Q: When I hear the word portfolio, I think of a big scrapbook that an artist would put together. Is there a simpler way to put together a portfolio because Im not very arty? ----- A: The home education portfolio is simply a collection of records. Ive seen a few people who make an arty scrapbook for their portfolio, but the majority dont. Actually, since Florida law doesnt specify what the portfolio should look like and says very little about what should go in it (All Florida law requires in it are a log of academic activities, titles of reading materials, and samples of work.), there are lots of ways to make a portfolio. Some types of portfolios that Ive seen for Florida home education students: *A box of papers. Sometimes the box includes a few workbooks. Sometimes the box is organized, but sometimes the papers are simply dumped into a box. As long as theres some kind of log, titles of reading materials, and samples of work in the papers in the box, this method works just fine (and requires no artistic talent). *A stack of papers. Similar to the box method (above), but without the box. *A binder (or binders). Sometimes these are neatly organized by academic subject area. Sometimes they are organized by date. Sometimes they are separated into sections for the log, the titles of reading materials, and samples of work. Sometimes the titles of reading materials are mixed into the log. Since Florida law doesnt designate how the portfolio is to be organized, any of these organization methods will work. In fact, its even okay for the portfolio to be unorganized--though organizing it will simplify the process of having an evaluator look for evidence of academic progress. *A stack of books. A stack of books (whether workbooks, textbooks, reference books or other sorts of books) will show titles of reading materials as the titles are usually written right on the books. The pages within will show samples of the work used. (Note that the samples dont *have* to include writing by the student. Even pages that they read can work as samples since they show the level of work that the child is doing.) A few check marks or dates on the table of contents pages can serve as the log of academic activities. Or, in the case of workbooks where the work itself shows which pages were done, the entire workbook could also serve as a log. (Just remember, though, you are required to keep the portfolio for 2 years. Using the table of contents as the log, instead of an entire workbook, allows the parent to get rid of some of the workbooks before 2 years is over which can be important if storage space is limited.) *A blog Some write entries (daily or weekly) of lessons done by the child. Some use a calendar with notes for the log. Some include photos or scans of the childs work for samples. Some show photos of field trips or activities as well. Some include copies of reports from websites about the childs progress on various assignments or grade reports from online programs. (Just be sure to back up the information somewhere in case the computer or website crashes.) (And, no, Florida law doesnt require the portfolio to be printed on paper, so a computerized version is fine.) *A calendar with a folder. The calendar with a few brief notes on the learning activities done by the child serves as the log of academic activities. A folder of papers can serve as a place to store a few samples of work and titles of reading materials. (Note: Florida law does *not* require all work to be saved. The portfolio must include samples which can be just a handful or, technically, even just 2--though most keep many more.) *A set of materials published as curriculum. When a parent buys a set of curriculum, the set often includes a lesson plan book or lesson plan pages that can serve as the log of academic activities--just add check marks or dates to the lessons as they are done. The pages used by the child can serve as samples of work and the titles of the books or sections within a book can serve as titles of reading materials. (Why reinvent the wheel if youve paid someone else to develop a curriculum for you to use?) *A computing device with an online program If you subscribe to an online curriculum program, the program itself can serve as the portfolio (similar to other published curriculum sets, above). Most online curricula can generate reports that can serve as the log of academic activities and which will show the titles of the reading materials used by the child within the program. The program itself can serve as the samples of work as opening up a few pages done by the child will show the level of work the child has been doing. *And more... Any method that includes keeping a log of academic activities, titles of reading materials, and samples of work will meet Floridas requirements for a home education portfolio. Floridas law doesnt give specifics in how to keep the portfolio because it was designed to make record keeping easy for the parent, no matter the materials or methods chosen. As long as the parent keeps records with a log of academic activities, titles of reading materials, and samples of work, the portfolio meets legal requirements. (Note: If the parent wishes to do a portfolio review evaluation, the portfolio should include enough detail to show that the child is making academic progress commensurate with ability, but any of these methods of record keeping can be used to do that.) Hope this helps, Cheryl
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 04:51:33 +0000
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