Archive by Author | Lisa McAfee

Preparing for a Portfolio Review

May24

How do I prepare for a Portfolio Review?

Since you are preparing a portfolio of the academic year it is important for you to have a sampling of your pupil’s work in each subject area.  Samples should be from the beginning, middle, and end of the academic year.  The portfolio can include papers, workbooks, projects, pictures, artwork, test results, or any other items that show the student’s progress.

How should the portfolio be organized?

Ohio regulations require that a student complete work in all subject areas listed on the Home Education Notification Form. Organize the work in the order that they appear:

  • Language, Reading, Spelling, Writing
  • Geography, History and Government (U.S., Ohio, and local)
  • Mathematics
  • Science, Health
  • Physical Education, Fine Arts
  • First Aid, Safety, and Fire Prevention

What guidelines should I use to prepare the portfolio?

Follow the outline of your course of study that you sent to the superintendent.  This will be beneficial as a guideline to help you put your portfolio in order. Organize the paperwork in chronological order by subject and date schoolwork.  If traditional curriculum was used,take workbook pages or you can take the entire book. If other means were employed, take a representation to review. (pictures, projects, a narrative of your school year, etc.)

 Subject areas may be organized as follows:

  • Reading – A list of books and/or readers and other sources that were utilized for reading. (computer software, games, websites) You do not need to have a huge list, you just want to show progress is being made.
  • Language Arts/ Creative Writing – Samples of journals and compositions. (stories, poems, letters, etc.)  Handwriting, spelling, sentence structure, and grammar will be evaluated based on writings. If you have workbooks you may bring those.
  • Math – A representative cross section of daily work and tests to show mastery of concepts.
  • Geography, History, Government, Science, and Health – A list of the concepts covered  throughout the year. Workbooks, pictures, or projects can be provided.
  • Fine Arts, Extra Curricular Activities – A list of field trips, classes, music lessons sports activities, etc.

What will an assessor provide as a result of the Portfolio Review?

Your assessor will sign a state approved Academic Assessment Report you will take home with you at the conclusion of your personal appointment. This is to be sent to the superintendent when you notify for the upcoming academic year. You make a copy for your own records and send the original to the superintendent. If you are interested in having me do a review for you, please contact me so we can set up an appointment. schoolmarm@cinci.rr.com

To Assess or Not- that is the Question

May24

Spring is finally here and that means we as home school parents in Ohio must have some type of academic evaluation done for each of our children.

“Should I have my student assessed or have him take a standardized test?” is a question I hear quite often from home school mothers. There are many advantages to a portfolio review (also known as a narrative assessment). Here are some reasons to consider:

This is a terrific way of reflecting on all the work you and your student did over the course of the academic year. It causes you to evaluate your curriculum and your schedule and decide what worked well and what needs to be changed for the upcoming year.

  • It is a marvelous option for younger and older students alike. Younger students may not be reading at an independent level that is required for testing, while older students just don’t want to take one-more-test!
  • You may have used a curriculum that would not be covered on the standardized test such as in the area of history. It may have concentrated on ancient history instead of doing American history like all the rest of the children on your block. That is the beauty of home schooling!
  • You did not use traditional curriculum and would like to discuss your year with a fellow home school mom and certified teacher.
  • Your child is an individual. Nationally normed tests do not allow for any differences. Questions may be interpreted differently by your child and because they did not know what was being asked they get it wrong. It’s difficult to watch your student ask you about a test question and knowing you could clarify their misinterpretation of it, but not being allowed to do so under the testing conditions.
  • Test results only confirm what you know are strengths and weaknesses of your student. Narrative assessments can provide you with an opportunity to ask a teacher for ideas and resources to help your student. Feedback can be given on how your child is doing in school.
  • If you are a resident of Ohio this fulfills the requirement in order to continue to school your children for the upcoming year.

I believe in you and your role as a teacher. I  believe in home schooling and the opportunities we each have to teach our children according to their unique abilities and giftings. If I may be of assistance with your portfolio review please email me. schoolmarm@cinci.rr.com

For Princesses Only!

