According to Ohio state law, to homeschool legally, each year I must prepare a portfolio of each of my children's schoolwork for review by a certified teacher or have my students take a standardized test. Even on the years that I choose to have my children do standardized testing, I still do portfolio reviews. I like to turn in the exact same information to my local school board each year and I LOVE having a keepsake of each child's schoolwork for a particular grade level.
As part of each child's portfolio, I include pictures of all of the art projects that were completed in our weekly art class. For example, each child completed a cave painting after learning about ancient cave paintings.
I also include pictures of any knitting or sewing projects that are completed during the school year. For example, this year, Amber is taking a sewing course and completing many adorable sewing projects like this ski hat.
I also include pictures of any art projects that are completed independently and demonstrate that time and effort were taken in their completion. Of all of my children, Mason tends to create the most artwork in his free time. For example, I am including a picture of this Picasso reproduction he did on his own in his portfolio.
I'm also including a picture of this cute little cheeseburger Mason 
made out of Sculpey clay.
made out of Sculpey clay.Lastly, I include pictures of any great art projects that are completed as part of our history course or are completed for other reasons, like this impressive painted cardboard panel that Amber and Mason designed and painted for their Youth Group's trunk or treat car.
To make putting together the portfolios easier at the end of the school year, I keep a separate photo album on Shutterfly for each of my children's art projects for the school year. Then, when I am working on putting together their portfolios, I have pictures of all of their art projects already organized into albums by child. In the past, I've always simply printed the pictures and put them into a small album. Another option, though, is to have Shutterfly quickly make a photo book for me of each child's artwork. After the photo book is completed, I can easily add captions to the photos if I wish. I'll probably just print the pictures and put them in an album but I do also like the idea of the photo books.
If you'd like to read more about how I prepare for end-of-the-year portfolio reviews, you can read an article I wrote for Homeschool Classroom:
If you'd like to read more Helpful Homeschool Hints, visit Angie at Many Little Blessings for this week's Helpful Homeschool Hints edition.
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