homeschoolhighschool

It’s that time of year again when graduation and high school transcripts can be on your mind.

Whether you have to carefully craft a homeschool transcript this year or need to prepare one soon, keep these tips in mind that will make preparing a homeschool transcript a cinch. Really!

Typical Homeschool High School Transcript?

When Mr. Senior 2013 entered the middle school years, I too started my search for typical samples of high school transcripts to use.

Soon, you realize that there are quite a few factors that make each homeschool transcript unique.

Homeschool transcripts are anything but typical. Each one reflects not only the values of each family, but the strengths of each child and the child’s future plans.

A homeschool transcript does not have to be complicated but it can be complex if you don’t have a direction in mind when preparing one.

From Complicated to Clear Homeschool High School Transcripts

Look at these 5 questions that will help you to determine what type of information (content) you want to keep up with during the high school years and how you want to present that information (form).

1. Do you want to use the standard 4 year approach? Instead of listing each year and the subjects covered, you may want to just list the subjects covered. This works well sometimes for a child that is done with high school in a few years or one that may have gotten behind because of sickness or just because they need to plod along at a different pace.
2.  Do you have extra classes you want to list? To vary classes in high school because it really is the time to investigate strengths and weakness of your child, some kids will take one type of class for one semester and a different one for the second semester. They may have several ½ credit classes during the course of their high school. This takes room to describe the course. What this means is that you may have more classes to list than what some forms have allowed you space or lines to write on. If your child is taking several ½ credit classes, look for a form that gives you flexibility for adding more classes.
3. If your child will attend college, have you checked with the college to see what type of transcript is needed? Some college requirements may state they want a transcript from an accredited school. Though more and more colleges recognize the power of the momma transcript, some colleges are stickler for their policy. First, be sure you are not wasting record keeping for four years to only find out that the college your child wants to attend has a hard and fast rule about transcripts from an accredited school.
4. Do you want or need to include your grading system on your transcript? Most transcripts do but the system varies from family to family.
5. How will you keep a progressive transcript? When Mr. Senior 2013 started to drive, our insurance company needed his progressive transcript to that date. They ended up accepting a progress report which I was able to whip out in a minute because I had been keeping our information in a Word document. If you are an excel spreadsheet type of gal, you might like that method. I don’t care for spread sheets but preferred more of a diary entry journal method when tracking high school. So I just added entries in a Word document each week. Either way, you need to determine how you will track information informally and progressively so that at any time you can prepare a formal document. Do not wait until the end of 4 years or so and try to recall what your teen has accomplished at the end of high school.

Also, look at my YouTube video How to Easily Create the Homeschool High School Transcript to give you a great start.

Look at these samples and links for places to get started.

Homeschool Transcripts – There is a free version here that may suit your needs just fine.
How to Homeschool Today – Sweet! This is a free online transcript generator, which you save as a pdf.
Let’s Homeschool High School – Nice! Has some free editable templates.
Homeschool Curriculum Savings – If you love spreadsheets, then here is a free one in a spreadsheet.
HSLDA – Has free transcripts, detailed or simple in Word and Pdf.
Cindy Downes – More free forms here.
HSLDA – Free 30 day trial on software if you want to try it out.

How to Prepare THE Homeschool High School Transcript

Research is the foundation of a well-prepared transcript.

Be sure and check out my post about how to prepare your homeschool transcript Homeschool High School – How to Prepare THE Transcript (Editable).  Also, I have an editable form that may be of help to you.

Preparing the homeschool high school transcript is anything but typical and normal because your journey was unique.

There are some things that I explain in my post Homeschool High School – How to Prepare THE Transcript that you want to keep streamlined to give your transcript some uniformity.   However, there is much flexibility with each transcript too.

It is an art to both follow guidelines so that your transcript meets some of the norm, but so that it accurately reflects the unique goals of your family.

Do you have to prepare a homeschool high school transcript soon? Are you dreading it or dreaming about it? (or am I dreaming that you are dreaming about it,okay,okay)

Hugs and love ya,

Here are some more links to start your research. Don’t get overwhelmed, get informed.

10 Days of Planning a High School Homeschool Graduation
Creative Solution for High School When Life Happens
Accreditation Removing the Shroud of Mystery
Homeschool – How to Log Hours for High School

Also, listed below are resources that I have read and used

It feels like starting brand new when your child enters the 9th grade homeschool high school trek. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

This is not going to be another one of those homeschool high school posts.

You know where I share all the future plans for my sons.

Looking back now after having gone through it with my first two sons, I have tips.

I realize that realistic sanity saving tips would have helped me better.

Sure, I found plans for all 4 years of homeschooling high school helpful.

But in reality each child and each family’s goals are different.

Too, I chuckle now that I planned ALL 4 years of high school in 9th grade.

I will share why I feel that way in a minute.

The tips today that I want you to know about are tips I didn’t give enough credit ( pun intended, corny I know).

9th Grade Homeschool High School

Try to remember that over crowding your teen’s schedule in 9th grade can be a new mistake.

Even for the most seasoned homeschooler, it happens.

