How to Build a Homeschool Portfolio in New Hampshire (Step by Step)

The anxiety around building an NH homeschool portfolio usually comes from one of two places: either parents don't know what the law actually requires, or they know what's required but have no system for collecting it throughout the year. Both problems are solvable.

New Hampshire's portfolio requirements under RSA 193-A are genuinely minimal compared to most states. You need a reading log and samples of work. The hard part isn't the law — it's the logistics of capturing evidence consistently without turning documentation into a second full-time job.

This guide walks through building a portfolio from day one of your school year to handing it to an evaluator in June.

Step 1: Set Up Your Portfolio System Before You Start Teaching

The single biggest mistake NH homeschool families make is trying to reconstruct the year's documentation in May. By then, projects have been thrown away, reading lists are half-remembered, and the work samples from September are somewhere in a recycle bin.

The fix is simple: set up the system first, teach second.

Physical option: A 3-ring binder with 12 tabbed dividers — one for each month, or one for each of the eleven required subjects. Pick whichever mental model feels more natural to you. Add a hanging file folder or manila envelope in each section to hold loose papers and photos.

Digital option: A Google Drive folder (or similar) with subfolders for each subject. Within each folder, create a running Google Doc for narrative notes, and drag in photos and scanned worksheets throughout the year.

Either format is legally acceptable in New Hampshire. The law specifies no required medium.

Print or create two documents immediately:

1. A reading log — a simple table with columns for date finished, title, author, and subject area. This satisfies the specific RSA 193-A requirement for a log designating reading materials by title.
2. A subject tracker — a one-page checklist of all eleven required subjects so you can note when you've covered each area and which samples you're keeping.

Step 2: Collect in Monthly Batches, Not Daily

Daily documentation leads to burnout within six weeks. The goal is not to prove you taught every day — it's to show that reasonable academic progress occurred over the course of the year.

Spend about 30 minutes on the last Friday of each month doing the following:

Update the reading log. Add every book, article, audiobook, or curriculum chapter completed during the month. If your child reads independently, have them write the titles down themselves — this also serves as a writing sample.

Pull two or three work samples per active subject. Choose samples that show the child working, not just correct answers. A worksheet with some errors corrected in pencil is better evidence of the learning process than a perfect final copy. Discard the rest.

Take photos of anything that doesn't produce paper. Hands-on science experiments, building projects, nature walks, cooking projects, musical performances — these are all valid evidence for New Hampshire evaluators, but they don't naturally generate paper. A dated photo in your Google Drive folder with a one-line caption is enough.

Write a brief note in your parent narrative doc. One or two sentences per subject area noting what you focused on this month. This becomes the raw material for your end-of-year parent summary.

By doing this consistently, you arrive at the end of the year with everything already organized — your May work is assembling rather than reconstructing.

Step 3: Cover All Eleven Required Subjects Over the Year

RSA 193-A:4 lists eleven subject areas your home education program must address: science, mathematics, language, government, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, the history of the NH and US constitutions, and exposure to art and music.

Two important nuances:

First, the law says "cover over the course of the child's broader educational arc" — not every subject every day or even every month. A deep unit study of American history that runs for three months satisfies the history requirement for the year.

Second, "exposure to and appreciation of" art and music is the legal standard — not technical mastery. Museum visits, attending a school concert, listening to classical music with discussion, or completing an art project all count.

Subject areas that frequently get missed or under-documented:

NH and US Constitutions. This is a separate, explicit requirement that many families forget to document separately from "history." Document it with a reading list (even two or three books on the Constitution counts), a photo from a State House visit, notes from tracking a piece of local legislation, or a written summary of a lesson on the Bill of Rights.

Government. This overlaps with constitution study but extends to broader civic understanding — local government, voting, how laws are made. Town hall meeting attendance, mock elections in co-ops, or documentaries count.

Health. This one is easier than it sounds. Physical activity logs (three months of soccer, hiking records, or gym class attendance at a co-op), records of medical or dental checkups, and cooking or nutrition projects all satisfy this requirement.

Step 4: Adapt for Your Child's Learning Style

New Hampshire evaluators are accustomed to portfolios that look nothing like a classroom record. The law was specifically designed to accommodate a wide range of educational philosophies.

For structured curriculum learners: Your portfolio almost builds itself. Keep a copy of the curriculum's table of contents (marking what you completed), three representative tests or assessments per subject, and your reading log. That's a complete portfolio.

For unschoolers or project-based learners: Your documentation strategy relies on translation — connecting real-world activities to the statutory subject categories. Baking bread = fractions and chemistry (math and science). Managing a savings account = economics (government/math). Reading a novel and writing a book report = language, reading, writing. Photographing a nature walk and writing species labels = science. Keep a running log of these translations throughout the year so you can explain the connections clearly in your parent narrative.

For neurodivergent learners: Skip standardized testing as your annual evaluation method. Use portfolio review by a certified teacher instead — and specifically seek an evaluator with special education experience. The legal standard is progress "commensurate with age, ability, and/or disability," which means your child is measured against themselves, not against grade-level norms. Document therapeutic milestones, executive functioning progress, and mastery of IEP-adjacent goals alongside academic samples.

Step 5: Assemble the Final Portfolio in April or May

Do not wait until a week before your scheduled evaluator appointment. Assembly takes a few hours if your system is organized — it takes a full weekend (and a lot of stress) if it isn't.

Final portfolio structure:

Section 1: Program Information

• Title page (child's name, academic year, participating agency)
• Table of contents
• Copy of the participating agency's acknowledgment letter (from when you first filed your Notice of Intent)

Section 2: Parent Narrative Summary

• One to two pages describing your overall approach, curriculum used, challenges, and highlights of the year
• Written by the parent in plain language — this is not a formal academic report

Section 3: Reading Log

• The complete, accumulated reading log from the year

Section 4: Subject Sections (one per required subject)

• Subject summary sheet: brief notes on concepts covered, skills mastered, resources used
• Work samples: three to five samples spanning the beginning, middle, and end of the year

Section 5: Extracurricular Evidence

• Field trip log with brief notes on what was learned
• Activity photos with dates and captions
• Certificates, program booklets, or other documentation of outside classes and activities

This structure is what evaluators expect to see. It's organized, easy to navigate, and demonstrates intentional planning.

Step 6: Schedule the Evaluation Before May

Portfolio review by a certified teacher is the most common annual evaluation method in New Hampshire. Evaluators are typically licensed NH teachers (or teachers with reciprocal state credentials) who review the portfolio, briefly discuss the year with the parent or child, and write a one-to-two page evaluation letter confirming that reasonable academic progress was made.

Evaluators in NH typically charge between $30 and $60. The Granite State Home Educators maintains the most widely used evaluator referral list in the state.

Schedule early. Most evaluators book up quickly in May and June, and many won't schedule into July. If you're doing a standardized test instead, order the test by April so you have time to administer it before your records need to be complete.

One final point: the evaluation results are your private property. Under RSA 193-A, they are not submitted to your participating agency, the state Department of Education, or anyone else. You keep them on file for two years. If you're on the Education Freedom Account program, the requirements are different — EFA families must submit an Annual Record of Educational Attainment to the Children's Scholarship Fund by July 15th each year.

If setting up this system from scratch sounds like a project you'd rather skip, the New Hampshire Portfolio & Assessment Templates gives you every document described in this guide in fillable PDF format — reading log, subject summary sheets, parent narrative template, and more — built specifically for RSA 193-A compliance.

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