Blog
What to keep when the homeschool year ends
A short list of homeschool records worth keeping at the end of each year, how long to keep them, and how to store them so you can find them later.
In short
At the end of each homeschool year keep the attendance summary, the subjects and materials list, a reading list, a few dated work samples per subject, any test results or evaluations, and for high school the grades and course descriptions. Keep them at least until your child finishes school; keep high school records indefinitely.
The year ends, the books go back on the shelf, and the question is what to do with the pile. Most of it can go. A small part is worth keeping for a long time.
Keep
- Attendance and, if you count them, hours: the totals and the daily record behind them.
- Subjects and materials: what each child studied and with which resources.
- A reading list.
- Two or three dated work samples per main subject, showing progress.
- Test results, evaluations or reviews, and any letters from your state, district or umbrella school.
- For high school: grades, credits, course descriptions and the transcript as it stands.
Let go
- Completed workbooks, once a few representative pages are kept.
- Drafts, unless they show change worth keeping.
- Duplicates of anything that is already in a summary.
How long
Many families keep each year's records until the child finishes school, and high school records indefinitely, because they are hard to recreate and are sometimes asked for years later. If your state sets a retention period, follow it.
In the app
Homeschool Up keeps each school year's records after you start the next one, prints a year-end packet per child, and exports everything as a JSON file from Settings, Your data, so you can keep your own copy alongside the printed packet.
Keep the record while you teach
Add your children and subjects. Each lesson you tick counts toward attendance, hours and the year-end packet.