Question for PA homeschoolers

[Mommy to monkeys]

What do YOU put in your portfolio?

 

I've read about the log, samples, attendance etc, but I'm very interested in what/how many samples are put in by different families. Bonus points if you homeschool in a way that uses a lot of oral narration and discussion rather than producing work sheets for every subject. (This is where the whole samples thing loses me)

Edited April 28, 2016 by Mommy to monkeys

[3sapphires]

I was struggling with the portfolio as well, I homeschooled 3rd and 4th grades, sent dd to school, and am now homeschooling 8th grade, and intend to continue through High School. There are just not as many colorful samples as there were in 3rd and 4th grades, lol. She does a lot of work, but one page of math problems or even one math test shows nothing, yk?

 

What I decided is this: at the front of each subject section, I am including a page listing the "topics covered" - lifted directly from the table of contents, with additions or deletions made where necessary. I figure that this will help me make course descriptions in High School, as well.

 

I'm still including those random samples, but this way I feel that my evaluator will have a better idea of what our year looked like.

[marbel]

I've been homeschooling in PA since my kids were in 3rd and 4th grade.  I always did a "minimalist" portfolio.  A guideline I tried to follow was to put in 3 pieces of work per subject: one from the beginning of the year, one from the middle, one from the end.  Show progress!

 

The front page or two was a typed list of the materials that we used (my "contemporaneous log") , divided by subject. I'd list all the books, DVDs, CDs, workbooks, field trips, etc.  When the kids got older, they kept their own book lists and attached that separately. 

 

Then, the samples.  When they were younger and we did oral narrations, I'd write it up and note that it was an oral narration and put that in.  Sometimes I would make up little quizzes for them and stick those in.  Sometimes I'd find a printable online quiz on a book (this was more middle school and up) and put that in.  One of my kids was not a heavy producer of written work for a good while so those were useful.   Online grammar worksheets were useful too.  Even though we were not big worksheet users, if we were short on something I'd just print one off and have them do it.   Sometimes one of them would write a story and I'd correct the grammar/punctuation on it and stick that in, even in draft form.  It showed the work and didn't matter that it wasn't perfectly polished.   Oh, one year we went through the Pennsylvania charter and as we read and discussed each section, I had them write a sentence or two on it, sort of restating it in their own words.  We put that in.  It wasn't beautiful but it got the point across. As they got older, they did more writing and I did put in the polished papers.

 

One year we relied heavily on Khan Academy for math and I just printed out the year's progress report and stuck that in.  It showed the topics mastered.  '

 

Both evaluators I have used were very friendly toward unschooling so that helped.  They weren't expecting 3-inch binders packed with all the work the kids had done during the year.

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2016 by marbel

[FawnsFunnyFarm]

My portfolio made a HUGE change last year.  Since the district no longer sees our port, and we use an "unschool friendly" evaluator, we are much more "real" with what we put in there!

 

I begin with a letter that gives a quick over view of our year, activities we have done, places we have gone, etc.  I include in this short sweet note that I attest that we have completed the required days as we believe learning happens all the time.

 

I then have a log of books, magazines and also include video resources we have used.  I have a "together" section of this and then each kid has a list in their portion of the portfolio... did you notice it seems I have 1 portfolio for my kids?  Yep, I no longer make them each their own!  Most of our learning is done together, it's easier to just have to put it into one place instead of keeping each kid separate.

 

I then have a scrapbook style section.  Pictures of places we went, things we did, etc as a family.  I put in very short little blurbs with it.  

 

Then each kid has a section.  This includes some samples of math (2 or 3), some writing samples (again 2 or 3), and a small scrapbook section of things they did that didn't include the other kids... for example Scout activities.  I also include a short note in their individual sections about their year, where I saw growth or where I would like to see them grow next year.  If they are required to have testing that year the results are in their independent sections.

 

I scan this and email it to our evaluator, we do a distance eval, she calls we all chat on the phone and she sends us our letter to take to the school.

Edited April 28, 2016 by FawnsFunnyFarm

[Garga]

The portfolios no longer need to go to the school system.  You choose an evaluator and they review the work done.  Evaluators come in all shapes and sizes.  Some will glance over the work in 15 minutes and say, "You're fine!"  I go to one who talks with us for an hour, then sometimes keeps the portfolio to review at her leisure later. 

 

I would first figure out who you want as your evaluator.  Then, I would ask them specifically what they want to see.  Ask them how to handle the fact that much of the work is verbal.  You could go out of your way to create a complex portfolio and end up with an evaluator who glances through it quickly.  Or vice versa.

 

We could all tell you what we put in our portfolio, but I don't think our opinions matter as much as the one who will evaluate your portfolio. 

