Homeschool to College: The Transcript

I fretted so much about how I was going to create a high school transcript for my homeschooler.

What a ridiculous thing to worry about. It was actually the EASIEST part of the entire homeschool to college process.

Remember, we are unaccredited homeschoolers and we are thinking OUTSIDE of the traditional box.

Making a high school transcript has been simple - so put that worry out of your mind!

You have done a great job of homeschooling high school and now is the time to put that on paper and SMILE.

Remember, I’m not official college entrance expert. I am a parent (just like you) who has a child that desires to go to college. I like to keep things simple and paint the picture of why my homeschooler is a good fit for the college she is applying to.

We aren’t going for social status, prestige, or bragging rights. We desire a solid, affordable education at an institution that will value my child’s unique contribution and nurture her passions and desires.

(I LOVED the book Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania - please read this book before you start the college process with your child! It will open your eyes to the whole college GAME that is happening in our country right now.)

If you are met with roadblocks at a college or university because your child is homeschooled, then might I suggest that probably isn’t the place for your child?

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Making the Homeschool High School Transcript

In the first post in this series we talked about high school credits - what the requirements are, how to assign them, and how to plan out the credits your child will need for graduation.

Now, let’s talk about how to document those credits in the high school transcript.

You can read a lot of articles online about what a transcript is and what admissions officers look for in a transcript.

If you are with an accredited homeschool group or have an accreditation person who works to help you transcript, then you don’t have any transcript woes - other than keeping accurate records.

If you are like us, however, you are unaccredited and decided to create your own transcript.

Enter Annie & Everything and her amazing fillable PDF transcript!

If you read through Annie’s post about the transcript you will see her form is very easy fill in. The only thing I will add is this: I added a note after each course to show where it was taken. I felt that this added legitimacy and the sense of a varied educational experience we were trying to convey through the transcript.

You can also look for examples of transcripts online and easily create your own. I just liked that Annie had done it for me for $3.99.

I printed the transcript on heavy paper and keep several of them on hand to send when I need them.

That’s it. Easy and Done.

Explanation of Homeschool

One of the colleges my daughter applied to requested an “Explanation of Homeschool” letter from me because we are unaccredited.

I could do that easily.

I simply outlined what our homeschool had looked like from the beginning, and then went into detail about how we maintained the integrity of a Classical education through our participation in Classical Conversations, online courses, and a local Classical school.

This letter actually was then sent along with Anna’s applications to any other schools, because I felt like it provided an accurate and beautiful picture of her education.

Even as I write this post I think I must be missing something - that surely all of this was supposed to be a bit harder.

Your child had a unique education to this point - they will have a unique path to college and a unique college experience. You homeschooled them because you didn’t want to be like everyone else, right? There is a place prepared JUST for them, so sit back and marvel at how it all unfolds. That’s what I’m doing!

My best to you on this journey.

Let me know in the comments below if you are homeschooling high school and if you’ve been down the college road yet!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the series Homeschool to College.

Homeschool to College: High School Credits

The largest benefit of homeschooling high school has been the ability to create a customized, engaging course of study. You can do this AND satisfy graduation requirements at the same time.

You might have to get creative - and that’s the fun part!

I mentioned in the first part of this series that you need to begin your thinking and planning EARLY. When your child hits seventh or eighth grade you must start the planning process.

And, I am also an advocate of letting your child take the lead, and not losing the homeschool wonder in the upper grades years, but you cannot forget the planning and record keeping involved in the upper grades, either.

Let’s talk about how to combine the wonder and the requirements in high school, and how to plan your high school credits with all of that in mind.

I sat down with my daughter in eighth grade. I purchased a cute notebook (because for the girls this speaks to them!) and took her to Starbucks for a high school planning date.

I had the following things ready to share with her for our planning session:

• state graduation requirements

• college entrance requirements

• Mom and Dad’s graduation requirements

We then had a heart to heart about what we wanted high school to look like, what (and HOW) she wanted to learn, and more.

Keep in mind, this plan will change for each child over the course of high school, but having a shell of how many and what type of credits are needed is immensely helpful.

*Refer to HSLDA for information on evaluating credits. This will answer questions like “How many hours of instruction constitutes a high school credit?” and more!

I cannot stress to you what a valuable resource HSLDA is to you as a homeschooling parent!

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Check Your State Requirements

Each state has a Department of Education website. Investigate your graduation requirements carefully.

In the state of Georgia the requirements are:

• English: 4 credits

• Mathematics: 4 credits

• Science: 4 credits

• Social Studies: 3 credits

• Modern Language/Latin/and or Fine Arts: 3 credits

• Health and Physical Education: 1 credit

• Electives: 4 credits

TOTAL: 23 credits

Print these requirements and put them in your notebook.

There are further explanations, so be sure to read your state requirements carefully.

Each state also has different homeschool graduation requirements. In our state (GA) homeschooling is not highly regulated, but in other states it may be more heavily regulated.

In our state there are requirements for state funded college scholarships.

I can’t emphasize enough: do your research!

Check college entrance requirements

Target a few places you could see your child attending college.

Poke around on their websites and become familiar with the entrance requirements. Requirements will vary from school to school. Many schools will have a special tab just for homeschoolers (we like those schools!).

I even called a couple of colleges and spoke to their admissions counselors. I found that they were more than happy to explain requirements to me and how the path to college for a homeschooler would work.

Print those requirements and keep them in your notebook.

What are your child’s desires?

What interests your child? Is there something they would like to know more about, or a passion you can continue to help them pursue?

During your high school planning session begin to brainstorm ideas for what your child would like to study.

If they have a bent towards science, seek out unique science opportunities. If they have an artistic or musical talent, seek more of those opportunities. Take advantage of adults in your community to help nurture these interests.

My daughter has an interest in music and also special education. We designed courses specifically for those interests. On her transcript one of the courses is “Music Lessons and Performance” and another is “Working with the Special Needs Adult.”

(Again, refer to HSLDA about specific hour requirements, etc…)

Part of her music lessons and performance credit was working with a ukulele choir that her guitar teacher started - she observed him teaching but also helped him with the younger children. Perfect.

This year, in the “Working with the Special Needs Adult” course, Anna is volunteering twice each week with our special needs groups at church. She is teaching their Sunday School class, and she is shadowing a special education teacher. I have also selected a few books for her to read that we can discuss. The course doesn’t even feel like work to her and she is learning SO SO much, while making lifelong connections with the folks she is working with and the adults who are mentoring her.

It is a beautiful thing to watch - makes my heart so happy. THIS is why we homeschool!

Keep Your Records!

Here is the simple way I keep high school records:

• Dedicate a file drawer just for your high schooler!

• Create a general folder that contains graduation requirements, a copy of your child’s birth certificate (they will need it for things like their driver’s license), your intent to homeschool, and anything else that you feel is necessary.

• Create a folder for each class they take.

• Write the “course description” inside the folder and the dates/year they took the course (The description is either given in the course catalog if they are taking online or you can construct your own description if it is a course you have designed.)

• Keep all materials for the course in that folder. (assignments, papers, tests, etc… If the course was online be sure to print the final grade report)

When it comes time to put together your child’s high school transcript you will simply go to your file drawer and life will be good!

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See, all of this is not as hard as you would think!

You can plan your high school credits with a little bit of planning and simple recording keeping.

Do you have question about high school credits? Ask me in the comments below and we’ll wrestle with them together!

In the next installment in this series we will talk about the transcript, and you won’t believe how EASY that will be!