There are loads of homeschool planners available, but few meet the true needs of most homeschoolers.
I’m the mom of 15 children, and I have to tell you that, no matter how well I have tried to plan, most of our learning has been spontaneous. This has left me at a loss as to how to capture all of that relaxed homeschooling and put it in a form that will satisfy authorities (and “interested” relatives).
Then one day a number of years ago I sat down and did some figuring. What if I created a sheet that would enable me to keep track of our interest-led, “organic” learning in a way that would make it count? I grabbed a legal pad, a ruler, and a Sharpie and went to work.
In a few minutes I had a form that I could copy, three-hole punch, and put in a pronged notebook.
I used this form for years, and I still have a number of these in storage totes in my basement. They are a form of proof, yes, but they also contain precious memories as I also used these notebooks to jot down snippets of our life as a family and the antics of the children that would have otherwise have been forgotten.
Using these sheets had simplified my life, and I knew it could simplify the lives of others moms, so I offered it for free download to the readers of this blog. (You can find that free download here.)
I also realized that I could go one better; I could put a bunch of these sheets into a printed book to make it even easier for other moms, so original Record Book was born. My daughter, Olivia, and I worked for many weeks perfecting it. We decided to add a page for a year’s worth of blank calendars and to fill in the spaces for subjects at the top of the columns.
This book was a real help, both to me and to others. However, I began to receive some constructive suggestions for its improvement.
So…my daughter and I spent that last few months reworking The Record Book. The result is a book with the following improvements:
- Cleaner and more aesthetically appealing graphic design
- A “key” page to explain abbreviations that make notation easier
- Blank subject spaces so that it can be more easily personalized and used for a group of children or for creating a transcript for one teen.
- Tally spaces for those who are keeping track of total hours and hours spent in each category of learning.
The Record Book in its original form is still on sale, but we are hoping this new version will meet the needs of even more moms in ways that will bless them for years to come.
You can find out even more by watching this YouTube video:
Now for the giveaway…
Hey Sherry,
Just wanted to say thank you for simple, practical, and effective resources. I especially like the gentle grammar lessons. My 2 girls started with level one in the fall of 2019 and just started level 2 this month. I plan on starting my 2 younger boys on these when they are ready. After a year of homeschooling during an unbelievably difficult time for our family these lessons were an absolute blessing and am so glad I somehow found your website. I have only been a subscriber for maybe 6 months but do enjoy your contect and emails. God gave you a gift and thank you for sharing with it with us!
Thank you for your sweet comment! It makes me so happy to hear that what we do here is helping other moms and their families 🙂 We have some more free curriculum we’re working on right now–namely a spelling curriculum and “Busy Book.” Your prayers are much appreciated.
That Busy Book sounds interesting!!!!!
We’re hoping to create a book of lessons that are structured but open-ended for those days when things get crazy, such as this time with the coronavirus.
I can not wait to see the spelling book!! I currently use your Gentle Grammer along with Mcguffey and your book that goes with it. I love your channel so much and all if the gentle ways you show to teach. I have implemented them in our homeschool and after 6 years, I can finally breath at the end of the year!!!! Thank you! Thank you! Your such a blessing!
Aww…this makes me so happy 🙂
Hi! Are you aware that your giveaway is not turned on? Did 4 people already win? I just received the email update so I find that hard to believe. Anyway, just letting you know.
So sorry, I’ll check into that right away! Thanks for telling me!
Fixed–you should be able to enter now 🙂
This is a wonderful idea. So helpful when you don’t follow a prepared lesson plan
So true!
I love how I can keep track of all of the kiddos in one spot and literally everything they do fits in to the record book as “school” somehow
This is exactly why I created this book. This system has been so valuable to me over the years!
I can’t wait for this! It’s exactly what I’m looking for.
Yay! Hope you are one of the winners 🙂
I love the updates to this. I purchased a previous version several years ago in a planner pack. Thank you for creating beautiful and useful resources.
