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JennGM
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| Posted: April 08 2010 at 10:45am | IP Logged
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From this thread
guitarnan wrote:
| It also helps to get in the habit of good recordkeeping early - because later on, you'll need to do that (plans, book lists, time spent on lessons/projects) depending on your province's or state's requirements. |
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What is an easy way to record keep?
What kinds of things do you record?
Do you like paperless?
I'm stuck thinking of a Teacher record book and need to think outside those parameters, but I do need to keep some.
Any and all suggestions welcom, please!
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: April 08 2010 at 12:34pm | IP Logged
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What worked for me better than anything I'd tried before, and I plan on trying it again with a real clipboard was this:
I printed out blank lesson plan sheets from Donna Young. I also printed out the pretty calendar from Alice Cantrell. I mounted them to a piece of hardboard with pretty paper, the plans on one side, the calendar on the other. I didn't have real clipbaords and used binder clips, but lately the clips have been slipping.
I was able to x off the days on the pretty calendar to keep attendance. I also put the categories I wanted to cover along the left and the days across the top, and I would write little notes in the boxes when I thought things fit. So, if we watched Letter Factory, I wrote it down. I also wrote down the read alouds, whether we sang a hymn, listened to a cd, whatever.
It was on the fridge which made it easily accessible.
For me, the secret was having the pen available. Sounds silly, but it was when I started taking liberties with my delegated sharpie pen and it wasn't readily clipped to the board, things went downhill.
Now, I plan to have a large clipboard to hold the lesson plans, a small one to hold the calendar, 3M hooks on the fridge to hold them, and a pen with a ribbon so I don't steal it from myself.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Erin
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| Posted: April 08 2010 at 2:57pm | IP Logged
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JennGM wrote:
What is an easy way to record keep?
What kinds of things do you record?
Do you like paperless?
I'm stuck thinking of a Teacher record book and need to think outside those parameters, but I do need to keep some.
Any and all suggestions welcome, please! |
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Jenn
I have tried various methods over the years. When the children were little I used to keep hand written diaries. One year a teacher's planner. I got disheartened with all those blank pages I never filled in  Then I tried blank spiral notebooks, they worked a bit better. I also tried the computer using Word. My most consistent recording has been since I switched to my Lesson Notes blog
I record more since I switched to the visual ease of a lesson blog and I tend to reinvent the wheel less as I don't forget things. I used to use Word to record extra thing beside writing a daily/weekly ah monthly log. But I'd forget/lose it as I didn't consistently label.
I record what we have studied, progress, attitudes, the good and bad. Reading logs and now my dd keps her own and emails it to me at the end of term. Somehow I don't think the boys will ever do that 
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
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Mackfam
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| Posted: April 08 2010 at 6:39pm | IP Logged
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Hmmm...I'd probably start looking toward the requirements for record keeping for your state. Some states are pretty lax so you have a lot of room to work...some states require a fair amount of record keeping. Knowing what will be *required* to eventually submit to your state will be a help. Each state varies with its homeschooling laws - here in AL the compulsory age is 7, so I don't really keep much in the way of "records" before that time.
So, when I think of record keeping, I think of those things that provide legal indications that we are homeschooling. For me, that is attendance records and a fairly good record of what we do each day (lesson plans for some...others prefer journaling the day after-the-fact - both work).
So...I'm just trying to get a sense...are you looking for how others meet the requirements in the legal record-keeping dept and keep that organized and workable...and what those look like?
Or, are you looking more for the varied ways lesson plans and records could look? How do you assemble them? What is most intuitive? Do you find relief in the accountability of keeping certain records? I'm thinking you're looking for the latter.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I enjoy using technology and the computer, but in the end I find I'm a paper and pencil gal...so that means I enjoy building templates and tables to organize information which is custom suited for our family and then I print and keep this in my daily notebook which also has my lesson plans in it. Records are maintained and updated by hand from there. I find it easiest if they all live in one place. This is just my preference.
I keep:
** Attendance records. We have a required number of legal days to meet. I have an Excel spreadsheet that is provided to the families of my local cover school. This is filled out and submitted to the cover school. I find it helpful to indicate on my lesson plans which day of the school year it is for each child so that I have a running count of our days. Then, periodically, I fill in my attendance sheet with our days.
** Book lists. Each child maintains a booklist for the year of books read and completed. I note when a book was started, when completed, whether an oral or written narration was completed, if the book was read for pleasure or for a subject specific study, and leave a place for notes (sometimes a project spins off a book and I might note it.)
** Lesson plans. Again, what works best for me is to build a fairly basic (custom fit to our family) structure in a calendar based program and then print them weekly for my daily notebook. I write in the details a week at a time. The children and I make notes on these throughout the week, and at the end of the week, I file these by week in a larger 4" binder. I keep these for the entire year. It helps to be able to go right to a specific date to see what a particular child was doing if that is needed. I like that I can anticipate the basic layout of the day on paper - what we're studying, reading aloud, reading independently, etc...but the details are considered weekly in light of what we covered that week, and the interests, goals, and natural progression of studies.
JennGM wrote:
| What is an easy way to record keep? |
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Easy will vary from person to person. I'd ask you if you prefer hand written to computer lists? Is something on the computer going to be "out of sight - out of mind?" **OR** Do you tend to lose paper bits easily while finding it very intuitive to organize thoughts and ideas in email, bookmarks, docs, etc? Chances are, the most intuitive way for you to keep records will not be too far away from how you naturally tend to manage information bits in running your home. Think in terms of that...even if you feel you don't do this perfectly...what comes most naturally for organizing ideas and lists around the home for you? Paper...computer...a combination of the two?
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 08 2010 at 6:42pm | IP Logged
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Oh, Jen, you're a dear. Thanks for hand-holding for me.
Mackfarm wrote:
So...I'm just trying to get a sense...are you looking for how others meet the requirements in the legal record-keeping dept and keep that organized and workable...and what those look like?
Or, are you looking more for the varied ways lesson plans and records could look? How do you assemble them? What is most intuitive? Do you find relief in the accountability of keeping certain records? I'm thinking you're looking for the latter. |
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Yes, and yes. Our state doesn't require much, but I do like to know what kinds of things some places do legally require. I know it would be above and beyond what I NEED to do, but I would like a peek.
And then what does it look like in your home? Planning is one thing, but then record keeping is another.
I fail at both.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Record Keeping for Dummies
