Progress tracking - what "counts?" How do you do it?

[Shred Betty]

I am a new to homeschooling mom of DD7, we did a soft/tapered start for "grade 2" over the summer.

 

I'd like your insights as to what positive progress means to you and how you decide what weight learning experiences get compared to completing lessons.

 

2 weeks ago I started keeping a log at the end of the day, and it felt really nice as a reminder of all the learning type experiences we did thru the day. These tasks are spread throughout the day some done in the car and some at the boat/lake, much of it is done when DD feels like it or she chooses tasks, it is not a structured school day.

one very easy day's journal log reads something like this:

 

WWE, ETC full lesson, AAS phono review only, SingaporeMath - TB/WB and drill game, lots of nature time, 2 hrs swimming, examining fishes up close, practiced skip counting by 2s. Jason and the Golden Fleece RA. Matilda RA. Beatrix potter IR - 2 books.

 

This feels like a lot of progress, a lot of fun, a lot of authentic wonder type of experiences and it's just a relaxed summer day plus some school got done. Then I made a very useful spreadsheet with all of my curriculum lessons on it, with dates written in next to the lesson as it is completed. Does not include reading log or PE log or life skills or anything, just curriculum.....

 

Going back thru the above journal entry / log, I can put a checkmark (date) next to completion of just 3 subjects & lessons: WWE, ETC, and SM. yes, we did lots of reading but as of now that isn't on this same spreadsheet yet.

 

TL;DR:

 

much more of life seems to "count" in my mind when I do the journal. When I go to my new lovely checklist / master lesson tracker, I'm not gonna lie, I get a little discouraged!

 

Do you have any suggestions on how you have navigated this difference between these two versions of "progress," or whether you "count" learning experiences as well as completing a lesson, and how you accomplish this record keeping efficiently?

 

Thanks!

-GG

[HomeAgain]

Sometimes, you have to throw the checklist out. :)

 

I write down what we do each day in Homeschool Skedtrack.  My 6yo has 12 subjects.  Yes, really.  Because they don't all fit in the handful that most boxes designate.  And if I find we need another subject title, I make one.  Then I can write down what we did that day: nature study, literature (read alouds), language arts, spelling, p.e.....and having the flexibility to let go of the plan and do what is working...well, it works for us.  Every once in a while I'll look back through a subject and see the last completion date and think "wow, we should really do that again."  And then I can add a project or trip or something.  Or I can choose to use a curriculum, but not be a slave to it.  We use Dictation Day By Day 2x a week.  It's written for 5x/week.  It's okay, though.  Math, our main book is done 4x a week (scheduled for 5).  I know that I have two choices: we won't finish this year, or he'll burn through some lessons he already knows and we may finish this year.  I'm good with either way we end up.  Slow doesn't mean wrong, and it's not wrong to skip already known material. 

 

As far as meaningful progress, I take pictures.  Pictures of written work, art, etc.  I take videos of poetry recitations.  And then at the end of the year, I take more pictures.  It is very easy to see the progress that way.

[Ellie]

 

much more of life seems to "count" in my mind when I do the journal. When I go to my new lovely checklist / master lesson tracker, I'm not gonna lie, I get a little discouraged!

 

 

 

Everything counts. It is why I never tried to make a master check list or lesson planner or anything like that. Everything counts. The lessons that come out of textbooks, the lessons that happen in the back yard, the lessons that happen while watching a favorite TV show. It all counts.

[Shred Betty]

Everything counts. It is why I never tried to make a master check list or lesson planner or anything like that. Everything counts. The lessons that come out of textbooks, the lessons that happen in the back yard, the lessons that happen while watching a favorite TV show. It all counts.

:) so do you bother with a log or anything? If so, what does it look like / how do you use it? without a lesson planner / checklist, do you make end of year goals?

[Sherry in OH]

It looks like you covered:

 

Language arts: WWE, ETC, AAS

Literature: Matilda

Reading: 2 Beatrix Potter books

Math: Singapore, drill, skip counting by 2s

Science: nature study – fish

History: Jason and the Golden Fleece

P.E.: swimming

 

What do you want to cover?

 

[Shred Betty]

It looks like you covered:

 

Language arts: WWE, ETC, AAS

Literature: Matilda

Reading: 2 Beatrix Potter books

Math: Singapore, drill, skip counting by 2s

Science: nature study – fish

History: Jason and the Golden Fleece

P.E.: swimming

 

What do you want to cover?

