What is the best way to keep records for homeschooling? Should I just keep a spiral notebook (notebook paper)? Should I buy a plan book or grade book? What do you use?
It depends on the kind of homeschooling you're doing. We are unschoolers, but I like to have an idea of what we do, and what school subjects it corresponds to. And just to have a record of our daily lives. So I record each activity, and then write what subjects it could fall into by each one. Most activities have several subjects attached. No tests, no grades, no attendance. (Since being alive qualifies as attending, attendance is 100%. :))
When I was homeschooled in 8th and 11th grade, through Abekka(Christian homeschooling) they acually sent the parents grade books with test results and at the end of the year my dad had to send them all my tests because they can go back and "audit" the parents' grading and make sure you're not just passing your kids. Every 6 weeks they would send new books and you would send them the old books back. Then they end up having transcripts in their system just like a regular school would. When I went back to regular school, Abekka had to send my records to the public school.