Project Journal — Parent’s

I use my project journal to keep track of

• what the boys are doing each day
• books they’ve read
• movies they’ve seen
• sites they’ve visited online
  
• their conversations
• letters and e-mails they’ve sent
  
• photos of them working
• photos they’ve taken
• their sketches, models, and constructions
• their questions
• their plans
• their requests — for materials, field work, etc.
• and so on...
  

I use a digital camera and print out my photos on regular copy paper to glue in my journal. I also display these on bulletin boards dedicated to their ongoing projects, and I print copies of anything they want to put in their own journals.

I highlight their questions in my journal, so I can remind them later of things they wanted to investigate.

I also highlight things I want to remember to do — get them materials they asked for, make copies of some sketches for their project board, etc.

(I am not this well organized in, well, any other aspect of my life. But I know from experience that if I don’t write things down as they happen, I will quickly lose track of their plans and questions and wonderings. They speed along so steadfastly that if I I’m not coming along behind with a basket to collect all of their future plans — the things they have thought of, but haven’t done yet — many of them will be lost forever.)

My journal is an important tool for me. My part in our learning relationship is to support them in their investigation, and that requires a lot of me — I have to pay attention to what’s happening every day. I have to be quiet and see what they are saying, doing, and planning, without my interference. I have to respond faithfully when they ask for things — whether it’s wire, tape, help looking up something online, or a trip to the natural history museum. I need to keep track of all those lines of inquiry they mark as a path they want to follow later, when they have more time, so they can focus on what they are doing right now.

Your journal can also be a powerful assessment tool, if that is something you need or want to do. And it is a powerful reminder of what your children can accomplish simply following their own trail of questions.

A project journal should not be simply a diary of what happened, however — focusing on the past. To be a useful tool, you must constantly review and reflect. Your role isn’t a passive one, trailing along behind your children, dutifully taking notes. Their project journals will be primarily about their topic — say, bees — but your project journal is primarily about your topic — your children and how they learn. Therefore, it isn’t a dead record of the past, but a living documentation that stretches from the past into the future.

Update: See inside my project journal.

Comments

[Sarah Jackson]

I'm starting to do the same thing - keeping track of projects, ideas, thoughts for later. I also use my blog as a record of what we have done, but I need a journal to write down all of the stuff that is still percolating. It seems to help as they careen from one idea to the next.

[Lori]

if they’re related — even tangentially — with what they’re doing now, i would put those things in the same journal, but mark them in some way (highlight, draw a square around it, tape flag, mark it with a star, etc.) so you can flip back and find them easily.

or .. do you mean things that are percolating with you? :^)

[Sam]

This series of posts is very interesting, and it has my brain buzzing.
The parent journal is a very useful idea. I have a blog, which I update irregularly, and I have a notebook, where I list odd bits and pieces, but I see now that I have no consistency and the focus is all wrong.
Instead of thinking about possible interesting "activities" for the boys, I should be writing down their questions and requests. They always ask them at bedtime, or while I'm cooking the dinner, or when I don't have the necessary supplies. It feels like I'm never ready for them, and they never have time for my "ideas". Frustrating, lol.
Already, I can see that writing it all down would give me something to hang on to as they fly past.
You've already given me so much to think about, but don't stop now. :-)

[Nancy]

two questions, Lori:
1) in your mind, does such a journal "count" as "documentation" in the Reggio sense of the word? I'm thinking of documentation as a public display, and yet a journal seems to fit most other aspects. fill me in.
2) beware, this one's random. what would you, smarty homeschooling mom, suggest as gifts for a 4-yr-old birthday? my boy is turning 4 & folks are asking what he'd like. I'd love your ideas, even though you don't know my particular boy.

thanks! xo Nancy in NC

[estea]

wow, that is de-tailed. you are really paying attention!

love the photo idea.

i keep notes about what they do that very day in one notebook that sits on my bedside table. i use legible handwriting and my best fine tip pilot. i write down things the toddler says ( just now? "mom, when i stomp my foot real hard on the floor it feels like sugar in my leg!") light bulb moments they have, worries i have, exciting progress in The Maths, hopes! dreams! failures on my part! we don't fully unschool so i write down math goals and assigned reading pages for the next day, too.

all the supply/movie/book lists, trip ideas and Other Big Plans we come up with throughout the day are scrawled in one of about 5 different .10 college rule notebooks lying randomly about the house, so placed because my son never fails to approach me with a science supply wish list as i floss my teeth. the notebooks say MOM'S BOOK: DO NOT REMOVE on them so they don't become public domain doodle pads. once a week i look at each of these and cull ideas into a more concise list to work from.

i recommend those tiny neon post-its for Notes of Great Importance.