[justasque]

Spelling:  A statement that spelling was taught on an as-needed basis during written work.  Samples from other subjects where the spelling was correct backed this up.
Reading:  A log of reading materials - the books the child read to themselves, books we read together, books I read to them (not differentiated as such)., plus one age-appropriate written piece on a literary topic ("My favorite book", or some kind of compare/contrast piece.)
Writing:  Samples from other subjects that the student wrote.  (Eg. something written about a science topic, a history topic, a lit topic)
Arithmetic:  About three pages of work covering a variety of topics. The "end of year test" from a math curriculum was useful for this, not always the one we actually used, done over several days specifically for the port, and not given as a test.
Science: A description of activities and one age-appropriate written piece on a scientific topic.
Geography: A statement that geog. was covered as part of history.  A colored-in and labeled map.
History:  An age-appropriate written piece about a history topic ("My visit to a Civil War Reenactment", "The Liberty Bell", etc.)
Civics: A statement that civics was covered as part of history.
Fire Safety:  An age-appropriate homemade worksheet on fire safety.  
Health/Physiology: A statement and worksheet of some sort.
Phys Ed, Music, Art: A statement on each, some kind of portfolio fodder from one of our activities for each.

 

Including a few written pieces on different subjects goes a long way to showing the child is literate and is generally being educated.

I did not try to provide samples from everything we've done.  Including a brief statement for each required subject giving the basics of what we've done (no specific curriculum mentioned) shows the required subjects have been covered.  My ports are typically about 1/4" high, but they include everything needed and give a good representation of a literate, educated child.

[lorisuewho]

The portfolios no longer need to go to the school system.  You choose an evaluator and they review the work done.  Evaluators come in all shapes and sizes.  Some will glance over the work in 15 minutes and say, "You're fine!"  I go to one who talks with us for an hour, then sometimes keeps the portfolio to review at her leisure later. 

 

I would first figure out who you want as your evaluator.  Then, I would ask them specifically what they want to see.  Ask them how to handle the fact that much of the work is verbal.  You could go out of your way to create a complex portfolio and end up with an evaluator who glances through it quickly.  Or vice versa.

 

We could all tell you what we put in our portfolio, but I don't think our opinions matter as much as the one who will evaluate your portfolio. 

 

I agree with the above.  I'm an evaluator and I just work with the methods that each homeschooling family uses.

[Carrie12345]

What do YOU put in your portfolio?

 

I've read about the log, samples, attendance etc, but I'm very interested in what/how many samples are put in by different families. Bonus points if you homeschool in a way that uses a lot of oral narration and discussion rather than producing work sheets for every subject. (This is where the whole samples thing loses me)

 

Mine look different every year, depending on what we've done.  In the early years, I've always included a lot of things that I've scribed for the kids, even when we were still turning in portfolios to the district.

 

I've never been red flagged for anything, though my evaluator (and friend) pointed out last year that I forgot to stick any evidence of fire safety in one kid's.  Said kid described her fire safety practice.

 

I've found that using other home educators as evaluators is much less stressful than using non-home-educators because they're more likely to be familiar with different programs and methods.  And more likely to have seen the kids at various activities!

[Mommy to monkeys]

Thank you all so much for your feedback. I'm wanting to keep it as simple as possible while fulfilling what is legally required.

I'm gathering that finding the right evaluator is key. I've looked at some pages with listings for them and I'll admit to being a tad bit frightened of the evaluators who have loads of classroom experience but no homeschooling experience.

[Carrie12345]

Thank you all so much for your feedback. I'm wanting to keep it as simple as possible while fulfilling what is legally required.

I'm gathering that finding the right evaluator is key. I've looked at some pages with listings for them and I'll admit to being a tad bit frightened of the evaluators who have loads of classroom experience but no homeschooling experience.

 

There are a few hs'ers/evaluators in my group who have mentioned doing long distance virtual evaluations.  I could get and message info if that's a route that interests you.

 

I did use a never-homeschooled teacher as our evaluator for the first couple of years,and I wasn't comfortable with her expectations or the additional questions she asked the kids, BUT there was never any hint that she wasn't going to "pass" us.  So, even though it stressed me out, our homeschool wasn't in any real danger.

(Copying and pasting the pertinent laws at the front of each section of my portfolio always made me feel a little better, too, lol.)

[lorisuewho]

Thank you all so much for your feedback. I'm wanting to keep it as simple as possible while fulfilling what is legally required.

I'm gathering that finding the right evaluator is key. I've looked at some pages with listings for them and I'll admit to being a tad bit frightened of the evaluators who have loads of classroom experience but no homeschooling experience.

 

If you are in central PA, pm me.  I would definitely go with an evaluator with homeschool experience also.

[happypamama]

All of the evaluators I've used have had experience as homeschoolers, and I think talking with your evaluator ahead of time is very helpful.  For subjects where you do more narration and discussion, I would include a paragraph that says, "Student discussed the following books, with regard to characters, plot, etc.: My Side of the Mountain, The Golden Goblet, and so on."  I have sometimes also asked my children to write a few sentences or a paragraph about an event or something else that otherwise doesn't translate easily to paper.

 

Photos help too.  And for things like Rocksmith, DuoLingo, and Typing.com, I print off screen shots.