The Complete Record Method

Document each activity as it happens and FolioKid becomes your family's system of record: hours tally themselves against your state's target, subject coverage fills in automatically, and a polished portfolio PDF is ready any day of the year. About 30 seconds per activity.

1Set up once

1. Pick your state in Account → Portfolio settings. FolioKid organizes your portfolio around your state's requirements — required subjects, hour targets, test years, and evaluator forms turn on automatically. (You're always responsible for verifying your state's current rules.)
2. Add each student with their grade. Grade matters: it sets hour targets and test years where your state splits them.
3. Review Account → PDF sections — a quick look at your family's export defaults: which extras (reading list, test scores, signature blocks, evaluator certification…) print in every PDF. Anything your state requires is already on, and each student's ⚙️ Portfolio Setup page can override these per child later.

2Capture as you go

When an activity wraps up, open the student and tap Add Item:

• Photo — snap it or upload up to 10 photos at once. A batch is for one project or assignment: every photo becomes its own portfolio item, all sharing the subject, date, and notes you pick below. Different subjects? Save the batch, then Add Item again.
• Subject — tap one of the subject buttons, or add your own with ＋ New (Latin, Coding, Violin…).
• Date — defaults to today; backdate freely when you're catching up from the week.
• Time spent — tap one of the quick time buttons or type the minutes. This is what feeds your hours tracking, so make it a habit.
• Tags — mark Quizzes, Tests, Projects, and especially Major Projects. Tags pay off at export time and help evaluators navigate.

3Keep the extras current

• 📚 Reading List — add books as they're finished. Many state evaluations ask for one, and it prints as a table in your PDF.
• Test scores — when standardized results arrive, enter them in ⚙️ Portfolio Setup on the student's page. They're saved per student and included automatically in test years.
• Watch the hours bar — if your state has an hours target, each student's page shows live progress ("412h of 900h") so year-end never surprises you.

4Export when it's due

1. Open the student → Export PDF. Your state's template is pre-applied: subject checklist, hours progress, legal citations, signature blocks, evaluator certification where required.
2. Set the date range for the reporting period (New York families: pick the quarter — the quarterly format is already on).
3. Generate. Every item, photo, and hour you logged is in there, organized for your evaluator. Save the PDF to email it, or print it for an in-person review — it's yours to keep and send however your evaluator prefers.
4. Or skip the attachment entirely: 🔗 Share with evaluator creates a read-only link — no account needed on their end, and it expires on its own after 30 days. Need to cut access sooner? Every active link is listed right there with a Revoke button — one tap and it stops working immediately.