Montessori Mummy: April 2014

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Record Keeping - how I am doing it...

I have tried several ways of record keeping for the classroom. I have used Evernote, Montessori Workspace and notebooks... None of them really did it for me. I am a very visual person, and I just couldn't deal with having things online, but not able to glance at them. So, after being inspired by Addie's nursery's method of record-keeping, I devised my own method. I have basically printed out 7 sets of sheets, 1 set for each 'term' or 7-week block. In the set, I have included
3 record sheets to actually record the work Addie has done (these are blank one side so I can add photos). These are set out with the Montessori areas on them so I can see which areas of the curriculum we are covering.

Then I have a double-sided sheet which helps to map what she is doing over to the International Baccalaureate's Learner Profile, Attitudes to Learning and Characteristics of Learners. This is merely a preparation for using the IB later on, but it is interesting to keep records of how she learns, and not just what she learns:

On the back of this I note down what she has learnt at church, any service, exercise, arty stuff etc she has done.

I then have a double sided page which actually correlates to her nursery records, which I will copy into here. This maps her learning on to the Early Years Foundation Stage, which I am not too fussed about following, but it is nice to have an idea of where she is...

And then at the end I have a review sheet with planning for the next term on it:

I have been using this since January, and we are having an easy introduction into any kind of schedule (yes I am finding it hard to adjust!)... but here are some photos of how it looks in action:

Anyway, so there it is... I am really liking this method. Many people do not keep records, and probably most people don't keep this many records, but I see it as a way of journalling my kids' progress, and for me, this is working perfectly so far!