Sunday, February 17, 2019

Documenting Your Homeschool

Documenting Your Homeschool

A wonderful tip I got when we started homeschooling was to document our journey.  
Everyone takes photos, but having something organized will be invaluable in the 
future. Besides, having something to point to is lots of fun for grandparents, 
relatives, and even the parent that doesn’t homeschool everyday.

There are different platforms available. You can go the traditional route and create a 
scrapbook. This allows you to keep your child’s work, but you would need to get 
your photos printed. You can buy a scrapbook or create your own, which would be 
fun for the whole family. You can make any size, including a large format one.

Or do the opposite and go totally digital. Take photos of your child’s work and 
upload to your favorite app. Your Instagram account could be totally homeschool 
related. You can make your account private so you have to approve who follows you. 
Same with Facebook. Facebook, also, has groups that you can make secret and 
add friends and family. This is an opportunity for engagement - get lots of likes/loves 
and maybe some suggestions to further a child’s interest.

You can also write a blog. It’s not as hard as it sounds. Blogger.com allows you to 
start a blog in 5 minutes. You can make updates from your phone and give the link 
to whomever wants to follow your adventures.

The previous methods are free, but might have some materials cost. The following 
services have a fee.

Shutterfly lets you upload photos from Instagram and your phone to create a 
photobook. If you use the app, you get a free photo book each month! I love making 
these each year and they make nice gifts for grandparents, too.

Squared.one and PastBook will also print a book of Instagram photos. 
PhotoBookGenius will create a book from your Facebook photos. Finally, you can 
make an honest-to-goodness yearbook. TreeRing seems to be a popular app. This 
is especially fun if you homeschool with a group.

There are many ways to capture the memories you are making in your homeschool. 
Organize them yearly and you will cherish the results.