# Record Keeping



## Michele of MI (Jul 8, 2009)

I was reading another post, and it mentioned a program used for planning. It made me wonder, how do all of you keep records of what you have accomplished? We have been homeschooling for almost two years, and I keep track on my computer, but it isn't a great system, because we do a lot that doesn't fit into any standard categories. We use books from a few different curricula and add in a few things like cooking etc. also. So what I am asking is-what kind of system do you have for keeping records, and what do you like or dislike about it? Thanks.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

I was a public school teacher long before I was a home school teacher, so I use a plain old, ordinary lesson planner book. If I have a check next to it, that means we did it.


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## jamala (May 4, 2007)

I too was a public school teacher long before we started homeschooling, so I am more comfortable with an old fashioned lesson plan book. I works well and is simple!


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## foaly (Jan 14, 2008)

I created my own forms using some suggestions from www.donnayoung.org. I have a form that lists all the usual academic subjects but also columns for life skills, scouting, and community service. I fill in each subject that we do each day. I have a separate form for the types of curriculum we use as well as a reading list of all the books we have read during the year. I created a form of 180 squares with the numbers 1-180 on it so the boys can put a star sticker on their "number chart" each day after they finish their school work. I think that's their favorite part of the school day. 

I like my computer but I am a tangible type person. I need to be able to hold the form in my hand and write on it. I've heard about and reviewed some of the computer programs available for homeschooling but it takes me too long to figure them out. I prefer to just create my form, print it off, and stick it in my notebook, writing on it each day. Very satisfying, nothing lost if the PC dies.


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## UUmom2many (Apr 21, 2009)

I use homeschool tracker software. It was $50 but I can use it for different children and grades. It keeps attendance automatically (if you enter in something completed that day, the kid is there) I was using it to actually plan out what we're doing but we do so much kinda by the seat of our pants I'm transitioning to just using it to keep a record for after we do something. It will still keep all my books, publishers and information I put in which I find helpful if we finish something and I put the book away and need it for another kid later.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

I, now, also use Homeschool Tracker Plus. I switched to it mainly because it makes transcripts for you and once you buy it all updates are free, for a lifetime - so I bought early while it was "cheap". My oldest is only in 5th grade, but I wanted to have time to play with and master it before I needed it for high school. Before that I use a teachers planer I picked up for $3 at the teachers store. It was just fine at the time. Now that I use HT+ I wouldn't go back. I know longer have to "kill" 1-2 erasers a year as I have to re-adjust things due to "life happening". Now I can move things with the click of the mouse. 

I still suggest the paper planner to "newbies". I feel they really allow you to work out your style and what works best for you. I spent 2 years planning on paper then entering it into the free version of Homeschool Tracker once we completed the lesson.


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## offthegrid (Aug 11, 2009)

I guess it depends on the type of records you need/want and why you're keeping track. I can't imagine using a daily lesson planner and checking off tasks and attendance! 

Our state requires quarterly reports so I make mine quite detailed, more for me than for them (they don't require the level of detail I typically provide). I keep track of things we did for each quarter (e.g. stacking books that have been read on the shelf, holding on to field trip programs, marking things on my calendar, keeping work out) and then write up a detailed narrative each quarter and file things away. 

We have gone back and forth with written lesson plans and when I do them I keep them for my records, but I'm playing with a different system at the moment and have not been doing them. But I will have no trouble being able to remember what we accomplished each quarter and then I have it (on the computer and hard copy) forevermore.


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## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

I use a planner that I made. I used to use Homeschool Easy REcords but they upgraded and it was just a pain to me after that. Plus I like having a hard copy of everything. I'm on a Linux computer now and as far as I know none of the programs will work for me. There is one for Linux but I've not tried it. I've gotten used to my paper ones.


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## rxkeith (Apr 13, 2009)

we follow a different path. we are unschooling our son. no lessons, no plans. 
he learns, just not the traditional way.



keith


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## offthegrid (Aug 11, 2009)

rxkeith said:


> we follow a different path. we are unschooling our son. no lessons, no plans.
> he learns, just not the traditional way.
> 
> keith


Does your state require records? I know there are unschoolers in my area but I always wonder how they submit their quarterlies. Well, I guess it's not exactly rocket science to summarize some of the things your child learned whether you wrote a lesson plan or not...but I find it interesting to wonder how they balance the state regs and their educational goals.

We're currently "playing" with a less structured way of planning. I do require my kids to work on certain subjects every day but I am not assigning pages in advance anymore. If they get through 2 grammar assignments in 10 minutes, they do 3. If it takes them 2 days to do one math assignment, they take 2 days. 

We have good days and bad days. I love reading about how other families make it work.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Now, I haven't been doing this long.. not even a little bit, but I am learning that the evening is the time to fill out what was done. I plan for one thing and we learn something completely different.. didn't plan on homophones today, but that is what we did..
So, tonight I start a whole new system of keeping track...


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

offthegrid said:


> I guess it depends on the type of records you need/want and why you're keeping track.


That's the best answer! What works for one person may not work for another. Some states, like MI and TX, have musch less to no restrictions. Other places have to report lots of information and most others something in between. So what you record and keep track of is up to you and what State laws you need to follow. Just make sure you don't become a slave to the tool....make it work for you, not you for it.


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## Jakk (Aug 14, 2008)

I am in NJ and have no regulations, no quarterlies to report and no testing to submit. I am keeping a binder for each kid with the curriculum, field trips and anything else written down as well as the cost. I am not organized enough to make/keep a daily plan. I started out this year planning a week at a time and most of the time we got sidetracked and spent longer on certain unit studies or breezed through others. I guess we are doing it the unschooling way too.


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## jmtinmi (Feb 25, 2009)

offthegrid said:


> Does your state require records? I know there are unschoolers in my area but I always wonder how they submit their quarterlies. Well, I guess it's not exactly rocket science to summarize some of the things your child learned whether you wrote a lesson plan or not...but I find it interesting to wonder how they balance the state regs and their educational goals.
> 
> We're currently "playing" with a less structured way of planning. I do require my kids to work on certain subjects every day but I am not assigning pages in advance anymore. If they get through 2 grammar assignments in 10 minutes, they do 3. If it takes them 2 days to do one math assignment, they take 2 days.
> 
> We have good days and bad days. I love reading about how other families make it work.


Michigan law doesn't require any reporting for home schooling. 

That being said, I still write notes on home schooling moments. Like when a great website was discovered that worked on learning US states, or when we were baking bread together and DS did all the measuring, etc. Since I stick pretty close to the curriculum, it is my best documentation. I keep a portfolio of DS's work with tests, grades, special projects, etc. The rest of the school work is kept for a year~~then tossed. And while it isn't required, I still plan having him tested this year. I usually have good results the Seton because it can be self administered.

Then at the end of the year, I write an assessment of me and the school year in general. What worked and what didn't to help plan for the next year. It really helps to put it on paper, leave it for a couple of months, and then read it again when planning for the new year.


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## FarmerChick (Dec 28, 2009)

I keep track of nothing.

other than in my head or written on a scrap of paper--there is no system in my life
LOL

I don't like planning, budgeting on paper etc

Just me


oops is this solely about homeschooling, I didn't notice --I don't homeschool so --oops
HAHA


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