keeping track
I'm not very good with paper.
AT ALL.
I've had to devise some pretty simple systems to keep track of my life because paper and I are on such poor terms. In the great big picture of home education, I don't really give a flying rip if children have a paper trail recording their acquiring of and exposure to information and knowledge. It's not because I don't care what they know. It's because I don't care who else knows what they know.
But.
For the sake of prudence, I do keep track of what my children learn in a year, if only for the purpose of having to someday make a case for myself. It hasn't happened yet, and probably never will, but for the moments it takes up in our day, it's cheap insurance. In case four kids who have gone off to post secondary institutions of various sorts isn't enough.
I do, of course, need paper in my life to keep track of where we need to be and when. And what we are eating for dinner and grocery lists and that sort of thing. Oh, I know what you're thinking you thirty something moms who have it all electronically and app-illy. - BOOMER - Paper? Ha! Well. I say, what if the power goes out for an extended period of time?
Then we'll see who knows if they are running low of toilet paper or garlic paste because they had it on their paper list. I will not stand in the grocer store wondering what on earth what I need to buy.
I digress.
My paper problem has led me to develop tactics to keep track of the day to day. Here are some considerations. I'm left handed. Nothing in my life can be spiral bound. I lose small pieces of paper. Things I write down and lists I make must be attached to larger things (like a notebook) so they are not so easily lost. Anything of GREAT import in the next hour, I write on my hand. Or if I'm not home and don't have my notebook with me. For my own day to day efficient living, I use a large exercise book, the kind with three holes to go in a binder. On the right hand side, I write out my daily schedule. One the left hand side I write ANYTHING ELSE. So that is usually quite a lot. Anything or anybody I didn't buy/do/call/email/sort/think about/blog about, I put a circle around at the end of the day. That way, when I flip through the book, the undone stands out.
On the back page of the exercise book, I jot down important things that pop into my mind such as books I'd like to read to my children, field trips we might go on and Christmas lists. When the book is full, I put it in my done basket and it gets filed with my school stuff at the end of the year.
I also keep a clipboard for the kids that each week has a new sheet on it with their names and a check list of the things they do, on their own or with me. I have a place to write the week, and I also list anything extra we did on this. Also goes in the done basket.
We have a record low of three people at home getting an education and requiring my assistance in their life, a record not seen since 1994 in Landry household. So here's a glimpse of that checklist.
I also keep a family calendar on the wall where I write stuff down that shouldn't be forgotten. That's an old fashioned notion, too, but an effective tool that should not be overlooked to keep tabs on The Near Future.
When my kids were young, I used a weekly template so that everything we did could be jotted down in point form when life was at its max busiest. Here’s an example of that here for your viewing pleasure: