I briefly shared a virtual tour on Instagram of the homeschool portfolio I create for each child at the end of year and wanted to better outline how and what I do! I promise, it is not as hard as it looks!
Now, keep in mind, our state (Washington) does not require official portfolios so this is very much an unofficial portfolio outline. But, it does the job and is probably a good launching point for any homeschooler. Just be sure to cross reference specific requirements if your state is has different requirements.
For each portfolio I use a 3″ binder and binders dividers to mark the grade/year. It looks like I’ll be able to fit grades K-4th in one before having to move onto a second binder. That puts each kid with about three binders by the time they graduate. Not too little, not too much!
Print my Portfolio Outline and fill-in-the-blank first pages to kick off your own homeschool portfolio for free here
It’s honestly nothing special, but I totally realize that when you’re starting from scratch it’s nice to having a launching point. My first year wasn’t this thorough and each year seems to have a gap of something I forgot or misplaced. It’s a good framework and goal though! I hope it is helpful to you!
A few things I do throughout the year to make the end of the year easier are as follows:
- I use a hashtag for all our adventures and field trips as well as each school year. When I share a photo on Facebook or Instagram I add the hashtag and then at the end of the year I can easily see and sort as I compile each portfolio.
- On that note, I actually started a secondary Instagram page @homeschoollikeaboss to share more day to day homeschooling details. It’s a good way for me to have reminders of all we accomplish! I also follow homeschool accounts through that account for inspiration.
- Each child has a 1″ binder that houses their daily to do list, reference pages, calendars, and a section for work samples. When they finish something they particularly love we hole punch it and put it in their daily binder. Lots and lots of other things get recycled … I can’t handle always swimming in papers! Gathering throughout the year makes the end of the year work sample collection easy breezy!
- I print six of the Term Highlights page (included in the Portfolio Outline above) for each of my kids and keep them in their daily binder so they can easily fill one out at the end of each term. We run our school year in six terms. Each term is six weeks long. For a different schedule you can totally modify! Your term could be seasonal or monthly … I just think it’s nice to have some checkpoints throughout the year to reflect. Term Highlights does just that.
- I give myself a deadline to complete each portfolio … one month from our last day of school. I’m usually right down to the wire, lol!