Annual Progress Report for Homeschooling

 

I'm about to write my annual progress reports for our 2012-2013 school year, so I thought I'd share the outline I've used over the years. I get pretty excited about writing the reports because I always feel so productive when I see all we've accomplished in a year, and this year has probably been the most productive year we've ever had! I made a point to stay home and focus on HOMEschooling AT HOME, so we weren't part of any outside classes this year. It's been great! Staying home allowed us to spend more time focusing on a more personalized education plan for each child. This worked out perfectly for us because we were super productive academically, and our time out of the house was always spent doing something fun with our friends.

Since the Georgia law states that our home study program must provide “a basic academic educational program” that includes, but is not limited to, reading, language arts, math, social studies, and science, I will include each of these subjects in our reports. This may also include Bible, Music, Art, Foreign Language, P.E. etc.

The first thing I do is make a list of what curriculum we used for each subject. Here's an example:

Reading-
Instructional Reading- Rod & Staff, Pathway Readers
Independent Reading- See Booklist

Language Arts-
Grammar and Writing- The Sentence Family and BJU Press, English
Phonics- Explode the Code
Spelling- All About Spelling
Vocabulary- Wordly Wise
Handwriting- Handwriting Without Tears, Can-Do Print
Typing- Typing Instructor for Kids, Platinum, CD-rom
Literature- See Booklist

Math-
Teaching Textbooks
Math Facts- Flashcards and Calculadders

Social Studies-
History- American History- See Booklist
Geography- Daily Geography Practice
Government- Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids website (Election Process)
Include list of books, videos, resources and field trips such as Homeschool Day at the Atlanta History Center!!

Science-
Apologia, Zoology 2, Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day, textbook and notebook journal
Apologetics- Jonathon Park CDs
Include list of books, videos, resources and field trips such as a trip to the beach!!

After I do all that, I go ahead and add additional information that will shed light on exactly what was covered in each subject. Most of the time, this can be obtained by simply looking at the table of contents. For each subject, I'll also share how much they learned and what their strengths were as well as any struggles they may have had. I may also write about any future goals that need to be met.

Then, even though I have listed field trips with each subject, I will make a separate list of all our field trips, educational activities and other events such as Park Days, Skate Days, etc. Since I do this by looking at my calendar, I list these by the month. Here's an example:

August-
Center for Puppetry Arts, Aesop's Fables
Six Flags
Pool Party
Braves Game
Skate Day
Field Day
Beach Vacation

Next, I make a list of extra-curricular activities that the children participated in such as karate, piano, Sunday School, Do Hard Things, etc. I list any resources that were used as well as achievements.

The last thing I do is print it and put it in a 3-prong folder. I get the kind with pockets, so I can add any certificates, programs, tickets stubs. etc. that we've collected over the year. Then I file it away! I have a Pre-K- 12th grade filing system that I set up years ago, and all the files are already labeled and color-coded, so all I have to do is slip the folder in the appropriate file. By law you only have to keep the reports for three years, but I've kept all of ours, and I'm glad I have as I have found it necessary to refer back to them from time to time.

Happy reporting!