It is my pleasure 🙂
I have been blessed by your ministry for years. Thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom. ❤️ I’m a mom of 8 with a YouTube channel myself, “The Kreke Family”
I have made a different record keeping book every year of homeschooling. Haha. I keep thinking I’ll find an easier solution. We have to log hours in Missouri and it is a job when you have a lot of children doing most of their education as “delight directed learning”. I would love to try your Record Keeping book for the upcoming year.
Love your channel! Hope you get one 🙂
So excited to possibly get to use another one of your great creations.
We are incredibly thankful for all you have shared and continue to share.
It’s my pleasure, Sharon!
I would like to win one of these simply because it’d be so much easier in here than a bullet journal for every single child. I have been homeschooling for about 18 yrs and have 11 children.
Hope you win!
Have you announced winners yet? Super excited!
We picked the winners, but didn’t announce them. I’m always inept at the etiquette of such things, please forgive me 🙂 So sad you didn’t win, wish I could give away a free copy to everyone. There is a link in the post to a free printable that is comparable.
Hi Sherry,
Your resources have been so valuable to me. Your book was a delight to read as well. I bought the first record book but it just didn’t work because I needed those spaces to be blank. This second edition looks perfect. Have you or your children every thought about putting together a cursive font program in a modern Spencerian or the revised McGuffey’s style of cursive? Just an idea. I have been scouring the internet for a font to download that is classic cursive. I am looking for a font that I could use to type up my own copywork for the children that covers things we are learning or memorizing. I know there are cursive workbooks out there, and I have used them, but I feel like I could kill two birds with one stone by typing up some cursive that pertains to what we are learning. I haven’t come across anything yet that matches up to what I want their cursive to look like. If you know of a downloadable font out there, please pass it along.
I agree this is a real need. I looked high and low and couldn’t find anything comparable. We did at one point try to create something, but at the time it was too labor intensive. We may pick it up again as technology has increased. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement 🙂
This is absolutely wonderful! What a blessing! Are you able to purchase the second edition right now and if so where is the best place to purchase it? Thank you so much!
Oh, yes–here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Blank-Record-Book-learning-count/dp/B085K9RCJQ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+record+book+sherry+hayes&qid=1597068033&sr=8-2
Where can I purchase the 2nd edition of the Record Book? I don’t see it in your shop nor on Amazon?
Sorry to take so long to get back, we were on vacation away from cell coverage 🙂 Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Blank-Record-Book-learning-count/dp/B085K9RCJQ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+record+book+sherry+hayes&qid=1597068033&sr=8-2
Is the Updated Record Book available as a Printable PDF for purchase?
Unfortunately, no. I’ve done pdf’s for sale in the past, but I’m not certain how to go about it now.
I purchased this Record Book and was delighted to have such a lovely resource. I was wondering if you could share some tips on how you keep track of hours during the day to know exactly what time amount to log. I have struggled to figure this out. With several children and learning happening so organically, how do you estimate how much time was spent? I feel that this would be a useful tool in creating transcripts. I hate to tell my children to ‘keep track of your time’ for all of the wonderful learning that they are pursuing on their own. I would love your wisdom and experience! Thank you!
Thankfully, this isn’t all that scientific! Actually, what the school system counts as a learning “hour” is not concentrated learning; at least one sixth of that hour (and often much more) is spent in administrative tasks, such as roll call and classroom organization. In other words, a homeschooling hour is much more concentrated than a public school hour, so I estimate on everything. If a public school course in American History takes 30 hours, and my child learns that same amount of material in 15 hours, I count it as 30 hours when keeping track for a transcript. This is just a rough example. Also, if my children were spending time in any activity that could remotely be described as learning, even if it is a board game or a movie, I count that, too. I count the times they are engaged in other responsibilities as well; such as weeding the garden or painting the shed.
I hope this helps!
This is super helpful! Thank you so much for taking the time to explain!
My pleasure 🙂