Depending on the homeschool laws in your state, you may be required to keep a record of your homeschooling to report to your school district. Even if you’re not required to do so, having a homeschool logbook helps you keep track of your child’s progress year after year and helps you become more organized and goal-oriented about the course of study. homeschooling your child.
Some records that are important to keep include: daily attendance, a list of the textbooks you use to plan lessons, as well as a list of books your child is reading or a reading log for your child. You may also include samples of your child’s work, standardized test results (whether required or elective), and anything else that shows what you have done in your home education program each year, as well as your child’s progress in each of the core subjects.
There are general homeschooling records that you’ll probably want to keep for your files. While not all of these are required by state or local authorities, some helpful records to keep in a tabbed folder might include:
•Copies of all correspondence with school officials, including Letter of Intent forms and your Individualized Home Instruction Plan
•List of training or professional development books you have completed for your home education program, such as: workshops on child development, how to develop curriculum or lesson planning, how to bring your child up to speed in a core subject area, or how to teaching a child with special needs.
•Your typical daily schedule broken down by topic.
•Your teacher’s lesson plans.
• Copies of birth certificates
• Year-end grades or narrative reports
•Any standardized test scores if required.
•Copies of receipts for any music, dance, or art classes.
•Copy of registration forms for any boys club/girls club or parks department after school programs. (This can count towards visual arts, physical and socializing)
•Photos of the excursion or registration of the excursion
•Previous school records
•Awards and certificates
•Your annual homeschool goals for each child
•A list of your state’s core academic standards
•A list of your state’s legal homeschooling requirements
•The following are some additional resources to help you with homeschool record keeping.
Homeschool Tracker is easy to use software that allows you to keep track of everything relevant to your homeschool program. You can create and maintain your lesson plan, attendance records, grades, and more! Also, you can download the basic edition for free and upgrade to the Plus edition at any time. http://www.homeschooltracker.com/
Edu-Track is an electronic “organizer” for your homeschool records and more! Streamline your homeschool documentation, create rewards for your students, generate report cards, make lesson plans, track hours, and more with this affordable, easy-to-use system.