Homeschool Record Keeping

When I was in high school, the only ideas I had about my job were a designer or a psychologist. I never wanted to be a teacher. Standing in front of the class, managing a difficult student, checking the student’s assignment, and meeting with the parent are some activities that I don’t like. I never dreamed of being a teacher!

Becoming a designer or psychologist is cool. They are very challenging jobs for me. I can make products, talk with people to manage their problems, work in silence without being disturbed by the noise of children, and wear cool working clothes.

But as you can predict after reading the two first paragraphs, I changed! I changed suddenly after my son was born, but I only wanted to teach my own kid. At least, I would like to teach, give him knowledge, share my thoughts, and make sure he knows about the world. Holding a baby can change a person’s attitude.

So, what makes me think about homeschooling for my kid? In my opinion, schools can inhibit a child’s creativity and make children uniform with other children; the uniqueness of each child is no longer appreciated. Although there are schools that can appreciate a child’s uniqueness and creativity, only a small amount of lucky children can enjoy that kind of school for now, and it will be expensive.

So, here we are, as a homeschooling family. As the teacher of my son, I do record keeping, make the lesson plan, create and download learning materials. I do my best to keep my son’s learning portfolio, so I can show everyone that I do teach my son, and my son does learn.

Record keeping is important, but sometimes there needs to be a room in your house to keep the records for a long time. My house is small, with four people in it: me, my husband, my son, and my mother. At the beginning of our homeschooling, I kept a stack of portfolio papers. But over time, our house was filled with so many shelves and papers that we lacked a place to put other things. And when I needed to go to a homeschool convention in my local area, I took too many papers! (People who are new to homeschooling like to see my son’s portfolio.) Oh, that was terribly hard!

Then we changed our ways to keep my son’s portfolio and lesson plans by using Google Drive! I never thought that it would be so easy. I can take all our homeschool portfolios with me, as long as I take my gadgets, and there is an Internet connection. I can keep records too, wherever our family goes.

But there is a disadvantage, too, in using Google Drive, especially if you aren’t familiar with the homeschooling record keeping system. You’ll be confused where to start, what columns you should make, what to record, how to categorize your record, etc. So, if you just started homeschooling, use the record keeping system that is available in the homeschool marketplace. That will make your homeschool life easier and better.

Generally, a homeschool record keeper that we can buy from the marketplace is for one year, so the next year you’ll be able to make your own. But if you can’t, you may keep using the available record keeper. Teaching and parenting are not always easy, but you can make them somewhat easier by using an available record keeper.

My name is Maria Magdalena, I live in a coastal remote area of Indonesia with my teenage son and a lovely husband. We like to travel. I write my homeschooling tips and journal at my blog Living Ideas (www.marcellinamaria.my.id), and sometimes I make printables to share with my blog’s readers. I’m so glad that I have the opportunity to share about homeschooling with The Old Schoolhouse® readers.