Homeschool Record Keeping in High School

A lot of homeschool parents are considering online accredited homeschooling for next year. It pays to consider what the reality is behind the marketing image that is portrayed.

Many online schools are accredited organizations with a classroom mentality -- which means that you have extremely limited flexibility with your homeschool. Let me go over an advertisement for a popular online school for you point by point:

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Have you ever wondered whether public high schools will accept homeschool credits? Do you worry that you might need to move your child back into public high school and will need to convince them of the worth of your homeschool? In this article from The HomeScholar, you will learn why you don't need to worry about public schools if you are committed to homeschooling through high school.

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When you homeschool high school, three months can equal one year - when your kids are doing dual enrollment at a local community college. Dual enrollment is offered to students in many states. It provides high school and university credit at the same time. Homeschoolers take advantage of dual enrollment to help defray higher education expenses by allowing students the opportunity to earn university credit while still homeschooling.

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GED not required

Once upon a time, colleges sometimes required a GED from homeschoolers before providing financial aid. Since 1998, however, Congress has provided a better way for homeschoolers to demonstrate their "ability to benefit" from federal financial aid. The law states that students who have "completed a secondary school education in a home school setting that is treated as a home school or a private school under state law" can receive federal financial aid. When you fill out the FAFSA, the government will decide how much financial aid you should receive. You can receive financial aid as a homeschool student, and you do NOT have to take a GED.

Find out why this is good news for your family

Are you thinking about homeschooling high school? Perhaps you have already started and have a few questions. Lee Binz, The HomeScholar, has created a resource just for you! The HomeScholar Gold Care Club is your one stop shop for all your homeschool high school questions. You can get expert advice on transcripts, grades, credits, record keeping, college preparation and more. This site is filled with parent training tools (videos and audios), templates, planning guides and good solid advice for all parents who are considering homeschooling high school with an eye toward college.

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Who was I kidding?

At least this is how I used to feel....I just spent time with my lovely niece, driving to Oregon, and we were talking about her public high school experience years ago. I knew that her father had taught a class on The History of Baseball, and that's one of the things that I share in my "Preparing to Homeschool High School" video. But when we were talking the other day, my niece mentioned that she had taken a different class from her father when she was in public high school. The class was called Sports Communications. They learned about journalism, radio broadcasting, and marketing - all of which she has put to good use in her career, by the way. But what she remembered the most was watching a LOT of movies in school and doing some sports "play by play" announcing to baseball games! Her father gave her a grade - an "A" as she recalled.

So, it appears that there are some creative curriculum choices being made in public schools as well as in homeschools. Apparently, it's OK to have some unique courses in your homeschool. Yes, make sure you have the basics down, but stretching your wings is also good! Homeschooling high school gives you the freedom to explore your student's areas of passionate interest. For us, those included Chess, Russian History, Economics, Economic Thought, and a bunch more that, quite frankly, I wasn't even aware my kids were studying.

Relax! Oftentimes learning is uncontrollable. Enjoy the process and don't be too concerned about what you name all the courses in the end.

If you ever do need help getting your creative homeschool courses down on paper, I have an entire chapter on how to capture "delight directed" learning experiences in my e-book, "The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts". In it, you will get detailed guidance on how to create a homeschool transcript that will impress the colleges.

In fact, failing to carefully plan your children's high school courses is one of "The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make When Homeschooling High School." Learn how to avoid all 5 mistakes in my free e-mail mini-course.

From Lee Binz, The HomeScholar - Helping Parents Homeschool High School

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lee_Binz

When it comes to high school record keeping, I have noticed that there are four kinds of homeschoolers. Some keep their records in a Rubbermaid tub - and I call them Tubbies. Some keep records in a drawer or cabinet - I call them Cubbies. Some keep their records in a binder, like me! We affectionately call ourselves "Binder Queens." There is one other kind of record keeping style. This is the one where a gigantic question mark hovers over the parental unit.

No clue.

Not even aware that records need to be kept!

When you have that particular record keeping system, it's almost impossible to recover the information you need to make a transcript. If you don't keep any records, then it is critical that you keep an up to date running transcript every year, so you don't lose the information.

Being a Tubby is a perfectly acceptable method of record keeping, especially if you like watching "CSI." Because sometimes making a transcript out of a tub is more like forensic homeschooling, what we call "CSI - Homeschool!" You don't have to stay with your record keeping style. You can improve! Are you looking for ways to stop being Tubby? Like losing weight, you have to be committed if you want to avoid being Tubby. First of all, whatever you do, make sure you KEEP records - don't let your frustrations with being tubby make you give up record keeping altogether.

