I was recently asked how I keep records so thought that I may as well post the response here.
I believe it is a matter of documenting your learning opportunities, and then jargonising them, which isn’t that hard really…especially if you are familiar with the requirements as laid out by the particular Board of Studies and Ed. Dept’s. We use a recording journal that I made up…I make them yearly for each child and they can be personalised. Each year they have looked different although the last 2 years they’ve been the same. As we go throughout the day, I can easily look back and see where things fit into various subject areas: (For the older children)
BIBLE
Catechism
Bible reading
Bible stories
Proverbs ? character
ENGLISH
Copywork
LLATL
Spelling / Vocabulary
Writing
Grammar
Individual Reading
Reading Aloud to others
Listening to Reading Aloud
MATHS
Text / workbooks
Biographies / stories
Times tables / memory work
SCIENCE
Science text/workbook (Medicine, Chemistry)
Living book/biography
GENERAL
Folk Song
Natural History
Shakespeare Story
Current Events
Manners & Etiquette
SOCIAL STUDIES
History General
History Australian
Geography
Economics
Citizenship
FINE ARTS
Music Appreciation
Composer study
Art Appreciation
Artist study
Art Application (Artistic Pursuits, ArtPacs)
LITERATURE
Well, this is way to big to cover, but I”m sure you get the idea.
LIFE SKILLS
Well, this is way to big to cover, but I”m sure you get the idea. This area also covers heaps of the Key Learning Area’s (KLA’s)
EXTRA’S
Well, this is way to big to cover, but I”m sure you get the idea.
For the younger children, it is a different layout:
It is a 2 page spread and it has Mon-Sat down the left side.
The left side has boxes so that either the children or I can fill it in. There are boxes for:
Spiritual Life
God’s World – Science and Technology
God’s Story – History (places, events, people)
People and Places – Geography, etc…
Then, when we look back over our day, we can slot in the days activities into the relevant boxes. This helps the children to learn to record their learning opportunities, although we aren’t the most diligent with it but more than that, it helps them to see that all of real life is learning.
When presenting this to the Ed. Dept, I would give as little as possible. This might be something like a summary report, with a short paragraph on each subject matter, outlining if we used a text or books and I’d talk about things that the student enjoyed learning about. We also record the character and spiritual/emotional development of the children but this is purely for *us*. No one else sees it. This is where we write about the spiritual, emotional and character development of the children. For us, this is more important than the academic record.
It seems like a lot, but once you get the hang of jotting things down it just becomes part of a daily habit, like brushing teeth, and doesn’t take very long.
