How To Teach Character Education in Your Homeschool Without A Curriculum (Part 3) – Documentation and Record Keeping
In part 1 of our series “How to Teach Character Education in Your Homeschool Without a Curriculum,” we discussed the importance of Laying the Foundation of faith in your family.
In Part 2 of our series, we shared with you some great reads and demonstrated the steps we use to teach Godly character and foster good citizenship in our homeschool. We also shared how we use YouTube Schooling as a Teaching Tool, highlighted ways to involve your child in extracurricular activities that promote good character, and explored how to find places for your family to serve.
Today in the final blog post of this series, we will show you how we document it all.
Why Document?
Habits. Full transparency here? While I may have unofficially hung up my therapist’s cap almost a decade ago when my son was born, some habits are hard to break. For mental health professionals, record keeping is second nature. We even have a saying devoted to the practice of record keeping, “if it isn’t documented, it didn’t happen.” For me, it simply feels natural to continue with a process I am familiar with.
Rules. Homeschool laws vary from state to state. To ensure you are in compliance with your home state’s rules and regulations for homeschooling, check out the Homeschool Legal Defense Association’s website. In our home state of Texas, a course in good citizenship is required. However, there are no specific requirements or recommendations for how to document said course. So, I made up my own. Continue reading to find out how I do it.
Looking Ahead. While keeping detailed records seems a bit of overkill in the elementary age years, consider the benefits your child may reap when he or she reaches high school age. While not necessarily required for admission, colleges look favorably at well-rounded students, meaning students that present not only with strong academics but also as stewards of the community. Furthermore, many college scholarships are available for students who participate in community service. I was blessed to receive one when I graduated high school.
Required for Participation in Certain Social Service Organizations. If your kiddos decide to become involved in scouting-type programs, such as Boys Scouts, Girls Scouts, Trail Life USA, or American Heritage Girls, you can bet volunteer hours will be on the menu if they want to earn badges and advance up the ranks in the organization. Practicing good record keeping now will help further ingrain the habit for when you actually need it.
Make A Memory. My final reason for record keeping is my most personal one. While my only sometimes jokes that I attempt to document every aspect of his life (he’s not wrong), as the youngest of three I can remember being handed my “baby book” by my mom when I was a teenager. We were moving to a new house and she proudly proclaimed this special box was my life in memories thus far. I use the term “book” loosely as it was actually a box crammed full of random bits of my childhood. Art samples, random photos, and various newspaper clippings in no particular order were strewn throughout the box. Bless her, I was kid number three and she was a tired, working mom. No hard feelings, mom. I know you tried.
Once I became a mom, it was incredibly important to me to document as much of my son’s life as humanly possible in a neat and orderly fashion. In my effort to do things differently from my family of origin, I fully admit I tend to go a bit overboard. (The first step toward recovery is overcoming denial.)
All jokes aside, keeping records is not only a way to mark time but also a way to teach our kids endurance, perseverance, thankfulness, and humility. Right there in the memory book is photographic evidence of their ability to tackle a trying task and come out the other side victorious.
Memory books freeze time, allowing us as a family to revisit hard-won lessons of gratitude and empathy. What better way to remind yourselves as a family that you have so much to be thankful for than to relive the experiences you have shared helping those less fortunate than you?
How to Document
I cannot state it enough: rules for homeschool record keeping vary from state to state. In Texas, documentation requirements are pretty laid-back. Check with your state to ensure you are in compliance.
Here is how we document our “course in good citizenship” in our homeschool:
Reading Logs. We are voracious readers in our home. Each year, I start a new reading log for the upcoming year. I log new book entries as we finish reading them. For an example of the reading log we use in our home, check out our Freebies section.
Service Records. To document the service activities we participate in, I simply type up a list of activities including the name and location of the organization, the supervising staff assigned to us, the dates of service, the number of hours completed, and tasks performed. Then, I have the supervising staff member at the organization sign off on our hours. For me, this was a habit from my many years working in social services. For an example of a similar Volunteer Hours Service Record, check out the free downloadable template from Template.Net see below.
Service records can also be kept digitally. Check out this YouTube video from Homeschool Manager below to see how:
Write It Down. Assign your kiddo a writing assignment about their service efforts. They can tell you how the acts made them feel, how they were changed by them, and what they learned from the project.
Have a child who LOVES writing? Gift them with a Gratitude Journal where they can document their ongoing stewardship journey. Here are a few we found:
Make A Memory. At the end of every school year, I create a personal yearbook. One page is dedicated to community service projects. I start the beginning of every school year by creating a digital file for photos on my computer. I label it “Yearbook” and include the academic year, such as 2022-2023, 4th Grade. Throughout the year, I go about my business snapping pics of our activities. When I come across a particular photo that I would like to include in the yearbook, I offload my phone pics to my computer and place the desired photos in the correct file. I should point out you do not actually need to go through as many steps as I do to complete this process. Just download an app for Canva or Shutterly and you can add photos directly from your phone. There is even a service to create the memory book for you. Easy peasy.
Share Your Experience with Others. When you participate in an outreach project. make a quick video on your phone and share it as a Reel, an Instagram or Facebook Story, or an upload to YouTube. Not with the intention of self-promotion mind you, but with the hope of encouraging others to engage in acts of service.
Humility is just as valuable a lesson as the act of service itself. Shine the light on the cause or the organization rather than yourself by redirecting others to the outreach program in need and listing ways they can help. The goal is to lift up others not yourself. Our Salt & Light Spotlight is one way we hope to achieve this goal.
Looking Ahead to Paying It Forward
Cultivating a Servant’s Heart is like anything else we want to do well. It requires regular commitment and practice. I am the first to admit that my own personal commitment to community outreach ebbs and flows. If I am not careful, I can easily find myself falling prey to excuses to let my service ministry slide.
Much like I would prefer to hit the snooze button and pull the covers over my head to avoid an early morning workout session, I know my commitment to exercise has to do with something bigger than me. I struggle in consistency with both, but somehow the Lord chases me down and steers me back along the correct path. Father, please don’t ever stop chasing me.
When I see opportunities to volunteer in my area, I write them down in my planner. While I am not incredibly tech savvy, I do make some effort to also add the dates to the calendar on my phone and sync it with my desktop. I have a long way to go, but can honestly say I am making progress. Always learning, always growing.
If you belong to a church, consider joining the Serve Team. Join service organization groups on social media and check in regularly to see postings of the latest events and opportunities to help.
Not ready to branch out quite that far yet? No problem. Stay close to home and check in on an elderly neighbor from time to time. Or perhaps check with JustServe for outreach opportunities you can participate in from home.
Acts of service do not have to look like the grand gestures you see us highlight in our Salt & Light Spotlight series. Outreach can come in many forms. Often, it is the smallest deeds of kindness that carry the greatest weight.
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Blessings,
Kimberly
IOH Mom
This website is not a professional counseling website and nothing here should be construed as professional counseling advice. Although Kimberly Bennett, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor, she is not your counselor, and no counselor-client relationship is established unless she has signed an agreement with you. All information provided through this website is for informational and educational purposes only. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure statement. Thank you for visiting!