DD7 almost 8 finished k and gr 1 at public school last spring.

These are the subjects I have on my required minimum course of study I submitted to the state

Last week (and the curric I've bought)

 

Phonics (already a good reader - ETC3)

Grammar (FLL1 / WWE1)

Literature

Spelling (AAS1)

Writing (WWE1)

Handwriting (ZB2M)

Math (SM1a & 1b)

History (SOTW1)

Science (BFSU)

Art ( drawing with Children, attending concerts & operas etc)

PE - exercise almost daily. Mostly swimming and snowboarding.

 

But I also want to "cover" at some point maybe loosely by looping in over several years - no curric for- life skills, logic (& chess), Greek culture, Greek dance, music appreciation, picture study, Bible, astronomy, recorder / piano, painting. Lol the list goes on and on.

[HomeAgain]

I'm just going to brainstorm here a bit.

 

*You* don't feel like it is progress because the plan is narrowed - the course of study you submitted to the state doesn't reflect what you are actually doing.

 

That is okay.  While this isn't a question for everyone, it is something to consider: is the state going to check how well you adhered to the plans?  Things change, life happens, and sometimes, we just have to go with it.  But we also don't have to check the box exactly as it is written.  Read through some of the curriculum you have bought.  Really take a few hours and sit and read.  Then look to see if any of them came with a scope/sequence.  If not, make your own to go along with the book.  You are taking advantage of the outdoors right now.  Are there lessons in BFSU that correspond to that?  Can you read over the lessons, and present them less formally when you have the opportunity?  Look at FLL1.  Much of the work there can be done without the book in hand, and merged right in with literature or writing.  Take the art appreciation lessons from FLL and move them down to your Art box in the schedule. 

 

In our home, a lot of time is spent outdoors when we can.  This means that nearly all of Sept, Mar, and Apr we are out doing things.  The winter is when we tend to be homebodies and cozy up inside with projects and papers and books.  I read aloud at bedtime when a good story is soothing and quieting. Taking advantage of the opportunities you have when you can't doesn't mean schoolwork isn't getting done.  It just means it's not getting done traditionally.  It can be out of order, presented in a different manner, or in the case of some of it - strewn to get the child's attention (logic games simply get left on the coffee table here, open and set up to encourage play).  I wouldn't take the past two weeks as a sign of how your school year is going because it'll change constantly.

[blue daisy]

I can't really answer your question about tracking progress, because as a box-checker myself, I would probably struggle in the same way you are. However, I want to tell you that as I read your description of your day, it sounds like such a lovely day of learning through living life.  What a great experience for your daughter! You are doing just fine. :)

[....]

:) so do you bother with a log or anything? If so, what does it look like / how do you use it? without a lesson planner / checklist, do you make end of year goals?

 

You will drive yourself insane if you try to log everything you do that counts as a learning activity!   :tongue_smilie: Use your "curriculum" as an official plan (something on paper) and just go from there.  If you get everything done - awesome!  If not - oh, well! If you end up with rabbit trails - yeah!  I'm to the point where I'm not even recording all the books my kids read anymore.  I have a reading list of the books they've read...and there are literally HUNDREDS of books on that list.  I just physically do not have the energy to record everything they read and do.  

 

This is one of the ways homeschooling is drastically different from public school.  You can cover SO much material working one-on-one with 1 kid that you can't even compare with a teacher who is wrestling/teaching 30 kids at once and has to follow a formal lesson plan.  This is why I disagree with stuff like time requirements and states forcing homeschoolers to report curriculum to a school district, etc.  It's like "comparing apples to oranges".

 

And all that extra stuff you do that's real-world experience can be just as good as using a curriculum, too.  My 14 year-old volunteers one day a week helping a physical therapist who uses horses to help special needs adults.  This literally eats up an entire school day that I could be cramming all kinds of academic information into my teenager's brain.  I know in the back of my mind that she is learning so much while she's working there.  She has learned how to interact/assist special needs adults, she's taught herself some ASL, she knows how to tack and lead a horse, she knows which horses work best with different therapies the patients need...I mean, real-world stuff is very important and you can't always quantify it...and it doesn't always fit neatly on a checklist!

 

From your list, it looks to me like you have a good plan.

 

And I'm actually struggling with the same thing you are - recording everything - because I have a high schooler.  And homeschooling high school seems very fear-driven.  And I don't agree with it!

Edited August 21, 2016 by Evanthe

[Ellie]

:) so do you bother with a log or anything? If so, what does it look like / how do you use it? without a lesson planner / checklist, do you make end of year goals?

