Keeping records in your homeschool is important.
Consider this article from HSLDA. It made me think more deeply about how I keep records in our homeschool.
It's been fairly easy to this point, since my children were elementary aged. I save attendance reports, a large plastic bin of their work (one bin for each year), and I have my blog as documentation, too.
As we are facing seventh grade, however, I know I need to buckle down and keep accurate records of so many things. Record keeping is my weakness, and I've come to realize I need some HELP in this area.
Homeschool Minder is helping me make sense of the many records I will need to keep for my upper grades student as we anticipate homeschooling through high school.
It is also helping me keep the most basic records I need for reporting attendance to the state and making sure I keep all appointments/field trips for my children.
About Homeschool Minder
Homeschool Minder is a web based record keeping software for homeschoolers. (Catch that? Web based - which means it is perfectly compatible with PC or Mac - no software needed!)
It offers everything a homeschool parent will need to keep thorough and accurate records for their child(ren).
Features include:
The Calendar:
The calendar obviously offers attendance tracking, but it also allows you to see EXACTLY what will be going on in a particular day, week or month in your homeschool. You can see what assignments are due, what skills are going to be worked on, and achievements.
Homeschool Minder offers you the ability to DRAG AND DROP calendar items. It is VERY intuitive.
For our purposes this year, I am simply keeping track of the days my kids do school (indicated by a check mark) and our field trips on the calendar.
This is SO helpful, considering I have to report attendance to the state in just a few short weeks.
Oh, and guess what?
You can even put CHORES on the calendar!
Gradebook:
Homeschool Minder has a full gradebook.
Right now I am just using it to keep records for my daughter's Saxon 7/6 math class. As we move forward, I will use it to keep all of her assignments/grades as she progresses through middle school.
You can assign your own grade/GPA scale and Homeschool Minder takes care of the rest.
I was DREADING this part of upper grades homeschooling, but I believe Homeschool Minder is going to be quite helpful!
Lesson Planner:
Should you choose to be this detailed, you can track every lesson by skill, assignment and topic.
What I LOVE is that you can also keep track of what books/resources you are using for each skill. It's like a built in curriculum list.
I can type in specific lessons and add them to the calendar. Here you see a Saxon Math Lesson I am planning for this week:
Each time I make a change to lesson plans the calendar is updated. So, while this is a very concrete system, nothing is SET IN STONE. I can always change if need be.
I like the organization this is bringing to our homeschool, while still allowing me to retain much of that interest led bent!
Student Record Management
Included in each student's records are the following features:
- Contact Information
- Reading Lists
- Standardized Test Scores
- Community Service
- Custom Fields
I am finding this to be (again) very helpful.
My daughter volunteers once a week at a local preschool. I am keeping track of her hours easily with Homeschool Minder.
After our testing in May (we are required to test once every three years in the state of Georgia), I will be able to record her scores.
I have begun to keep track of the books I assign to her (and also the books she just free reads) in Homeschool Minder. Below you can see her assigned book for last week (which was completed), and her assigned book for this week as well.
Reports
Homeschool Minder allows you to keep reports (whether they are formal report cards or just reports for your own eyes).
There are over 16 reports that can be generated through Homeschool Minder (including the dreaded TRANSCRIPT), and you can also create your own custom reports. Once created, these reports can be downloaded as a .pdf file and sent wherever you need them to go.
This is going to be immensely helpful in the coming years as we anticipate college applications {sigh}.
Overall Thoughts About Homeschool Minder
When I first was introduced to Homeschool Minder, my inital reaction was "Am I REALLY going to need all of this?"
After exploring and using each and every feature, however, it has brought to light how much MORE record keeping I need to be doing, and just how helpful these records are going to be.
I see Homeschool Minder helping me in the following areas:
- organization
- accountability -- both in me reporting to the state and my children knowing what is expected of them
- efficiency -- every single record is kept within Homeschool Minder - it's all in one place, and really saves me time and effort on a daily basis.
I encourage you to look at the Homeschool Minder website. Give it a FREE TRIAL for 30 days. I think you will be most impressed.
Also know that the developers of Homeschool Minder rely largely on USER FEEDBACK to keep refining their system. That means they are listening to US, making this product the best it can be for our specific situations.
Purchasing Information
Homeschool Minder is just $5.99/month - and yes, that is for unlimited students and lesson plans. You can also sign up for a yearly plan - just $49.99.
The first 50 people to click my coupon link will also save 20% on their subscription to Homeschool Minder.
Click HERE for the Homeschool Minder Discount Code.
Be sure to connect with Homeschool Minder on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
*I was compensated for this review. This post contains my honest thoughts about Homeschool Minder.