updated look at our school albums

i have been working on updating the girls school albums this past weekend. i started out taking photos of all the pages, so that i could show you what i've been adding to them since i originally shared the albums (HERE). then it crossed my mind that a video might be nice, to sort of walk you through the album. just a few things before you watch this. excuse the shake. i'm NOT a videographer, and had to steal one of the girls small video camera's to shoot this. and i talk with my hands all the time. so when the camera is shaking, i'm more than likely talking to you with my hands, even though you can't see them. i say "actually" a lot. and apparently, "eventually" is a term i use for when i will finish things that i havn't gotten around to doing. it cut me off at the very end, because the memory card was full. but i was pretty much done, and i'm not good an ending things anyways ;)

i think i covered the set-up of alyssa's album in pretty good detail in the video, so i won't show you pictures of all of her pages in her album. but i did want to point out one of the new things i added to their albums recently.

i added in some 6x12 page protectors. i have a few different brands, so anything will work. i cut some sheets of kraft cardstock in half, so that they were 6x12 in size. i had a lot of band concert programs and play programs, that i've collected over the years. i had been slipping them into the large pocket page. but i thought it would be fun to include them in their own page protector, so that they were more visible.

i used the same idea for both the band concerts programs and the play programs. i simply stapled the second page to the kraft cardstock, so that you can still flip the program open to read inside. and you can also flip the program up, so that you can read the backside. for the concert programs, i stapled two onto each side of the kraft cardstock. i just did the bottom one first, and then layered the top one slightly overlapping it. for the play program, i also adhered some of our tickets from when we went to see the performances.

and i happen to have some newspaper clippings, with photos of the play from the local newspaper. so i stapled those to the backside of the play program. just a really simple way to add these things into the albums.

i can't just show you alyssa's album, since that would NOT be fair. that's how it works here in this house, anyways. lol! here is a look at sarah's 5th grade year, from last school year. this is her pocket page, with a sampling of her work. an additional thing that i added to her pocket, was her medal that she received for perfect attendance. for the record, alyssa got perfect attendance too, but their grade didn't get a medal. bummer.

some of sarah's work that i pulled out, to save. sampling of her work, spelling tests, math sheet, a few journal's, some artwork, reports, etc.

this is something extra i added to sarah's album. it's a CD envelope, that came from the becky higgins baby kit, from a few years back. i just checked the creating keepsakes site, and it actually looks like they still have these in the store, HERE.

a few of the 5th grade classes, did a "thriller" performance at the beginning of the year. it wasn't a special tribute to michael jackson or anything, since these teachers have been doing this for years with their students. but they practiced for 6 weeks, and put on a great show for us. i had gotten a CD of the performance, and wanted to include it in her album. and this little CD envelope was a perfect way to do that.

her class photo, in an 8.5x11 page protector.

report card on the backside of the class photo. and then a few page protectors, to hold awards that she received during the school year.

i also include the report that shows how she did on her STAR testing, which is the california state testing that all students do here, every year.

then i added a 6x12 page protector, with her band concert programs.

next up, is her school photo. this page comes just like you see it, with the grade printed down the side. and i just added an 8x10 photo. 

then the last page is where we'll write down things from the year that she wants to remember. we just havn't gotten to that yet. not sure why, but i don't have a first day of school layout for her. i have one of the girls together, but not of just sarah. when i get around to that, i'll add that after this page. and i want to do a layout with the photos from their thriller performance. and then i'll add in some divided page protectors, to hold any additional photos from the year.

i get asked a lot about these school albums all the time. and everyone wants to know if they can still get the becky higgins school kit. nope, they're not available anymore. those were from a few years ago. well, i take that back. you can occasionally find them on ebay. i searched for them tonight, and found about 4 listed, that have about a day left on their bidding time. so you could check that out. BUT. i do know that she has a new school kit in the works. not because i have any insider info, because i dont. lol! but because i read her blog everyday. i hope she doesn't mind, but i copied this info directly from her blog for you:

Q: Please tell us about the new school kit. When is it coming?

