Important Factors to Consider When Submitting a Home Education Portfolio

Certain states in America require that home schooling parents create a portfolio for the purposes of home schooling their children. There is confusing as to too how many items are required for the portfolio. It is suggested that people check in with the local home schooling authorities just precisely what is required for this purpose. The portfolio is made for the express purpose of recording the child's activities and progress throughout the school year.

Parents have many ways that they can put this together. While it is important to comply with what the authorities require, it is important to not be pressurized into doing something that is against the parent's wishes when it comes to creating this yearly record. Parents do have a reasonable amount of latitude when it comes to doing this.

Three main parts make up this method of record keeping. These are test scores, samples and the log. All of these will be used to record the story of the child's year of home schooling. Some parents are keen to record all the books that were read throughout the year by the child.

Some parents will focus on keeping records of the scores that were attained throughout the year. Other home schooling parents may focus on samples of the work done by the child throughout the year. Parents will generally be keen to keep a log of information where the child has done well throughout the year. The keeping of these can be rather vague or quite detailed. It is however important to have a reasonable idea of what the child did throughout the year and equally important how he or she fared throughout the year.

In some cases parents may wish to keep things rather private and they will submit just enough to satisfy the authorities. Many of these will submit generic information rather than information that reflects the personal expression of the child. Other parents have a better than average working relationship with the authorities and are more than prepared to give a detailed account of the child's academic and extra mural achievements during the year. Veteran home schooling parents will be quick to advise that new parents do not set unrealistic expectations in the earlier years that cannot be sustained in later years. Things can happen in life that can disrupt the home schooling process and this makes it difficult to maintain these standards at that time. A home schooling mother can fall pregnant and should this happen then adjustments regarding the home schooling will certainly have to be made.

The evaluator will want to be satisfied that the child is being educated in the subjects as set down by the law. The educator will also want to see that there is sustainable progress being made. District requirements vary as well. Some will want to see every bit of documentation while others will not want to see anything. Parents should endeavor to find out what the evaluator and the district supervisor will be looking for.

Another concern is the quality of other 

Child Portfolio

 that are presented by other parents in the same district. If many parents are submitting thick binders with detailed information and one parent arrives with scant information, that parent could pick up some trouble. For the most part though, most districts are middle of the road and will accept reasonable record keeping.

At the end of the day home schooling parents should want to do their best for the sake of their child. The parents should do everything in their power to ensure that their child gets the best possible start to life by giving them the best education possible. One way to do this is to create a portfolio that is detailed enough to satisfy the parents as well as the authorities.