Ok another requirement question. We're still up in the air about moving. Been leaning more and more to moving to Springfield Mo instead of moving to Fulton Illinois. I was looking at the requirements for Mo on HSLDA earlier today. You don't have to intitiate contact but you have to keep records just in case, my understanding any way. Part of the record is a portfolio of the students work and evaluations. Ok my question is, can I take a picture of something and use that for the portfolio? DS fights me tooth and nail on some things like spelling tests if he has to do it on paper but if he can do it on his white board he doesn't fight me at all. If I took a picture of the white board when he finishes the test does that count as appropriate documentation of evaluation?? Even if we move to Illinois or heaven forbid stay here this is still something we should be doing but I want to do it right so I thought I'd ask.
Moondancer, you can put anything you want in his portfolio. You don't have to include every single test/paper he does. What I would do is let him take his test on the White Board...I'm like you that it woldn't be worth the fight to force the paper-and-pencil...and then just record his scores in some sort of "grade book". Include this copy of scores in his portfolio. That's what I did with my older daughter's math this year; always before i put in her workbook, but this year she didn't have a workbook! Yes, you may include pictures. I will take a picture of things that won't "go" into a portfolio...like the Viking Ship my kids spent a week working on last year. We went to the Soo Locks this week and saw the largest ship on the Great Lakes go through and took pictures of it. Plus DD has decided she wants to make a model of the lock for her Oral Reports, so I will probably take a picture of that, too. There are no hard rules on what to include in a portfolio. Just put in ANTYHING that represents what your child has learned. The more you do it, the more you will learn what to put in. Most of all, DON'T SWEAT IT!
I'm just going to keep track of work samples. My ds went to public school last year and his teacher didn't keep any of his spelling tests at all. Every one of them came home. She kept samples of work that showed a skill mastered (i.e. multiplication table test, book report, etc. but only one sample per subject for each quarter). For spelling practice she gave them interesting assignments like writing their words in the the shape of a triangle (same word three times in triangle shape) or writing the words first in red, then blue, then green. That kept things fun and what kid doesn't want to do school work in marker??????!!!!! Another thing that I would advise it to download the various state's school codes to see exactly what the language of it says. In IL, they only list a few subjects that children need to be instructed in (which might have changed recently..need to check again) and anything not on the list isn't my concern to keep work samples of, at least legally speaking, and even then some of the school code doesn't apply to private schools, which in IL homeschools are legally considered private schools. Out of curiousity, does you child write anything on paper? Like math problems or sentences, etc.? If not, you might want to get him started on writing something. My ds was extremely stubborn like that. The first things I could actually get him to write were "experiments". It started when he asked me which could fly farther, a notebook paper airplane or a cardstock paper airplane? I told him that he needed to set up a scientific experiment to find out. He all of a sudden knew what a pencil and paper where made for! :lol: He actually wrote down his question, his data, a chart and a conclusion without much prompting from me. You just never know what will motivate a strong-willed child! :wink: I have a book called Any Child Can Write that gives tons of suggestions for getting kids to write like shopping lists or captions for pictures they draw. My 5yo dd will be keeping a picture journal. At first I'll have her dictate to me what the caption is and as she gets better with phonics I'll have her write her own one sentence caption. Sorry to ramble.....and somewhat off topic .....I'll try harder next time! :roll:
Thanks ladies, I did download the complete code but of course it cant say definetly what to put in the portfolio and I just wanted to make sure we would be covered. DH thinks its a great idea to be doing anyway no matter if its a requirement or not. Brooke great suggestion for a picture journal. DS does write some stuff on paper like his journal and his math work. I try to get as much written work on paper as possible but sometimes its just less of a fight to let him do work on the white board. I love the shape idea for spelling words. We did figure out a great way to do his spelling words in sentences. In ps they want each word in its own sentence even if it means repeating but I let him figure out how to use as many of his spelling words in one sentence as he could. Definetly made it alot easier on both of us and his sentences were alot better and more creative. Doing one word in each sentence we would get short little sentences like "I said yes," or something short like that but allowing him to use more than one is definetly making an improvement in his sentences. Thanks again for the great ideas ladies.
I had to laugh about "I said yes".... :lol: My ds would take several minutes just to figure out the most efficient way to write a complete sentence, too. Thanks for the idea of using as many spelling words as possible in one sentence. We have done that with storytelling, but a sentence would really give his brain a workout! 8)
I might place a friendly wager on my ds figuring out that he could write "My spelling words are....,.....,......, and ....... ."
We also do the sentences for spelling words. I like to keep them because they give me something to remember - the sentences are usually about what they are feeling today or how they feel about a certain things. Some are mad and some are funny. I did have to eventually make a rule about every sentence beginning with " I ". My ds also tries to make the sentence as effecient as possible so he doesn't have so many words to write. Is this a boy thing? DD would write a book! I am going to try having them use many words in a sentence - what a great idea!
