recording time

[jacynamommy]

Hi ladies! Well, I officially have to "record" time this year, as my oldest is in 1st grade and will be 7 in a few months. I've never really done this before, and as I started to yesterday, it seemed really tedious! A friend sent me a great "time log" on a spreadsheet on the computer, which is going to be great for helping total the hours! My question, though, is this...when you record time, do subjects "overlap" or do you just count toward one thing at a time? For example, yesterday my son was doing copywork from the Bible on his memory verse. I'm thinking this time would count toward Bible/Spiritual time as well as writing. Say he spent 30 minutes doing this...would I count 30 minutes toward Bible and 30 minutes toward writing? Would I just put the 30 minutes in one place or the other (whichever he needs more) or do I split the time between the 2??? Maybe I'm making this too difficult! Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Bramble]

are you in a state where you have to submit these hours written up like this? if not, I'd skip it. I live in WI. We are required 875 hrs (I think that's the right number!), but we do not have to record it. My kids are learning all the time, everyday, and I'm not just saying that! LOL So I would record all the hours of their life if it came to needing to record. Try not to sweat it!

[jacynamommy]

We don't have to turn in our hours, but we are supposed to record them (in case we need them in case of investigation, etc.).

[Tansy]

I would say that you could only record 30 min in total. Maybe splitting the difference is the best option.

My friend who was schooling in NY and had to have 6 hours of school time per day!!!! records chores as life activities/home economics etc. Any "creative" time spent in leggos, drawing, painting, crafting for fun is listed as art. Any reading for pleasure etc. is listed under reading. so many ways to make sure you have a good total. She also gives her kid a 30 min recess.

hope that helps.

[my3sons]

Hi Meredith! I want to encourage you that this need not be "all that" if you are in state that just wants time recorded. The less tedious you can make this the better, as time will be freed up to teach, which is what we love to do! Personally I would just have an overall schedule, (here is an example of mine for the 3 guides we're doing this year):


You can just include the box titles of the HOD guide and the minutes needed to do them right in your one page schedule (that way you don't have to break down the minutes like in the example you gave). At the bottom of your one page schedule, you can put the total minutes for the day. This link should help you with box names, box time allotments, and total minutes:
BHFHG time it takes:
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=702

Then, just photocopy the Introduction, Learning through History, and Learning the Basics pages from the front of your manual. Make a page where you can record the dates you did school (here's an example of one of mine):


Finally, you can just staple the dates checkoff, the schedule, and the Intro/Learning through History/Learning the Basics all together, and all you'll have to do each day is make a check next to the day after you've completed it. This is just one way you can do it, but it's very easy to do, thorough, and shows exactly what your dd did each day with her time. (The introduction, etc. pages show exactly the skills covered in a way that proves you met - and probably even exceeded - state standards.) HTH!

In Christ,
Julie