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Our evaluations are meant to be easy and low-stress for homeschooling parents. Show us some of your records of the child’s learning—ideally a few from the beginning of your year and some more recent—enough to see that the child has been learning. If we need to see more, we'll let you know. |
Step One: Decide how you want to do the evaluation. Our most popular option is the online form/email option. We have more information available on each option as well as online forms that streamline the process. Payment can be made online or sent separately. Message us if you have questions. |
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We provide
portfolio review evaluations for home educated students across Florida We offer several options including:
2. live video call
3. preregistration for those who want a headstart
Cost
We are passionate about helping Florida families teach their own.
We love to help families. We are thoroughly familiar with Florida home education laws and policies and have helped families with evaluations and related questions or issues since 2003. We can help you just get an evaluation done, if that's all you need. But we can offer advice, answer questions, etc. if you want more. Experience you can count on. |
Some quick references...
What are the portfolio requirements?
See our page on portfolios complete with examples of portfolios of others.
What curriculum or materials should be used?
Florida homeschoolers can use any curriculum that works for them. They can use textbooks, workbooks, websites, ordinary books, magazines, etc. even if they weren't designed as curriculum. They can use any grade level that works for the child.
See our page with more information on curriculum options. What is unschooling?
Florida homeschool parents can use any methods of instruction that works for them. Unschooling is a method of homeschooling that educates using the child's interests and learning styles and may avoid textbooks and other typical classroom materials while using a lot of hands-on materials or activities. Finding materials that interest the child can help greatly with helping the child want to learn.
See our page on curriculum for more information about unschooling. What will I need to show for an evaluation?
You'll show some of the records you are supposed to keep: some of the log of educational activities, some titles of reading materials, and some samples of work. Realistically, we want to see some from the beginning of your year and some from the end in order to see that the child has been progressing, i.e., learning.
For more details, check our FAQ page or our pages on the various options: email, video, or preregistration. What if I don't send enough information?
We are here to help. We will let you know if any more information is required before completing the evaluation.
We also have forms meant to help walk you through the process. There are forms specifically for each of our evaluation options: email, live video call, and preregistration. These should make it less likely that you'll miss a vital piece of information. I missed my evaluation deadline. What should I do?
You can start the evaluation process now. Our email option is usually the fastest. You can start with our email form. Sending an email message that you are in a rush and will pay the rush fee can help.
What is the evaluation deadline?
Each home education student has their own deadline based on the date when the letter of intent (also called a notice of intent) was sent in. The evaluation is due once a calendar year, by the anniversary of the date of the letter of intent.
An evaluation is also due within 30 days of sending in a letter of termination telling the school district that your child is no longer being homeschooled. So if you officially started homeschooling on October 14, 2020, the first evaluation is due no later than October 14, 2021 and by every October 14 after that until you finish homeschooling. An evaluation might be due sooner if you stop homeschooling. What if my child fails the evaluation?
1. A child who fails the official evaluation will be placed on probation and will have to pass an evaluation within one calendar year. Otherwise the student will be required to stop homeschooling and register in a school for at least 180 days.
2. A parent is required* to send in the evaluation. If the child failed an evaluation, the parent could choose not to send it in and try again with a different evaluation. *The only exception is if the parent uses state testing for the evaluation. Then the results are automatically submitted and there is no do-over option. 3. A portfolio review evaluation is a low-stress type of evaluation. If your child has been regularly learning and you've kept records of that learning as required, then passing a portfolio review evaluation should NOT be a concern. What if we use FLVS? Is an evaluation required?
If you sent in a letter of intent, yes, an evaluation is due once a calendar year.
If you used FLVS Flex for your curriculum after sending in a letter of intent, an evaluation is due. Some Florida school districts will accept a copy of the student's grade report from FLVS showing passing grades in completed classes as the evaluation under the 5th option in Florida law which allows for any other evaluation method that the district and parent agree on. So you can try sending a copy of the student's grade report directly to the home education office as the evaluation, but the district may ask for another type of evaluation. (A list of contacts for home education offices around the state may be found online.) 
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Passing the Evaluation
Florida law requires the evaluator to check for evidence of educational progress commensurate with ability. This means that the portfolio is not compared with public school requirements for a particular grade level.
Instead, the child's work from the end of the year is compared with that of the beginning of the year. If the work at the end of the year is more advanced, shows work on more complex materials, shows increased skills, and/or shows that learning has been happening on a regular basis, the evaluation will be positive. For More Information
We have a general public page
FL Homeschool Evaluations on Facebook with lots of information about evaluations. We also host a private group page Homeschooling Florida Style for those who want to read more general information on Florida homeschooling, want to ask questions in a private group setting, share resources, start discussions, etc. on any homeschool-related topics. |
A homeschooling mom. A writer. A homeschool evaluator. A wife and mother. A former homeschooled student. Not necessarily in that order."
