The homeschool PE portfolio: how to log basketball so it holds up
Florida's portfolio rule is shorter than most people think. Section 1002.41, F.S. defines the portfolio as exactly two things:
- "A log of educational activities that is made contemporaneously with the instruction and that designates by title any reading materials used," and
- "Samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials used or developed by the student."
No PE-specific format. No minimum minutes. No prescribed curriculum. But the one word that has teeth is "contemporaneously" — the log must be written as you go. A season of basketball reconstructed from memory in May doesn't meet the statutory definition. Keep the portfolio for 2 years; the district superintendent can ask to inspect it.
What a bulletproof basketball PE log looks like
- Date and minutes for every session — practice, training, games all count.
- What you worked on — "ball-handling circuit, left-hand layups, 3-on-3" beats "basketball."
- Materials by title — the statute specifically asks for titles: name the training program, the drill book, the app, the academy curriculum you follow.
- Progression markers — Florida defines homeschooling as "sequentially progressive instruction" (s. 1002.01), so date when a skill is introduced and when it gets solid. A skills checklist does this automatically.
Work samples for a sport? Easier than you think
"Creative materials used or developed by the student" is broad. Evaluators regularly accept: a drill plan your student wrote or annotated, skills-checklist pages with dates, photos or video stills of training, tournament brackets, box scores, a season-reflection paragraph, heart-rate or workout-app printouts. Two or three per season is plenty alongside the log.
The annual evaluation: pick your method
Once a year, district home-ed families file an educational evaluation. The statute offers five methods; most families choose the first — a Florida-certified teacher of the parent's choice reviews the portfolio and talks with the student. The others: a nationally normed achievement test, a state assessment, a licensed psychologist's evaluation, or any measurement tool the parent and superintendent agree on. Bring the log, the checklist, and the samples — for PE, that conversation usually takes five minutes.
On PEP instead? Different play entirely
PEP scholarship students are not district home-education students — no notice of intent, no district portfolio, no evaluator. Instead: a Student Learning Plan filed annually in the EMA portal and a nationally norm-referenced test each year. Keep the practice log anyway — it feeds the SLP and your reimbursement records. Full details in the funding play.
Don't build the log from scratch. Our free printable kit has the weekly log, the dated skills checklist, and the evaluation one-pager.
Get the free PE kit →