An Easy Way to Keep a Record of Your Homeschool Year

An Easy Way to Keep a Record of Your Homeschool Year

You have reached the end of your Heart of Dakota (HOD) homeschool year – congratulations! Now, you may be wondering how to keep a record of what your children have done. Well, blessedly, HOD makes this easy and enjoyable to do! First, be sure to check with your state requirements for keeping records. You can do so by clicking on your state at this link. Second, here are some easy tips for keeping a record of your homeschool year!

Keeping a Record of Attendance

Some states require you to keep a log of completed school days.  You can easily keep a record of attendance right in the front of your HOD teacher’s guide. In the Table of Contents, you can just jot the date next to each unit that your children completed it (i.e. Unit 1:  August 24-28, 2020). If you’d rather not write in your HOD teacher’s guide, you can just print the Introduction of the guide off the HOD website. Just click the drop down list of guides under the PROGRAMS tab, scroll down to the “Teacher’s Guide” section, and click on “View Introduction” to print the Table of Contents. Then, you can write the attendance dates on your printed copy and put it in the front of your 3-ring binder.

Keeping a Record That Proves What You Accomplished Each Day

Lesson plans are excellent proof of what you have accomplished each day.  Blessedly, your HOD guide has daily plans all written for you.  This gives you ready proof of each day’s activities for any adviser or school district who may need such proof. Printing the first week of plans from HOD’s website is an easy way to turn in a sample of your plans to advisers. Just go to HOD’s website, again clicking on the PROGRAMS tab and the guide you are using. Then, just scroll down to the “Teacher’s Guide” section again, and click on “View First Week” to print the plans. Three-hole punch them and include the printed plans behind the attendance sheet you already placed there. (Of course, you can also just keep your entire HOD Teacher’s Guide as a record of what has been done instead too!)

Keeping a Record of Each Subject’s Scope and Sequence 

You may need to keep a record of scope and sequence and/or show it to your school district or advisor. If so, you can just print the rest of the “Introduction” (and its descriptions for each subject area) from our website. Or, if you have a high school student, you can just print the “Table of Contents, Overview, and Grading” from the guide. Just go to HOD’s website, again clicking on the PROGRAMS tab and the guide you are using. Then, just scroll down to the “Teacher’s Guide” section again, and click on “View Introduction” to print the “Table of Contents, Overview, and Grading.” Three-hole punch them and include them behind the attendance sheet and first week of plans you already placed there. (Of course, you can also just keep your entire HOD Teacher’s Guide as a record of the scope and sequence instead too!)

Keeping a Record of Work Samples

Some states require work or portfolio samples. If so, simply save your child’s completed work throughout the year. You will have every subject area covered. Your Heart of Dakota guide has notebook pages and other work samples already scheduled for you throughout the year. At year-end, simply file away your guide (or the Table of Contents, First Week of Plans, and Scope and Sequence you already printed) and student work samples from the beginning, middle, and end of the year. This serves as proof of what you accomplished for that year of school. It also shows student progress. No matter where you live, you can be encouraged that record-keeping doesn’t have to be hard!

In Christ,

Julie