 

No log.

 

I leave bookmarks in any textbook-kind-of-thing. We do the next thing, and the next, until we are finished. And then we start the next thing. No end-of-year goal (the "end of the year" is December 31). If it's something I had to seriously plan out, such as KONOS, I used a planner with big weekly boxes and checked them off as we finished. That was the only thing we ever did where I needed to know more than just doing the next thing.

 

Obviously, I would have done things somewhat differently if I had homeschooled in a state that required me, but I homeschooled in California. :-)

[Roadrunner]

:) so do you bother with a log or anything? If so, what does it look like / how do you use it? without a lesson planner / checklist, do you make end of year goals?

I have one sheet per week where I jot down everything we did that day. It gives me a peace of mind to glance at it at he end of the week and physically see what got accomplished. I also keep a log of books read per school year.

[73349]

I make a weekly spreadsheet and then turn each box gray when it's done. That helps me see if there's anything I'm not getting to.

 

BTW the fact that you're accountable to the state for your listed subjects doesn't mean you have to get to them all every day or even every month, as long as you hit them during the school year.

 

You may want to try making a list of those extras (like Greek culture, logic, and picture study) to put in a basket to read from together, replenishing every few weeks or so.

Edited August 21, 2016 by whitehawk

[Farrar]

Keeping logs and tests and so forth is too much trouble to me. It's stressful in that it takes your time and effort and it keeps you looking at things, constantly evaluating. But I find that if you don't do anything, it begins to feel like nothing happened. You get a little lost because day to day you're not going to see progress and often academic progress isn't as "loud" as baby's first steps and words and so forth.

 

We keep a portfolio. I just update it every once in awhile. Maybe every 3 months. We pull out a few sample things and put them in. We include any special projects. I put in a list of books read and classes taken, field trips experienced. And then we look over it and it feel good. It's like, ooh, look, we really did this. And then at the end of the year, usually there's something - some math page that's now easy peasy or some writing sample that looks so much better at the end of the year. And you can look back at be reminded of all the bits of things you did and feel like, oh, hey, we're doing something, making progress.

 

That's just what works for us. I know some people don't feel that sense of "oh no, have we done enough!" if they do nothing. And some people find keeping even a portfolio stressful making

[Rachel]

I thought I would be a box checker, but I have some CM inclinations, so I'm not ending up that way as a homeschooling mom. I keep a file folder for the year for each kid. I file a sample of work for each subject every few weeks.

 

For seeing daily progress I use a simple spiral notebook for my son as an assignment book. As he completes each item of the day, he crosses it off. The pages of crossed off items gives me that sense of accomplishment my box checking inclinations desire.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

I agree with Evanthe (if I understood her post correctly):

 

I have a minimum plan that my boys must complete by the end of the year. That's our official school day, and ALL that I put in the official record.

 

I do not record anything that they learn or do beyond that curriculum.

 

I have their required school reading listed in my files. The 2000 other books that they drag home from the library are not recorded.

 

I have their math textbooks cited in the course description. The games, puzzles, math books from the library, and math-related websites that they pursue on their own time are not reported.

 

I have their required lab reports (finished) filed in their portfolios under the "science" tab. Nature hikes at the park, spontaneous experiments, and aerospace projects and studies for Civil Air Patrol are not recorded.

 

This is how I cover all my bases and keep good records while still allowing my children to enjoy the homeschool "lifestyle of learning" without stressing myself out over recording every little thing. Also, I don't think they could be spontaneous, joyful learners if I felt I had to stop and consider how/whether activities are "educational" (or stop them to take a photo for my blog)...the official school record is enough. The rest is just life, and life is about learning.

 

 

(Note for Evanthe: This still works at the high school level. I used to wonder if I was right NOT to record all of my son's extra astrophysics and philosophy reading; was I depriving him of some edge for college admissions if I held back too much of the really neat stuff he learned and did, just because I didn't want to interrupt the doing or stress myself out with penny-ante recording...in the end, I decided to stick with my philosophy and only show what I'd assigned, along with official activities and credit-worthy pursuits. It worked -- he was accepted and awarded merit scholarships everywhere he applied -- because what I'd assigned was more than plenty, and impressive. His activities and skills were reflected in his activities and awards, and his personality shone through during interviews. I didn't need to use book lists to show him off better, after all.)

