Organization. Some of us love the process; others dread it. Virtually all of us struggle to keep it done. We’re sharing some tips on the hows and whys of homeschool portfolios as well as our new Printable Homeschool Portfolio Pack.
Why Should I Create a Homeschool Portfolio?
Maybe the first question to answer is why you need a homeschool portfolio in the first place. There are many reasons, such as:
- state homeschool requirements – while some states require actual portfolios, others don’t but require that you keep a record containing some of what you do during the school year; a homeschool portfolio is a simple way to do that
- space – unless you live in a 30-room mansion, chances are that you don’t have space to store every piece of paper every child has ever worked on for the rest of your life; a homeschool portfolio lets you choose what is most important and organize it by child and by year
- memories and special moments – homeschool portfolios are great ways you can all sit down together as a family and see what you’ve accomplished in the last year; maybe dad wasn’t able to see every experiment or grandma and grandpa don’t live close by – sitting and paging through the portfolio together is a great way to remember all the stories you wanted to share
- goals – homeschool portfolios can also be great tools to help you and your children define your goals for next year and record them so you can work to reach them together
What Should I Include in My Homeschool Portfolio?
If you don’t clearly define what you want to store in your portfolio and how to organize it, you may end up with several unorganized binders instead of a stack of organized boxes. That won’t really accomplish the main goal! Let’s look at what we need to include:
- First, you must understand what your state requires for homeschool records. Meeting these goals is one major role of your homeschool portfolio.
- Get the supplies you need to create and organize the binder. A three-ring binder usually works great, and there are lots of ways you can break it down to meet your needs.
- Take pictures of large projects, such as science experiments, hands-on activities, and field trips, to store in the binder. Include the images so you don’t need to keep the entire project on hand.
- Print lessons from computer-based materials to include.
- Choose 5-10 pages of your student’s best work from a workbook and keep only those pages.
- If kids are older, save important essays, tests, and research papers as well as anything that represents a milestone, community activity, etc.
Our Homeschool Portfolio Pack will help you get organized!
This Homeschool Portfolio Pack is the perfect tool to help you take control of the mountains of homeschool paperwork.
You can grab it for free from our subscriber library if you are an existing subscriber, or sign up now and get access to over 20 free homeschooling resources!
This homeschooling portfolio printable includes:
- Cover pages and spines
- About Me page for students to record their favorite subjects, achievements, and more
- Attendance Sheet
- Basic Daily Schedule
- Extra Curricular Activities Sheet
- Curriculum and Resources List
- Book Log that includes a rating system so your child can record what they thought of each book
- Goals Sheet to help them set goals for next year
- Field Trip Log with space to record things they learned and what they enjoyed the most
- Report Card
- Subject Evaluation
- Subject Binder Divider Sheets for language arts, spelling, math, science, geography, history, Bible, and foreign language along with several blank pages for you to customize
Sign up to get it for FREE!
Once your portfolio is completed you will may want to use it for an end of the year portfolio review. We have created a Portfolio Review Checklist to help you put together your portfolio. You can check off each item as you add it to your binder to make sure you haven’t forgotten any important information. Click HERE to grab this as an instant download!
If your students would like to further customize their portfolios, we also have tons of FREE cheat sheets they can use to keep key information at their fingertips. They can find great information on art, Bible, civics, foreign language, history, geography, and more.
We value your privacy and promise never to send you spam; you can unsubscribe at anytime. View our Privacy Policy for more information on how we process your data.
Bonnie Rose Hudson’s heart’s desire is for every child to feel the love of God and know how special they are to Him. She would love for you to stop by her website WriteBonnieRose.com for homeschool and history curriculum, resources to help teach your children about missions and the persecuted Church, free history and writing printables, and to check out her newest release from JourneyForth, The Hidden Village, an early reader set in India.
Recent Posts
-
Free Resources for When Your Child Wants to Start Babysittin
Is your child at babysitting age? Don’t panic, it will be OK. I have you covered. Grab these free
Homeschool Behavior Issues? Kiss Them Good-Bye with These Tr
The following post comes from an interview between host Stephanie and her guests Judy and Sarah. Wat
FREE Preschool CVC Words Matching Cards
Learning to read is one of the most wondrous things young children have the opportunity to learn. It
Free Resources for Learning about Bees
Bees are important pollinators, but they are also disappearing. They work hard to keep us humans fed
Easy Science Experiments for Learning About Earth Science
Science experiments are what make science come alive. Especially for young learners. If you aren't e
FREE Poetry Analysis & Copywork: Lowell
Challenge your students to consider what being free really means and help them develop key language
How to Teach the Continents in 3 Easy Steps + FREE Continent
Midway through the elementary years you’ll most likely start teaching your homeschoolers about the
Using Puppets in Your Homeschool (Plus Easy Ones You Can Mak
When I think about puppets, my mind immediately goes to the Muppet Show! I mean those two old guy pu