Show me your record keeping methods! Younger HSers especially... - Page 2

[Rivka5]

We're required to teach eight subjects in Maryland. I have a "teacher's plan book" I bought at Staples, which has room for eight subjects down the side and has the days of the week (plus a "notes for next week" section I use to record our weekend activities) across a two-page spread.

Every day I (or my husband, when it's his day home with the kids) just note down the things we did in the various boxes. When it's time for our portfolio review, I can use the plan book to pull together things like a list of independent reading & read-alouds, topics covered conversationally, etc.

So yesterday, for example, we were wrapping up a Five in a Row-style literature-based unit study of the book My Rows and Piles of Coins, which takes place in Tanzania. Both unit study things and other random educational activities go in the grid, mixed in together, because the organization is by subject-I-need-to-report-on.

I filled in the boxes like this:

Language Arts:
The Big Balloon Race - Coerr
Subira Subira - Mollel - RA (read-aloud)
By the Shores of Silver Lake - Wilder - RA

Math:

Social Studies:
Liberty's Kids "Allies at Last"
Geography: Amazon and Nile rivers, definition and location of the equator
Money: A Rich History - RA

Science:
Rotation of the earth (day and night)
Earth's orbit around the sun
Seasons caused by axial tilt
Seasons different in north and south hemispheres
Video: Tanzania: Ecosystem in Motion.

Art:

Music:
Swahili song "Subira Subira"

Physical Education:

Health:

[Dakota's Mom]

First of all, we do not have to keep records of any kind for our state. But being super obsessed with having proof of what we did, I do keep records for myself. Also since my health is not very good I want to make sure my husband has accurate records should he ever need them. We do Time4Learning.com for our main curriculum. Each subject has a lesson plan that has the number of each lesson and what it is about. At the beginning of the year I print out the lesson plans for the year. Each day after we sit down to the computer to work, I write down his grade for each lesson he did on the lesson plans. At the end of the year I can print out a report for that subject for the whole year. If you needed reports more often for quarterly reports or to take to a supervising teacher, You could print the reports for a shorter time period. You could print them every day if you want to. I keep the lesson plans in a three ring binder. I also keep a calendar that I write down what we do every day. This way I can keep track of things like soccer, museum trips, park days and things like that. Also books he is reading. I've been doing this since kindergarten.

Kathi

[dotnetdiva]

We use Homeschool Skedtrack. It's free and flexible. I love that I can access it from any computer.

[Pariah]

I'm sorry, I've been super busy and haven't come back to this. My state's law is...

Parents must maintain a portfolio of "relevant materials such as instructional materials, reading materials, and examples of the child's writings, work sheets, workbooks, creative materials, and tests." The local superintendent may review the portfolio, discuss the instructional program, and observe instruction at a mutually agreeable time and place not more than three times a year. If, after review, the superintendent decides that a child is not receiving a regular, thorough instruction in compliance with the regulations, the family will have 30 days to remedy the deficiencies or cease homeschooling.

Parents may homeschool their children if the instruction is offered through and supervised by a state-approved correspondence course or bona-fide church organization. These programs must supervise the homeschool with pre-enrollment conferences, textbooks and lesson plan review, annual homeschool visits, and periodic conferences with parents.

Additionally, I am going through a divorce and I want proof that we're homeschooling properly in case my ex decideds to use that against me (which I doubt he would, considering he is all for it and was homeschooled himself and his family overall are big HS supporters, but you never know...).

So far, I have two binders. I did go to the donnayoung site and printed out lots of record keeping pages. I have an attendance sheet, reading list, and a page for recording what we do daily (like 7 or 8 blocks, one per subject). All of that is in one binder. The other binder has nature journal pages, also from the donnayoung site, that we'll fill out frequently. I also ordered a pre-k math book and a "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons" book that I've been recommended a lot to work from. I also found a place that teaches foreign language to kids ages 18 months through 11 years, and that starts in mid-September and will be weekly. I don't have a set curriculum...I know we're not technically unschooling since we're using the books, but I'm making my own curriculum, I guess. I may need to be part of an umbrella group according to my state laws, I believe I do...I need to verify that ASAP.

I'm a little overwhelmed by a ton of stuff going on right now, I just want to make sure I've got all my bases covered with this...

[PGTlatte]

I have an "academic planner" or "student planner". I buy them at places like Target or the grocery store. It has a section for each day that is big enough to write a summary of the day's activities in. I keep papers in a 3-ring binder. If I felt I needed more documentation that than (like I do for our older son) I also keep a spreadsheet at Googledocs, and write weekly and monthly summaries in a Googledocs document.

[elizawill]

Originally Posted by laundrycrisis

I have an "academic planner" or "student planner". I buy them at places like Target

the other day i was at at target and found them in the dollar bin. they are so similar to what i already make (and have to print), so i bought 2 books. they are seriously awesome! thanks for sharing about them!!! it saves me printing stuff out - love it!

[AngelBee]

Originally Posted by elizawill

the other day i was at at target and found them in the dollar bin. they are so similar to what i already make (and have to print), so i bought 2 books. they are seriously awesome! thanks for sharing about them!!! it saves me printing stuff out - love it!

This is what I am using right now as well. Can't beat one dollar!

[InstinctiveMom]

I'm another Homeschool Tracker fan. My state doesn;t require reporting, but I like to CMA, just in case

I use a lesson planner that I designed to plan lessons so I ca have a general idea of where we are and where we're going, then I add all of the lessons we actually do into HSTracker. Then I print report cards every 6 weeks and the other reports (attendance, hours spent, overview) and anything else relevant and file it all away.

Next year (our school year begins in January), I'm printing student planners for my boys as well. Here's what I use:
http://thisadventurelife.wordpress.c...anning-for-m6/

~h