Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Friday, May 6, 2016

Homeschool Evaluations

Our state requires that we have an end of the school year evaluation, by a qualified evaluator of our choice.

We've been using the same evaluator since Nate was in high school.  The wonderful thing about this is that she really has known the kids since they were little, and Kyle his whole life!  She really can see their progress from year to year and celebrate their victories over challenges, because she knows what they are!  

She is an encourager, and we all love her.

Our state also requires standardized testing in 3rd, 5th and 8th grade, so both Kyle and Sarah have testing this year.  Sarah loves it, and Kyle does too, except the very end where he needs to write a brief story. 

This is Rachel's last evaluation, then graduation is a week from today.  Time flies.

We take a portfolio with a sampling of their work for each subject, and any extra stuff they want to show her.  Over the years, the kids have taken frogs, recorders, guitars, violins, cellos.  They've played the piano for her, showed her lego creations, and she has seen their learning fair displays.

 We also include a daily log.  This can be a simple as a calendar marking off the 180 days or as complicated as you like.  Tim made this for me years ago and it's just right for us.


 We also include a list of books read independently by the student. This is Kyle's list for this year.

We also include a curriculum list, a list of objectives for the student with each subject that is turned into the school district at the beginning of the school year, and this year Rachel's high school transcript.



I love this time of year when we get to look back over the whole year and see what we've accomplished.  Next year I'll have only two full time students, and Kamryn who'll be doing Kindergarten with me.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to learn together by schooling at home.  We are able to be flexible and take the opportunities for 'out of the box' learning.  Some days are harder than others, but home education is part of our daily lives, where the kids function not only at home, but in volunteer opportunities, service projects, outside classes or tutoring (as in music lessons).  It is a natural way to flow into adult life.

I'm thankful for these years, and for educational choice which has allowed us to choose this way of learning for our family.  It works for us.

5 comments:

  1. This is interesting. Your state is more rigid than ours but it sounds reasonable and I can see why you would appreciate the accountability and encouragement. It sounds like a wonderful evaluator. Congrats on another year completed!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are doing such a great job educating your children! That reading list looks amazing. There's a few on there I need to read.;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your scholars are well rounded...music, animals, gardening, reading, faith, et cetera, and not necessarily in that order. I know that your evaluator will be impressed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I always love this time of year, too. It is when I take a look back over all that has happened during the year that I realize how very much we've done and how much my student(s) has learned.

    Congratulations to all of you for another successful year...and to Rachel for the end of this chapter!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations! What smart children you have :)
    I loved seeing the Sugar Creek Gang books listed. Pretty sure I read them all as a kid! Also Danny Orlis. Are you familiar with those?

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to Creekside Cottage - a place of Hospitality, Friendship and Encouragement!

Things I Like

  Brenda from It's A Beautiful Life blog did a post with this title and I enjoyed her list so I thought I'd do something similar. He...