May24

No, I do not have a sign like this, but I loved this sign when I saw it on the internet for a couple of reasons: the content and the play on words. So, I must ask you-how do you see yourself- a princess or a toad? I can tell you how God sees you. He sees you as beautiful, as His beloved, as His princess. Just rest in knowing that you are in His care.

Psalm 127

1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.

So, my dear frieds, get your beauty rest. Princesses are to be treated well so they can rule their kingdom(your home school). Take the summer to pamper and refresh yourself. Read a novel, get out and garden, go on a date with Prince Charming, or hang out with some other princesses. You deserve the royal treatment!

Oh, the Places You May Want to Go this Summer

May23

Summer is rapidly approaching so I wanted to give you a list of places that are within the greater Cincinnati area. If you don’t live nearby, I am sure many of these ideas will be universal and help you think about what is in your area. This list is 6 pages long and includes summer camps, museums, parks, and some educational ideas to do as well. I could have gone on and on, but I do want you to go and do something besides reading my blog. 🙂 Have a great time!

Summer Activities

Here are  2 websites for activities around Cincinnati  and kidslist that you can enjoy; have a great time!

Gaming: Ideas for reviewing Math Facts

May19

You have worked hard all year and your scholar has made tremendous progress on math facts. Don’t let your summer break undo all progress that has been made. Try a few math games!

Bingo
Make a bingo card with a grid of 25 answers for you and your mathematicians to play. Instead of calling B-4 you call out 4+3. If the answer you have called is on the bingo board, the player may cover their answer space. Be sure you have a master list of the math problems you have called out. You, as a caller, should play too! The first person to cover their answers wins. At first you can play that one line of correct answers wins. (across, down, diagonal) As your student gains confidence make it a Cover All. You can make coins be your counters and you can use this as a money counting lesson as well. For example: “I see you have 5 nickels on your bingo card. How much money is that?” This game can be done for all operations: multiplication; division; subtraction; and addition.

War Playing Card game
2 or more person game
Determine whether you will make the game addition, subtraction, or multiplication before beginning. Deal the entire deck of cards. Each player turns over the top card from their pile without looking at it. The person with the higher number needs to answer the problem correctly in order to win the hand. For example if two people are playing one person turns over a 7 and the other person turns over a 9. The person with the number 9 is the one who gets to answer. If they answer incorrectly, the other person has a chance to “steal” the cards. You tell your children that you will make mistakes. (Give more incorrect answers than correct answers if they are just learning facts.) If there is a draw (you both turn over the same number on the card) you must “go to war” against each other. You then each place 3 cards face down and one card face up- the person with the highest number then must answer the problem. Aces are valued as 1, while all the face cards (jack, queen, king) are valued as 10. The person with the most cards wins.Warning! This is like Chutes and Ladders- it never ends! You can set a certain number of rounds to play if you are short on time. My kids always loved “catching me” making mistakes so they could steal my hand. It really keeps your child involved in the game and reviewing facts with each hand.

Concentration
Make up 10-20 pairs of math fact cards and place them face down in random order in rows of 5’s. (One card would have 7+6 and the other card would match it with the answer of 13) Choose two cards to turn over. Only turn one card over at a time to see if you can match them. If they do not match then they are turned back over and the next person takes their turn. The person with the most pairs wins. Be sure if you are playing that you make mistakes so they can “catch” you. If they do catch you or you catch them and they are wrong- you get to take the matching pair. Be sure to have the player say the problem and the answer out loud each time two cards are turned over. The person with the most pairs at the end of the game wins.

Matching
Make a pattern and write out math facts with the answers on the card. Cut the card apart and have your scholar match them. For example- make a set of 20 hearts. Write 10-3= 7 and then cut the heart in half. Mix up the hearts with various subtraction problems and have your child match the hearts correctly.

Share a Little Debbie heart cake or make heart-shaped sugar cookies afterwards for a job well done. You can even make eating the cookies a math problem. There are 3 people and each will get 2 cookies, how many is that? Or, you can just eat them- yum, yum!