How do you keep records?

[FLTerri]

As a homeschool consultant/coach - ( what word do YOU like best?), I see a lot of different ways in which people keep records of their student's work. What are some of your favorites.

Personally, I love it when families create private blogs. They are SUCH a treasure for both their families and for ME to see each year!

I have had families create private Facebook pages for me, and create photo books each year. Then I've seen families who just list the curriculum they've used, and rip pages from workbooks to send me.

There are so many ways to show a portfolio and keep records of what you've done each year.

How do you do it?

 

[deliberatemom]

I do photo books every year and also assemble a small collection of work.

 

[EightGreatKids]

I like the idea of photo books and portfolios, but I just have too many kids -- it would be really hard to keep up with!

I post about homeschooling on IG and FB, so we could look over the things we've done that year, and I could pull something together if I needed to prove that we do, in fact, homeschool. Utah is very easy going, so I've never needed to, but I could if the need arose.

Some states require attendance records, work samples or portfolios, and standardized test scores. Utah has no requirements other than to submit a homeschooling affidavit. That's why I don't keep actual records until 9th grade. We use the records from 9th grade on for college admissions.

At that point, I use a VERY simple spreadsheet that just takes about 10 minutes at the start and end of each semester. I keep it in my Google Drive so I have access to it anywhere, and I can keep all of the high school years in one place. Under each year, I list the semesters, then the subjects taken that semester. Each subject includes a brief course description, the materials used, grades and any other information I think might be useful.

These simple records make a huge difference when it comes to college applications. There's no way I could possibly remember all that my children have completed otherwise. You can see a screenshot of our records at https://orisonorchards.com/homeschool-record-keeping-made-easy/ if you have any questions.

Even then, though, we don't keep portfolios other than what occurs naturally, like videos of musical performances or photos of science fair projects -- things that end up naturally in our family photo albums and videos. So far, none of the universities to which my children have applied have required anything like that. I guess I'm all about just meeting minimum requirements, haha!

 

[Kasdira]

I use to routinely use IG and FB for documenting our week. But as we have become more unschooling, I use Evernote to jot down little things in the day. Some days and weeks are more full than others, sometimes I won't enter anything. I've started encouraging my oldest (11) to write down things here and there so that he can start keeping track of what he does through out the day. I keep attendance tracked in a Google doc, because we use an umbrella school. When we get to the highschool years I will put together something a little more formal looking.

I use to blog when my oldest was a toddler and pre-school age. I have thought about getting back to it, because it was nice to see how the day/week went.

 

[FLTerri]

I love the photo book idea, too. I used to keep this for my children and make one on each birthday but I got behind and am now about 7 years behind.

Kasadira, I love that you are enouraging your oldest to keep track of things, too.

 

[Dwenger86]

We do a photobook every year just by way of what we did that year as a family and that includes some homeschool stuff but it’s not homeschool-specific or for portfolios. We give them away as gifts for relatives. We also have Keepy, which I use for mostly pictures of every day stuff with them but also for some projects they may do for school/art they make that maybe we don’t want to keep forever but want to remember.

For tracking specifically for homeschool: I have everything on Google. I make a folder for the year then folders within that for each child. I have a doc for each kid that lists by subject (though there’s always some crossover) what we did/used that I keep
up to date as we use materials/learn, with extracurriculars/field trips and such at the end of the doc. I use this to give to the evaluator (required by our state). The kids log their independent reading on Biblionasium and I print that off for the evaluator (again, required). For their portfolios, I put those papers in and have a binder with tabs for each subject. If there is a project that doesn’t fit in the binder, I either mention it on their google doc or I take a picture of it, save it on google docs, and then print it at the end of the year. At the end of the year, I’ll pull some stuff out that isn’t as meaningful so it’s not so full.

 

[insanomumma]

i am documenting and keeping track of what we are learning and doing via a face book page i set up for my son adventuresofzebadia and instagram as well as i will keep a few items made or done but we are taking atm more an unschooled schooling approach so the face book page helps me keep it all there for when we have to show a moderator this will be our official first year preprimary for 2020 as kindy we didn't need to register so im sure ill learn lots along the way we are located in australia

 

[DeLaura]

My state, Florida, requires we maintain an educational activity log, reading log, and materials log, along with a portfolio that includes examples of work. I probably do more than I need to with regards to the logs. I started an IG account to share/document activities but I've found it hard to update regularly.

 

[BubbaMama10]

I make a list of daily activities, chores, and assignments in a notebook. My daughter checks them off as they are complete. The front of the notebook has a list of what materials were used. We list all field trips or learning experiences (example: we went to an animal auction to meet and talk to farmers). Any time there is a paper or anything written, it is done in her notebook. I scan it and put it into a folder on the external hard drive for the year. I save all art and really anything she does. Already she enjoys going back over things that she did in K and seeing how far she has come. (she is in 4th now). At the end of the year, I scan all the notebook pages or other papers that she did for that year. I know it sounds like a lot but it really only takes about an hour total at the end of the year.

 

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