Read the complete article here

Everyone who bought "The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts" has received a free month of my "Gold Care Club" membership site. Gold Care Club After the 30 day free membership, access to the site will be $27 per month. This month the membership site includes:

* Homeschool Transcript Audio Course
* College Preparation for Homeschoolers Video Course
* 10 "Biggest Questions" answered on Audio Download
* 10 Transcript templates in Word and Excel, with GPA calculator
* The HomeScholar Planning Guide
* Sample Grading Criteria
* Lowest possible Convention Prices on every product, every day!

Gold Care Club Members also receive 20 minutes free consulting each week, including document review, and priority email support to my "members only" email address. You can get help with your transcript, course description, or high school plan from the comfort of your own home!

This month our new feature is: "The HomeScholar Answers Your Questions." These are answers to challenging high school topics. This month highlights three of your issues:

* Aiming for an Ivy League School
* Police Academy Planning
* Math and Science Help for the Gifted Child

On the 20th of every month, the content of the Gold Care Club Membership Site will change, and I will provide different audio and video courses and other benefits. Next month will have an audio course called "College Scholarships for High School Credit" and a video course called "Grades and Credits" which will be a nice supplement for the transcript book.

Interested in becoming a Gold Care Club Member? A free 30 day trial membership is one of the bonuses when you purchase my new e-book, "The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts." After your free 30 days, membership is $27 per month.

Read what one mother has to say about the book and her Gold Care Club membership:

Lee,
These resources are AMAZING! We've got plans to really sit down tomorrow and really DIVE into it all! The new book is just a fabulous resource, and Scott and I have a "date!" to really read! It's certainly true, confidence is where most of us struggle and as a dear friend of mine reminds me, "FEAR is not of God, and our God is not a God of confusion....." I often think of that when I think of the decision to homeschool our children through high school. You have NO IDEA what these resources mean to us, and we can't begin to thank you enough! Happy New Year Lee and Matt!!
Peace,
Lori in Georgia

The old "What to keep" question is complicated, because no two homeschoolers are alike! When you are doing school the textbook way, you can just keep tests and written work. You don't have to keep daily work - except the science lab notebook is usually kept. Anything that is flat, you can put it a notebook: awards, some art work. If the art work isn't flat, and you really WANT to keep it, then a photo would help.

You don't have to keep everything!

Ask yourself: Why are you keeping things? If it's just for you, like a scrapbook, then keep anything you want as a memento. If you are keeping it because of college, then consider how it will be used. A college *may* ask for a graded English paper, or a math test, or a history paper. They won't ask for ALL of it, just a sample. Your binder is a collection of samples, so that you can hand one to a college if they ask for it. Now, an artist may be asked for their portfolio. My kids aren't artists at all, so I had very little to show for it when we did the notebooks!

If you want to eventually make course descriptions using your records, then it can help to make a copy of the front cover and table of contents from the textbooks you use. If you are making course descriptions, that information will come in handy while you are writing things up.

Blessings,

Lee

Today, more colleges than ever are homeschool friendly, and homeschool friendly colleges do not require an accredited transcript. Even the military academies understand that a homeschool transcript will not be accredited. Usually a college will understand a transcript that a parent makes for their child and will often accept such non-accredited parent-made transcripts. If they don't, colleges will often offer an alternative to an accredited transcript, like a GED or other testing. After all, some public high schools that are not accredited either.

Even a college that says it will only accept accredited transcripts may still show some flexibility. In that situation, the best strategy is having a high quality college prep education with a clear demonstration of specialization. In other words, if your student really has their heart set on that ONE college that says they won't accept a homeschool transcript -- DON'T DESPAIR -- you may still get in! First, document your student's college preparation with outside sources (CLEP, AP, SAT 2 tests or dual enrollment credits.) Second, encourage specialization in the student's area of passion (academics, sports, volunteering, or other specific area) and document that specialization on their college application. If they want your student, they can review their application on a case-by-case basis. That's where homeschoolers REALLY shine!

If you need help thinking through your student's transcript, or you have questions, please don't hesitate to email me (just hit "reply"). I'd love to help you. You can look here to see what I services I offer.

A few months ago, I was working on a transcript for a high school junior. We went over every subject area, and discussed in detail, from high school algebra to American Sign Language. Everything was complete. As I was leaving, I asked "What are you doing this weekend?" Mom didn't hesitate for a moment, but explained that they were going to a Latin competition that weekend. "Latin?" I said. "You never mentioned Latin!" That was how I discovered that her high school junior had already completed four years of high school Latin, and her mother had completely forgotten about it.

