My homeschool accountability checklist saved me when I had multiple children. I couldn’t do it all, and it was needed when I had a preschooler. In my homeschool preschool came first. That was the time of day that I devoted to his learning with mom. It was fun. So, for my older children they had an accountability checklist. It worked. My job was to check the work done. Their job was to complete it all, do a good job and get their “must haves” completed. Preschool time was 30 minutes. After that each child had an hour with mom for one on one homeschool time. Then after lunch we did group lessons. All of it worked out well. The accountability checklist helped me to keep everything organized and juggle multiple balls in the air at one time.
Non-Negotiable Subjects First
Math, Reading, History, Language Arts, Handwriting and Latin are my “must haves” now for them. When they were younger I kept to the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. We did everything else as a group. For many years’ this was the morning protocol. Math was always first. Likewise Language Arts was always second. If you have ever read “Eat the Frog” you will know why I chose those subjects at the top. My young homeschoolers would work on easy math skills with manipulatives, and work on reading activities, write or play grammar games that worked well for elementary school.
One on one time with each child enabled me to sit down and work on the non-negotiable list together. Homeschooling this way helped me to know where they were at, and what they needed help in completing. I liked and still like to be very hands on with my homeschoolers. Now that they are older more of their must haves are completed without me and I check their work.
Add in Homeschool Accountability “Before Your Done”
Now, all of that was good. Occasionally one of them would decide they wanted to play before completing daily work. Our rule was work first and then play. Our “before your done” list was created. That list included a break and lunch, but carried into our group time. Understanding that school came first and took longer each year as they aged had to be implemented in our homeschool,
Without some rules and boundaries school becomes secondary. When we are responsible for teaching our children school cannot be secondary. That is why I created my “before your done” checklist. Your checklist might look different than mine. That’s ok. Mine worked for our homeschool.
Create a Weekly Tracker for Accountability
Next, I use a weekly tracker for accountability. My own accountability. I needed to make sure assignments and learning was happening. So, each week we sit down and go over all of their work. I check it off.
This system helps us all to be on the same page. In addition to accountability it helps with grading and transcripts. Running around putting things together isn’t time efficient. If you do a little each week all of the paperwork isn’t as hard to keep up with in High School.
Make Progress Visible
Our homeschool accountability includes a poster board of all the subjects and stickers. Each week as we go I add in stickers for all of the things they accomplished. They like the stickers. This is a great motivation. Different colors of stickers mean different things.
For example, gold means they aced their subjects. Blue means “not quite there yet” Red is attendance and Silver is “try again”. Green means “Redo” the assignment. Adding in this new visual has helped them to see what they have done and the stars are fun to earn. Even though I have two teenagers they still like the stars.
Use Natural Consequences
Learning through natural consequences in my book is the best lesson. I tell my children that the way I learned to drive was getting lost. If I didn’t read the map correctly I would get lost. If you don’t get to your job on time, you lose the job. Natural consequences work. Learning something through trial and error teaches a good lesson.
If homeschoolers do not have work done on time a natural consequence might be that they do it during a free time they would enjoy. Choosing what works for your own homeschool is important.
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