When May rolls around, I have a short but critical list of things to get done. In my opinion, there are three tasks that help end a homeschool year well. Here’s the list:
- Progress Reports
- Student Resumes
- Legal Requirements
By all means, plan a party or a fun outing to mark the end of your homeschool year. But first, focus on getting these three things done. The first two items help you and your children realize all you’ve accomplished and all the reasons you have to celebrate, while checking off that third item will give you peace of mind.
Progress Reports
Progress reports are by far the most time consuming of my year-end tasks. They’re also the most important and rewarding one. Progress reports are not required by the State of Colorado, but I rely heavily on them to wrap up our current year and plan for the next. Here’s how my version of year-end progress reports go:
- Student Questionnaire – I have my children fill this out with information about their favorite subject, field trips, books, etc. for the year, along with any ideas they have for next year.
- Progress Report – I write up a summary of what we did for the year. This includes course work, events we attended, extracurricular activities, and notes for next year. I incorporate answers from the student questionnaire in this summary.
- (The ideas and notes for next year are an invaluable resource when it comes time to planning for the upcoming year. We often forget great ideas over summer break.)
- Review – My husband and I set aside time to go over the progress report with each of our children.
The review is a chance for me to pull everything together for the year and formally say, “Look at how well you’ve done!” This time we set aside for each child has always been a very positive experience for our family. While we focus on the positive, I should mention this – any areas that were difficult are approached with a growth mindset, the idea that continued effort will bring success.
Student Resume
From an early age (upper elementary school), I’ve had each of my children keep an ongoing document as an unofficial resume. It’s simply a chronological listing of all their volunteer work, awards/accomplishments, and work experience. As the years have gone by, we’ve found it to be an invaluable tool for creating a ‘real’ resume.
Legal Requirements
For the State of Colorado, you have to file a homeschool letter of intent annually and complete student testing every other year. Check that you’re up to date with any legal requirements for your state, and then double check to make sure you haven’t missed any changes to the system.
I also file away our daily homeschool schedules for the semester. These weekly grids serve as a reminder of what we’ve done when I write progress reports and they also provide a record of attendance.
The Finish Line
My ultimate goal is to get this all done a few days before school ends. It’s a tremendous way to wrap up our school year.
Finish strong. Summer’s almost here!
For Further Information:
Homeschool Evaluations (Progress Reports)