AQED’s position – the portfolio

AQED has given a great deal of thought this year to how best to support its members to meet their obligations in relation to homeschooling. The demands of the Direction de l’enseignement à la maison (DEM) for the production of administrative documents often exceed our interpretation, and that of our lawyers, of the Public Education Act and the Homeschooling Regulation Education Act. Accommodating their request without jeopardizing educational freedom, for which AQED advocates, is always at the forefront of our concerns. Our children must receive appropriate schooling at home, which does not mean that their education must exactly replicate the school system.

This year, AQED is therefore providing a choice of three templates, along with an explanatory document, to help you create your portfolios. Use the template that suits you best. Remember to keep it simple and easy to prepare.  It is up to the parent to choose the template that best fits their vision of homeschooling and how they want to present their child’s learning traces.

A portfolio is normally around 10 pages. Please note that AQED believes that parents should be able to choose competencies that are appropriate for their learning project, not just those of the QEP. We therefore consider that portfolios submitted using the third proposed template, i.e. the turnkey template, exceed parent’s legal obligations. We recommend using a simple template that corresponds first and foremost to your learning project.

If this is your first experience with homeschooling or creating a portfolio, we encourage you to read the explanatory document: “What is a portfolio?” This document provides a review of the literature on portfolio development as well as suggestions and examples.

Templates

First template: Minimalist template

This template presents the learning traces by subject. It gives you the opportunity to respect the law and to provide the minimum required by the regulation.

Second Template: Accompanying files Template

This template allows you to build your portfolio by project, theme or subject. It includes a tool to help you write the comments which accompany a learning trace. It is possible to link several skills to the same trace.

Template 3: Turnkey template, combined with the completion report 

This template was created to be able respond to new demands from the DEM. It allows for the classification of examples of achievement or traces by competency, according to the Quebec Education Program (QEP), dated and annotated with comments from the parent and the child. It also includes the completion report. As mentioned above, AQED considers that the additional information in this template goes beyond parents’ legal obligations, and encourages the use of other available templates.