The way I have presented my kids’ portfolios has changed a little over the years. I began with a binder, but moved to PowerPoints in the last couple of years. I noticed that the reviewers just copied down exactly what …
Tag: portfolio
How do I show regular, thorough instruction?
A frequent point of contention between homeschoolers and county reviewers is what constitutes regular and thorough instruction, as mandated by COMAR.
Recap of Portfolio Review Fall 2019
Time for my semi-annual recap of my review experience. This was my third time reviewing with my assigned reviewer; let’s call her Dee. It was the first time I was reviewing for both of my children. Last spring, Dee had …
Recap of Fall 2018 Review
I usually make portfolio reviews a little more interesting by conducting a social experiment involving how I presented myself or what evidence of instruction I provided in the portfolio. However, this time, the school district set the experimental condition by …
Assigned Reviewers
This fall, the local school district’s homeschool office decided to assign a reviewer to each family. This is not a new concept, just one that this county had not embraced before. In the county just to the north of us, …
Choosing Homeschool Oversight: School District or Umbrella
In Maryland, homeschooling families have two choices for oversight. They can either review with their county school district or they can choose to be supervised by a non-public institution (commonly known as an umbrella). In the local homeschooling Facebook groups, …
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Recap of Spring 2018 Portfolio Review
Signing Up for the Review I was really glad last week when I got the email saying the school district is starting reviews early this year. For the last two years, they have used an online sign-up system that makes …
Prep for the Spring 2018 Portfolio Review
For this semester’s review, I initially was attempting to gather non-worksheet evidence of instruction. My goal was to test out how reviewers react to unschoolish types of portfolios. However, I failed! Not the review, but at pretending to be less …
Minimalist Portfolio
For this season’s portfolio review, I decided to present only 3 samples of work for math, English, science, history, and health. My reason, initially, for the experiment was for the future when I will have a kindergarten student who may …
Portfolio Review Craziness
It’s that time of year again! The first homeschool portfolio reviews of the year and my Facebook homeschool groups are flooding with questions about what to bring. First-timers are afraid of flunking the review. I understand the fear. My first review …