What is a portfolio?
What’s in a portfolio?
I am a pretty laid-back reviewer. In layman’s terms, WV homeschool law says that your child needs to show “progress” according to his/her abilities in each of the 5 required subjects (reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies). That does not mean that your child needs to learn according to a predetermined set of standards or curriculum but that you can meet your child where he/she is at in their learning journey, filling in their gaps and catering to their interests and strengths. Every child learns differently and every child deserves to be educated and evaluated according to the manner in which they learn best.
When reviewing a portfolio, I usually I ask for several artifacts to show what was learned during the year for each of the 5 required subjects (a couple of work samples per month for each subject is usually plenty for me to see progress). A work sample can be anything that shows their learning progress from the school year.
At the bottom of this page are some ideas of work samples you can include in your portfolio. These are just some examples that I have seen; it is certainly not an all-inclusive list. If you have something to include in your child’s portfolio that I did not list, by all means, include it!
How do I get you my child’s portfolio?
As far as HOW to present your child’s portfolio to me, there are lots of options. It is totally up to you how you want to present their learning progress.-
* Some people like to do in-person reviews, if they are local to the Charleston area. I do some of those, but as a homeschool mom myself with 3 kids, I block out a few days where I schedule in-person reviews in 20-minute time slots in Charleston and Teays Valley.
* I also do digital reviews all over the state, and there are so many ways you can send those! Some people send me their stuff via email or FB messenger or even Google Drive. I have had a lot of clients choose to do a private FB group where they update periodically during the year, posting pictures and telling what their kids are learning and doing in the various subjects. I have had clients make PowerPoint presentations showing off their children’s work and send those to me. I have even reviewed a client’s Instagram feed that showed off their child’s homeschool projects, field trips, and work.
* I also offer the unique option to do a porch pickup/drop-off at my home in Nitro for a simple contact-free way to still do a physical portfolio. You just set up a day to drop off your child’s physical portfolio on my porch (along with payment), I review your child’s work over the next couple of days, and you pick up the portfolio and completed review form once it is finished being reviewed. Many people have utilized the porch pick-up option over the past few years.
I love to leave it open for creativity in the portfolios I review, as everyone learns differently and at different paces. As I always tell my clients, you are just showcasing what your kids have learned and accomplished during the year, and I am your captive audience! 🙂
Ideas of what you can include in your child’s portfolio
- Book list – list of some of the books your child has read during the school year
- Pictures of worksheets/tests
- Pictures and videos of projects/experiments/field trips/etc.
- Videos of your child reading independently at beginning and end of the school year (if they are learning to read)
- Parent login information (if using an online program) so I can log in and see your child’s progress.
- Writing samples
- Written narratives or lists telling what your children learned and did to make progress in each subject
- A list of topics or units covered (especially for science and social studies) and what was done during each unit
- Lists of videos/documentaries that your child watched, games played if “gameschooling” was utilized, field trips, classes taken using Outschool, etc.
Once again, these are only examples of things you could include in your child’s portfolio. Every child and every family learns differently, and portfolios are as unique as the child. The sky is the limit on how you show your child’s progress! You are just showcasing all of their accomplishments and learning from the school year as a proud parent/teacher, and I am your captive audience!
Homeschool Reviews by Brittany 