Check out my simple system for organizing homeschool records. I’ve put together an instructional video to walk you through how to set it up and how to use it. I also included instructions in this post with helpful links to supplies and forms that you may want to use.
Can’t see the video? Click here.
(This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.)
Supplies Needed for Your Homeschool Records System
Here are the supplies you will need to put together your own homeschool records system. It can be very helpful to color-code your kids so that each child has their own color of folders.
- File box (I use this one.)
- 14 hanging file folders per child
- 13 file folders per child
- 1 hanging file folder for your school records (optional)
How to Set Up Your Homeschool Records System
- If you are using a “School Records” folder then label one hanging file folder accordingly.
- Stagger the tabs on your 14 hanging file folders. Label the first one with your child’s name and then continue to label the rest of the tabs “Kindergarten” through “12th grade”.
- Label your 13 file folders “Kindergarten” through “12th grade” and put them in the hanging file folder that has your child’s name on it. This will be your child’s cumulative folder.
Using Your Homeschool Records System
Now that your supplies are purchased and your homeschool records system is set up, it’s time to start filing all those important homeschool records. Below is a list of what records I keep in each folder. Please make sure to check your state homeschool laws and tweak my system so that you are in compliance with your state laws.
School Records Folder
- Copy of our Private School Affidavit*
- Course of Study for 1st through 6th grade*
- Course of Study for 7th through 12th grade*
- Faculty qualifications*
- Attendance records*
- Copies of correspondence with the public school when we withdrew our oldest
- Philosophy of education
*Required in California for private homeschools.
Cumulative Folder
In the front of the folder:
- Individual student health records*
- Cumulative (grades) record
- Transcript (for high school)
In each grade specific folder:
- Proposed Course of Study for the appropriate year
- Reading record list
- Extra-curricular activities list
- Field Trip list
- Report Card or Evaluations
Kindergarten through 12th Grade Hanging File Folders
- Samples of their work from each subject
- Tests
- Photographs of any projects or science experiments they did that year
That’s it! I hope this homeschool records system helps you to stay organized. I’d love to hear how it is working for you once you have it all set up.
Hi Janelle! I found your website a few months ago for tips on using Spell to Write and Read. I have loved all of your tips for that and other things as well! I just organized my boxes for school records like you have shown here and I think I am going to love it! It is exactly the type of record keeping I was looking for. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain it. We move a lot for my husband’s job and this is a great way for us to keep all of our records in one safe place and to keep all the information we might need depending on the state we live in at the time. Thank you!
Jessica,
Yeah! Thank you for sharing! The system is adaptable so it should work well for you no matter what state you find yourself in!
I’m loving your system. It’s exactly what I was looking for to get my files in better shape after many moves and having more children. It’s also move friendly in case we find ourselves in a move again. I did want to mention that the CHEAOFCA course of study appears to be only available if you are a member. We aren’t since we are not in CA but will be looking for something similar or creating our own just to have it in our records. Thanks for sharing this. It has been a lifesaver for me!
Hi Janelle! I just discovered your youtube channel and blog yesterday and love it!! I will be starting my homeschooling journey next school year (with a 1st and 7th grader) and have been looking for practical information on how to get started. This post has blessed me so much! Thank you for all the info. God bless.
Welcome to homeschooling!
Janelle,
This process is AMAZING! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise!!!👍😊 I do not live in CA, but these printable forms are the BEST I’ve seen for documenting these very important aspects of homeschooling. What a blessing to be able to print them directly from that site. Thanks again for sharing all these valuable insight’s!!! Excited to get the file folder system in place!
Dear Janelle,
Thank you very much for this wonderful blog. I am going to try Spell to Write and Read this year for my children (7th, 5th, 3rd and K) and found your youtube channel. We are Expats in Nigeria without a big homeschool community and help. I am so grateful to have found your blog. Thank you for your effort in keeping this wonderful blog up and running.
God bless you,
Anna
All the way from Belgium I want to thank you! You’re youtube video and blog post helpt me!!
I’ve set my bins up and am really excited! Where do you place lesson plans?
Yay! I hope this organizational system works well for you. I keep lesson plans (and a lot of the yearly forms) in my Homeschool Mom Binder. At the end of the year, I put the forms in the tubs and toss the lesson plans. Here is a video on what my Homeschool Mom Binder looks like: https://youtu.be/aDnQyWRyDW4
Hi Janelle,
I have my bins all set up, but I one issue. How many sample pages do you take from each subject? I seem to have chosen quit a few since some things are so well done. what does yours look like? How many pages from beginning, middle, end do you take? How do you know what to choose and what not to choose? Help me please? I must be overthinking this! My file folder is expanded to the max. Is it suppose to look like this?
For younger grades, I usually take 1 or 2 samples per subject from beginning of the year, 2 or 3 throughout the middle of the year and 1 or 2 at the end of the year. Of course, if it is a subject where they did lots of neat assignments/projects then I might keep more or take pictures of things and store digitally or print off pictures and put in the files. Older grades I keep a little more especially if they did reports/writing assignments. Everyone is different. Some of us moms like to keep tons of stuff and others keep it to a bare minimum. Keep in mind that some states require you to keep samples of the work and may have guidelines on what and how much to keep.
Some of the links from the article above no longer work.
Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I made a note to go back and fix as many links as I can.