Edited August 22, 2016 by Tibbie Dunbar

[freelylearned]

I am a new to homeschooling mom of DD7, we did a soft/tapered start for "grade 2" over the summer.

 

I'd like your insights as to what positive progress means to you and how you decide what weight learning experiences get compared to completing lessons.

 

2 weeks ago I started keeping a log at the end of the day, and it felt really nice as a reminder of all the learning type experiences we did thru the day. These tasks are spread throughout the day some done in the car and some at the boat/lake, much of it is done when DD feels like it or she chooses tasks, it is not a structured school day.

one very easy day's journal log reads something like this:

 

WWE, ETC full lesson, AAS phono review only, SingaporeMath - TB/WB and drill game, lots of nature time, 2 hrs swimming, examining fishes up close, practiced skip counting by 2s. Jason and the Golden Fleece RA. Matilda RA. Beatrix potter IR - 2 books.

 

This feels like a lot of progress, a lot of fun, a lot of authentic wonder type of experiences and it's just a relaxed summer day plus some school got done. Then I made a very useful spreadsheet with all of my curriculum lessons on it, with dates written in next to the lesson as it is completed. Does not include reading log or PE log or life skills or anything, just curriculum.....

 

Going back thru the above journal entry / log, I can put a checkmark (date) next to completion of just 3 subjects & lessons: WWE, ETC, and SM. yes, we did lots of reading but as of now that isn't on this same spreadsheet yet.

 

TL;DR:

 

much more of life seems to "count" in my mind when I do the journal. When I go to my new lovely checklist / master lesson tracker, I'm not gonna lie, I get a little discouraged!

 

Do you have any suggestions on how you have navigated this difference between these two versions of "progress," or whether you "count" learning experiences as well as completing a lesson, and how you accomplish this record keeping efficiently?

 

Thanks!

-GG

 

It's totally OK to have two different logs. You have your spreadsheet and that's a great tools to keep you on track in those skill subjects. In my experience, it's almost impossible to plan out the other subjects and stick perfectly to the plan. You can keep up your journal alongside of your checklist and keep a running log of other learning experiences or you could also divide the page up into subjects (literature, history, science, PE, art) and then fill in your books and experiences under those headings.

 

I don't use a spreadsheet, but I do get a homeschool planner with a weekly planning grid that is six rows by five columns. I use the top two rows to write out the skill subjects that we do every day for my two kids. For my son that includes his math lesson, writing lesson, and Spanish and for my daughter, that includes her reading program, a math activity, and a handwriting page right now. These are the subjects that I plan out so we stay on track.

 

I leave the next three rows blank, and as we work through history, science, read alouds, independent reading, life skills, and art, I write down what we actually accomplish on the day that we do it. A lot of my curriculum, I just move the bookmark and record later what we did. I also keep a record of my kid's independent reading and our read alouds on a separate notes column on the same page. When my son finishes a book, he lets me know and I write that down. When I read a chapter of a book aloud and my kids beg for the next chapter, I write it down. If we read three pages of our science text and do a lab, I write down the topic we studied and the lab we did in the science row. If we don't get to history, because science took too long, I don't have to erase anything or worry about rescheduling. My three blank rows get filled up pretty quickly. 

 

The bottom row of my planner, I write in our scheduled classes, field trips, doctor appointments, and activities. I love my big fat paper planner because I can keep an accurate record of what we actually are doing during the week on a two page spread, and that makes me happy.

 

It's also OK to ditch that beautiful spreadsheet for something you like better. I ditched a lovely spreadsheet once. I was hard because I spent a long time making it, but it was stressing me out.

[Shred Betty]

Thank you hive!!

I made another spreadsheet last night, and for now I'll keep em both. I appreciate the feedback!!

 

New sheet has topics along the top and rows are dates. I ended up with over 40 columns :)))

It also includes at the end a section for Me, with exercise, materials prepped, and self discipline with laundry and bedtime haha

 

Now I will be able to pat myself on the back even if I don't finish a lesson.

 

I'll be making and prepping a "variety jar" like Whitehawk mentioned for some topics.

 

I love all of the responses it is so very helpful!!!

[lanalouwho]

My checklist has subjects down the side and days of the week along the top. The bottom 20 or so rows are left blank as 'additional' work. That way I can check off the actual curriculum lessons that we do or write in any other learning experiences or rabbit trails that come up. Last week, we didn't do our planned science experiment, but we had a big storm and my ds asked to learn about the water cycle. Great! I just marked through the original plan and wrote in what happened in the additional row.

 

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