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>>>>When is the best time to start keeping homeschool records?<<<<

Read Part one of my response here

Read Part two of my response here

I know that many homeschoolers already have great transcript programs. I also know that the problem usually isn't software, it is what to put ON the transcript! How do you know what a credit is? How do you know what grade to give? What should a course be titled? What if you have had 58 great and unusual educational experiences, and you don't even know where to begin putting them on a transcript?

If what you really need is "brainware" and not more software, then I can help. In a 1-2 hour conversation, I will talk you through the process of deciding what goes on a transcript. You will feel comfortable and confident in your independent homeschool records by the time we are done. You can use the information we talk about to fill in your transcript format that you already have, or at the end of our conversation I will be glad to email you the transcript template that I used with my own children.

I can help you figure out what to put on your transcript - email me to set up a telephone appointment! It's quick and easy!

When I was homeschooling high school, I bought myself one high school book a year, and considered it part of my curriculum expenditures. I started with Barb Shelton High School FormULA, and it was pretty good. She leans a lot on the unschooler approach - less structured approach, I should say. Lots on how to write up your high school experience after the fact, a lot about learning naturally in high school. She does seem to like forms, though. I always thought it was interesting that someone who was so into what appeared to be a go-with-the-flow style in curriculum would be so uptight about recordkeeping! She has tons of forms and stuff, lots of intricate stuff on how to make grades. I didn't use that stuff. But her overall theory of "write it after you do it" was helpful. She has a very VERY personal writing style - like she's just emailing you.

I also liked Mary Schofield's book The High School Handbook. She had some great course descriptions that I used a LOT in writing my own. It was a little less scary than Shelton's book, because there were fewer forms to fill out. She has quotes from a variety of homeschoolers using different techniques, but her advice is more concrete and straighforward, as if she's a textbook homeschooler. I got a lot out of her book.

Cathy Duffy's High School Curriculum Manual is good for choosing curriculum, and deciding what courses you should have. She doesn't go into the construction of a portfolio.

And I love Cafi Cohen's book on College Admission.

Blessings,
Lee
The HomeScholar

>>>>A clients asked:
"I really enjoyed the Comprehensive Records! It really helped to see how you scored your grades, particularly in areas where you did not use a textbook. I also enjoyed your booklists. I have two question about books. How do you select the books for your courses? Do you have any favorite resource? "<<<<

Hi,

First of all, I'm really glad my Comprehensive Record is helping you. Of course, every family will have completely different records, and they will (hopefully) demonstrate each students unique area of specialization. That's why the book lists look like that on my records - because that's how my kids love to learn. I can't KEEP them away from books. This summer, when Alex was home from college, for fun he read Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, CS Lewis, Agatha Christie, and Shakespeare. He didn't just read ONE of each of those, he read the whole SERIES of each one. That's what they love to do, and that's why the book list looks like that. In fact, I actually didn't quite manage to capture ALL of their books, because they were much better about reading books then actually writing down the titles for me.

For example, with our Bible class one year, I set 35 books in front of the kids, and told them to read for just 1-2 hours a week from those books. I was expecting them to read, perhaps, 10. They read them ALL. It was amazing to me, but that's what they loved to do - and they still love it.

We started homeschooling with Sonlight Curriculum, and that started them on reading. I supplemented using Jim Trelease Read Aloud Handbook. By the time they were in high school, we included book lists from The Well Trained Mind, and various college reading lists that I found online.

We didn't use literature guides, really. They mostly just read the books. When I would ask them about it, the just said it was good, and asked for the next one. It's nice like we dissected each book in an intense way.

The classes that I failed in (art, state history, etc.) I found that it worked better when my kids learned from literature. So when I got completely frustrated by a subject, I just schedule them to do reading. So instead of studying art, we read art history. Instead of studying 3rd year french, we read french books, and books about France. It's like it's my kids' love language. You're kids may not have the same love language.

Don't feel like you have to read that many books with your kids. Many kids may be doing good to have 1/2 of one page of books on the reading list. It's all about encouraging your kids to do their best, and then be satisfied.

To keep a reading list, you can have the kids write down every book they read, but that didn't work well for me. You can also keep all the receipts from the library and from the bookstore. Keep all your assignment sheets, if you use them, because that may have the names of books you have used. You can include books on tape, and you may want to include plays that are books (like Shakespeare, Death of a Salesman, etc.)

I hope that helps! I'll get to your scheduling questions next time, OK?
Blessings,
Lee

When I was doing my state taxes, the State wanted to know which consultations were done with people in state and which were out of state. Huh? What a nutty detail! I was so glad I had kept every address from every client! Moral to the story?

Transcripts are like taxes: You never know the details you will need, so save everything!

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