In our attempt to “do it right”, we can take a sock it to them attitude at the beginning of what can be, at least for us, some of the most memorable times about homeschooling.

I planned way more for Mr. Senior 2013 than he was able to do for his age in 9th grade.

With Mr. Awesome, the schedule and load was just about right.  Then of course Mr. Awesome is my second child to enter high school and you get to expert status real fast.

In addition, a lot of kids at the 9th grade level are taking driver’s education on top of their workload.

This means they are not driving yet and you are still taking them and your younger children to activities, classes and events.

Then there is the period where you have to ride with them when they are learning to driving.

If you have a highschooler, you know what I am talking about because I had claw marks on the car door though Mr. Senior 2013 ends up being a good driver now as an adult.

The point is that extra stress at 9th grade is not needed and because most of us have younger kids to school, you have time to still take a marathon pace.

The beginning of teaching them self-independence as an adult begins here but doesn’t happen in one year.

From Teen to Young Adult, A Complicated Unfolding

Speaking about young adults, another factor that I did not appreciate enough is that there is a noticeable difference of maturity at 14/15 years of age at the 9th grade level and 17/18 years of age in 12th grade.

That can be a good and bad thing, but that is another post.

I want you to know that eventually you stop going the homeschool planning alone because if you have raised your children with independence in mind, which is our goal, then the training continues in high school with them planning their courses.

Though I sat down with both of my older boys to plan out each year and though I consider them both fairly independent for their age, I was still pretty clueless as to the level of maturity and independence that they would grow into as a young adult.

As I planned with my second son as he entered high school, I simply explained to him that at least math and language arts would be done each year and the rest of the subjects we will map out as we went along.

It was a different approach than I took with Mr. Senior 2013 because as Mr. Senior 2013 approached being a junior and then a senior, he had decided to change out some subjects.

For example, I had science planned for all four years, but like me, his first love is history.  Too, the careers that he mentioned to support himself as an adult were not science related.

For his junior and senior year, he planned out his subjects and they didn’t include science but did include some form of history study for all four years.

At first I was hesitant to agree with him to immerse himself in what I thought was lopsided planning, but then I had to question myself because isn’t that the whole reason I homeschooled in the first place.

The beauty of high school is for a teen to pursue his interests and to not be weighed down with subjects that he won’t be using.

Throw Out the 4 Year Homeschool High School Plan

It’s easier to say that than doing it because you are always a parent and want to help your teen make the best decisions in high school.

However, high school is the time for them to start making the decisions for their life.

You can’t teach them how to be self-reliant and make good decisions if you take away their right to make decisions at the first instant they flex the decision making muscles.

A young adult has definite ideas of what his own future should look like and both of my older sons knew which subjects they wanted to focus on.

Like I mentioned, it has been different with Mr. Awesome.  Along with doing basic subjects, he will have 4 years of science and is pursuing more computer related courses in high school.

You can see why now that I chuckle at the fact that I listed all courses for each year.

It’s like planning for an adult without asking them their plans for their life or at least including them.  Crazy notion,uh?

Focus on Homeschool High School Framework

It only took one year of over planning for Mr. Senior 2013 in 9th grade to learn that I needed a framework or guide for the high school years instead of focusing every bit of energy on all four years and the courses.

Understanding about credits, planning either for college or a focus on career or ministry, when and how to include outside classes, if any, and whether or not to CLEP are all easier to find out about if you have a framework to guide both you and your teen.

You are not going to ruin your kid’s chances for having a successful life if you don’t plan all 4 years in 9th grade.

Core Subjects are Key

I know you need a basic guideline, so look at the foundational plan on my blog post Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 1 so that you can use this as a jumping off point for planning 9th grade.

Planning from the inside, or basic subjects like the 3 R’s that you have been doing all along and moving to the outside, which are content subjects like history, science, geography, foreign languages and electives is the basis for an excellent and superior education in high school.

Not only will 9th grade be rigorous, but it will be spicy, eventful and unique to each child of yours that enters 9th grade.

Remember that producing the transcript, attending a college if they go to college, choosing a career, or missionary work are all done the end of the journey.

Too, by then you will have a young adult that wants a definite say in the direction his or her life takes.

Though it didn’t seem silly at the time to plan all four years, it didn’t hurt because it gave me a measure of security because I wanted to be a responsible homeschooling mom.

I realize now that each of my son’s personalities and strengths were a larger part of determining what we covered.

It is not easy to change hats from teacher to supervisor, counselor, coach and partner in the high school years, but I wouldn’t trade one tear shed for the precious and memorable moments we now have in high school.

I don’t like being sappy either when I talk about my sons growing into young men, but it is hard to not have a few tears.

Somebody told me once that the high school years fly after your kid enters 9th grade. Guess what? It’s true.

Look at these other posts to ease your mind:

The Must Cover Subjects Part 2 in High School

High School–How to Log Hours for High School?

High School Readiness?

Homeschool High School How To Prepare THE Transcript + Editable High School Transcript

Accreditation Removing the Shroud of Mystery