How to keep school-year records

Records has two tabs: Our records (days, hours, grades, reading and your targets) and State requirements. Each card shows a one-line summary; tap it to open it.

Records count up from the lessons you check off in the planner, and from co-op classes your students attend. There's nothing extra to fill in.

Days, hours and lessons

Each student has a card with:

• Days: a day counts when at least one of their lessons, or a whole-family lesson, is checked off, or their co-op teacher marks them present.
• Hours: from the minutes on checked-off lessons, plus the length of each co-op class they attended. No minutes on your lessons? Set a usual length for each subject under the planner's Subjects, and new lessons count on their own.
• Lessons: how many were checked off.

Below that, a table shows lessons and hours by subject. Co-op classes show as "Co-op: " and the class name, with the number of days attended.

Log field trips as planner lessons so they count too. Co-op classes count on their own once the teacher takes attendance.

Use the arrows to see other school years. This year brings you back.

An archived student still has a card for any school year with records. Whole-family lessons stop counting for them from the day they're archived.

School year and targets

1. Under School year and targets, pick the month your School year starts.
2. Add Target days or Target hours if your state asks for them. A progress bar shows how close you are.
3. Tap Save.

Rules differ from state to state, and some have none. Check yours, and leave a target blank if you don't need it.

Reading list

1. Under Reading list, type the Book title and author.
2. Pick who read it: a student, Each student, or Read aloud together.
3. Set the date it was finished and tap Add book.

Tap Remove to take a book off the list.

Print a year summary

1. On a student's card, tap Year summary.
2. You'll see their days, hours and lessons, a month-by-month table, subjects, grades, work samples and books.
3. Tap Print or save as PDF. To keep a copy, choose "Save as PDF" in the print window.

Grades

1. On a student's card, tap Grades and work samples.
2. Under Add a grade, type the Course (like "Algebra 1"), the Grade (a letter like A-, a percent like 93, or Pass), and Credits if you give them (1 for a full-year course, 0.5 for a semester).
3. Pick a Subject and Grade level if you like, and add notes (the curriculum used, honors). Tap Add grade.

Tap Edit on a grade to change or delete it. The year's GPA (4.0 scale, weighted by credits) and total credits show at the top. Pass/Fail grades don't count toward GPA. Use the arrows for other school years.

Work samples (a portfolio)

On Grades and work samples, open Add a work sample. Choose the file (a photo of a worksheet, a writing piece, a PDF, even a short recording, up to 25 MB), say what it is, the date and the subject, and tap Add work sample. Tap a sample's name to open it. Samples are listed in the year summary, ready for an evaluator.

Your state's homeschool rules

Set State you homeschool in on My family (tap Edit on Household). The State requirements tab on Records then shows a short summary of what your state asks of homeschoolers: any notice to file, required subjects, days or hours, testing or evaluation, records to keep, and yearly deadlines, with links to the official sources. Deadlines with a set date also show in Coming up on Home and on the Event Calendar.

What to file

On the same tab, What to file in … lists what your state asks you to send (like a notice of intent, an affidavit or a yearly evaluation): who it goes to, how, when it's due, what to have ready, and a link to the official form when there is one.

Where a plain letter is accepted (like a notice of intent in Florida, Kentucky or Utah), tap Print a pre-filled letter: it fills in your names, your students and your school name; type the rest (your address, full names, dates of birth), then print, sign and send it. What you type isn't saved.

When you send one, tap Mark as filed, pick the date, and add a note or a copy (a PDF, scan or photo of what you sent or the receipt) if you like; copies are kept privately with your records. One-time filings stay marked; yearly ones start fresh each school year. Anything not marked yet shows as a reminder on Home (one-time filings until you mark them, and yearly ones from six weeks before they're due).

Gatherings keeps track of what you mark; it doesn't send anything for you or confirm an office received it.

It's a plain-language summary to help you get started, not legal advice. Laws change and some districts add their own rules, so check the official sources linked on the card.

High school transcript

Courses with a grade level of 9th to 12th grade make up the transcript. Tap High school transcript (on a student's grades page) to see them by year, with each year's GPA, the cumulative GPA and total credits.

• Your homeschool: tap Edit on Your homeschool once to save your school's name, address, phone and administrator. Every transcript prints them.
• Course level and description: when adding or editing a grade, pick Course level (Regular, Honors, AP or Dual enrollment) and add a Course description if you like. Honors, AP and dual-enrollment courses show a tag, and the transcript adds a weighted GPA (Honors +0.5, AP and dual enrollment +1.0).
• Tests, activities and awards: tap Edit on the student's card to add SAT, ACT or AP scores, activities like sports, clubs or volunteering, and awards. They print in their own sections.
• Course descriptions: tick Print course descriptions on a second page to add them after the transcript. Colleges often ask for these.

Type the student's full name, date of birth and graduation date at the top; they print but aren't saved, since Gatherings keeps only a student's first name and birthday. Tap Print or save as PDF and sign it.

Only parents can change targets, grades, work samples and the reading list. Grades and work samples are private to your household.