Do you keep track of the books your children read

[mlktwins]

and, if so, what's your method for keeping track? What type of books do you keep track of?

 

I'm going to be hsing my boys for K in the fall. I'm not sure what the record keeping requirments are for my state (will find that out soon), but I'm figuring on keeping a reading log for all reading (whether I read to them or they read to me (or on their own). Also, for subjects such as science, I was planning to keep track (title and author) of the resources we used for learning in my planner/log.

 

What do you guys do?

 

Thanks much!

Mendy

[Brenda in FL]

In Florida we are supposed to keep a log of reading materials as well as resources we use for particluar subjects.

 

I've done different things in the past - but now I have a form in each of their binders to record the books they read. I include the following info: Month, Title, Author, IR or RA*, copywrite date. I have a separate list for fun reading vs. literature. I include separate lists for history and science books if they are particular to our field of study that year - otherwise - they would go on the "fun" list.

 

When they were real young - I had the IR and RA lists separate - and I tended to list everything they read. Now that they are older I refuse to list some of the junk books they read or books they read multiple times in one school year.

 

* Independent read or read aloud

[Susan in TN]

Well, I'm glad you reminded me!

 

I have a list of books for reading aloud, a list of books for the kids to read, and a list of what I've read (all by my lonesome.) I'm behind, but I just put them in a list on an excel file. I think it's a wonderful idea to keep track, and once in a while we look back and remember all those wonderful "friends" we spent time with.

[TXMary2]

I just keep a paper reading log. I write the name of the book, author, how many pages and the dates read.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

When my kids were starting out, I simply kept a calendar with notations about what we read and did for school. Simple annotations but precious.

 

I used a calendar that had one week on a page and a picture on the other. That was more than enough room for kindergarten. (Now I'm up to a two page a week calendar.)

 

It is really helpful to be able to go back and see that yes there has been progress and also that older kids also had long plateaus in learning. Plus it helps me to keep dh involved since he can flip through and see what we've been doing.

 

I used the annotation (RA) for read alouds. Everything else indicated something that they read.

 

As they have gotten older and now read tons of books, I don't feel like I have to track every title (it would be over 100 per kid per year).

[EppieJ]

Hi!

 

I do keep track of the books we read throughout the year - text books, reference books, readers, audio.... Just to be able to look back and see what we've accomplished, etc. I make a "year book" each year for ds which contains samples of the work accomplished, field trip photos, any tests, book lists.... Sort of a keepsake.

 

There are programs you can use to keep track of all your assignments, etc. The one I have used is called "Homeschool Tracker." There is a free version (that's the one I have) as well as an upgrade that can be purchased. This particular program is for PC only, unfortunately. There are also programs for Mac, but I haven't found any free ones yet.

 

HTH!

[Mad Jenny Flint]

I have reading lists that date back to K or 1st for each child. My son has nearly 700 titles on his, daughter has about 4-500.

[myfunnybunch]

I keep a reading log on the computer. I enter the date, book and author, number of pages and whether it was an independent read or a read-aloud. I also keep track of audio books.

 

I don't have to keep records. I decided to keep a reading log because of all of the times my mom and sisters have had conversations like this one:

 

"Remember that one book you read to us? It had ghosts and fairies. I think the main character was a little girl. Or maybe a boy and a girl."

 

"Oh, you mean Such-and-Such?"

 

"No, Oh! I loved that book. But there weren't any ships in the one I'm thinking of. I think there was a dog, too, and they went into a cave....what is the name of that book?"

 

:lol:

 

Cat

[Matryoshka]

I keep track of assigned books - well, until last year it was mostly the history books, and it wasn't so much keeping track as having a list I was going to assign, so that list served a dual purpose.

 

This year I have HST+ and I've been entering them in there - with the ISBN feature it's easy. Assigned (mostly history, some science) books and audio books both, and anything they read for book club. But I'm still not tracking their free reading.

[KidsHappen]

Well, I use an umbrella school so I list all curriculum used every year but I only keep track of literature in 11th and 12th grade because they have specific requirements regarding American & British Literature.

[Embassy]

and, if so, what's your method for keeping track? What type of books do you keep track of?

 

I'm going to be hsing my boys for K in the fall. I'm not sure what the record keeping requirments are for my state (will find that out soon), but I'm figuring on keeping a reading log for all reading (whether I read to them or they read to me (or on their own). Also, for subjects such as science, I was planning to keep track (title and author) of the resources we used for learning in my planner/log.

 

What do you guys do?

 

Thanks much!

