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As far as keeping a log for the school, *I* have detailed accounts of what they do, more or less, in my Homeschool Helper app. Well, it'll say "Latin," for instance, or "Saxon math lesson," and if they write anything, they put the date on it. Then I just check it off in the app as they do it, and if it doesn't get done, it either gets bumped to another day, or I delete it (which means it'll just take us longer to finish that particular book, no big deal). If they do anything that counts as a portfolio subject (including summer days when they play tennis), I click "present" in the calendar section, and at the end of the year, I'll either print the list of days attended (cumbersome but easy for me) or transfer them to a one-page calendar with boxes (more work for me but tidier), which I downloaded from askpauline.com.

 

For the book list, I list anything we've ever even cracked open. I keep chapter books that the kids read or listen to in their "reading list" section of the app, and I list all curricula as well -- WWE, Saxon Algebra 1/2, whatever. I don't bother recording when we use each book for the school; I just throw it all in one list. It ends up roughly organized by curricula/spines, chapter books they read/listened to (I guess that's "literature"), books for history, books for science, books for arts. (I do not list picture books, except for things we specifically used for history, science, art, etc.) I just jot down books as we go and then put it all into one list for the school. Really very easy, and I really do enjoy having the keepsake to enjoy years down the line.

 

It's mostly just silly. I'm glad for the vague law, but it does beg the question: why bother? Why ask for objectives at all if they can be vague, and if they can't even hold us to them? My objectives are the same every year, and this year, I turned in the same objectives for both kids (3rd and 6th). The only difference is that I put "practice handwriting" for my 3rd grader and "practice typing" (or something like that) for my 6th grader.

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Oh heck no! I don't want the law to be any clearer! I have no doubt the idiots would want so much detail it would mean I'd need to hire an administrative staff! As it is the legislature couldn't decide between an evaluation, a portfolio, or standardized test scores and decided to insist on all three instead of just choosing one! The idea of those morons trying to specify in detail how I should keep records gives me nightmares! My first rule is.....No spending more time planning/recording than actual teaching.

My kids kick butt on standardized testing, Last year one dd took the PSSA just for fun and kicked butt there too. How much more proof of 'academic progress' does any school superintendent need anyway? I think with the average PSSA scores in my district they need to hire ME as a consultant to get THEM straightened out. I'm certainly not going to bend over backwards to 'prove' anything to them.

LOL. You are probably right--clarifying the law would be beyond them and they'd over complicate things again! The redundancies in PA's regs can be maddening! I just wish the original law had included a clear definition of what the log actually is. Those of us who are strict "comply with the law, but no more" homeschoolers would have a legally set minimum, rather than fuzzy wording which gives Superintendants the ability to interpret creatively. It would be a start towards enforcing uniformity from district to district.

Portfolios, evaluations, and testing are another can of worms altogether...

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LOL!

 

You know, what I'm really afraid of is that the legislature really DID mean that they want us to write down exactly what we do every minute of the day. All nicely labeled with the day, the date, and the hour and minute it occurred, all 180 days worth, because it's quite clear they don't trust us to actually educate our own kids. They would probably love to micromanage the whole thing. 

 

There have been some legal interpretations of the whole daily log thing in court and I think Ask Pauline has some information on that as well as some information from families in various school districts. http://home.comcast.net/~askpauline/hs/homeschoollogproject.html

 

I'm not a big HSLDA fan but they have an opinion on the topic too. 

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/pa/200309080.asp

http://www.hslda.org/courtreport/v21n5/V21N5PA.asp

 

The HSLDA is of the opinion that we should actually write up a list every single day of every single book we used that day. I think that is an unfair and unrealistic burden. Personally, if backed to a wall on that one I'd print out my "Ongoing" list 180 times and write a different date on the top of each page.  I'm not going to sit down and write the same list over and over every day. That's more a form of punishment for homeschooling than a valid way to track anything. (My "Ongoing" list is a list of the main books we use on a regular basis, with a start date and an end date for each one, if you are tuning in late and missed my earlier post). 

 

What I get from actually reading the law is that the log isn't required to be written that way. The actual law does not state that the log has to be a daily log. The actual law doesn't say that you have to log each book every day you use it or that you have write a list of books you use each day. What the law actually says is 'contemporaneously with instruction', which in my own interpretation means 'during the school year'. The legislature declined to define 'contemporaneous' for us, so it is that particular word which  is open to interpretation and the source of the controversy.  

 

Merriam Webster defines "contemporaneous" as meaning "existing, occurring, or originating during the same time". It doesn't mean 'daily'. So if I write up a log in the form of one list listing each book once, at some point during the school year, it is therefore 'contemporaneous' with that school year, as the school year is the unit of time that is being evaluated. There is no requirement in the law for homeschools to be evaluated on a daily basis, only on an annual basis.

