What is a "portfolio" ? Do you have to evaluate?(FLORIDA)?

Question

I am considering homeschooling . Can someone explain what a portfolio is ? Do I have to enroll in an umbrella school or is better to choose and pick from different publishers what I think it is best for me & my kids ? In this case , do I have to evaluate ? An evaluation+tests is $90 (Florida) which I think is expensive , is it better to enroll in a satellite school like Christian Liberty Academy ? They also provide curriculum , grades ,tests for just a little more than what an evaluation would cost me , not to mention that I would have to buy the books myself if not enrolled .

What is the best method to homeschool in Florida? I live in an area where there is not any homeschool group close and don't have anyone to ask.

Answer 1

A portfolio is what the girl said above me. Now why don't you sign up for Flvs? It's free if you live in florida. And to get evaluated call your school board and ask for a list of evaluaters. that you can call and make an appointment with at their house or a church or a school, and all they do is look through your work, ask you a few questions. And say congrats the whole thing with my evaluater cost us 50$ per child, and there was just me and my bro. But check out flvs you can take any course for Middle Schoolers on up to high school.

Answer 2

I'm a homeschooler in Florida and can answer some of these for you.

For starters, a portfolio is basically a file or collection of the student's work. You don't necessarily have to save everything, but it's a good idea to have samples of assignments, writing, art work, projects, a list of books read, etc. If you want to avoid the sit-down book work routine anad do more creative, hands-on stuff like experiments, videos, projects, field trips, or other activities, your portfolio might consist of photographs of these activities with journal entries the child writes about each one to demonstrate what they learned and explain what they did. You could also save your own written plans or a log of educational activities you and your child participate in. You might want to invest  in a small file box to store things in, or just get a note book and some folders for organizing things. Don't stress over it so much. If you are stressing over it, just think of it more like saving things your kid brings home from school that you're proud of and not so much as a chore the state requires of you.

As for evaluation, you've got several choices in Florida. One is to find a certified teacher to review your portfolio (collection of work samples that show progress) and talk to your child a bit to get an idea of where they are. We personally avoid this one because evaluation results will depend a lot on the teacher and their own educational philosophies, and if you're basing the evaluation on a short interview and some work samples, it's better if it's done by someone who actually knows your child and isn't just meeting them for the first time, but this was just our opinion. Another option is to haave your child evaluated by a psychologist, but this can be costly. You have the option of taking one of a few standardized tests as well, and while some of these do require the fee, they are a fast and easy way to get the state requirements out of the way and go on with life and learning. If your child is in the 3rd grade or above, you can also take the FCAT for free. This is what we do (or did until I reached 10th grade and was too advanced for FCAT). The standards aren't very high in our opinion, but it's an okay way to test reading comprehention and basic math skillls, and writing later on, and it's free and a quick way to get the testing over with.

If you go with a standaradized test, especially FCAT, you don't do the testing. Your child goes to a designated school or test center on a weekend with a bunch of other homeschoolers in the area and takes the test there.

You get lots of choices. It all depends on what works best for you and especially your child. One thing I'll suggest is that if you do choose a standardized test and if your child has never attended public or private school, explain to them what the testing situation is going to be like, and maybe take a day or two to practice doing math problems and answering reading questions with a time limit, in silence, and at a desk, just to give him an idea of what will be expected of him durring a state test. Just don't stress over it. I'm sure you'll do well with whatever you choose. Good luck!

Answer 3

Florida is an easy state to homeschool in, and you have a lot of choices.

If you choose the simplest method of sending a "letter of intent" to inform the school district that you are homeschooling, you have to keep a portfolio.  

The portfolio can be a 3-ring binder, or a pocket folder, or a box, or anything that you want to use.  By state law, it must contain 3 things:  

1.  a log of educational activities--this can be brief notes of what was done each day or week, or if you're using textbooks if can be copies of the Tables of Contents with dates by sections as you do them, or a calendar with quick notes about what was done

2.   titles of reading materials--these can be included in the log or can be a separate list; many of us use the receipts that many public libraries will print out as our lists; others just list titles of textbooks used

3.  samples of work--these can be worksheets or books used, or letters written, or reports, or photos of projects done, or whatever works for your homeschool program

If you choose the "send a letter of intent to the county" method of homeschooling, you do have to have an evaluation of some sort done.  But it shouldn't cost anywhere near $90 unless you just like spending that kind of money.  A portfolio evaluation (where a teacher looks over the portfolio to check that the student is making progress) will usually run around $40.  Or you can choose to have a standardized test done.  Or the cheapest option is to have the child take the FCAT in February at the nearest public school--that is free, but many people want to avoid the FCAT and would rather pay for a different evaluation method.

If you choose to homeschool through an "umbrella" school instead, your child will legally be considered a private school student.  You'll have to deal with immunization regulations and keep attendance records.  You wouldn't have to keep a portfolio or have an annual evaluation done--unless the umbrella school requires it.  You'll have to abide by any rules that the umbrella school has.

Personally, we chose the "send a letter of intent to the school district" method of homeschooling.  And most homeschoolers that I know have also chosen this method.  I know a couple who've gone with umbrella schools but most don't think it's worth the trouble to have to report to some intermediary...

Answer 4

A portfolio is defined per our statutes is basically just a reading log and samples of work. You want to read the actual wording in the statutes.

The average portfolio evaluation in Central Florida runs about 35 bucks. If you wanted testing, that would be a higher cost. Testing is NOT required.

Ways to teach your child at home legally in Florida

1) Home Education Program - this is the 'registered with the county' where you need to do an annual evaluation

2) Private School with a home-based option - what many folks call an "umbrella school"

3) Private Tutor

4) Virtual Public School

I've used three of the four - none is better than the other - its a matter of what works best for your family at this time. There are different benefits and hoops to jump through for each choice and you need to way the pros and cons for your family.

Look on yahoo groups - there are TONS of homeschool groups. There's a huge statewide Christian one called Florida-Homeschool.

Answer 5

A portfolio is a collection of samples of your students work in varying subjects.  Typically it is kept in some kind of folder or binder, or sometimes in several.  The math section would include math tests, and perhaps records of projects that used math in real life situations.  The art portion would include finished drawings and paintings, as well as photographs of larger art projects.  The science portion would include tests and lab sheets, photographs of labs, and perhaps a couple of research reports.  Language Arts portion would include lists of books read, writing samples, grammar tests, etc.  All subjects could include photographs of related field trips, brochures and mementos of those trips etc.

$90 is fairly reasonable for a portfolio evaluation done by a private evaluator, however, many states that require evaluations will also have the school system do it free of charge, you will have to look into that.

As far as the best method to homeschool in Florida that depends on your family, some people do fine with a program like Christian Liberty, other people hate being tied to one curriculum.  

To find out the laws in Florida go to:

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?St...

To find Florida based organizations that can further explain your options go to:

http://www.hslda.org/orgs/default.asp?St...