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Keeping records can be an important (and sometimes legally required) part of your homeschool.
Laws
Your state may have specific laws on record keeping, but many do not. Some states may require a portfolio, attendance records, etc. If your state does not require any record keeping, you can choose what records you keep of your child’s work.
Make sure you’re aware of exactly what your state requires of you – you are only legally obligated to record what is in the law. And even within the law, there is often wiggle room!
Why would you want to keep records if you’re not required?
If you’re only planning to homeschool temporarily, keeping some kind of records is a good way to show the school what your child has been learning. Hold onto things like math workbooks, writing samples, etc. so that you can show these things if necessary.
Record keeping is also a great way to take note of the progress your child has made, just for your OWN sake! When you’re in the thick of it, it’s easy to miss the advances your children are making (especially if you have a larger family). So hold onto those stories and pictures your kids make, because you’ll love looking back on them.
This can also be great if your husband is skeptical about homeschooling and how well it’s going to work. If you save evidence of your kids’ progress throughout the year, it can be a great way to show that homeschool is indeed working!
Keeping minimum records or attendance is also a good idea in the rare case that you are ever asked to legally prove you have been homeschooling your children or if you are in a legal/custody battle that could require you to show your records.
High regulation states
If you are in a high regulation state that requires a lot of record keeping, this doesn’t mean that you need to use traditional curriculum for every subject. It just means that you need to document the untraditional, real life, out of the box learning that your kids are doing.
Pay attention to what your kids are doing throughout the day, take pictures or videos, and keep record of the skills they are learning while they are doing these everyday tasks.
Observe the skills they learn through everyday life or record things they talk about during conversations you have in your morning time. Write down what goals they are working toward and the progress they are making – even if they don’t achieve the goal!
Reverse planning
Reverse planning is a great way to keep track of the things you’ve done – just take a calendar or planner and record what you and your kids have done after the day or week is finished. This is often enough record keeping for many states – or for your own purposes. This can also be great if you have younger kids and you want to remember what you did for specific subjects or grade levels.
If you are questioned
If there’s ever a time when you are questioned about what you’re doing in your homeschool (and this is not really that common), remember that you are only obligated to give what your local laws require. This means that if for some reason a CPS or truancy officer asks you for something that the law does not require, you do not need to give it. This is why it’s incredibly important to know your local laws!
Attendance records and records of progress (or even just photo evidence of learning) can be incredibly helpful in these (rare) instances. If you ever find yourself in a situation like this, or think you ever could be, be sure to contact HSLDA – their lawyers are the most knowledgeable about homeschool laws and can support you in these crisis situations. But these aren’t situations to worry about – just things to be aware of and reason to know your homeschool laws.