A: Yes, we are developing a kick-bootie school kit. A lot of thought is going into the organization and system and design and everything. It’s going to be very fool-proof, user-friendly, perfect for the non-scrapbooker, and will cover all school years, from preschool through high school, in one kit. Plus, it’ll be versatile enough for homeschool use and even students outside the U.S. The next round of Project Life kits (yes, that’s plural) should be available in time for the holidays this year. Since that has been a priority, the school kit will be come out after Project Life. The plan is early 2011. You know this is the place to come for all the latest scoop.

Comments

[Penny]

I wish you'd teach a local class on how to capture our kids' school memories! You seem to have such a good grasp. Penny

[dawn]

I'm really impressed with this album too. It's a lot of work for you but it looks great. how nice for the girls to have all their school memories in one easy to find album. Those 6x12 page protectors are a great idea and thank you for letting us know about the one for a CD both my kids have some of those and know I know how to save them safely. I will watch the video later but know it will be good. I agree with penny above and wish you could come here and teach us a class or come to my house and get me started on some of your ideas and tips. I can't wait for Becky's new school kit since I missed it the first time.

[dawn]

I forgot to mention how great it is your daughters had perfect attendence. They should always get an award for that. My girls did it one year and their were only 5 kids that came up for the award and 2 of them were my girls. Sam almost got it that year too except he missed a month of school because of back to back illness, strep throat infection,2 ear infections, cought that lasted 10 days, he lost 10 pounds on his already scrawny body. It was a sad month for him. So congrats to your girls.

[marissa]

Very cool - thanks for sharing! Do you find you have enough room in the AC albums for the other years that are complete? What kinds of things did the teacher have the kids write in that letter she sent them when they were in eighth? Did she send them at the end of the year? That gave me some ideas for my third graders!

[patricia]

Glad you showed this again. I get a lot of questions about mine too. I always refer them back to your blog. LOL. I will have to make a note on my post to go to your new post now. Love this idea !!!!

[dawn]

Hi again Laura,

I just watched the video and of course it's amazing. You must have saved everything they did all these years before you made these albums. Where did you keep it all? I would love to do something like this for my kids or even just get some albums ready and do their high school years. I also keep the girls journals from school and home because they are big writers and will be cool to see their stories when their adults. Your school does so many projects/reports we seriously never have any. I also like the letter in 3rd grade to save till 8th greade we do that too I think they get them in 8th or at 12th grade graduation. I can't imagine your album not being good enough after Becky's new one comes out, yours is pretty awesome!!

How did you manage to hold the videocamera that long with only one hand, it was a little shaky but still good. Thanks for sharing...

[Sara Rossi]

LOVE the video showing the album!! You motivated(guilted)me into working on mine! ;) I love how you added the assort. page protectors into them. And I have to confess this is perfect timing since I never went through the big pile of papers from LAST school year! Now I can knock 2 things off my to do list!! LOL!!

[Meghann]

Great video, Laura! It is a bit overwhelming, though, as I don't have children yet. It looks like I will need a few extra rooms to store all of their stuff before they come along! P.S. I didn't expect your voice to sound like that. I think I expected a deeper voice. I'm not sure why. Hehe.

[Carla]

GIRL, this is SO awesome!!! I loved the video, it really did help give us the whole idea of the binder.
I really like the different size page protectors! I would definately like to do this with my kids. I have those pockets but wondering if I should wait until Becky's comes out.

[ShellyJ]

Wowzers, girlie! Thanks for sharing with a video. way easier to see what you have been doing with it.... and so cool to hear your voice :)

[Wendy Sue]

Wow, wow, wow! One more reason to idolize you - not only are you so dang talented...you're organized too! LOVE the video of the album. I need to get mine out of the boxes and get my kid's stuff organized. Thanks for inspiring me to get it done! :o)

[Yvonne]

Fantastic, Laura! I loved the video, so helpful and inspiring! You have a couple of great kids there, how proud you must be! Love the whole format including the 6x12's. You have really used the kit so effectively, I am going to follow your example with mine.