After 20 years of being a contact and support person
Beverley no longer takes phone call or email inquiries.
Please join one of her yahoo groups (see below) if you want
to know more about homeschooling or have a question.

Save time and simplify your homeschooling life...
Learn from experienced homeschoolers how to write your own curriculum.
It really is that easy!

Back in print for a limited time only! Beverley's manual on how to write your own homeschool curriculum! $25

Getting Started with
Home Schooling:
Practical Consideration

Thank you for visiting!

Collecting Samples of Children's Home Educating Progress

© Beverley Paine

Collecting samples for any subject can be relatively easy once you realise that most subjects are related in one way or another, plus get into the habit of using the camera or tape recorder to record children's activities. This ultimately provides a superior record to that teachers in schools are capable of, and children enjoy looking back on their homeschool records later. Many families now use the internet to record progress - uploading photos and short videos to personal websites/blogs.

I would collect any scrap of writing my sons did and put them in a scrapbook. At first I had scrapbooks for different subjects, but then we just had one big scrapbook for each child. I would date the 'sample' and write some evaluative comment (examples are in my book Getting Started with Homeschooling) . Or I would record in our diary a description of what the child had done.

For example: three weeks after a trip on a tram my son build a LEGO tram and tram station in great detail. This activity reflected learning in Society and Environment, Technology, and Art. All I had to do was write about how his skills and understanding had increased in each area. I could write a page on that activity alone, date it, stick it in his 'scrapbook' and if I took a photo, add that too. He could add a couple of sentences.

Because this activity covered learning in many areas it can be used to illustrate progress in any one of those areas by comparing it with more recent insights or skill acquisition. It could be that a couple of months later my son might have had a conversation with me comparing trams to trains and asking why we have both (and why one is electrified and one is diesel). This conversation could be recorded in the same way as above, and covers increasing understanding and knowledge in both SOSE and Technology.

I wouldn't record everything my children did, just the activities I could see were packed with new learning. We all know when our children cover new ground with their questions and activities.

Flipping back through the scrapbooks and diaries would provide me with two samples that showed progress. Often just a drawing or a scribble in the scrapbook, or a photo, was enough for me to remind me of what the child learned that day and I could ramble on for a couple of paragraphs. Dating records is important.

I did all this recording not for the benefit of getting registration but because it built my confidence as a competent educator. On the days that I felt I was a hopeless educator the diaries and scrapbooks said otherwise. I also kept them just in case when my children grew up they'd accuse me of not teaching them at all, because we unschooled - those scrapbooks were going to my defense! As it was, we never needed them.

After 20 years of being a contact and support person Beverley no longer takes phone call or email inquiries. Please join one of her yahoo groups if you want to know more about homeschooling or have a question.

SEARCH this site:

If you like what you read here, you can order Beverley's books!

	Getting Started with Homeschooling - how to write your own learning programs
	Beverley's E-books
	Learning Without School - how 30 families homeschool
	The Homeschooling Trail - Christian unschooling life
	Learning in the Absence of Education - how we did it
	Practical Homeschooling Booklet Series - your questions answered!
	Educational Games Booklet Series - make learning fun!
	Practical Homeschooling Language Development Series
	Natural Learning Series
	Homeschool Diaries
	Ready to use Portfolios / Report Cards
	Fridge Magnets - handy reminders!
	Homeschool DVDs
	Sample Learning Programs
	Stock Clearance

HOW TO ORDER

Be the first to find out about new books, ebooks and booklets by Beverley!

Interested in homeschooling,
but still not sure? Read
'All You Need Is...'

Looking for educational resources?
Home Education Directory

Questions about homeschooling?
Browse the Homeschool Australia Article Library, or join our
Frequently Asked Questions
online support group.

Wondering what to teach? See
Australian Homeschool Curriciulum

What's new on Homeschool Australia? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Children Learning Naturally
Online Support Group

Travelling and homeschooling?
Keep in touch with
Aussie Homeschool Campers!

Unschool~Kidz!

Home education is a legal alternative to school education in Australia.
State governments are responsible
for regulating home education.
Different states have different
requirements, however homeschooling
families are able to develop curriculum
and learning programs to suit the
individual needs of their children.
For more information:
Home Education Association

Thank you for your generous
donation to Homeschool Australia.

Text & Images on this site
Copyright © 1999-2008
All rights reserved

Terms and Conditions of Use