 

I'm actually exceeding the law by adding in starting and ending dates for each book.  :thumbup: 

 

I'd butt heads with a school district that wanted more. They can't force you to stop homeschooling as long as there is evidence that an adequate education is occurring, and my kids tend to score entire grade levels ahead on standardized testing so it would be very difficult for a district to get away with trying to prove in court that my kids aren't receiving an adequate education. But, I'm very lucky that way and I know it. I also have a belligerent disposition when I feel something is unfair, along with a tendency to use big words and weaponized sarcasm to get my point across. I could probably take over the world if I exploited those traits, but happily I'm pretty well occupied with educating my kids and working on my website.......(Just be glad you aren't married to me!)

 

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...The HSLDA is of the opinion that we should actually write up a list every single day of every single book we used that day. I think that is an unfair and unrealistic burden.

 

This is exactly what I do for my log. I don't find it difficult and started it for my own record keeping purposes. I have only one child so I am sure it is much easier for me to do this than those who are schooling multiple children. I use a word document and just copy and paste things form day to day changing the page/chapter numbers as needed.

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This is exactly what I do for my log. I don't find it difficult and started it for my own record keeping purposes. I have only one child so I am sure it is much easier for me to do this than those who are schooling multiple children. I use a word document and just copy and paste things form day to day changing the page/chapter numbers as needed.

 

I did this but without page numbers as the law doesn't say to include them. Not difficult, but definitely a pain in the ass.

 

I understood contemporaneously as the title being used with the instruction as it is happening, therefore a daily log. But no page numbers, no dates, just a list of repeating book titles. Completely useless paperwork.

 

Had I been challenged, I would have said, "The law doesn't require (or define) that." And that is exactly what I said to questions about a copy of my diploma and birth dates for my children. Oh, and also, "When do you want to schedule an appointment with the superintendent to go over your portfolio?" That freaked me out a little bit. I had no trouble with my standard response, but did hear that the other parents liked it. I wondered if they knew it wasn't required.

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Had I been challenged, I would have said, "The law doesn't require (or define) that." And that is exactly what I said to questions about a copy of my diploma and birth dates for my children. Oh, and also, "When do you want to schedule an appointment with the superintendent to go over your portfolio?" That freaked me out a little bit. I had no trouble with my standard response, but did hear that the other parents liked it. I wondered if they knew it wasn't required.

I want to know what SDs are so wealthy that they can pay their superintendent for the time to interview the homeschoolers! I have heard that there are about ninety hs'ers in my district, which isn't a huge district. At an hour per interview, that would be two weeks of interviews for the super (er, the assistant super in our district). My district complains that it doesn't have enough money as it is, so maybe that's why they don't really bother us -- they don't want to have to justify to the taxpayers why they took the hs'ers to court or whatever!

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I want to know what SDs are so wealthy that they can pay their superintendent for the time to interview the homeschoolers!

 

I was in Northern Potter SD in Potter County. Most recent info I found was 25 home school students in 2009-10. I assume this is around 12 families. Probably no more than 6 hours for all of them to have interviews. I didn't know any of them to ask about this practice.

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...It's mostly just silly. I'm glad for the vague law, but it does beg the question: why bother? Why ask for objectives at all if they can be vague, and if they can't even hold us to them? My objectives are the same every year, and this year, I turned in the same objectives for both kids (3rd and 6th). The only difference is that I put "practice handwriting" for my 3rd grader and "practice typing" (or something like that) for my 6th grader.

 

The best argument I've seen about this is that by having us write our own objectives, the law makes it absolutely clear that *we* set the objectives - not the district, not the state standards, but us, as the home education supervisors.  Once I understood that, it made writing objectives much more tolerable.  

 

(And with this understanding, those of you who are snarky may actually begin to enjoy writing "Student will continue their study of Latin verbs." for a second grader, you know?)

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You know, what I'm really afraid of is that the legislature really DID mean that they want us to write down exactly what we do every minute of the day. All nicely labeled with the day, the date, and the hour and minute it occurred, all 180 days worth, because it's quite clear they don't trust us to actually educate our own kids. They would probably love to micromanage the whole thing. 

 

Actually, I'm sure this is not the case. And even if it was, they cannot require this. 

My family started homeschooling in PA 30 years ago. (You can guess how many portfolios I have in my closet!) My parents may have enjoyed stuffing their portfolios full, but they never kept a log of daily activities. 

 

It is NOT required and I am of the strong opinion that we should NOT give it to them. 

 

 

For my child's daily task list, I use Homeschool Tracker. I enter all the books at the beginning of the year. The program distributes the pages throughout the year. I just print out a list for my daughter at the beginning of the week and check off OR reschedule everything at the end of the week. If for some reason I ever needed a daily log, it's all in the program. But no, I will never turn it in to the SD.

(This takes about 3 hours in September and 10 minutes a week after that!!!)

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