Homeschool calendar and record keeping

[Sheila P 0]

I home school my grandchildren and need an app that I can access on all my devices like Evernote. There are lots of planning apps, but I can't find one strictly for record keeping to be sure we are in compliance with state laws.

I would like a calendar format like a planner, with times. But I want to be able to add documentation of the days projects like photos, scans, videos, ect. I also want to be able to add text for example (practiced counting). I also want to be able to add categories like science,  math, reading, ect. So that each item is categorized and tabulated. So I can see how many hours of each subject we have done in day, week, month and year time frames.

This is how in envision the outline

Notebook: Child 1

Note: 2021-2022 school year

When I open the Note it takes me to today's date, I can swipe left or right to go back or forward in time. So back to yesterday so I can update. Each day has times like a planner where I can add text or media or websites. I can adjust to say video is 3 hours of science for example. And a running total of each subject/category as well as total school hours.

Maybe I click on a time and I get a prompt asking what type of entry (photo, text, website...) then asked what category, then what time frame, then chose the file, or type text.

I can't add a video of my granddaughter planting a seed to the pen and paper records. I want to be able to prove, should we need to, that we are doing education that doesn't only happen with paper. A planner can't show the excitement and understanding on her face when she watches a chick hatch or when she sees the Grand Canyon. 

[PinkElephant 8,194]

First I really like your dedication to help your grandchildren with their education. This is great !

From the documentation side I don’t think there will be a tool that is fully compliant to whatever laws are out there. Plus laws are changing, and software companies will not always keep up.

What you could do is create a template for each day. You open it, you put stuff inside, maybe organized by subjects. You can use it to prepare, to hold and to document what you treated on that day. Tables are great to give structure. You can jot down the time used, and further questions to follow up.

By creating app links you can then have a note (per month) that holds a TOC table of content. Always use the same structure for the title of the daily notes (like date, subject 1, subject 2, …, special of that day - max. 80 characters), to improve readability of the TOC.

There may be features that work better with a subscription. But there are work arounds, like using a note pinned to shortcuts and copied instead of a template. What may become an issue (especially with fotos or videos) is the monthly upload limit of 60MB for Basic plans.

[Sheila P 0]

Some good ideas here, thank you for your thoughts.

I wouldn't expect software companies to keep up with all the different laws, that is my responsibility, I just need a place to to put my documents/photos/videos.

 

 

[PinkElephant 8,194]

Fair enough - wish you luck. Maybe start with a focussed approach, apply it and learn from the results. EN search will make it possible to find stuff later, even if you modify you approach.

You may think as well about applying tags - for the subject treated (permanently applied), for open questions (only until answered), etc. 

There are the new tasks as well. Just a Word of caution: Tasks are currently open to all accounts. EN has already announced functions will be reduced for Basic accounts after the trial period. So when you apply them, it probably means you will have to rethink it after the trial ends, or subscribe.

[DTLow 5,737]

22 hours ago, Sheila P said:

Note: 2021-2022 school year ... When I open the Note it takes me to today's date, I can swipe left or right to go back or forward in time.

I moved the discussion to the forum for General Discussions / Productivity

My concept would be individual notes for each lesson/experience      
These would be categorized using tags, title, dates, etc.
and can be tied together with summary/overview notes, like daily planner notes   
The summary/overview notes can be auto generated,    
and would include links to the individual lesson/experience notes 

Evernote's search feature provides an easy tool to generate summary lists    
For example, by date, subject, etc.

My note titles are composed with a standard that provides complete information    
(date type [description] keywords)    
I use a script to enforce/generate this standard title