Changing My Mind About Report Cards

I had no plans to give my children a report card.  I don’t give tests or come up with grades, and besides, I’m the mom and teacher, so who is a report card really for?  Isn’t it to tell the parents how their child is doing?  Then I was reading on Harmony Art Mom (by the same Barb I’m always mentioning from the Handbook of Nature Study blog–she’s just overflowing with ideas I love) and she referred to a post on narrative report cards.  I had to click on the post link and read it, and was immediately persuaded that it was a great idea.  My favorite part was how Barb included information about topics other than the basic school subjects in her report card:  things like field trips and volunteer work.

Barb has a great sample narrative report card at the bottom of her post, and I followed much of her format with a few variations.  For one thing, I don’t have a cool school name or logo–maybe I need one!  Secondly, like I said, I don’t give grades and we certainly don’t have credits.  I also only intend to do one report card per year.  I listed the subject areas very generally: Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Music, Art, Health/P.E., and then had a space for a narrative in each area.  On each of the subject areas I would list how we covered the topics, including curriculum used, any curriculum changes and why, what we accomplished, and goals as we go forward.  I also could add in if there is a lot of good effort, or if the attitude could use a little improvement.  Then I listed other areas: field trips, literature lapbooks, unit studies, volunteer work, and personal development.  Personal development was a fun one that allowed me the freedom to discuss their passions.  For example, my daughter sewed a lot this year and really advanced her skills.  She took classes, sewed with me, and also attempted (and completed) projects on her own.  I appreciated being able to include that kind of information.

It did take a bit of time for me to put together, but it became a wonderful summary of our year: a journal of learning and activities, things accomplished and also things to work on in the future.  Reading it over I was proud of all we had done, and I know my children and I will enjoy looking back in years to come.