Saturday, January 7, 2012

Keeping Track of Homeschool Progress

We don't really do a lot of "school".  At least, my kids don't think of the things we do as "school".  The few things I do have them do are met with such resistance.  For instance, I thought it was a good idea to have my kids track the temperature of the month by graphing it every day.  They thought it was fun for all of 2 days.  Then I was met with "Why DO I HAVE TO?!"  Sigh.
"You don't have to, but I'd like for us to see how the weather changes."
"You're the worst mom EVER!"
Sigh, deep breath.
"Perhaps that is so.  Let me pick you up so you can see the thermometer."

Then I thought it was a good idea to chart Eli's money saving.  He's saving for a Nintendo DS.  Ugh.  I am not very excited about this, but it's his money and if he actually saves for one, I'll be completely impressed, and he'll learn about the value of saving...right? I also thought it be useful to track what we've done so far this school year.  We're more unschooly/interest-led than anything else, so it was tricky.  The only way I keep track of things is via blog, photos and calendar.  I had to look through all of those things, month by month.  Then I put all the activities on a spreadsheet categorized by subject.  Holy cannoli, Batman.  That was time consuming.  But, it was also validating.  As a homeschool mom, I get the anxiety driven by not knowing if my kids are learning enough or are where they are "supposed" to be by school standards.  To me, it looks like we've done a lot.  I filled up spreadsheet after spreadsheet of academia.  I then showed it to my husband who had previously laughed at me for snapping pictures of the kids at the playground and holiday parties, jokingly saying, "You're just going to use everything they do as curriculum, aren't you?"  You bet, baby.  I then pointed out all the things they've done and how it applies scholastically.  Eyebrows went up..."Really, the grocery store applies?"  You bet, baby. 
I now mean to keep track a little better, but we'll see how long that lasts. 

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