trulycrabby Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Hello, we are in Alabama, which only requires that the homeschooler report attendance to the cover school. No other rcord keeping is required. I am homeschooling DS10; our other child is in university. Nevertheless, I have been doing a daily write up of what was accomplished each school day which includes: text or material used, chapter/pages covered, skills/tasks covered, and time spent on each subject. I type it up, and it takes about 30 minutes each day to do. Normally, it's not an issue, but the past few months I have been dealing with a serious health condition, and my physical stamina is just not sufficient to get it done. I switched to handwriting it, which worked for a few weeks, but stamina has further decreased, and I just cannot keep up with it anymore. I love having a book with a synopsis of what we have done each day, but I realize that many of you have been successfully homeschooling for years without doing anything like this, and the student's work itself is actualy a sufficient record of what has been accomplished each day. So, someone please tell me to just let this task go, or give suggestions for simpler, more concise method of record keeping which can be accomplished in 10 minutes or less each day. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 My kids use weekly planners. I fill out the assignments at the beginning of the week. For math, I leave the pages blank as it's hard to predict my kids' pacing. At the end of the lesson, I jot down the pages worked. It wouldn't be difficult to add a note for time spent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Creek Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I use homeschool tracker for a basic outline of what we do each day. I plan at the beginning of the year how often I want to do each subject (like English every day, History only on Tuesday and Thursday, etc.), schedule it out for the year with whatever the curriculum is, and each day I just mark it as complete if we did it. There is room to type in notes if I feel like it, but I usually (ok, sometimes :lol: ) just type in the lesson number that we did. It takes a whopping minute every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeghanL Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I have my lesson plans (without the lesson number) in a 5 day format. At the end of each subject, instead of crossing off the square, I just put the time we spent in minutes inside the square. Then, at the end of every week I tally up the total hours for each subject. At the end of every month, I tally the months hours so I have a year to date total. I also keep a notebook with each month for books we read and places we've been. I fill it out before I take our library books to the library. The most time consuming part is once a month tallying all the hours, but even that only takes 15 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I heard of this method of simple record keeping, and I'm adding a bit to it based on what you have kept records of in the past. Basically you make a list of the subjects you do. It's basically a master list. You make a zillion copies of it and them in a binder. Each day, you put the date at the top of one of the lists. Then you simply circle the subjects that you worked on that day. If you wanted to add to that, you could put a line after each subject on the list to write exactly what you did, e.g. lesson 83 or pp. 123-124. Then if you wanted more than that, you could add it in a simplified way, e.g. 30 mins., text or wb (workbook). ETA: I don't use this method myself, but it's the easiest I've heard of. I use the most basic student planner and just record books and pages. Then winter comes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indian summer Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Make a grid with the subjects down the left side and the days of the week across the top. Print out several at once and keep them in a folder. Each week, take one out, date the top "Week of Feb. 10th" or whatever. And either check off the subjects as you do them or jot in the page numbers completed or book read or whatever bit of detail you want to add. If you're feeling more energetic later on, you can use these to make a report. Or just file them in a binder or folder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Can you have your 10-year-old do it for you? It will probably come out shorter, but still more than enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 So, someone please tell me to just let this task go, or give suggestions for simpler, more concise method of record keeping which can be accomplished in 10 minutes or less each day. I just put down the subject, book and pages covered for each subject daily. That is for my reference. Maybe ask your son to just jot down the subject, material/topic/pages covered after each subject? It would be a useful skill for him too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Just stop it!!!!! :D Girlfriend, there's really just no good reason to do that much record keeping. Honestly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I started out doing that but have reduced reduced reduced. I am down to just a list of books and dates. I only have to keep attendance and test once every 3 years starting in 3rd grade. I figure their notebooks show me the work they did, and the book list shows me the books they read. Do I really need more than that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 Excellent suggestion, everyone! Now I just have to decide which one to use. :) I could have DS10 record the pages, but then I would have to go over it and correct sloppiness and errors, right now I just want to get it done. Maybe once I am feeling better... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aufan Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I found this blog post and it is what I do. It has worked wonderfully this year. Hope it helps! http://www.amongstlovelythings.com/2012/07/color-coded-progress-lists-2012-2013.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonFaerie Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Can you have your 10-year-old do it for you? It will probably come out shorter, but still more than enough. I second this. And really, I don't think you'd need to correct it. Just tell him what to write as he finishes each subject and ask him to please write neatly. :-) My DD records her work each day (and no, we don't have to do that in GA; I just want to have the record) in a notebook. She puts the date at the top of the page and then makes an "entry" for each thing she finishes. For example: Math- finished Saxon lesson 15; took test. Writing With Style- finished Week 2, Day 4. And so on. It really doesn't take much time and we have a good record of her days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Excellent suggestion, everyone! Now I just have to decide which one to use. :) The one that is the least painful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoVanGogh Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Just stop it!!!!! :D Girlfriend, there's really just no good reason to do that much record keeping. Honestly. I have been surprised how much I have pulled my records out. I often have other moms ask me for suggestions or resources for outside classes, curriculum, etc. Records were incredibly helpful when we were dealing with a late diagnosis of birth trauma from premature birth. (So thankful I had good records then!) I make a school yearbook but am not always timely, so good to know when we went on such and such field trip or did a specific nature study. That said, it only takes me ten or so minutes a day to record what we did. If it took 30 or so, I would simplify. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I have a daily schedule printed out for each school day with all subjects that I plan to cover. As we complete those subjects I write in which pages or lesson(s) we cover and check them off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I have a calendar on the wall and I put a check mark on it for attendance. Easy and done in 3 seconds! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsmm Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I just use a date book that has about ten lines for each day of the week. I write what we do in that. It's not sure organized, but it gives me and idea of what we have done. I don't have to do this for our state, but I find it helpful. I also am in my first year of home schooling and have to prove success to my husband at the end of the year if he is going to be on board for next year. I have to write up a progress report at the end of the year for the superintendent, and I will use these notes to remind myself what we covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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