My Student Logbook has been a sanity saver for me. My kids are able to work more independently on their homeschool work while I only have to write out their weekly checklist once for the entire school year.
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My third grader and fifth grader are using My Student Logbooks as a checklist to help them know what they need to do and when they are finished with the school day. My seventh grader has been able to use her My Student Logbook to record her grades in addition to using it as a checklist of completed work.
Keep reading to see how I set up my children’s My Student Logbooks and how we are using them this year in our homeschool. You can also find out more about My Student Logbook on their website or in this blog post.
How I Set Up My Student Logbook
Setting up a My Student Logbook is really simple. First, I rip out a checklist sheet. I don’t have to worry about messing up. There are quite a few of these sheets in the front of the logbook to use. If I decide to change my child’s checklist in the middle of the school year, I can rip out and set up a new checklist sheet. I’ve used one checklist for several weeks, months and even the entire year.
Next, I trim the edges and fold the paper in half along the solid line in the middle of the page. There are instructions on the page to follow, making it really simple to put together.
Then, I determine when we are starting school and locate that sheet on the dated pages. I tape the checklist sheet to the first dated sheet that we will be using. It’s that simple!
There are also undated logbooks as well if you prefer to fill in your own dates. I’ve found the dated ones to be very helpful as I don’t have to write in the dates or have my kids do it. But, I love that both dated and undated logbooks are available so homeschool families can choose what is best for them.
The last thing I do is fill in the checklist with the subjects and activities I want my children to complete. This year I am only including school subjects but in years past I have also included tasks like chores and practicing piano.
I use the section labeled time to write in the amount of time I want my kids to work on a subject or task (ie 10 minutes for math fact practice) or the days I want them to do a particular subject (ie Health on Monday, Wednesday and Friday).
In previous years, I have set up my children’s My Student Logbook for Red Star Days. Red Star Days are days when I need my kids to work completely independently because I am sick or away from home.
Once all the logbooks are set up, I can decide how to have my children use them. As I mentioned before, I have some kids use their My Student Logbook as a checklist and others use it to record grades. There are a lot of different ways you can use your My Student Logbook. It even helps with keeping track of high school credits for your student’s transcript.
How My Kids Use My Student Logbook
Let me give you a little peak at how each of my kids is using their My Student Logbook. My 3rd grader is using it as a checklist. He enjoys checking things off with stickers. I use my initials to mark off subjects that he does not need to do on a given day. Below you can see that he did not have to do spelling on Friday or math facts on Thursday. When the appropriate column is filled, he knows he is done with school for the day.
My 5th grader is using her My Student Logbook in a similar way. Instead of stickers, she has chosen to fill in the boxes with her own creative art work. The blue dots let her know which subjects she is doing using BJU Press Distance Learning. I put those there for the first week of school as she was getting familiar with the new curriculum. I won’t need to add in the blue dots if I ever rewrite her checklist this year.
This year, I am having my 7th grader record her own grades in her My Student Logbook. She draws a diagonal line when she has completed a subject and then writes in her grade. This way her logbook functions as a checklist and record keeping system. At the end of each month, I grab her logbook and transfer the grades into my record keeping computer program.
You will also notice that I have the time section filled in for vocabulary and literature. She does vocabulary once a week. She gets to choose which day she wants to complete her vocabulary assignment. For literature, she is rotating between BJU Press 7th grade literature and a novel from our 7th grade book list. This means she does one unit in her BJU Press online course and then spends 2 to 3 weeks reading a novel before jumping back into the next unit in BJU Press literature.
In the video below, I explain in more detail how my seventh grader records her grades. The video also goes into more detail on how my kids use their My Student Logbook on a typical homeschool day. You can find out more about My Student Logbook or order your own on their website.
Disclosure: Two of the logbooks were given to me for free in exchange for sharing about how much I love them. I purchased the third one myself. I purchased all logbooks myself in previous years.
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