There are two photo books I create each year: one at the end of the calendar year to share photos with the grandparents, and one at the end of the school year as a way to remember our homeschooling activities. I am in the process of creating one right now (which is late for me) and I thought I'd share a little about it.
A homeschooling photo book particularly makes sense in the early years, especially if your kids aren't that into writing like mine were. I didn't have tons of work samples to share. We did a lot of hands-on learning and that doesn't always shine through an end of year progress report. I submit a progress report to the superintendent, but the photo book is for us. I often don't remember to take photos while we are working on stuff, but if I do, those photos usually make it into the book. As I go through the photos, it helps me summarize our year for the end of year report.
Here are a few pages from our last year's book (from top to bottom: art, farm school, museum visits, science & engineering). I use Shutterfly hardcover books and usually wait for a nice coupon code, but you can choose softcover or shop around for a better deal. You may also want to check out Picaboo.
Sometimes I write about what is in the pictures, and sometimes I just
include photos. In talking about the photos, we remember what we did. Since we tend toward unschooling, I sometimes get stressed and think we haven't done enough. When looking back over our school year in photos, it's easier to see just how far we have come. I always include a page at the end where I list current favorites.
When there was just one homeschooled kid, I ordered only one book. I considered making two separate books (one for each kid) but it's way easier to make one book and order two copies. It's still fairly time consuming to go through all of the photos and then arrange them all, but the kids will both have a book to remember our learning adventures as they get older so I know it is worth my time. I will try to share some photos when I finish this year's book...which will hopefully happen in the next week. The old saying really is true for us: A picture is worth a thousand words. Do you make a homeschooling photo book or do you have another fun way to review your year?
I'm surprised at the unhelpful results I got when googling "homeschool yearbook," but your post was helpful. I use shutterfly for each kid's First Year baby book, and I've been toying with the idea of doing an annual family book. For homeschooling yearbook though, I can't decide if I want to do one book every year, or one book per kid covering all of their years. And how many copies to order...am I still going to want a copy when they are out of the house, or is that part of releasing them into adulthood-baby book, yearbook, and all!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised at the unhelpful results I got when googling "homeschool yearbook," but your post was helpful. I use shutterfly for each kid's First Year baby book, and I've been toying with the idea of doing an annual family book. For homeschooling yearbook though, I can't decide if I want to do one book every year, or one book per kid covering all of their years. And how many copies to order...am I still going to want a copy when they are out of the house, or is that part of releasing them into adulthood-baby book, yearbook, and all!
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie,
DeleteThanks for your comment! I do one book each year and have both my kids' work in it. Then I order two copies. I figure I will give one to each of them as they get older to keep, and they can keep them. I will always love to look at them but I really create the books for them!