The end of another homeschool year is coming quickly! It’s sometimes hard to believe you’re at the end of the year, but whether this year dragged on forever or flew by the end of another homeschool year is here. If you’re a seasoned homeschooler, you may have a pretty good idea of what you need to do to close out your homeschool for the year; if you’re new to homeschooling you may have no idea what to do beyond finishing the textbook and that’s where this checklist comes in. It’s great for seasoned homeschoolers, beginners, and everyone in between.
There are a few steps to remember to when closing out your homeschool year and that’s why I made these handy checklists. After years of homeschooling, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t forget to do anything. Luckily in the state of NC, what we’re required to submit is pretty easy, especially if you’ve kept good records throughout the year. But having a checklist is a great way to make double sure that you don’t miss a step.
I made two different types of checklists in two different colors to choose from, in pink and yellow. The checklists were great together or separately. The first one pictured below is a general overview of what you need to do to close out your school for the year. This one is great if you just want a quick reminder of what you need to do.
The second option are the same steps just broken down into more detailed tasks. You could use either or both. This one is perfect if you want something a little more detailed or you love to check off tasks as you go.
The main thing to remember is that you need to keep really good records for your state, for colleges, in case you enroll in public or private school, and for yourself. What each state requires may vary slightly, which is why I made these checklists to be very generic. Feel free to add in your own steps in the notes section or let me know and I’ll add them.
Plan when you want to close out your homeschool for the year. Try to get a babysitter if needed or hopefully choose a day where you won’t have many distractions. Have a drink and a snack on hand. I always seemed to have a bag of Doritos? I’m not sure why, maybe it was the crunch. but having a snack kept me from having to get up and down so much. I also would sometimes light a candle, turn on some music and close the door to our classroom.
Get everything you need together wherever you will be doing this. This keeps you from having to stop to constantly look for things you need. You’ll want all the paperwork, textbooks, answer keys, sticky notes, etc. Have your laptop ready, your planner or grade book ready to go. Even if you grade papers and enter them throughout the year, this gives you a chance to double and make sure you didn’t miss anything.
Now it’s time to grade the papers, record any projects they did or anything else that you need to show what schoolwork they did during the year. How and what you grade is up to you and what will be required for your state and your personal preference for your homeschool. Also make sure to record attendance and any required testing.
As you go through your school year, child by child, make notes of anything you want to remember for the next school year. Are there any changes that need to be made? Do you want to try a different curriculum? Maybe there was something you did this year that you want to expand on for next year? Maybe a note to your student on their work.
The last thing you want to do is make sure everything is recorded, save it, and back it up. Trust me! Back it up if it’s on your computer. I have lost entire school years because of unexpected crashes and I thought I had backed everything up, but to only find out that it wasn’t and I had to reenter several years’ worth of records. Not fun at all! Then you need to send off to your state what they require, print out report cards, purge or put all the schoolwork in storage, clean the classroom and you’re done. Time to relax because another homeschool year is in the books!
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