Welcome back to 10 Days of Large Family Homeschooling!
Start at the beginning of the series.

If I could choose the one homeschooling conversation I tend to have over and over with other homeschooling moms, it would hands-down be the “homeschool record-keeping” conversation.  Frankly, it is not my favorite conversation, but it sure does keep a lot of moms up at night.

Tonight, I hope you rest easy…

What are your homeschooling laws?

Before you ever begin to try to keep track of homeschooling, you need to know what exactly you are required to keep track of.  States vary from super strict to super lenient, so be sure to check out your state laws on HSLDA.

By the way, a lot of states have laws that say something like:

Student attendance must be equivalent to the public school’s (i.e. 186 days per year, 1116 hours per year).

If that is the case with your state, then please, read my post on How Many Hours it Takes to Homeschool.

Decide how you want to keep track.

I live in a state where the laws are not very strict, so my keeping track will look quite different from say, homeschool moms living in Pennsylvania.  Once you know your state’s law, you can make a more informed decision about HOW you are going to keep track of your school year.  From one mom to another, my biggest piece of advice is

Don’t make it harder than you have to.

Here are some ideas to choose from:

• Attendance record – Similar to public school, you keep track of every day school is in session, assuming your day is similar in hours to a public school day.
• Homeschool Planner or software – These can be in the form of paper files or computer files.  The best ones are the ones that can be used over and over.  Here is an extensive list of planner pages and software.
• School Binder or notebook – This is an easy way to keep track that doesn’t require any forethought.  After your school day, you simply write down all you’ve done that day that constitutes school.  You WILL be surprised!
• Assignment sheets – Another easy way to keep track is to let your assignment sheets serve as your record.  Put them all into a folder and call it good.

{Note:  If you are looking for help in creating a transcript for your child or for simply understanding how to keep track of it all in high school, I HIGHLY recommend The Total Transcript Solution from The HomeScholar.  Phenomenal product and very easy to understand and implement!}

Now, that we’ve established how you are going to keep track of your year, let’s figure out the day-to-day stuff.

As I mentioned in my Organizing the Large Family Homeschool post, I have adapted over the years, so let me give you some posts from here at Raising Arrows that reflect some of the things we have done in the past to track the day to day homeschool assignments.

1.  Large Family Workboxes – I used a modified workbox method for years, but as my methods of homeschooling began to change, I realized my workboxes sat fairly empty and were taking up more space than I wanted to allow them.

2.  Assignment Binders – These were super helpful when I was pregnant.  One of the best parts was they were color-coded by child – oh, how I love my color-coded children!  However, once they wore out, I did not replace them because my oldest was no longer doing any worksheets and again, my methods of homeschooling had changed to more of a lifestyle of learning rather than textbook oriented.  However, at the time, they were a lifesaver!

3.  Markable Assignment Cards – I only used these for a short time, but thought they deserved a mention anyway.

4.  Quick and Easy Assignment Cards – When my 7th born had colic, this was how we rolled.  Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.  This is a great method for the morning sickness days as well.

Currently, I do a full-blown planning session on Saturday or Sunday night using planning pages I printed off the internet.  These are also how I keep record of our days.  I’m trying to be a more intentional planner while I can be.

A word to the wise: when you aren’t in the throes of morning sickness or a new baby, it’s a good idea to do a chunk of planning so that when that time does come, you can avoid the Mommy-Guilt and Shame On Me Syndrome.

And now for the Grand Finale…

What do I keep?

Short answer:  Only keep the really important stuff.

Large families often struggle with the issue of how much to keep when it comes to school things.  It would be easy to end up with boxes and boxes of papers by the end of your homeschooling career if you don’t choose now to take the minimalist approach.

Here are my guidelines as to what makes it into that precious “School Box”:

• Was it a momentous occasion? – Was it the first time Junior wrote his name?  Was it the first essay Susie wrote that actually made sense?  Was it a project that had been slaved over and finally accomplished?  Those things are box-worthy.
• Does it show progress? – I try to keep papers and worksheets that show definite progress from one year to the next or from one task to the next.
• Will I be sorry I didn’t include it? – The shapes book my 6 year old made isn’t nearly as important to me as the All About Me book he made the same year.  I won’t miss the shapes book, but I would be very sorry to not have the book that tells me all about his likes and dislikes, dreams and aspirations as a 6 year old.

Another large family tip pertaining to the School Box -
Label everything with a name, age, and date.  I put everything in one box, but even if you separate out into individual boxes, you will want to remember exactly what age they were.

Now, I hope you have a blessed day and restful night!

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In the Subscriber Pack (FREE to blog subscribers – just enter your email in the big blue box below or in the sidebar), I’ve included some resources to help you keep track of your homeschool.  Once you enter your email address, you will be asked to verify your email and the next time a post goes out, you will find a link at the bottom of my post with a password and link to the Subscribers Only Site.  Enjoy!

Don’t miss the other blogs participating in the 10 Days Series! Click the button below to find a listing of all the blogs and topics!

