I am hoping that you have found me from the Digital Homeschool Convention or are new to homeschooling and need some help! I would love to help and would love to share some tips for homeschool portfolio assessments. If you want to test your child I would recommend the CAT5 from Academic Excellence. Save $5 on CAT assessment test with my referral link!
Be sure to read through this post because I put a ton of FREE homeschool resources at the bottom! I mean hundred’s of dollars of savings for all ages and tons of subjects to help you get started today!
Not all States Require an Assessment or Testing
Be sure to double check the law via HSLDA or your States Department of Education. DO NOT call your local school district or superintendent as they may not really know the law or may tell you outdated information. Some states require quarterly “checks” which you will need to know what is expected and how to turn that information in. Some may be able to be reported digitally via Dropbox or email. I would recommend creating a gmail account for each child in your family AND a Dropbox account.
Homeschool Portfolio Assessments are Easier
For younger students as well as children with special needs a homeschool portfolio assessment is easier and may have better results for your family. If you have found an assessor that specializes in special needs or developmental delays they can help guide you in teaching your child in ways you may not have thought of. Keep up with your portfolio weekly so that you are not oeverwhlemed at the end of the year.
What to include in a Homeschool Portfolio
Make a Google Sheet for all the books you read, movies that you watch or audio books you listen to. Keep track of field trips, sports, music practices or recitals or performances attended, clubs, church groups, Often parents forget that it ALL counts. (information from Kim of Marmie’s Pantry Assessor for Ohio)
Here’s an example of what extra things we did one year for homeschool. This list includes gym, field trips and Princess’ ballet class hours since they total up to be a significant amount of time. In Ohio we are required to teach 900 hours which we personally feel that all life experiences as well as academic experiences are all education. One thing that I did not include but could have would be each child’s Summer Reading hours.
Supplies for Homeschool Portfolio:
3″ 3-ring binder or zippered portfolio
tabbed dividers or pocket dividers
divider tabs with cardstock to print divider pages
Free Portfolio Tip Sheet
I have tweaked a portfolio assessment sheet which I had been given to me by a local assessor to fit my needs and includes more my jargon,etc. I hope that you find it useful when you go to start your homeschool portfolio.
Portfolio Dividers for Pay:
I have decided to add additional income sources for our family and our first product will be these portfolio divider pages in four different colors covering 17 subjects! I choose blue, pink, green, and orange to start with but can make other colors upon request. Each of these divider packs come with the following subject headings:
Art, Bible, Computers, Foreign Language, Geography, Grammar, Health/PE, History, Home Ec, Language Arts, Life Skills, Mathematics, Music, Reading, Science,
Spelling, Sports and Writing
More FREE Homeschool Resources:
Classic Literature and Novel Guides
25 Resources for learning French
Handwriting, Copywork and Writing Papers
Free Resources for High School
Free Homeschool Unit Study Resources:
Birds and Bird Watching Resources
I was trying to watch your session on Digital Homeschool conference, but it kept refreshing every couple of sec. Is there a way I can hear your session?
I will check to see if it has been fixed within the conference and if not will email you a copy!