What is a homeschool portfolio?
A homeschool portfolio is a window into your child’s homeschool experience, achievements, and academic progress, throughout the school year. There are more then on way to keep a portfolio but I will list the core items you will need. However, always check your state laws, homeschool co-ops, and with the evaluator, on what materials are required.
What is the iPad Version?
Housing your entire portfolio on your iPad in lieu of a binder.
What is involved and how do you start?
Last school year I chose to fulfill the homeschool laws of my state by supplying a certified teacher with a portfolio of my children’s work. I housed samples of my child’s work along with book lists, field trips, attendance, and extra-curricular activities, in the traditional binder. This year, I have found that I use my iPad for most of my school planning and to house book lists, field trips, and images our homeschool adventures. Due to my daughter’s dyslexia, the iPad has become a staple in her daily school routine. So, with so much information already on the iPad, I felt using it for a portfolio was a natural extension.
I currently have the apps; Pages ($9.99), Dropbox (Free with Dropbox account) and Homeschool Helper ($4.99) downloaded on my iPad. All three apps combined, along with photos, will make up my daughter’s homeschool portfolio.
Pages is great for writing notes or saving reports by the child. With Dropbox you can bring all your saved work of your home computer with you. However, keep in mind to access it you will need a wifi connection. Homeschool Helper holds my lesson plans, attendance, field trips, book lists, and grades in one convenient place. To give a “snapshot” into our homeschool life and to show off science fair, history fair, and art projects, a dedicated album under Photos is a nice touch.
With a little technology, you can have the most complete and lightest homeschool portfolio on the block.