 Welcome back to 10 Days of Large Family Homeschooling!
Start at the beginning of the series.

Herding cats.

That’s what my husband tells people we do.  And yes, sometimes herding cats is a good way to describe the large family life.

Every child is unique and homeschooling a large group of children with varying interests and aptitudes can be just as chaotic as it is rewarding.

Today, I want to share with you some tips and tricks for avoiding the chaos!

1.  A Daily Schedule or Routine.

One of the first things you can do to make life less chaotic, is to adopt a daily rhythm to your life that incorporates all the things you need to get done in a day.  If you are a regular reader of Raising Arrows, you know how I love to talk about finding out if you are a Schedule Family or a Routine Family and all that entails.  It is so important to have a clear idea of how your family runs naturally, so you can harness that and focus it into something that works FOR you rather than AGAINST you.

Lists and charts and plans only work when you can implement them.  Sometimes the lack of implementing a plan is laziness and sometimes it is simply the wrong plan.  So, be diligent about finding something that works and trying it for a week or two before deciding if it needs a little tweaking or a toss out the window.

Read what other large families are doing.  There are plenty of large family blogs out there and they almost always share their daily schedules.  But remember, no two families are alike and you will not be able to entirely implement anyone else’s schedule.  I spent many years trying to be exactly like the other large families I knew and failed miserably because we weren’t them and our circumstances were very different.  Glean what you can and then make it your own.

 2.  Plan when you can.

There is a vicious cycle that can occur in a large homeschooling family.  You need to plan your school day/week/year so things run smoothly, but you are so busy running your large family, you can’t find the time to plan.

That’s why it is crucial you plan when you can.

I do a big overview planning of my school year in the early summer, but I plan specifics every weekend.  Truth be told, I look forward to my weekly homeschool planning sessions.  Coffee in hand, books all over the place, and a feeling that I am actually accomplishing something is a very happy place for me.

But, not always can I manage my weekend planning session.  Sometimes the weekend is just too busy or we are out of town, or some other project needs me.  Yet, I know if I don’t plan, I won’t get much accomplished.  Because of this, I know I have to find snippets of time somewhere in my day to plan homeschooling stuff.

One of the best ways to do this is to keep a notebook and pen handy and make a list of what you hope to get done that week in your homeschool.  If you manage to transfer it to an actual homeschool planner template, then great.  If not, no problem…the plan is still there.

3.  A crew of vikings.

Yeah, that was random.  But, allow me to explain.

Years ago, I heard Gregg Harris give a session at the Midwest Parent Educator’s Conference in Kansas City entitled Row Yourself to the Battle.  Vikings never had slaves row them to their next battle, they always did it themselves.  And if one viking didn’t do his job, they all paid the price.  We brought that concept into our home and homeschool by giving our children a meaningful part to play in the family.  Everyone has a job.  Every job is needed.  Everyone in the family rows, we row together.  And if someone is left rowing all by themselves with a project, you will often here,

“Where are the vikings?!”

 

4.  Discipline with purpose.

We’ve all done it.  At some point in our parenting we have dealt a punishment that either didn’t fit the crime or made absolutely no sense at all.  Despite the mistakes, we should all try to be purposeful in how we discipline. We should strive to make our disciplining biblical and relevant.

This If-Then Chart is a great place to start.  It lists the offense with the discipline and the Scripture to back it.  I also really like Wise Words for Moms and Parenting with Scripture.

5.  The little things that matter.

What are the little things that matter?  They are your little people.  Your babies and toddlers are a super important part of your day and without a plan for them, you will either spend all day putting out fires or all day playing.  There are tons of posts here on Raising Arrows pertaining to homeschooling with toddlers.  Do a quick search in the sidebar search box for “toddlers” or Google something like “homeschooling with toddlers“.

6.  Free yourself from distractions.

You already have a lot going on, why add to it?  My two biggest distractions during school hours are the computer and a messy house.  I call it Brain-Clutter and Eye-Clutter.

The computer is my main researching tool and it keeps my always-thinking brain quite happy with information overload.  But, this is not a good thing when I should be teaching school.  I avoid the bedroom where my computer is until AFTER school hours.

Before we went to a One-Day Home Blessing, I required our weekly chores to be done before school hours for the simple fact I needed a clean home (no eye-clutter) in order to be my most productive.  However, I would be more likely to recommend you go to bed with a clean house rather than what I was doing…letting everything go once supper was over.

By the way, if going to bed with a clean house seems like an impossibility to you, may I gently suggest this ebook:

7.  Stay calm.

This may sound trite, but if mama is calm, life feels more manageable.  Here’s a prayer just for you, homeschool mom!

To download a full-size copy of this prayer along with many other free printables and forms relevant to this series, enter your email below.  You’ll find the link to your Subscriber Package at the bottom on my emails to you.

And don’t miss the FREE ebook, Homeschooling with Purpose – a limited time Facebook offer!  Go to the Raising Arrows Facebook page and click on the Only Likers tab to snag your free copy!

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