One of the most stressful activities as a homeschool parent can be prepping for the annual homeschool evaluation! I wanted to make sure that I didn't mess up and cause issues when I know that my son had accomplished so much during the year.

What I found was that I had nothing to worry about! In reality, the goal of an evaluator is to make sure that your child is progressing. They should give you suggestions as to how to improve but overall it should be a positive experience.

Gabe and I showed up to our first evaluation with 2 3" binders holding EVERYTHING we had done during the year. Every worksheet, every packet, EVERYTHING! I was informed that I had overprepared. So that was a breath of fresh air!

To make my life easier this year, I created a checklist and printable of highlights to keep it simple and uniform from year to year. I have 5 children, 4 of which I plan to homeschool all of their years so I don't have space to keep 2 3" binders for each year for each child. Space saving is important but I also want them to be able to look back and see their accomplishments.

What areas should I include?

I created a FREE Easy to Use - Homeschool Evaluation Binder Checklist and Guide covering the following areas.

Cover - "All About Me" Picture and Highlights - This is one of my favorite parts because it allows a snapshot of my child. When I look over the years I want to see how my kid has grown and what their favorites were from one year to the next!

Attendance Sheet - For planning purposes I use my Rooted Planner to keep track of all the lessons we do day to day but most planners overlap in years, so I do keep them just somewhere else. But I want to have, again, a snapshot of what days we did school. So on the calendar sheet I simply mark with an "X" which were school days.

Homeschool "Curriculum" Plan - Everyone's objectives may differ based on how the run their school program but at the start of each year I come up with the goals I want my child to complete by the end of the year. Usually in January I do a review and see where we are at and what we still need to accomplish. Then on this page I make notes of if we accomplished the goal, if we are still working on it, or if it needs to be moved to the following year.

Reading Book Log - The more children I have and the older I get, the worse my memory seems to be! Each year I work hard to keep a running list of all the books and authors that my child reads independently as well as ones we use for Reading Together. This reading out loud was something our last year evaluator really emphasized as being super important and I can remember my elementary years where I really enjoyed that. It allowed my creative mind to picture what was being read rather then having to focus on the words themselves. So why right them down? That way the next child that hits that grade, I have a list of what we enjoyed to work off of and add to.

Field Trip Highlights - I believe in hands-on learning and a great way to do that is through field trips. Immersing yourself in a situation that uses different brain parts can really excite kids to learn, I know I really enjoy it! This is another one of the pages I am excited to look over in the future to remember all our fun experiences!

Subject Samples (English, Math, Science, History, Art, Music, and Bible) - This is where I went overboard in the past! Focus on a select number of samples (like 5-10) that show growth and mastery of a subject or that really highlight something your child did well in. Maybe it is the public teacher in me... but I always keep the quizzes and tests that we take in this section as well.

Year in Review - Finally, this part is kind of a journal entry to me as well as to my child. I add things that were highlights, what worked well, what didn't work well, what I would do differently and what I am looking forward to in the next school year.

Make sure to check out my FREE PRINTABLE Homeschool Evaluator Checklist and Guide to save yourself headache and time! Feel free to tweak it as you see fit! I also have several links below of items that we found helpful when organizing our Keepsake Binders!

What supplies do I need?

Expanding File - To organize papers throughout the year

1" Binder - Just the right size to keep the highlights but not everything

Tabs/Dividers - Easy way to divide each section

Hole Punch - Must have for homeschooling

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