Record Keeping: Simple Portfolios and Scrapbooks

One thing I've done for the past two years is put much of Bee's work in a 3-ring binder, for each school year.  I have it divided into three categories:  Math, Language, and Other.  For his first grade year, I put nearly all of his written work in there because we just didn't do a ton of written work.  For his second grade year, I've put all of his writing samples and the weekly math page that we did, but I had to thin out and just use what I thought were the best/most interesting/most representative samples.

I'm also making a binder of the work that Bug brought home from preschool (drawings, letter and number tracing, Montessori metal insets, etc.).  I put little projects he's done around the house as well.  His stuff is kind of scattered, so I'm gradually collecting it.  Since he'll be only homeschooling next year, I'll start a new binder for him.

I'm going to a "crop" this weekend.  For those who don't know, that's where a bunch of scrapbookers get together in a big room and work on projects.  I'm hoping to make simple 8.5 x 11 pages of the field trips that Bee (and Bug to a lesser extent) went on the past two years.  I will then make a copy of them.  The originals will go in a special family homeschool scrapbook.  The copies will go in their binders for the year that they occurred.

I keep photo pages, certificates, and the most special projects in plastic sheet protectors in the notebok.  The protectors are especially good for little booklets.  Many pages just get 3-hole-punched and stuck in the binder.  I am probably saving too many things, but at least they are neatly put away in a binder, rather than scattered throughout the house. 

I start the school year the in June before the real school year starts.  So, most everything that happens in the summer before the school year goes in the binder for the upcoming school year.   Other families might find it makes more sense to start in the fall.  Or those who eschew the concept of the traditional school year might start in January.  And there's no rule that these binders need to be "one-year" binders.  Families who are better at throwing things out might have a binder that spans several years. 

This portfolio/scrapbook could also easily be put together by non-homeschooling parents who want to save momentos and work from each school year. 

List of Items I include (or plant to include) in portfolios: 

• Photos of museums and cultural attractions we visited (we went many places locally, and Bee and his dad travelled to both NYC and DC this year!)
• Photos of fun days (like when we went to theme parks during school hours)
• Photos of them and their homeschool friends at park days
• Photos of  extracurricular activities
• Writing samples:  I treasure these; it is so special to look back on what children thought was interesting to write about.  I love to keep the scraps of paper I find lying around the house with things that they spontaneously created. 
• Interesting workbook pages
• Art work (larger pieces can be photographed, and the photograph included)
• Projects made at camps and classes
• Certificates/ribbons given upon completion of a program or winning a prize
• Brochures of Places we Visited
• This coming year, I hope to include in each binder a list of the things that we did each month, from my Evernote.  

They learn the same whether or not I keep records!  But it is nice for all of us to look back on what we've done to get a sense of accomplishment.