design Entire SB at the beginning of the year. The months come REAL quick.
4. Ask (more like demand) that the school make the copies for you. With a class of 23 – I had over 550 copies to make on my own printer. They won’t be on nice cardstock and in color but they will still have the memories.
5. Get a parent or 2 to help you with the project. There is alot of printing, copying, class time, putting the pages into their books etc. I was new at the (private) school so I didn’t know anyone to ask to help me but I will now. At the parent/teacher night – 3rd day into school- I am going to put it to a vote to see if it is important to them. THat way – if it is- they will help. If it isn’t then I won’t do it. It’s better to put it to a vote.
6. Design the pages where the teacher can do it with the class on her own if she has too. Personally- my FAVORITE part of doing the SB was getting to go into my sons class and spending the 45 minutes to do the 2-page spread with them. But I also know the way I did it was way too time consuming. Cute? Oh yes. But not doable again for me.
7. At the end of the year I told my husband that if I decided to do that project again to hold me down and remind me that I said “I’ll never do that again.” Well now it’s back to school starting next week and I feel the itch again. I am going to do the SB but on a much smaller- simpler way.
Good luck!
Madison
Madison here again… forgot to answer some of the other girls questions up above.
Re: Older kids with Becky’s template:
1. Your SB does not have to be a 2 page spread. It can be one sided and the other side can insert some school work or other paperwork.
Re: Kids that are Absent when taking pictures: Boy did I go thru this alot on a bigger scale (because I didn’t do a simple snap shot.) By the end of the year the teacher and I agreed that if they missed it- that is just how it was. They had a whole album full of other pictures to enjoy. It got crazy trying to make them up…because they involved other teachers/prncipal in different school settings. By the end of the year we just couldn’t do it anymore. Tell kids/people up front about that policy and it will make your life so much easier.
Madison
Becky; what brand folder/page protectors did you use? I’m having trouble finding supplies that work. The pg protectors stick out of any folder I find, and the folders themselves are not good quality. I haven’t asked for $$ from the parents but may have to. The only folders that look feasible are going to cost $50! Help !!
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[...] I invite you to check out my Free Stuff page and learn all about it. (It’s a free downloadable PDF .) Why we do it, how we do it, supplies needed, plenty of tips, and all the ideas you need to get started. Share this with your fellow parents, teachers, friends with school-age children … anyone you think might be interested. back-to-school: personal yearbooks « Becky's Blog [...]
[...] Cathy Zilske has an awesome school year scrapbook solution for simply capturing each school year. Becky Higgins has a good one too that she does with her kid’s classes called a personal yearbook. [...]
[...] making yearbooks for your kiddos! Idea and free printables from Becky Higgins! Maybe your kids could even help you make them! A fun, memory making project to do [...]
hi,
i am a junior in highscool, and i work on the yearbook staff. our wearbook is generally done by the end of april, and being as yearbook is a class that goes all year, we need things to do. so this year our teacher made us do personal yearbooks that are about 30 pages long. i am only 5 pages in and am at a loss. each page must be about something different, no two page spreads or anything. i am otu of topics! this whole personal yearbook thing is a great idea, but man, it is hard… jus sayin