Even if you school year-round, there’s something about this time of year that triggers the brain to organize and gear up for “back to school”.
If you’re just beginning to homeschool I wanted to share a super simple tip to help you keep track of copies of the forms you file with the school district. It will also help you organize other materials that you might want to keep handy for each child. If you’re a veteran homeschooler without a system, this tip might also help you.
I’m usually not very organized but I wanted a central place for copies of objectives and notarized affidavits, evaluation letters, test scores (at the end of the year) and any medical records that I wanted to keep at home for each of the children.
I purchased a 13 pocket expanding file folder like this and labeled the tabs. I have a section for each child as well as sections labeled “Forms”, “Affidavit”, “School”, “Law”, “Tests”. I’ll explain what I keep in each of these sections below.
Obviously, you will have pockets left. You can break down your “Forms” section further and itemize each form you’d like to keep or use them for something else. I would suggest only keeping papers related to Pa filing requirements in the folder, though.
The “Forms” section is where I keep blank copies of the log, affidavit, objectives, medical forms (exemption). Since a few of my children have participated in sports with school teams, I keep a few blank PIAA Comprehensive Pre-Participation Physical Evaluation forms.
Since I file the same list of objectives each year (one for elementary level and a slightly modified version for the secondary level), I keep a copy of each handy. All of the forms are available on this site now, so you don’t have to keep them in a file folder but that’s up to you.
The “Affidavit” section is where I keep a copy of the notarized affidavit and supporting papers that I file each year. The school should have the original but you never know.
In the section labeled “school” I keep any correspondence from the school related to homeschooling. These letters usually ask for something not required by the law and I like to keep them for entertainment purposes. I do not comply with extra legal requests. If I respond to improper requests, I email the author of the letter and explain that the material or action they requested is not required under Pennsylvania homeschool law and that I have no obligation to comply.
Even though the text of the Pa Homeschool Law is available online (including on this site now-yippee!) I like to keep a hard copy handy for quick reference. I have referred to it to refresh my memory about dates or other random things.
In the “Tests” section, I keep copies of the answer sheets of the standardized tests that the children take in case they are misplaced by the service from which I ordered the test. I discard them once I get the official results which I file in the individual child’s section.
The sections labeled for each child contain a copy of their immunizations, copies of completed PIAA Physical forms (if appropriate), standardized test results for 3rd, 5th and 8th grades. If you decide to keep records of medical or dental exams, you could keep them here.
It’s been so nice to have all homeschool-related papers in this one handy file folder. If you don’t already have a system that works for you, try it! If you’re completely new to homeschooling in PA and your child has reached the compulsory attendance age, I encourage you to have some system for organizing your homeschool forms.
Written by BethPhillips
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