Homeschool Record Keeping: How to Create a Portfolio in 5 Easy Steps

In this post: Stuck on how to do your homeschool record keeping? Here’s how to create a homeschool portfolio in five easy steps.

Many homeschoolers find it easy when doing their thing but they dread creating a homeschooling portfolio. It’s easy to understand why. A homeschool portfolio could be extremely daunting and tiresome if not done the right way. The need to create a homeschool portfolio comes from the desire to showcase the progress made by the kids in their homeschooling. The following tips will help you create a great portfolio with ease and in no time so that you can keep providing a great homeschooling education to your little ones.

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DOWNLOAD THE HOMESCHOOL PORTFOLIO

Table of Contents

How to create a homeschool portfolio in 5 easy steps

1. Outline the subjects taught

You need to understand what subjects you will be teaching your kids. Although the choice of subjects is determined mostly by the curriculum you choose, check the requirements of your state and plan accordingly. You will need to know the basic subjects available for your state. Most states have English, math and science as some of their basic subjects. When teaching these subjects, you are not obligated to cover each and everyone daily. You can choose what works for you and your kids and plan accordingly.

2. Record attendance

The standard academic year is about 180 days. You will need to log in those days to have it considered as a successful academic year. Of course, learning occurs throughout the year. You can print out a checking calendar and check these days off as you clock them one by one. Other parents prefer to clock these days on their lesson planner.

4. Get lesson plans and document the learning process

A lesson plan will enable you to cover all the basic points you need to cover when homeschooling. Sometimes we might get too engrossed in something and while this is okay, it might mean we have less time to cover other equally important stuff. You can use a journal to document the learning process and journey every day. Be sure to note success and lessons learnt along the way. The format of the lesson plan does not really matter. Just use what works for you.

5. Record their progress occasionally at certain time intervals

You can decide to choose to record their academic progress semi-annually or at the end of the year. When this time comes, ensure that you have their progress report ready. This includes the tests taken and their scores, the challenges done and how they were performed, and the projects covered.

Bonus: Build a sample portfolio of their work

Take samples periodically from what they have covered and create a sample portfolio. These could be from their worksheets, tests and projects. For instance, you could record a science progress they participated in. Outline what the project was all about, the preparation, the execution, the results and the lessons they learned from the project. You can also state how they handled the project and what you observed.

When you have a great portfolio, it becomes pretty easy to create a homeschool transcript and present to the colleges you want them to go to, when the time comes. It just requires some consistency and patience.

DOWNLOAD THE HOMESCHOOL PORTFOLIO