Homeschooling can be a very delightful
journey as you bring your children up in the style of education
that you desire. You might have started planning their education
before they were even born! Or perhaps you started after taking
them out of public school and started on your journey a bit
unexpectantly! No matter how you started in your efforts of
home education, keeping a journal of the experience is rewarding,
a delightful workshop of what does and doesn't work as well
as a requirement of law in some states!
Some state require that you keep
some sort of recordkeeping log of your educational plans,
outline and the efforts of your children. If you live in one
of these states, please be aware of your requirements and
perhaps a log book or journal might be the perfect ticket
to meeting those requirements.
We do have a little bit of a
bias when it comes to journaling and homeschooling! Here at
Westvon Publishing, we love writing, journaling, homeschooling
and music! And in fact, we've created a wonderful product
that helps you to keep all your record keeping in tact for
all your homeschooling needs. It's called the Master Planner,
and it is a compiliation of over 160 homeschool forms on CD
in the PDF format. You can visit the site here, www.TheMasterPlanner.com,
but please come back and visit here!
Actually, any journal or notebook
can work just fine. A binder with notebook paper, or a fancy
ledge book, it really doesn't matter as long as you record
the information that suits you, in a manner that suits you!
That sounds a little simplistic, however, homeschooling journaling
is just that, a recording of the day to day events of your
home school in a simple format.
If you find it too tedious to
record every little bit of information about your children's
education, a simple note journal might be the best way to
make comments about skill levels, plans for trips and events
and contacts to make within your homeschool group. You might
want to occasionally document your thoughts about the progress
of your children, noting difficulties or successes to reflect
upon when you do your year end reporting.
However you do your journaling
for your own homeschool, you will find one blessing to this
activity. When all is said and done, you will have a delightful
journey of the memories that you created while you established
the educational foundation of your children's lives!
- Depending
on your own personality, remember to create a journal that
fits your style and is not a burden. If you don't like to
write much, don't expect to fill a book with page after page
of information each day. Quick notes and ideas will work better
and in the long run you will stay at it. If you like to write
and enjoy reflecting on all aspects of the day, do so! Just
remember not to make it a burden or you will let it slide!
- Invite
your children to write as well in your family's homeschool
journal! Nothing will be more endearing when you read your
son's ramblings at age 7 when he is graduating at age 18!
These are precious times in your children's lives and your
recordings will be something to cherish through the ages!
