Record Keeping & Organization

At the request of a friend, here is a brief look at how I record keep & organize records/papers for our homeschool. I am, by no means, the best record keeper or the neatest, but here's what works for me.

At the beginning of the year, I make a rough weekly plan. I don't always stick to it, but it gives me a rough guideline. I've found that I am not a strict schedule person. I tried it & we never stuck to the schedule. I always felt defeated so I threw out the strict schedule.

When we get new curriculum, I make a spreadsheet with the chapter, worksheets & tests listed.

I make sure I have a place to put the date we completed each lesson. Many times I don't fill in the dates/grades until the end of December & end of June. I make sure to date each lesson/worksheet as we complete it.

Sometimes, I also list any supplies we need for our lessons. My spreadsheets are then printed & kept in a notebook.

I use 3-ring binders to keep worksheets that we use. I also tear all my workbooks apart & put them in 3-ring binders. I find the kids respond better to a single sheet than a big bulky workbook.

Here was my desk last year. You can see all my books & binders.

Here are all my past books & papers. I take all our worksheets out of the 3-ring binders at the end of the year. I rubber-band them together by subject for each child. Just recently I boxed them up. I hope to eventually scan them into the computer so I can declutter some more!

The top of my desk holds all of our current curriculum and the next books we will tackle. I keep them where they are easy to access.

Lastly, here is all our supplies. The filing cabinet stores magazines & coloring books. The containers hold crayons, pencils, glue & other craft/school supplies.

I'm not the most organized or neatest person as you can see, but this system has worked for me. Feel free to ask me questions on how I do things or what stuff we use. It seems weird to me to think that I'm considered a veteran homeschooler. But I have been doing this for 12 years. I count the birth of my oldest as my starting point. So if any of my methods help you, feel free to use them.

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