Need ideas for tracking

[SunshineMom]

My kids are getting older and I feel the need to start documenting what we actually do for school. Can anyone give me some helpful suggestions?

[Sara R]

Materials: spiral notebook, date stamp

 

I labeled the notebook 'Homeschool Log."

 

For each day I did school, I stamped the date on the page. I divided the page into two columns for my two kids. Underneath the date I wrote what school subjects we had done that day, and what we did (page numbers, lesson numbers) in those subjects. In the margin, I numbered the days so I could see if I was on track to get to 180 by the end of the year.

 

I also used the date stamp to mark the work my kids had done before putting it into their homeschool binder. The date stamp made things look more official, I thought.

 

The notebook kept me honest and organized. My natural tendency is the opposite.

[EKS]

I use a weekly planning sheet that turns into a record of what we've done. I fill it in in pencil so that I can change it if I need to. I have a separate list of the books my kids read for pleasure. Then at the end of the year I summarize the information.

[SunshineMom]

Thanks everyone! I got several ideas for tracking verses planning ahead which is what I need right now. In our state, we fill out a letter of intent begining age 8 and then kids take yearly progress exams or assessments. I am putting together a 6 month report card for my kids as we speak and have found that keeping records would have made my job easier. We have just been moving through curriculum and notebooks. It sounds like I just need a little prep to get myself better organized.

[hitech]

I love to keep track in a standard teacher plan book. For me!...it works great

Suzanne

[Nan in Mass]

I did it in a spiral bound notebook, though. A binder would be better but I find them unwieldly. I have heading for the different subjects and write everything they do under a different subject. I don't keep track daily for math (for example) if they are just doing the next lesson in the book, but I note when we begin a textbook and when we end it. I also note anything extra. I choose one place to note each item. For example, if we were to visit an Escher exibit at the art museum, I would choose whether to note that under art or under math. I add subjects as needed. At the end of high school, to write a transcript, I looked at everything my child had done in a subject, divided it up into years of work/credits, rearranged it, and gave it a descriptive title. So for example, I looked at everything we had read for great books and decided it was worth about three years (did scifi for the 4th) of credit, and turned it into three years of English: Classical Literature and Analysis, Medieval and Renaissance Literature and Analysis, and Early Modern Literature and Analysis. When I have to write a report for the school system, I look through the subjects and can make a note of the things we did. It has worked very well for me.

-Nan

[SunshineMom]

Thank you Nan....I like your method for it is realistic for me. I found a weekly schedule that I can use to note down chpts read in SOTW/Science and activities, field trips, spellings, various poems memorized and a Read Aloud book count. Since my kids are young I have just been going on to next lessons, reader books of their choice and plugging along with History/Science. I decided to just do a X for pgs completed in math and yes, note next books in my weekly planner. I think weekly logging is just more realistic for I know that if I try to daily track I will be unsuccessful. Thanks again!

[Nan in Mass]

Yup - I tried to track daily when my children were younger. I just didn't do it for very long. Sigh. This I manage to do.

[Truscifi]

I did not even make it one semester tracking daily, despite having the planning book and going by subject. We do a lot of worksheets, so I keep all of them in separate subject binders, and a list of books read and projects completed. Other than that I just document what texts we use and when we finish them.

 

Tru

[Kissy]

I use Homeschool Tracker Basic. When my son gets older I am thinking of investing in the Plus edition so it will build a transcript.

[Reya]

Thanks everyone! I got several ideas for tracking verses planning ahead which is what I need right now. In our state, we fill out a letter of intent begining age 8 and then kids take yearly progress exams or assessments. I am putting together a 6 month report card for my kids as we speak and have found that keeping records would have made my job easier. We have just been moving through curriculum and notebooks. It sounds like I just need a little prep to get myself better organized.

 

I don't have to do more than a portfolio (and I bet most people would spit in disbelief at their screens if you saw how little I put in it!), but I keep a kind of multiyear log, too. I log field trips, select books, major texts, etc., etc. Nothing like a slim daily book to transfer from! Works for me, and it's what I'm planning for high school, too. School work is tossed in a binder as it's completed. Later, I will track grades.