Home Schooling 24/7???

No, it doesn't have to be! In fact, even though as home schoolers we do tend to use daily routines and experiences as learning tools, it's a good thing to take a break. End the school year. Take a vacation. Give them a report card. Test their progress. Promote them to the next grade.

In this lesson, we'll look at ones to record our progress, wrap things up, and call it over...at least until we start again. Your kids will appreciate it and you will too. Usually, once that spring weather starts creeping in, you'll all find that it's harder to concentrate and look forward to some closure.

Don't get me wrong -- many of the things you've been doing, like reading aloud to your family, self-motivated learning projects, crafts, hobbies, and field trips probably will continue year round. We formally end our school year in the middle of May, but I have a list of summer projects that keep things busy. Don't tell my son, but we actually studied the entire history of the world one summer by listening to a great series of CDs in the car! (Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer).

Testing

This is another one of those areas where states have different rules. If you're not familiar with what's required in your state, you may want to go back to Lesson 1's Activity page and check some of the links there to find out.

Regardless of what's required, it's a good idea to use some form of standardized testing every year or so to see where you are. If you'd like your children to go on to college, they may need admission tests of this sort. Testing while they're young is one way to introduce them to this type of testing situation.

I like the Stanford or Iowa Achievement Tests because they not only show the scores in very detailed areas, but they compare the progress to other students across the country. This helps me know where we are -- what areas we need to work on and what areas he's excelling in. It's kind of a report card for me :)

Especially if your child is older and has been in school, it is helpful to get an idea of where you are starting when you begin to home school. Then you can test again in a year or so and see what progress you've made.

Some families do not want to test their children. That's okay with me! As long as you meet your state's requirements, you don't need to ever give your child any form of test or exam. The type of curriculum you choose will influence this decision as well. Unschooling would steer away from testing, while complete curriculum packages administered by a private institution will most likely require it. Whatever you choose, it's a good idea to consider the options and choose to test or not, rather than let the opportunity slip by without thinking about it.

Standardized testing is available to students outside of schoools. Sometimes schools offer it to home school students. In other situations your home school support group may do testing as a group. Bob Jones University Press offers training for testers and official testing. Tests are given to students over several days, sent directly back to the facility, graded, and then scores sent to parents several weeks later. They are considered official standardized test scores.

For more information on these and the services available, see their site:

Keeping records can be time consuming, but it's a worthwhile effort. Whether you need them for state documents, report cards, or transcripts, an official looking document may be important for your child. Children actually like report cards when they do well on them, and when you're home schooling, there's no reason for your children not to do well. You can slow the pace of a class, adjust the material covered, and be sure that they are learning. Now the burden of producing a report card falls on you! Here are some tips for making it easy, while keeping an accurate record of your student's progress:

• Keep records as you go along. You don't have to numerically grade every assignment, but it is helpful to have some form of record of work done.
• Know your state requirements. Different state require different records and you don't want to have to create these at the end of the year.
• Keep a running list of what you do each day. I have a spiral notebook on the kitchen counter. Several times during the day, I'll add to the list. It may be as simple as this:

  * Read "The Codebreaker Kids"
  * Skip counting in 3s, 4s, and 5s
  * Chapter 1 - Bill Nye's Science
  * Spelling Lesson 8
  * Designed pattern for birdhouse
  * Swimming and water races
  

• Spend some time planning your actiities. This will make it easier to know what you hope to do each day.
• Create report cards that include comments. Grades are important, but the personal touch helps encourage students and let them know where you want to see more progress.
• Base report card grades on major tests and projects in each subject. If you don't choose to grade every assignment, this makes for easy grade determination.
• Use templates to easily create official documents. You'll find a good supply of options at sites like this one:

  Report Cards, Transcript forms, and much more!

  (follow the Next arrows for more forms)