Keeping records for each school year is important for different reasons. They'll help you to monitor your child's progress, keep track of lesson plans and become part of a portfolio for college entry. Record keeping will help you to meet short and long-term goals for your school year. They will help in planning your lessons and help keep you on track during the school year.

Write a list of all the books and materials you use in school and keep with your records. You might want to include a list of books and materials you find interesting to research for later use in school.

Lesson plan books come in many styles. The most popular have the weekdays listed across the top and places along the sides for the subjects. You can easily create your own lesson plan book using a ruler and paper then inserting it in a three ring binder. Your local teacher supply store should also carry simple lesson planning books. This type of record keeping helps to plan out your curriculum on a weekly basis.

A daily logbook is like keeping a diary or journal for school days. It is used for writing ideas or activities that your children participated in each day. You can buy a logbook for homeschoolers or just use notebook paper and place in a binder. Write brief descriptions of the school day events and also include the date. If a school day doesn't go as planned, then a daily log will help you to keep track of exactly what was accomplished that day. Have your children keep their own daily log if they are old enough to write down the day's projects and activities. This will help them to retain what they learned and will help them with their writing skills.

Some states require a list of the books, curriculum and materials used by each child, every school year. Simply record each item used in that week in either your weekly lesson plan book or on the back of your daily logbook. Include the book title, author or publisher and you may want to give a brief description of how the book was used.

A home school portfolio may be required by your state but even if it's not, it is useful when applying for colleges and for an annual evaluation of your child's progress. The portfolio can include anything related to your child's education. This may include lesson plans, logbooks, worksheets, test results, writing assignments and book reports. Field trips taken, special events, experiments, scrapbooks of projects and artwork should also be a part of the portfolio. Although most homeschoolers do not keep grades, you may find them beneficial. After grading your children's papers, record their score in a grade book, available at a teacher supply store. Every six weeks, use a handheld grader, such as E-Z Grader to determine the average grade of each subject. By knowing their grades, you can determine any weakness your children may have in a particular subject and can now help them to improve their grade average.

Most children like receiving certificates for good grades or just a good job done well. They are available for almost every situation such as preschool, reading, science, honor roll and more. Certificates help build your child's self-esteem by giving them a feeling of accomplishment and pride in their work. It also shows them the progress they've made in the school year.

Keep all your records in one binder for easy access, using tabs to separate by topic, subject or by child. Be sure to check with your states regulations for record keeping before you home school to make sure you follow their requirements.