Mendy

 

For my Kindergartener I have a list of the books. My my second grader I also have a list, but he has to write a book report on his blog after he finishes a book so I have another record there. I don't have to keep any records though. I don't keep track of books they read for fun.

[lllll]

..

Edited March 23, 2013 by 3kt68

[spradlin02]

We'll keep a portfolio of work and a list, but I'm also planning to put them in a box or place where they will be able to see the stack of books pile up. It will be a very concrete symbol of accomplishment.

[LibraryLover]

Yes. I use Goodreads.com

Edited March 25, 2010 by LibraryLover

[mcconnellboys]

To encourage my older son to read when he was little, the first year or two he homeschooled, I photocopied large crayon shapes in different colors and he filled one out for each book read. After that he just kept a list in his notebook for the year.

 

With my younger son, I keep a list of his reading under the "Reading" heading of his notebook. I keep a list of what I read aloud for history under that heading, keep literature under the lit heading, and keep science reading under that heading. I also keep a list of the science books he reads himself at the end of that section.

[helena]

I wish I had kept a list of all books read by each child and to each child. I've never done transcripts, but now that our dc are older/grown, I would really have liked to have had that list to pass on to them when (if??) they have their own families. Also, we read so many good books that are probably OOP, they would need the titles to search for them. And a lot of the newer stuff I see in our libraries today ... :ack2:.

 

I also would have included a couple of sentences or phrases telling something about each book.

 

:iagree: So I decided to buy a reading journal for each of the girls, I encouraged my 5th grader read and log all & any "younger books" from home and the library. I felt like this was my last chance to have her log all of the wonderful picture books that she's loved so much over the years. It also reminded us that there are a lot of picture books with challenging texts and not to be so quick to pass over this section of the library.

I'm so glad I bought these journals, they've been a big hit this year, especially now that they've accumulated quite a list. They love to admire the list :).

 

The journal itself is easy to use, I have the girls log a book about 4 times a week, one being a picture report. They add their chapter books in as they finish them. I like what a pp does, having the kids log audio books. I never thought of doing that! I'm going to let them start logging those as well.

 

http://www.thehomeschoolshop.com/sh-reading.htm

[Laurel]

I use the tags on LibraryThing to keep track of who has read what each year. I track books I read, books I read aloud, and books the kids read.

[mlktwins]

Thanks so much for all your comments. I have a lot of great ideas to think about.

 

I also love the idea of the reading journal and have bookmarked that sight. Thanks!!! My boys are not quite ready for that yet, but I may get a couple in the next few years and let them write about (and illustrate) some of their favorites as the years go by. I think they would get a kick out of looking at them down the road.

 

Thanks again!

Mendy

[nmoira]

I keep track of read alouds in a spreadsheet, and that's it.

[Liz CA]

I printed out a spreadsheet with headings "Author", "Book Title", "Started", "Finished" "Liked it because..." "Didn't like it because..."

 

Ds would make his own entries on the log but we started this in 9th grade. For younger children, this would be much simpler but I'd definitely keep a record.

[jenn&charles]

and, if so, what's your method for keeping track? What type of books do you keep track of?

 

 

I use Homeschool Tracker and I enter in ALL of the books we use in homeschooling. I use the reading log feature in that program to keep track of Otter's free reading. I love being able to see the list of books he's read and I also like how it tally's the number for me.

 

I also started doing something last year too...just for fun. I save pictures of the book covers from all the books he reads (just grab them from online) and what we use in school. This January I took all of those hundreds of pictures and sprinkled them onto digital scrapbook pages that also contained pictures of Otter's projects/doing school/drawings, etc. I had a book created over at Shutterfly and it turned out beautiful!

This way Otter (and I) will be able to look back over the years and see the books we used /read.

[Kate in Arabia]

I also do a reading journal with my kids; each book they read they put in the title, author, then they can write whatever they like beneath. Sometimes they write a favorite quote, sometimes draw a picture, sometimes write an opinion. I don't correct anything they put in there, it's a record for me and something (hopefully) fun for them.

 

With my younger, when he was younger, I would print off a small coloring picture related to the book he was reading; he would color it, and cut and paste it into his journal. I would type the title for him in dotted font to trace. He loved this journal, and it was a great motivator for a reluctant reader.

[myfatherslily]

My DD is in K. I hung a cute poster with a frog border and bought little frog shape cut-outs on heavy paper from our local teaching store. Every time she completes a book, she writes the name on the frog and glues it to the poster. I think the first half of the year had only one frog, but she's really been filling it up lately! She read two books yesterday!

 

As for books I read to her... I try to write down the names of my favorites, in case I want to look for them again (at the library) when DS is older, but usually I forget.