Record Keeping

Some of us are required to keep and/or submit certain types of records. Some have high-school aged kids who might want to go to a college that will ask for some sort of transcript. Others simply want to keep themselves on track or need a way to reassure themselves that yes, the kids are learning and moving forward. Finding the right form of recordkeeping to satisfy your family and any legal requirements you are subject to will be one way for many of you to stay sane. :)

Paper Records

-Journaling. Many families simply get a notebook and write down what the kids do each day. This can be as loose or as structured as you like. Write down what is accomplished each day, dividing into subject area and noting hours if you like.

-Detailed notebook. Get a 3-ring binder for each child and start printing out useful forms. Luckily, there are sites out there that offer free forms that are specifically designed to be useful to homeschoolers.
http://donnayoung.org/index.htm - Donna offers a wide variety of useful forms. Check out the options and choose the ones you like. She has everything from planning sheets to forms to record volunteer hours on. Well worth spending some time clicking around this site. if you download in Word format, you can edit many of the forms to suit your needs.
http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/records.htm - A few useful forms. Most look most useful in the earlier grades.
http://tinyurl.com/7cckch - A daily assignment plannning page from about.com. Could be used for any age.


Online

Homeschool Tracker http://www.homeschooltracker.com
Windows only
Many homeschooling parents swear by this program. Others swear at it. You'll need to check it out and see if it works for you. The basic version is free and allows you to manage assignments, track hours and some resources used, and generate some reports. The Plus version will cost you money, but does offer a number of extra features, ranging from a transcript feature to weighted grading to the ability to copy assignments into a weekly or lesson plan.

PER (Plan, Educate, Record) http://www-homeschoolplanner.com (note the dash, not dot, after the www)
main site - http://www.home-school-inc.com
Any OS can use this. For Macs, Firefox seems more stable than other browsers when using this site.
A free tool you can use to plan out what you'd like to do, schedule class times, record what gets done, and generate reports on things like attendance and resources used. You define your term lengths, using the dates most useful to you. The kids have their own area to log onto to see assignments, grades, etc. You can even assign work to be done that can be turned in and graded within the system. If you don't take the scheduling too seriously, this can be a very useful tool. (You do have to define class times, but nothing says you have to stick to that time schedule - just enter completed work in appropriate boxes and you're good.)

Help With Getting Chores Done!

******UPDATE - Handiland has begun charging subscription fees in order to access most everything above the most basic functions. We will be leaving the service and I can no longer recommend it unless you're not watching your budget. :(

Do your kids resist doing their chores? Do chore charts help, but maybe they need an extra boost? Have you discovered HandiPoints yet? (http://www.handipoints.com)

Handipoints is an online system where parents and kids can assign and track chores. Parents assign a certain number of points for each chore and the child checks off the chore as it is completed. You can easily list chores as daily, like brushing teeth after each meal, or weekly, like taking the garbage cans out to the street for pickup. You can also choose any combination of days that work for you - useful if Child A does dishes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday while Child B does dishes on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday! In fact, for many chores, I choose the daily option so that we have the flexibility to assign points whenever the chore is completed - some things just aren't scheduled for the same day each week.....

For each chore completed, the child actually receives two kinds of points - the system keeps track of each separately. One type of points can be saved up and used to 'purchase' rewards from Mom and Dad - 10 points to play an extra board game with Dad, 40 points to choose a movie to watch, etc. You decide on the rewards and how much it will take to earn each one.

The second kind of points is used to 'buy' virtual items in the HandiPoints world. Each child has a cat character that they get to customize and play games with. (Some of the games offer the chance to earn more points) With HandiPoints, they can choose to 'buy' items to decorate their virtual room with, clothing pieces to dress their cat in, or do things like send virtual postcards to other cats.

Handipoints is most likely to appeal to younger kids, though I know of quite a few pre-teens who really love playing in the virtual world of HandiPoints. Even if the virtual-world aspect is "too young" for your kids, the point-tracking system alone is worth joining. (As of now, it is free to join. Rumblings suggest that this may change.....) With younger kids, internet security is, of course, a concern for many parents. Handipoints handles this well - kids communicate with each other using a set menu of G-rated statements, questions, and answers. There is no way for them to give out personal information, so that's one worry out of the way! They can also make their cats do things like wave, dance, sneeze..... My daughter particularly enjoys sneaking up to my cat (I do log on sometimes to see what she's up to - she's aware of it and we have fun together.) and sneezing on her. LOL