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

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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