If you are homeschooling your children, then in all likelihood your state is requiring you to create and keep a homeschool portfolio. This portfolio provides a paper trail of the lessons you teach. It also tracks the progress of your children through their school year.
Instructions
1. Be sure you know the exact requirements for your state's homeschooling program. Each state requires different items. No matter what goes into the portfolio, each item should become a benchmark to mark the child's growth.
2. Set goals for the year. Write them down. Review them periodically and modify them as needed.
3. Keep a journal. This can help you easily recall when each lesson was complete. A journal can also highlight successful educational moments as well as those that were not so successful.
4. Create an annotated bibliographical listing of teaching resources. This file of organized material can help you do further research for your lessons. It can also help you re-create a similar lesson for a younger child at a later time.
5. Encourage your children to pick their favorite artwork and lessons to include in a school portfolio of their own. Children should include work from their individual classes throughout the year. Remember to include brochures from any field trips as well as photos you take throughout the year.
6. List each book that each child has read throughout the school year. Differentiate between assigned reading and leisure reading books.
7. Organize everything. Buy folders or storage boxes or whatever works for you. Just don't pile everything up, then have to sort through it. Try to take time weekly to save the necessary items in the homeschool portfolio.
Tags: your children, homeschool portfolio, school year, throughout year, your state