The 4 Types Of Homeschoolers And Other Observations
A few months ago, I was working on a transcript for a high school junior. We went over each subject area, and discussed in fine detail, from high school algebra to American Sign Language. Everything was complete. As I was leaving, I asked "What are you doing this weekend? " Mom didn't hesitate for a moment, but explained that they were going to a Latin competition that weekend. "Latin? " I asked, "You did not ever mention Latin! " That was how I discovered that her high school junior had already completed 4 years of high school Latin, and her mother had completely forgotten about it.
Now it is not like the 4 years of Latin was a repressed memory of some thing horribly traumatic. It was evident that the student enjoyed it - that's why she was even now competing. But this points out why you need to maintain high school data. It is not just so you do not overlook that your boy or girl did a two-week unit study on economics. It is so you do not overlook broad swaths of learning, like 4 years of Latin. Maintain high school data to ensure that, when the time comes, you are able to make a transcript that really reflects the courses which you taught. Maintain data to ensure that you do not short-change your student. This mother is really an extremely gifted home educator, and has executed an exceptional job homeschooling her kids, and even SHE forgot 4 years of Latin. By no means underestimate the human capability to forget! It can generally happen to anyone! Now let's talk about record maintaining, so that you can make certain it doesn't happen to you.
4 Types of Homeschoolers
When it comes to record maintaining, I have noticed that you will find 4 types of homeschoolers. You will find individuals who maintain data in big plastic tubs - "tubbies" I call them. They maintain all their data from all of their kids in that tub, and it is a perfectly acceptable technique of record maintaining. You will find parents who maintain data in cupboards, cabinets or drawers. Slightly more organized than tubbies, "cubbies" will typically have 1 drawer for each kid and for each year. That is also a fine technique of record maintaining, and it has the added advantage of organizing information by year. Nevertheless other parents maintain a notebook with their high school data, and it is also a useful technique of maintaining data. I am 1 of these "binder queens" and will go into depth about how to accomplish this within the following section.
The final kind of homeschool parents are the ones I affectionately refer to as "question marks". When this kind of parent hears about record maintaining, a question mark will appear over their ever-so-slightly-cocked head as they think to themselves, "Records? Were we supposed to maintain data? " This is really a technique that I don't suggest! That's how you are able to lose things like 4 years of Latin,
Tods womens boots, or being an Eagle Scout. Every homeschool parent can choose which technique is best for them. Tubbies maintain lots of stuff but lack organization, cubbies maintain lots of data with minimal organization, and binder queens have information on each class in an organized fashion. I generally suggest that parents attempt to get much more organized every year. If the initial year you're a tubby, attempt to graduate to a cubby the following year. Move up the food chain!
The Binder Technique of Record Maintaining
When we very first started visiting colleges, I asked what data they needed me to bring. They said,
Tods heaven shoes, "Bring them all! " I was astonished, but I did what they needed. I traipsed into the admission office with 6 binders full of homeschool data - 1 binder for every year of high school for every child. By the look on their faces, I quickly determined that maybe they weren't interested in necessarily SEEING my data; they more just needed to know that I in fact HAD data. Utilizing a binder system was convenient for me, simply because I had a convenient location to maintain some thing from each class. If they each wanted to see some thing from Latin or from Macroeconomics, all I had to do was reach into a binder for a work sample.
What do you really put inside the binder? My binders were three inch,
moncle wowomens, three ring binders, each with a creative title like "Kevin 2005-2006. " Inside the binder, I had about twenty dividers that I labeled. In the front I had data that I required to maintain for colleges and for our Washington State laws. The initial section was for the transcript, which I actually made as soon as they finished the year. Then there had been sections for the Declaration of Intent to Homeschool, immunization data, and annual testing data - simply because these things are required by our State Law. I had a section for their reading list and a list of my kids' activities and awards. Finally, I had a section divider for every class that I intended to do that year; 1 for math, English,
moncler womens clothing, history, science, etc. In the beginning of the year, that was all it stated: "math. " Later in the year, generally in the spring, I would go back over what we had taught and develop a course description for every class. I notice that by having a Location for data, I would really maintain data. Like my bank data, they didn't frequently get filed like they were supposed to, but once every couple months, I would methodically take all the papers they produced and gradually fill in that three ring binder. I was able to effortlessly see which sections had been filling up,
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What to Maintain
How do you know what data to maintain? For some classes it is relatively easy: maintain any tests or papers that they have written, and you're done! For some classes you might maintain their lab reports, research papers or work sheets. But some classes do not have paper assignments. Then what do you do? Last spring, a mother was talking to me about record maintaining, and she asked what data she ought to maintain for her kid who was learning how to cook at home. The answer is BE CREATIVE! Think methodically about what they DO for that class. In the cooking example, the mother mentioned that her daughter created a menu, did the shopping, and cooked with recipes. Why note use these for data? Save the menu, the shopping list, and photocopy the recipes that she uses - these are your data for "culinary arts. " My sons play piano, and I was in a similar dilemma. We didn't have any reports or homework, so we kept a list of songs they learned to play, the piano books they applied and we saved the programs from their recitals.
You will find other methods to maintain data. Maintain a reading list of each book they purchase, use, or read for pleasure. You are able to maintain track of how many hours you invest on subjects that aren't "bookish. " The credit value of courses like PE, fine arts, and electives might be hard to quantify unless you maintain track of hours. You are able to maintain course descriptions from co-op courses. Some individuals will photocopy the cover and table of contents from textbooks. Both of these methods will truly help if you would like to create a course description for your classes. If you write assignments for the kids, or have a schedule for them, maintain these items You are able to also do it the opposite way, and instead of writing down what you would like them to do in the future, you are able to write down what they DID do after it is been completed. That will assist parents who are conscientious, but not into planning ahead. You can also have the student maintain a journal of all their school work. That would have in no way worked with my kids, but I know it works for others. If they do that, make certain they include each book, assignment and experience. Most students will do some of their work on the computer. You are able to save all of it, either by printing or saving it to a file.
When to Maintain Data
Homeschool data can become critical once the student begins high school, when they become part of a transcript that will be shown to colleges. How do you know when your kid is in high school? In general, public school kids are considered high school age at about the age of 14, or as soon as they reach 9th grade. 1 of the delightful "problems" with homeschooling is that it isn't always easy to label your kid as a specific grade level. I began maintaining data in 7th grade, to ensure that I would train myself to maintain data and be competent by the time they were in high school. When my youngest son Alex was 14 years old, he took and passed some CLEP exams (which measure college level learning). This was a strong clue for us that it he was possibly already through high school in several subjects! Since I'd been maintaining data to "train myself" we had been able to collect sufficient information to create his transcript when we needed it. If your kid is in 7th or 8th grade, think about maintaining your homeschool data as if they had been already in high school, to ensure that you're prepared for anything as you move forward. As you're training yourself to maintain data, strive to maintain some thing to document each subject they learn. Maintain data frequently! It is a rare individual who will update data each day, but everybody can put "record keeping" on their calendar every month or two.
Right now, why don't you choose whether this year you'll be a Tubby, Cubby or Binder Queen (or King! ) Get prepared now, and then throughout your school year invest some concentrated time on collecting data for your homeschooled high schooler.
When must you maintain data? That's simple: Early and frequently!the other：
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