Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Record Keeping Question

For those of you who home school... how long do you keep completed work? We use a completed drawer and completed file system where completed work is placed in their drawer and I gather it for grading. When  I have graded and recorded the work, it is placed in a completed file. Some things are placed in the kids portfolio, especially if it is a basic skill that I want to track progress on (i.e. writing samples, reading comprehension, certain math skills).  At the end of the year, we end up with really thick files that I tape close and label with the year and grade level and placed in a large storage bin downstairs. After 8 years, I have lots of completed files. I live in a state that requires no testing or paperwork, but want to be sure to have a good records of the kids schooling. Thoughts?

8 comments:

Christie M said...

We keep everything until they graduate from High School. I have boxes up in the attic labeled for each school year.

:)De said...

Ok. I thought I would see if others had boxes upon boxes like I do.:)

Annie said...

I kept a kind of portfolio, the things I would have kept had they been my students in school....and those are pretty much the things I would have kept once a teacher gave them to me. Maybe I gave too much "busywork" .... but I would never have thought any of it worth keeping for years. Except...when I cleaned out the old building, one of the things I found were the portfolios of the kids' homeschooling work - from 15 years ago! And, I haven't thrown it away yet. Want to eek all the amusement I can out of it first.

:)De said...

Annie., Since grades 3rd and higher use a Pc based program, most is kept on harddrive, but they have daily homework, reports and projects that really add up to a large amount of paperwork...times now what will be 6 kids. They love looking back at their old work. Fond memories and good progress.

Hevel said...

I still have my 9th grader's 1st and 2nd grade work from when I home schooled him. I dragged it to a new country, too.

:)De said...

Thanks Hevel, I needed confirmation that I was on the right track.

MOM #1 said...

I may be extreme, but I kept EVERYTHING.

Baby Boy is darn near done with college and I still have elementary, middle, and high school work organized in folders and packed in neatly labeled boxes by the year, subject, and grade. Many boxes. Many, Many MANY boxes . . . an attic full of boxes, LOL.

I don't know what I'd recommend since you have more than one child . . . sorry I wish I could be more help.

I did use Homeschool Tracker Plus to assign grades and print out report cards, etc. I used my own transcript template that I got from another homeschool Mom. But I like those boxes. They make it all feel so . . . real. We had some really great years.

I hope to show them to Baby Boy's children some day.

:)De said...

I built new shelving in our shed yesterday and put them all out there. They were already boxed together by year, but some where here, there. With 5 students this year, I am really going to have to be more organized.