|
Beating those Recording Blues
by Beverley Paine
Many home educators bemoan the fact that recording their children's learning takes as long, if not longer, then helping the child learn in the first place. This doesn't have to be the case and really depends on how you go about it. I used many different approaches over the years and designed a system that worked for us which generally took only five to ten minutes a day (when we actively recorded, which wasn't all the time). Every now and then I'd spend an hour or so putting together a summary and tweaking our learning plan to reflect any changes in direction we'd taken. That's not a lot of effort for an educational program for three children.
I think people say it's tedious and time consuming because it's something that we don't want to do in the first place. I've met parents who probably wouldn't be home educating if they felt they didn't have to, having come to it because school had failed to deliver an education that met their child's needs, or it wasn't a safe place for the children. Many of these parents use a school-at-home approach which emphasises teaching and lesson plans, text and work books or online lessons. The parent assumes the role of supervisor, often hoping the materials are adequate to 'teach' the content or skill required. Personally, I see home education as an interactive process, where the more experienced, knowledgeable person sets an example to follow, demonstrates skills, spends a lot of time talking and playing in all kinds of situations and circumstances, and involves everyone engaging in meaningful activities within and outside of the home. We're on a learning adventure together. With this kind and level of interaction recording becomes much less tedious and daunting.
Jotting down a few anecdotes or evaluative comments throughout the day in a diary doesn't take long. Keeping it all in your head - your goals and objectives, how it's all going, what you need to tweak, etc, is far more onerous for most people! Not only that, but it's very easy to forget those 'aha' or insightful moments where you realise or witness your child passing a milestone or suddenly 'getting it'. And it's easy to feel overwhelmed, begin to worry that the children aren't learning what you want them to, repeat 'lessons', run the risk of your learning program becoming 'boring' for the children, etc, if you aren't keeping track in some way.
As we moved from using a school-at-home approach to an unschooling one I found keeping records absolutely invaluable for maintaining my confidence in what was then a very much unproven educational approach. I collected anything that my children wrote, dated these 'samples' and filed them in folder, sometimes pasting them into a scrapbook. Cameras in mobile phones makes capturing copies of the children's activities and work so much easier! For my grandchildren I take photos and upload them to a folder on the internet, jotting a few comments about what I thought the children were learning as well as what they were doing. Over time the collection becomes a comprehensive record of learning across the curriculum. I make a mental note to include activities that illustrate learning in each area of development - this helps build my confidence my children aren't missing out by not being at school. A few words, an image - these were enough to jog my memory and enable me to talk for hours about how my children were learning and progressing - giving other people confidence in home education too!
What is important is finding a method of recording that works for you. As a home educating mum my diary lay open flat on the kitchen bench with a biro ready for those few words to be added at different intervals throughout the day. It has to be easy to do, on hand and visible or we won't do it.
Was this article helpful? Was it worth $1.00 to you?
Your gift of $1 or more helps to keep this site operating
offering encouragement
and reassurance to families
wanting
better outcomes for their children.
Beverley Paine with her children, and their home educated children, relaxing at home.
Together with the support of my family, my aim is to help parents educate their children in stress-free, nurturing environments. In addition to building and maintaing this website, I continue to create and manage local and national home educating networks, help to organise conferences and camps, as well as write for, edit and produce newsletters, resource directories and magazines. I am an active supporter of national, state, regional and local home education groups.
"You've been an inspiration to me, I love the way
you really listen to people." Vanessa
"Whenever I read your writing I always come away
with increased confidence in my ability to provide and
share a wonderful learning journey with my family!" Davina
"Your guidance, understanding, support and words of
wisdom changed our lives. We now offer support and
organise many homeschooling events for others." Lesley
"Thank you once again for your prompt and friendly service.
I am convinced that your books are going to add
quality and peace of mind to my journey of teaching my kids
at home! Just from studying your website, until almost
2am
in the morning, I 've been encouraged!" Louisa
"Thank you for all your many,many reassuring words
over many, many years. You probably don't know exactly how
valuable you are to the Australian Home Education community.
I've been reading your stuff for maybe 8 years or more now.
And I'm very grateful." Gythaa
CLICK HERE
if you want to learn
how to write your own education plans
to suit
your unique children's
individual learning needs?
Or you are looking for quality curriculum and teaching tips...
|
|
Welcome to the World of Home Education
and Learning without School!
We began educating our children in 1985, when our eldest was five. In truth, we had helped them learn what they need to learn since they were born. I am a passionate advocate of allowing children to learn unhindered by unnecessary stress and competition, meeting developmental needs in ways that suit their individual learning styles and preferences. Ours was a homeschooling, unschooling and natural learning family! There are hundreds of articles on this site to help you build confidence as a home educating family. We hope that your home educating adventure is as satisfying as ours was! Beverley Paine
3 ESSENTIAL STEP BY STEP GUIDES
Let experienced home educators Beverley, Tamara and April walk you through HOW to create a learning plan that builds on solid foundations that works for YOUR family AND ticks all the boxes for home educaton registration!
|
Tap into Beverley's
experience
through her books
"Your books, your blogs helped me beyond words... they helped me to find comfort in knowing it is ok to choose exactly what is best for my family." Nisha
"Your books and information are mind blowing and already I am feeling good about this new experience." Diane
"Your guidance, understanding, support & words of wisdom changed our lives." Leslie
"I feel specially inspired by Beverley's words and, the more I read her comments, the more inspired I feel, since my need for support, respect for different parenting styles, and information are fully met." Marijo
|
 |
|
The information on this website is of a general nature only and is not intended as personal or professional advice. This site merges and incorporates 'Homeschool Australia' and 'Unschool Australia'.
The Educating Parent acknowledges the Traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Owners, the Custodians of Australia, and pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people viewing this website.
Advertise on this site.
Australia's premier online annual conferences, lifetime access to video and audio recordings, freebies, notes and associated resource guides.
EVERY SUMMIT IS UNIQUE!
$29 each  2023  2022 2021
$25 each 2020 2019 2017
"Biggest and best Aussie homeschool event of the year!"
Home education is a legal alternative
to school education in Australia.
State and Territory governments are responsible
for regulating home education and have different
requirements, however home educating families
are able to develop curriculum and learning programs
to suit the individual needs of their children.
Without revenue from advertising
by educational suppliers and Google Ads
we could not continue to provide information
to home educators. Please support us by letting
our advertisers know that you found them on
The Educating Parent. Thanks!
|
About
Thank you for visiting!