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Homeschool Portfolio Making Good Student Portfolios
The homeschool portfolio is, at its heart, a collection of work done by your child.
Student portfolios are useful for tracking the homeschooling process for you, as well as a way to meet your state’s requirements for proving progress.
Measuring progress by taking achievement tests and periodic quizzes can help you track achievement, but there is more to measuring how your child is doing with his studies.
This is where a well constructed student portfolio or school memory book can help…
Measure your child’s progress by tests on some things--but not every topic lends itself to paper and pencil testing.
This is where a collection of their homeschooling work helps. The pieces you collect can represent a specific project, a period of time or even create memory books of what homeschooling was like.
A student assessment portfolio emphasizes your child’s learning over a period of time by using concrete, measurable examples:
Each home school student produces artwork, spelling practice and creative stories that show off their newly acquired skills. Include samples of your child’s work.
For larger projects, a picture in a scrapbook memory book captures the essence of what your child is doing.
If your state requires an assessment of progress every year then organized groups of worksheets, pictures, journals and fieldtrip summaries will give you a definite way to gauge how things have changed.
It may be hard for you to remember everything that you did this year, at the end of a long year of homeschooling experiences, but a homeschool portfolio keeps track.
Remember, the best examples are those that have dates and signatures.
How to Use a Student Portfolio
A home school portfolio satisfies most state requirements that say you must demonstrate an appropriate curriculum and adequate progress for each child.
Take time during the school year to review your child’s portfolio with your child. This helps both of you to understand where your child is making great strides and where she needs to work extra hard.
In fact, some colleges are considering portfolios along with other entrance requirements for acceptance.
At the end of the year (and later), a portfolio can be a great way to look back and celebrate all your hard work!
Having a well-designed student portfolio can go a long way toward college admission.
Here's a book that will help you make sure that your high school portfolio is competitive, complete, and includes the right things--but excludes the ones you should leave out...
You will need a little organization and a few supplies to pull together all the papers from a year of homeschooling.
Some collections begin with a simple journal of assignments your child does on a daily basis. Your journal might also include a list of books, resources, the year, field trips and goals for your child.
At the end of the year, or quarterly, add a review of your child’s progress. An expandable file, 3-ring binder or filing box works well for keeping papers organized by subject and child.
Lapbooks
Lapbooks are portfolios based on topics. Your child creates miniature summaries of his learning as he delves into a topic like fish or the Civil War.
Put these smaller books in file folders to display and summarize what your child has learned. Home school lap books neatly organize your papers. You can even make a lapbook as a guide to your whole portfolio.
Not every homeschooler uses a formal portfolio or is required to produce one. However, a homeschool portfolio can serve the purposes of helping you teach, and keep excellent records of your homeschooling along the way.
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