I've purchased Homeschool Tracker Plus. I've also set up our first school year, as DS1's kindergarten year, starting July 1, 2007, ending June 30, 2008. I am keeping these records just for us, we don't have to show anybody anything. He doesn't even have to enroll in school until he is 7, and I don't have to register our homeschool (oops, "unaccredited private school") until that year also. It's for the "box checker" in me, and to remind me and show DH that we aren't "just playing" all year. (Not that playing is bad, we will play a lot, but he's not sold on unschooling, and I have spent lots of money on books, so I want to keep track of the fact that we actually read them.)
Maybe between this blog, my other blog for my boys, and HST, I'll have enough descriptions and pictures of activities and learning that I'll be satisfied. I go back and forth between wondering why I want to keep track and wanting to savor and save every memory of everything they do. That's part of why I go for so long between posts here, too, I suppose. Then when I do post, I can't decide between trying to catch up and just talking about today (or this week). So I'm going to compromise this time; here is a list of Life and Learning that I remember from the last month:
* fireworks tonight to celebrate the country's birthday
* making friends at the park on Monday
* meeting our new pastor last Wednesday
* DS1 asking why we didn't drink the juice like Jesus did after reading the Bible story about The Last Supper
* DS1 can do 6 somersaults in a row
* playing in the pool in my sister's backyard
* vacation to Colorado
* driving through Greensburg, KS, which was practically flattened by a tornado on May 4, 2007
* Cave of the Winds (with DS1 wearing his headlamp)
* Santa's Workshop at North Pole, CO
* Hiking the Alluvial Fan trail in RMNP
* DS1 & DH hiking the Toll Memorial trail at Rock Cut on Trail Ridge Road
* the beaver talk
* DS1 doing the giant trampoline / bungee jumping thing (and DS2 almost doing it... twice)
* the rocket park in Burlington, CO on the way home
* DS2 got another haircut, short like DS1's this time
* playing in the rain and sand at a park with Steph's kids
* going for a walk around the block, in the rain, barefoot, with umbrellas (that were often not covering us)
* DS2 missing YEA! and wanting to wear his YEA! shirt and "go to YEA!" to see his friends
* getting compliments on their manners because they say "please" and "thank you" readily
* DS2 choosing The Lost Sheep as his Bible story and DS1 choosing "the next one after last night's" every night for a week
* finishing the New Testament and starting at the beginning of the Old Testament
* vacation Bible school - Avalanche Ranch
* listening to the Avalance Ranch CD all the way home from CO, for 2 days
Even though we unschool, I've always kept lists, journals, and even scrapbooked about our day-to-day activities. You won't regret it. Someday you'll look back at the things you were doing even just a couple of years ago and you will be filled with memories and will marvel at just how far you've come. It passes so quickly. I, for one, love the triggers to remember little details of the things we did along the way.
ReplyDeleteTracy, Thanks for the comment. I appreciate your insight and perspectivie. It's also nice to know someone else actually reads my blog. :-)
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