Ultimate End-of-Year Homeschool Checklist: Step-by-Step Guide
As your homeschool year winds down, you’re probably eager for a break! I’m here to encourage you to take a few hours at the end of the year to clean out, organize, and record important information while the school year is fresh in your mind. This end-of-year checklist will walk you through closing out your homeschool year well.
End of Year Fun Stuff
Let’s start with the fun stuff! As you approach the end of the year, think about ways to memorialize your school year and prepare for summer fun.
- celebration or recognition: awards, party, special treat, annual tradition
- memory book or yearbook
- slideshow
- take pictures (compare to beginning of year or end of the previous year)
- create a summer fun list
End of Year Recordkeeping
Now that the party’s over, we’ll move on to recordkeeping. Depending on your state, you may have little or many requirements as a homeschooler. The list below is intended to help you think through what needs to be completed, but not everything on the list will apply to every homeschooler.
In addition, some of the items will be more or less applicable depending on the age of your student—high school students will generally mean more recordkeeping than elementary students.
- complete required testing
- update portfolio or work samples
- submit all state record requirements
- update NCAA CCW records, if needed
- record curriculum and projects completed
- record awards won
- record extracurricular participation, work and volunteer experience
- complete grading (high school)
- update transcripts for high school
- update reading lists
- update media log
- make notes about what worked and what didn’t this year
- get feedback from kids about what they liked and didn’t like
End of Year Organization
Next, we’ll think about putting physical and digital spaces in order so that you can enjoy your summer and begin a new year with the calm that organization brings.
- shred or recycle old papers
- sell or donate curriculum you won’t reuse
- wipe down shelves, bins, storage
- reorganize shelves (by subject/grade, etc.)
- wipe down electronic devices
- clean out desk or personal work area
- organize and reset school supplies (discard broken items, dried out pens, list items needed to replenish or replace)
- clean out teacher binders, notebooks, paper files
- clear off bulletin boards, walls
- empty mail boxes
- clean out and organize homeschool email account
- go through digital computer files
- clean up browser bookmarks, tabs
- return library books
Read: How to Organize Homeschool
End of Year Kids’ Responsibilities
Finally, before you take on all the year-end cleaning and organizing, make sure to involve your kids! Here’s a list of tasks your kids can take responsibility for, especially as they reach middle and high school.
- clean out email
- clean out desks
- clean out binders
- clean out backpacks and sports bags
- tidy and clean out personal use areas (shelves, bins, cubbies, mailboxes)
- declutter and organize computer desktop
- organize digital files
- make note of which curriculum they liked or didn’t, what they enjoyed about the school year, what they would like to change
Year-End Homeschool To-Do List
Now that it’s broken down into a simple checklist, you can see the benefit of taking care of these necessary tasks at the end of the school year instead of putting it off into the summer or adding it to your back-to-school to-do list.
You probably don’t have to do all the tasks on this list, and your kids can help with cleaning and organizing their personal spaces and materials.
Having a checklist helps ensure you won’t forget anything. You can fit tasks in here and there over the course of a week or two and check things off as you make progress.
Download your free checklist today to help you wrap up your homeschool year with confidence.
Visit my homeschool resources page for monthly unit study ideas, projects, and homeschool planning help!
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End of Homeschool Year Checklist
