We finished our last school publication before the summer break. Here are the covers from the 2010-2011 school year. I think they look nice and they bring back many memories. One thing is certain: we live a documented life.
I started publishing the kids’ writing and art about four years ago. Back then we had friends contributing to the magazine. However, after three years I decided I just didn’t have time to make this a big collaboration. We scaled back the publication to our own family. I miss seeing the work from other kids, but I have learned that the beauty of home education is we can alter things when we need it. I appreciate that freedom.
We publish creative writing, reports, art, our monthly calendar, awards, and photos. I think this is one of the best things we have done to ensure the kids finish their work at a level they are comfortable having other people read. It’s been good for me because I have a record of exactly what we accomplished. Seeing everything compiled in a publication helps me see where we need more work and where we should be congratulated.
For instance, Daniel should be congratulated for reading over 22,000 pages during his 6th grade year. Paige should be congratulated for her thoughtful essays and reading a lot of Greek literature. Timothy should be congratulated for completing his reading goal and becoming quite an authority on Shakespeare.
Math and science are two subjects I don’t include in the publication, but these are more quantitative subjects and I can easily measure progress by looking at the spreadsheets.
I schedule an afternoon at the first of the month and copy and paste the documents from the previous month into a big publication. I add pictures and I update the calendar. My favorite thing to do is select the cover picture. I try to decide who had the biggest event or who showed the most courage. I try to capture our family-oriented lifestyle while celebrating excellence in academics, art, music, and athletics. Okay, okay, I admit it that this is just a scrapbook of our school journey. But it means a lot to me.