In order to be state compliant homeschool parents are required to have end of the year portfolios for their homeschool students for at least two years. This includes a record of all the work and activities that have been undertaken in the homeschool classroom.
It can be quite a daunting task as the homeschool teacher must now sift through all the material that was covered and then decide what needs to go into the representative portfolio. One that will be checked by a state certified teacher. It can be quite a draining task, but one which may be made simpler if a few basic guidelines are in place.
Have the Stationery Ready
You will need a binder, page protectors, and a printer ready to take print outs of essential additions. Ensure that everything is ready and in place before you start building the portfolio. Then block out a chunk of time when you are unlikely to be disturbed as this will take all your attention.
What Goes in the Portfolio
The first thing that you need to add is a Resource List. This is to include all the different sources of information that you used during the school year. So it would be easier if you started this off as a document on your computer and keep adding to it every weekend. It will include books, websites, and just about any source that you may have accessed. Now take a print out of this document at the time you are putting the portfolio together.
The next things you need is the Daily Schedule. Sure we understand that there is no typical daily routine in homeschool. You do what you have to do and focus on what comes next. However, you do originally have a plan about what you need to do each day. That’s what you need to document on this sheet of the portfolio. It is to give the person an understanding of what you do on a typical day.
Now make a list of all the Extracurricular Activities that the child has undertaken during the year. Music, sports, dance, art, it doesn’t matter what the activity was, as long as the homeschool student did it during the academic year. It gets to be listed here. This can include a section on all Field Trips that were taken as well. Attach the field trip report and photos of activities undertaken as well.
