Simple and Straightforward Homeschool Record Keeping

I’m very fortunate to live in a state where the homeschool requirements are quite lenient. Homeschoolers where I live aren’t required to report to the local school district, to get curriculum approved by the powers that be, or to get kids tested on a regular basis.

That being said, we are also not required to keep records of what the kids accomplish from year to year – at least not in the early grades.

Homeschool Record keeping is still a really good idea, however, and is something I let myself fall behind with when they were young. In fact, every year I made a resolution to go back and compile a list all of the things they had accomplished for our own satisfaction.

My boys and I had completed lots of interesting activities I didn’t want to forget.

So one year, I finally bit the bullet and sat down to create a record book for my boys’ school career.

Step One

First, I created a record for what we were currently doing. That was obviously the easiest place to start. I added a picture of that child from the current year to help me see how much they are maturing from year to year.

Step Two

Then I listed out each subject along with the specific materials we were using. I broke the year into two semesters and gave grades as well.

When my sons were young, we didn’t move on with material until they were doing A-level work. As they got older, we began keeping track of grades more in line with the way they do in schools. At least for some subjects like math where I graded their papers.

Step Three

Next, I added a list of the books that I read out loud to my boys that year. We always started our days out with me reading aloud to the boys. We found this to be a wonderful way to ease into our school day.

After that, I listed all the books that my child read on their own that year. I also listed all of the audio books they had listened to.

Some years I have been better at keeping track of this than others. I think that when you keep track of these, you’ll be amazed at how many books your child will read throughout the year.

Step Four

Finally, I listed out the extracurricular activities and field trips in which each child had taken part.

Once you get all of this recorded for your current year, I would recommend going back to the previous year and so on until you get as much as you can remember recorded for each year. Fortunately, I had kept book lists for some years. I also used photos that I had taken to trigger my memory for past field trips and extracurricular activities.

I put our school records in a three-ring binder, putting each page inside a plastic sheet protector for convenience and so that they will wear well. I would also recommend that you save these records in a computer file so that they can be easily updated and reprinted as you remember more and more.

Record keeping is the type of chore that some homeschool moms dread, but once you get started, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised. Creating these records brings back some fond memories and they will be a keepsake for you and your children for years to come.

Click on the image below to download a FREE student record in Microsoft Word format.

And if you have older children, you may want to check out the post I’ve written about keeping records during the high school years.

Have you been doing a good job with record keeping? Do you have tips you could share that have helped you to keep up with this? Please leave a comment below!