When you don’t have a traditional homeschool, when everyone is following their passions–how do you keep track of everything?
What if you have to provide “proof of learning” at the end of the year?
I have a couple of ideas.
Know your state’s home school law. What will you have to show, and how often?
Make a broad plan at the beginning of the year. I found it helpful to make a chart for each child, like this:
Fill it with things you know will happen and with books or curriculum you plan to complete. Look for holes and make plans to fill them. Because we are interest-led learners, the kids were closely involved in this process. I’d ask them what they wanted to learn and then fit those things into school categories and get the materials or lessons they needed.
Choose a record-keeping method that fits you.
- If you love taking notes and filling notebooks, get a spiral notebook for each child and journal each day’s activities. Or do it once a week.
- Keep 3 x 5 cards in a recipe box and organize it by subject. If your child does something that fits “history,” write it on a card and file it under History.
- Buy one of those fun planning books teachers use. Yes, I like to play school. But it doesn’t have to be a planner. Make it a record book of what actually happened, with activities listed under categories for each child or subject matter.
- Keep evidence of learning in a file cabinet. This is my favorite method, one that has endured the test of time. Each child has a file folder for each year. I keep samplings of writing, library receipts, field trip brochures, certificates of participation, workbook pages, photos, projects, artwork, anything that represents learning in the required areas.
- Keep track of reading with a list of great books. Let the child pick a book off the list and check it off when he’s done. Here’s a list of Newberry Award winners, and here’s a list of 1000 Good Books, organized by grade level. If your child puts the date completed next to the title, you will have an instant record of his reading that could go on for years.
- Have the kids keep their own records (and check it once in awhile). You might have a budding administrator who loves keep track of things.
Be flexible. If your method isn’t working for you, try something else.
Now it’s your turn. What record-keeping method do you like?