"...coming along behind with a basket to collect all of their future plans.."

love it.

[Candy Cook]

LOL The universe is speaking to me. Just this morning, I bought a blank notebook (marked down) at the store for continuing to improve the journal I'm keeping of our "unschoolish" stuff.

Thanks for the tips.

[Lori]

sam - great! i’m glad this is inspiring you to try something different. let me know how it works! (and i’ll try to keep up the flow ;^)

nancy - there are two kinds of documentation: documentation (or documenting), the action, and documentation, the product. a project journal is a tool for the first kind — a place to write down what you observe, questions, what’s happening day to day, plans, etc. etc.

anything that you put up to tell a story of some part of the project — say, photos taken and observational sketches made during field work — is documentation, the product. that type of documentation might be for parents, for other educators, or for the students themselves.

as far as birthday presents ;^) my favorite toys for four-year-olds are art supplies (e.g., watercolor paints + papers, really high-quality markers (like prismacolor) and a great sketchbook, oil pastels and a pad of heavy paper) and construction toys (e.g., Duplos, Lincoln logs, wooden train or car sets, marble runs, KAPLA blocks, etc.). in terms of open-ended play, musical instruments, dress-up clothes, and puppets are great, too. and happy birthday to your little guy! :^)

estea - in the classroom we used post-its because they were fast and you could scrawl a quick note to yourself and flesh it out in your notebook later; since i only have two kids to deal with now, it’s a lot easier to just put it in one place. :^P

candy - i mean, caaaandyyyyyy ((powerful voice of the universe ;^)) - you are welcome, and let me know how it goes. :^)

[Mary Smith]

Your last few posts are such lovely pictures of the spirit of Reggio! Thanks for your words!

[Lori]

thank you, mary :^)

[Laura Swanson]

Lori

I love the new look of the blog. I haven't checked in in awhile. You have inspired me to read 100 Languages again, I haven't done so in awhile. Your ideas truly inspire this non-homeschooling Mom of two & PreK Teacher.

[Lori]

laura, thank you! as you know, everything i do now homeschooling i did before with children age 3 through 10 at the private school — so it’s really all the same to me. supporting children in independent investigation, no matter what setting you’re in. ;^)

[Molly]

That is the sound of palm smacking against temple.

Yes, of course! Why didn't I think of this before? Once again, you've shown me just what I needed to read today. Thanks, friend.

[Lori]

glad to help, molly! ;^)

[Nancy]

Hey Lori--
A rather late-in-the-game suggestion came to me last night, as I was thinking of starting my own project journal . . . could you please post a few sample pages from your journal? Either on the blog or on Flickr? I understand the spirit of this is to individualize and not try to exactly copy your techniques. And yet, examples always are really good brain food before I start on something new. Whatcha think? --Nancy in NC

[Lori]

i’m already on it, nancy. :^) i’m photographing some of my old journal pages and some of the boys’ pages as well, as i’m going to post soon about kids’ project journals.

thanks for the great suggestion — you’re right there with me!

[Heather]

Thank you so much for this. I try to record what we do but usually in the pas. I scribble down questions and trains fo thought on random bits of paper usually while driving in the car. This is a much better track to follow. I also would love to see examples of "your" process as I develop my own.

[Lori]

thank you, heather, and i plan on posting some photos of my old journals next week. :^)

lol re: scribbling while driving .. hey, *that* doesn’t sound safe! ;^) better get a project journal — and scribble while sitting still!

[kiersten]

Thank you -
I love your inspirational blog and your ideas.
Thank you!

[Lori]

thank you, kiersten! :^)