Now, that we are done with school for the year, I want to be sure I have all of my records in order incase I ever need to prove that the kids have been receiving an education. In the state of Florida, one of the requirements for parents who are homeschooling is to "maintain a portfolio of records and materials... preserve it for two years, and make it available for inspection, if requested..." Many states have the requirement of keeping a portfolio, so while you need to check your own state laws to see what is required in your case, learning how to prepare a homeschool portfolio may prove useful to you.
Florida Statue 1002.41 sets the parameters of the portfolio. The first note is that it is maintained by the parent. This just means while another entity such as in our case Open Tent Academy might track grades for a student for a particular class, it is my job as the parent to compile such records into the portfolio. If the state needs to see it, I can't go opps someone else has that responsibility. I doubt that this is news to any homeschooling parent, after all we are in charge of schooling, so we by extension are in charge of record keeping. There are two requirements for what the portfolio must include.
Educational Log
The first requirement is that the portfolio must contain "A log of educational activities that is made contemporaneously with the instruction and that designates by title any reading materials used." This may sound daunting but it's actually fairly simple. You need some sort of log that you make as you instruct your student. That might be your lesson planning notebook, where you back plan by recording what you completed. It might be a copy of the table of contents from your science book, with checkmarks as you completed each unit. It might be a syllabus for an online course. It is most likely a combination of these things. Further this log must include the title of any ready materials used.
The simplest way I have found to complete this portion of the portfolio is to keep my lesson planner. In it I have a log of what we did each day, checked off as we got to it, or crossed off if I cancelled it. Inside my teacher planner on a spare page I keep a list of ever book we read. Upfront there is a list of all the curriculum that I plan to use for the year. Each month I have a list of books the kids have read on their own time such as library books for DEAR time and family read alouds. At the end of the year, I have nothing more that needs to be done with this aspect other than to file it away on my bookshelf, because it is something that I've added to as I've gone along each week. If you don't keep a lesson plan book (I don't know how you function), but you will need another way to do this. Another way I have kept a log is to weekly or monthly write about what the kids are learning and how schooling is going. There is no requirement that the log be kept daily, so you can do this as often as works for you. But it is another way to show from time to time their progress and note the subjects that they are studying. One final option that I've seen several unschooling family use is to set up a Facebook page or a blog online, and document their learning activities with pictures and posts. This can just as easily be provided to show a log of educational activities.
Samples
The second requirement is that the portfolio should contain "Samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials used or developed by the student." There is no requirement here regarding subjects taught or numbers of samples. The general rule that most people seem to follow is a minimum of three samples in whichever subjects a student is studying over the course of the year. One taken from the beginning of the year, one around half way through, and another at the end of the year. These samples can be written work such as worksheets, but what if you don't utilize workbooks and written work? Samples can just as easily include a picture of a model completed for a history class, or a written description of science experiments explored. I have included write ups from co-op teachers that described what they did during the year and how they were a pleasure to teach as part of their samples. I personally love using photos, and have begun printing off and gluing a number into my lesson planner on extra pages so that they are always handy. We do lots of history crafts and take lots of field trips, and these can be used as samples of the work they have done over the course of the year. I've even used videos such as including Ruth's ASL work this year as part of her portfolio.
Finally, the law states "The parent shall determine the content of the portfolio..." Just as it is our right to determine what areas of focus our children should have in a given year, it is up to us to decide what makes it into the portfolio. There are Florida schools that in order to work to bring up test scores, have spent a year in an intensive program of only studying math and English, shelving history, science, and all extracurriculars. Just the same we can chose to focus on any area we want with our children, and so our portfolios should reflect that. If you get to the end of the year and have no science curriculum you might think back on some co-op classes, field trips, or just not record anything for that year.
There is no need to stress. I like to think of it as a small excerpt of what we have spent our last year doing, a chance in mini form for my students to shine. Each of the kids takes part in putting together this second portion of their portfolio. They look through their math books, and save assignments that they liked or that they did particularly well on. They take photos and safe craft projects from history, and lab reports from science experiments. They chose 20 different art pieces because they can't bear to get rid of any of them. They include receipts from field trips and maps and fliers from places that we stopped and viewed. Often I put those things that would apply to all of them along with the pictures in my lesson planner, while they keep their own work in a three ring, one inch binder. Other family use a small box with file folders for each student. Still others take photos of their child's work and add it to the Facebook page for a digital portfolio. The options are limitless.
Some years my portfolios have looked more like a scrapbook, and other years they have looked very much as if the kids threw random work in a binder. The important thing isn't how polished of a presentation the finished project has, but that it has all the information needed in a way that is accessible to an official from the district if needful. Then this portfolio that must be kept anyway, can double as part of your end of the year evaluation process, but that will be a post for another day.
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