It's so fun to look back at another year of growth and reflect on what the Lord has done in all of us - mind, body, and soul. This was my second year to educate our four boys at home, and this was the year I fell in love. The first year was good but full of growing pains as we figured out what "homeschool" would look like for our family. This year we hit our stride, and we truly love where we are with education in this season.
How fast they grow!
We've been going to Cracker Barrel to celebrate the end of each school year since our oldest finished PreK in 2010. Over several plates of pancakes it's fun to hear what everyone's favorite subjects, sport teams, field trips, projects, etc. were from the past year.
Traditionally we play a few rounds of checkers outside and make our summer bucket list before leaving Cracker Barrel, but this year it was a surprisingly chilly morning. So we headed home to finish on the back porch.
Record Keeping
Part of wrapping up our official school year for me includes getting everyone's final notebook put together. Each boy has his own notebook for each grade, except I combine PreK/JK. I found free editable spine labels over at Confessions of a Homeschooler on one of her storage and record keeping posts.
The School Records notebook has a divider for each school year where I keep a list of the curriculum we used, report cards (start in Kindergarten) from our umbrella school, achievement tests, receipts from purchased curriculum, and our contract with Veritas (where the boys attend "school" once a week).
Before storing the notebooks, I sit down for some quality time with each little guy. Together we look back over all he learned as a result of his attentiveness, diligence, and hard work which did not always come so easily or naturally! It gives them a great feeling of confidence and accomplishment. We talk about what was hard, what was fun, what new things God showed us about his gifts, talents, skills, and the way God wired him to learn about the world around him. Caleb wanted to re-read ALL of his creative writings, and though I took a deep breath, it turned out to be a fantastic idea. We laughed a lot.
I'm still learning knew and better ways to organize, as it is impossible to save everything. But right now, here is what I keep in the notebooks for our records and memories.
First Grade (3"binder)
- Language Divider
- Spelling - tests
- Grammar - tests
- Reading - phonics tests, narration from literature, book list
- Writing - some copy work and dictation, all creative writings
- Math Divider - tests and graded speed drills
- Bible Divider - tests
- History Divider - our tests are done on the computer, but I save a few projects here
- Unit Studies (usually covers social studies and science themes, most of our science lessons are hands on but any notebooking pages or lap books we might have done go here)
- Fine Arts
- Composers/ Music- notebooking pages
- Art - paintings, drawings, etc.
PreK/ JK (2.5" binder)
Not a ton of rhyme or reason as to what I keep here :-). These notebooks are mostly memory books of what I think they'll have fun looking through and be proud of learning.
- Phonics
- Math
- Writing
- Unit Studies
- Art
Learning never stops, but there is a sense of closure and accomplishment as another official school year ends. We're looking forward to summer and a slightly more relaxed routine with lots of outdoor fun!
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