Save time and simplify
your homeschooling life...
Learn from experienced
homeschoolers how to write your own curriculum.
It really is that easy!
"I have most of your books Beverley... Thankyou for your unending support for homeschoolers ... by sharing your experiences,
we are into our third year of homeschooling and enjoying it thoroughly." Marina
"Thank you for your generosity in helping me to make a start in my homeschool adventure. The information you supply is
real and generous -
fantastic reading. I am so inspired... Your honesty is so rare. Most books do not really explain "how" as well as you do." Tracy
Usually when people consider recording and collecting samples of children's work they think about written work, or art and craft projects. Recording can be done in any media - video, audio tapes and photography will make a collection more exciting, and often broadens the range of learning activities if you encourage the children to do it themselves. It is important to remember, however, that recording should be an intrinsic part of the learning activity, not the reason for it!
In addition to collecting samples of the children's work (in all areas of their life - not just the so-called 'academic' areas), you and the children can provide comments or anecdotes related to the works to be recorded with them. Children can be encouraged to record some reflective comment next to or on their work. Often such comments reveal more about the child later than the piece of work collected!
Samples of work can become celebrations of learning, proudly displayed for awhile, before being carefully stored. Remember to always date samples.
For many home schooling families such collections form the backbone of their evaluation process, in combination with a diary or journal, calendar and the odd check-list as supplements. Depending on your personal style of writing, a diary can offer as much or as little information on your children's learning processes as you wish, from a dry account or list of activities, books read, skills or content areas ticked off, etc., to a loving insight into your children's developing personalities. It doesn't have to be up-dated everyday, but regularity is a key feature of any diary.
A calendar can not only record what events are coming up in the month ahead, but also what you do each day. Some people have different calendars to record specific information on. For example, the pages of the television guide with watched programs highlighted, is a quick and simple way to supplement a more extensive record.
Whatever method you adopt; recording should become a natural and easy process, not contrived. If you value recording and evaluation as an essential part of education then it should never be a chore, and will serve no other purpose than to enhance the kind of education you are offering your children.
In my book, Getting Started with Homeschooling Practical Considerations I have included a chapter on what and how to record along with several examples taken from our homeschooling archives. We tried many different approaches over the years until we found one that worked best for our family from which I created the Learning Naturally Diary.
Please note: the information
on this website is of a general
nature only and is not intended as
personal or professional advice.
SEARCH this site:
Getting Started Manual Unschooling Books Educational Games Natural Learning Practical HS Booklet Series Curriculum Reports/Portfolios Homeschool Diaries Conference DVD 
More questions?
JOIN the FORUM
Time to spare?
Browse our extensive
ARTICLE
LIBRARY
Looking for Resources?
Australian
Home Education Resources Directory
Feedback is always welcome
on our websites!
Your help is needed to keep Homeschool Australia online!
Join the HEA in 2008
and receive
2 FREE Booklets
by Beverley Paine!
A percentage of sales
goes to Trees For Life
to replenish the resources the books take from the Earth during manufacturing.
|
|
Email
Thank you for visiting!
Pioneering members of the home education movement in Australia,
Beverley and Robin Paine
are passionate advocates of true educational choice for families.
They began homeschooling in 1986 and three years later started the
South Australian Home Based Learners
network. Beverley continues to write for homeschooling newsletters
and magazines as well as hosting several websites dedicated to promoting
and supporting home education in Australia. Her aim is to demystify the
education process and make it accessible to all parents. Enjoy Beverley's
wealth of practical knowledge, homeschooling and unschooling tips and
ideas through articles and books and online at
www.homeschoolaustralia.com.
Since the late 1990s Robin and Beverley have been building their home education
publishing business - Always Learning Books - from home with the help of their son Thomas.
Please note that the opinions and articles included in the suite of Homeschool Australia websites are not necessarily those of Beverley and Robin Paine, nor do we endorse or necessarily recommend products (other than our own) listed in contributed articles, pages, or advertisements.
Homeschool Australia : SAHEN : Australian HS Curriculum and Directory : About the Paine Family
Text & Images on this site
Copyright © 1999-2008 Beverley Paine.
All rights reserved.
Help | Disclaimer | Copyright | Privacy