Visit the Home School Legal Defense Association website and click on your state to read the specific homeschool laws for your state. Read the information contained in the website to learn the state agency you must contact and the deadline for forms you may be required to submit to report your homeschool status. Note any teacher qualifications in your state for home educators and any standardized testing requirements. Some states require homeschoolers to submit a curriculum plan with all textbooks and workbooks you plan to use recorded and outlined. Your state may also require attendance records and quarterly reports with grades and examples of each student's work. Comply with all state laws and requirements.
Use a metal or plastic bin for each student you teach in your homeschool. This is the place where your student can place his workbooks and notebooks each day after he finishes using them and any ongoing assignments.
Place a color-coded sticker on each student's bin. Place the same color sticker on the back binding of each textbook and workbook this student uses during the school year. This will help identify school items at a glance for easy organizing and cleanup. Place the same sticker on this student's notebooks also.
Designate a place where students should put their completed work that needs to be checked by you. Return work to students after you check it by placing the papers back in each student's bin. Students can then make corrections, if necessary.
Use a notebook or chart to record test results and assignment scores for each student. Label the chart with the student's name, grade and the school year. Keep track of each student's scores for tests and classroom assignments throughout the entire school year.
File each student's grades and scores for each school year in hanging folders. Choose from one of two filing methods. One method involves keeping a separate folder for each student and placing grades for each year in the separate folders. Another method involves creating a folder for each year where you put each student's grades from the entire school year.
Pack up the schoolbooks that you finished using at the end of the school year. Remove the color-coding stickers from textbooks if you used them. If you plan to use the school books again, store them in a labeled box in an attic or closet. Otherwise, consider selling them or giving them away.
Purchase new schoolbooks, if necessary, to prepare for the upcoming school year. If you saved previously used curriculum, get the schoolbooks you need out of storage.