Creating a Homeschool Portfolio when No Records Have Been Kept

Question: My daughter is now a homeschooling Junior, expecting to graduate in less than two years. The problem is that I have not been keeping track of she has accomplished so I am woefully behind on creating her homeschool portfolio. So, what should I do about creating her homeschool portfolio?

Answer: I highly recommend that homeschoolers begin compiling the homeschool portfolio in grade 8, and I have laid out the steps of creating the homeschool portfolio. However, if that has not happened, you have some catching up to do.

What you should do is to get a large bin, or bookshelf, and start putting everything the child has completed since 8th grade in that bin. Here are all of the things you should compile:

Look at novels and books she has read . Have her brainstorm and make a list if you borrowed the books. It's not as impossible as it sounds. Last year my daughter was able to make a list of all novels she had read for the last two years. It did not hurt that she tends to read everything from an author of a book she likes.

Collect any notebook she has kept over the last two or three years. Search her room, bookshelves, any place random notebooks go to hide.

Collect all textbooks she has used. Even if you no longer own them, you should be able to remember what they were.

Write down any outside classes, co-ops, and workshops she has done. I have been able to pull these up in my email account. As I don't delete anything, thanks to Google, any and all conversations, reminders, and registrations done online can be traced down. This will include music lessons, swimming, homeschool physical education, and academic classes.

Dig up your old datebooks or online calendars as it should be a reminder of your schedules of previous years. It will tell you where you went, and probably what you did. This will help you trigger memories of any outside classes and activities that your daughter has done.

Have her brainstorm a list of History and Discovery Channel shows she may have watched. Dig through your DVD and Video Tape collection to find any educational DVD's, software, and Movies you have purchased that are educational in nature.

Once you have scoured your house and put all of the items you have used for homeschooling in one place, organize them according to grade level and subject matter. For each grade, you should have science, history, math, language arts, foreign language, and electives. With this organization and categorization done, you are ready to start creating your homeschool portfolio .