MD Homeschoolers - talk to me about portfolio reviews?

[LaurainMD]

I am just starting out, have filed my letter of intent to homeschool with the county board of ed, and am trying to make sense of what kind of record-keeping I need to do for this mysterious portfolio review we are supposed to have twice a year. What is this meeting like? What happens? What do they look at, and what do I need to be able to show? I am, as you can probably guess, a little nervous about this. I want to make sure I am doing the right record-keeping and whatnot all the way along and not scrambling right before the meeting, you know?

 

Thanks in advance, for any experience you can share... :)

[GraceinMD]

Hi, Laura,

 

Welcome to hs'ing! We have done most of our hs'ing in MD under an umbrella group, but did have one year with the county (Montgomery). My understanding is that it really depends on what county you're in. Our co-op was in Howard County (but our review was in MoCo), and they seemed to be more strict from what I've heard.

 

At any rate, it looks like your 5 yr old will be the "reviewed" child, and when my son was that age, the reviewer about fell off the seat with how many read alouds we'd done that first "semester." I think we had four single-spaced pages (2 columns each) of books we'd read (keep your printouts from the library, if you're using the MD Public Libraries), along with regular seatwork-type items. My Mont. Co. reviewer was very nice, and not at all antagonistic towards hs'ing. I have heard that some in other counties might be more adversarial (read: picky).

 

As I've heard moms of older kids talk about it, it seems that they want to see an example or two of writing and of math at the beginning and the end of the semester. If you're just working on handwriting/spelling, for example, just take the workbook that you've used to show progress along the way. Many moms will take pics of (e.g.) field trips, PE-type activities, etc., since these might be the most difficult to document - or you could have your dd draw a pic and narrate the activity.

 

Make sure that you have a "health" unit of some sort each time (I recall doing a food pyramid, and having my ds cut out pics from each group and glue them to the chart). If you have items like lapbooks that show ongoing learning of a topic, those seem to be well-received, too.

 

One other tidbit: do not give them more than they're asking for, even if you've just done a stunning unit about astrophysics or whatever --- if it's not 'required', then you just (potentially) make it harder / more stringent for every OTHER homeschooler out there. :)

 

Document well and thoroughly, but don't worry about it - I'm sure you'll do fine! From what you have written in your siggy that your dd is doing, you're very similar to where we were 8 years ago.

 

(PS - the reason we switched to an umbrella from portfolio review was that dh thought it would be easier --- however, my umbrella wanted monthly summaries of each week, and quarterly evals, etc. To me, it was more time-consuming and made me feel guilty since I was always 'behind'! The portfolio review took several hours to compile (for me), but only once per semester.)

Edited July 31, 2010 by GraceinMD

[Bayt ul-Hikmah]

I agree that it very much depends on your county. Last year I homeschooled in PG County, and I never had a review! This year I'm in Montgomery County where reviews seem to happen every few months. I haven't had my first one yet, so I appreciate the advice. :)

[UmmiSays]

Hi,

We are in Howard County and last year we did 2 reviews for my son who I registered as a Kindergartener, one for Fall and Spring. I had heard some not so good stories about the review so I came ready for anything. Both times I was overly prepared. I even did a power point presentation the 2nd time around just cause it was easeir for me to organize the pictures that way. It ended up being sooo quick and easy. I showed up with all of our workbooks for LA with our chapter book list, Math, and Science. I had some confusion on what Social Studies was, so she suggested he become familiar with all of the states and capitals. For health I just brought pictures of my son doing his karate classes, going swimming,and doing daily walks to the park with his brothers. For music I provided pictures of him doing piano lessons. I also included pictures of all of the field trips and library visits we did for each semester. The reviewer was very nice and very very impressed. She basically checked thru the pages and said everything was fantastic. It happened so fast that I wasn't sure it really happened. I hopes this is helpful.

 

Peace,

Candace

[Jennay]

I've gone through the county in Montgomery County for 2 years. It's been pretty painless. Last time I was in and out in about 15 minutes (and that was for 2 kids!)

Check out this site if you are in Montgomery County - click on Review Guide and it gives some great advice. http://www.mhln.info

[LaurainMD]

Thanks so much. I am in Anne Arundel Co., so I'm not sure where that falls on the strictness spectrum. I'm just keeping all our work in a binder (mostly to show *her* what progress she's made), and I'll try to remember to keep documenting our field trips, science experiments, and such. I just have to keep reminding myself that it's official now, since so much of "school" is just continuing what we've always done. :)

[happydays]

I have reviewed with the county for 5 years.

They have all been good experiences.

 

Our county homeschool coordinator is wonderful. He runs early reviews in October-November for new homeschoolers to answer questions. Otherwise you review in Jan/Feb and again in May/June.

 

The basic deal is show at your local library at a time you chose. A handful of reviewers will be at desks and will take families individually. You show/tell them what you have been doing in the standard areas: Math, LA, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, PE.

 

They have check boxes for Schedule, Computer, media/Library, and Field trips. They aren't essential, but I like to bring a page from our schedule, a list of current computer educational computer games/sites they are using, a library receipt, and a list of field trips just to get them checked.

 

For PE they like pictures. I just list my kids activities and print a few photos of them playing soccer, swimming, etc.

 

The main thing to remember is are you showing "evidence of regular, thorough instruction." That only takes a list of what you covered or the name of the program and a few samples of work from the semester.

 

If you have any specific question feel free to PM me.

 

Sarah

[JMDRAD]

I am in QA county but under an umbrella school in Conowingo, MD. We do portfolio reviews once a year with our homeschool peers. They are very lenient (but have an excellent reputation with the state). For history and science I made a list of the books we read and included any worksheets or projects we did. Math, I kept a some of her worksheets. For LA I kept a sampling of her work. For PE, music and art I took pictures of different activities that we did. It was very painless but I still worried about doing enough. LOL Basically all I have to do is show that we did something for each required subject. That something could be worksheets, photos, lists, etc.

[Guest Spookymomma]

I'm in PG County. This is my 1st year homeschooling our kindergarten and I'm freakin out!!! I don't know what to do. My husband wants to do the umbrella group and pay $250 but I don't see the benefit of giving someone that much money when the county is free. He thinks we won't get a fair shake if we do it through PG County and he doesn't want the county involved in our business. My interview with the umbrella group is already set up for next week so I'm in a dilema, trying to find out as much information about the reviews in PG County as I can and that is how I came across this forum.

 

So I'm sorry I can't help you but I was hoping someone could help me as well :)

[MommaOfThree]

Hi there..We're in Washington County, MD. We are now entering our 3rd year homeschooling & we have been using the county review/oversight program. So far, we have had no problems but we will probably use an umbrella program when my oldest (ds12) is at high school level.

 

Our county requires portfolio reviews twice a year (Jan & May). They really do only want to see proof that the children are being taught at home on a regular basis. As long as you have info on the curricula you use, samples of work from all 'required' subjects, and reading lists they are pretty satisfied.

 

Now, I of course still get nervous about the review.. Something about having to report to anybody about how I teach/raise my children gets me all anxious. Overall, I believe MD isnt that bad as long as you have the above info (which is basically what the Comar law states is required).

 

GOOD LUCK!!!!!