Something that tends to get a lot of buzz in the homeschool community is keeping records. Everybody has different homeschool styles as well as ways of planning and keeping records. Even so, everybody needs needs it! My School Year (Homeschool Record Keeping) from MySchoolYear.com offers online homeschool record keeping designed to make it easy regardless of style!
Recently we’ve been using My School Year (Homeschool Record Keeping) to track our own homeschool. We are just over half way through our homeschool year, and this is around the time I become more forgetful and generally unorganized. Making sure we have a plan for our homeschool is so important. Otherwise, I’d very likely forget! This tool for homeschool record keeping can be accessed on multiple devices with internet access. So no matter where you are you can take a look at your homeschool plans!
I, personally, have been using it on my laptop using the Google Chrome browser as well as my iPhone using the Safari browser. At first I was nervous that it would be a little more difficult to access on my phone since I was doing so through the browser rather than an app. I am impressed, though, by how mobile responsive their website is! I can easily access our account and use all of the available features.
It has an abundance of features including:
- Attendance
- Events
- Extra Curricular Activities
- Lesson Plans
- Report Cards
- Reading Log
- Standardized Tests
- Transcripts
- And More!
My School Year (Homeschool Record Keeping) is designed to keep everything central. All of the kids are added to the account and can be edited, reviewed, etc. right from within our “Homeroom.” There are no additional log-ins or a need for separate accounts. In our Homeroom all of the kids’ names are displayed, and I can click on one to show their exact information. To make it even easier, once I have selected their name I can click and “Jump To” a specific area rather than scrolling all the way down.
I find the site to be very easy to navigate. I feel like I can easily get to and see, edit, etc. what I’m needing quickly. To get started I set up our homeschool. I started by adding each child. I looked at the Subjects, but they provided the necessary basic subjects, so I didn’t have to edit anything.
I then added our school year. It notes to add a “Term,” which I’m assuming are breakdowns of the school year. We don’t really do this, so I just added our whole year in one “Term.” From there I can see my start and end dates, how many days are in our school year, scheduled days off, and our actual school days. Our school year is long so we can take breaks as needed, but since we were just getting started, I didn’t add in the scheduled days off yet. This will definitely help to plan things better as the days come up!
Having the correct school days can also help with tracking attendance, though you can also track each child’s attendance individually on their dashboard. At any time, I can also easily access each child’s dashboard from a drop down in the header. Editing attendance is easy, and you can even make note of half days!
After everybody was set up, it was time to add classes! It is very simple to add classes. Under each child’s name in the drop down, I select “Classes,” which takes me directly to their list of classes. From there, I simply click “+ New Class,” and I’m there! In there parents can add the name, select the Subject, the school days and times. It also offers the option to view and edit other settings. It’s all right there!
I, personally, would be content with those features alone, but as our kids get older I am finding I really do (and should) keep track of all of the important details. Here in Ohio we do have to send a Notice of Intent each year, and it has to list our plans and curriculum (though we’re not bound by it). Now I no longer have to do all this. I can actually make a print out of this for each student right there from my reports! There is even an option to print out a Transcript.
There are quite a few other more detailed features that I am not yet using for our homeschool, but I know many homeschoolers really appreciate them, and I know I will too later! One feature I find really intriguing is the Lesson Planning. There are so many options for actually planning your homeschool year as well. I tend to keep it simple. I just fill in all the classes and don’t narrow it down to lessons. Again, though, I know this is something I will want to do more of in the future, so I know it’s a great resource!
My School Year (Homeschool Record Keeping)
Overall, I find My School Year (Homeschool Record Keeping) to be a thorough homeschool record keeping tool with ease of use. I love that it can be accessed anywhere from multiple devices. It has great detailed features for tracking all the various aspects of homeschooling.
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Many members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew had the chance to review My School Year (Homeschool Record Keeping) in their own homeschools. They have different styles, ages of children, different needs, etc., so you should definitely check them out by clicking the banner below!
i would love to have this on my computer for my kids
This looks like something that will come in really handy for us in the future! I like this a lot better than the paper planners I have seen.
There is one paper planner I really like, but I find it’s so much easier to go digital. In this case when they’re older I’ll be able to easily print out transcripts and such as needed. It’s easier and I think it looks more “professional” as well.