Record Keeping/Life Keeping

When I had children, I swore I'd keep track of all the milestones and special moments. I became an avid scrapbooker and was dedicated to my calendar where I recorded all the info.

When we began homeschooling, I didn't think about those "parenting" moments as much as I thought about the "learning" moments. I gave up the time-consuming scrapbook hobby and even quit buying my annual Mary Engelbreit wall calendar. I was counting on their notebooking for school being enough.

There were problems with this plan, however. First of all, daughter was too young for notebooking, and son wasn't likely to have the most valuable information in his math or history notebook. Something has been missing.

At the convention this year, I picked up the "Record of the Learning Lifestyle of..." Journal by the Notgrass family. This is a great spiral book which, like a calendar, allows you to daily record what your children are doing. But more importantly than that, it allows you to chart what they do in categories that visibly show areas of strength and weakness. For example, if your child has not done anything creative in a week, that space will be blank and if you are being mindful (which is the point of the book) you will realize there is an area of deficit that may need more attention.

I really love the way the categories are divided because they show each as foundationally important. They include such things as "Learning About the Thoughts of Others: Reading & Literature" and "Relating to Others: Character and Relationships". All academic subjects are covered as well as Biblical principles for growth, such as character and individuality (ie: creativity). This is also a year-long book, as opposed to a school-year record. You must also keep one for each child. How much or how little you write is up to you.

I thought that this might be too daunting of a task, but after just two weeks, I already see huge benefits. My Mommy brain is not what it used to be, and just the aspect of remembering when things happen is helpful. It's also nice to think about milestones again, such as riding a bike with no hands, or even recording special outings with Daddy. I've noticed right off how little Bible time daughter gets, compared with son.

I'm trying to take a few minutes each night to fill these in, it's hard to remember details back even a day or two. I think this will be a great resource and a good habit to keep.