Transcript Talk - Part II, Charting the Course

Greetings Friends!  Here (finally) is the second installment of a series of posts on making up your homeschool student's high school transcript.  If you missed my Part I, you can find it HERE.  I apologize for the length, but you better get yourself a BIG cup of coffee.

Okay, so today we will get into the nitty-gritty of starting to make a high school transcript:

How to chart your child's course and what it looks like on a transcript; 

Whether one of those online transcript programs is right for you; and 

How to choose a look for your transcript.

Charting the Course

There are a few good reasons to make a transcript of your child's high school years -- college admissions require it, occasionally potential employers will ask for it, and being your child's educator and diploma-giver, you owe it to your child to provide them with a professional-looking transcript.  Even if your child never, ever plans on going to college, it's good to have a transcript in their file because how many of us ended up doing something we thought we would never, ever do?

IF your child is in 7th or 8th grade, now is a good time to start planning and preparing for those high school years and how you will track your child's work.  If your child is a smarty pants in one or more subjects, it's perfectly fine to have them do high school level work in the 7th or 8th grade and include it on the high school transcript -- as long as it's high school level work.  Just make sure to write down what curriculum or textbooks they used and anything else that was a part of that course (fieldtrips, etc.) and keep some samples of work they did such as essays.  And don't forget to snap lots of pictures.  For instance, if you child is doing some science lab work either independently or with a co-op science class, try to take a photo of your child doing his part in dissecting that frog (as gross as that may be) - photos are great to include in a portfolio (to be explained on a future post).

      

What to Teach
Now, if there is any area of homeschooling that a typical, out-of-the-box-thinking mom might be tempted to stray and return to the safety of the box (institutionalized/government education), it must be in the area of what to teach -- teaching at home exactly what is taught in a public school.  Most of us homeschooling mom's grew up in a public or private school setting and this is all we know and find ourselves most comfortable.  Sure, maybe we have chucked the school desks (or not) and oodles of homework, but it's easy to feel insecure in not teaching what everybody else is teaching -- and the box curriculum publishers and the popular book writers like E.D. Hirsch's series, "What Your _____ Grader Needs to Know" capitalize on this.  After all, we don't want to mess up our children for life, do we?

(repeat the following paragraph several times loudly until you believe it)

ABOVE ALL ELSE, REMEMBER THIS:  It's not the state that is graduating your homeschool child!  It's not the Federal Government that is graduating your child!  It's not some relative, neighbor, or friend (who thinks they know what is best for your child) that is graduating your child!  It's not any of these self-acclaimed  professionals that are issuing your child a diploma!  It's YOU!!!  And ONLY YOU!  It's your child, your school, you are the teacher/administrator, you are the diploma giver -- you call the shots!  And don't let any one convince or bully you into thinking otherwise!!  No one knows or loves your child more than you do, and you know better than anyone (except God) what they need.  Your diploma & transcript don't have to look like Sunnyvale Public School's -- it will be unique and most likely better.  You decide what your child will learn during their academic years at home.

And why should we even want to mimic government standards?  State and Federal school graduation requirements are ever changing with more and more ridiculous requirements, yet churning out dumber & dumber kids.  And it's not for lack of money either, we spend more and more on public education through our tax dollars with little or nothing to show on the ever-increasing investment.  Look at the chart below, it's from a UK source but as you can clearly see, the US ranks 14th in world education -- nothing to brag about here.   

.

  There's nothing wrong with following your state's educational requirements if that's precisely what your child wants to study and what they will need in their future vocation or college entrance requirements, but let's face it -- it probably isn't!

So, let's take a look at a state's requirement and see how it applies to us homeschoolers.  Since I live in Minnesota, I'll post my state's, but you may wish to look up your own state's requirements as you chart your child's course.

MN (Public) High School Graduation Requirements

 A course credit is equivalent to a student successfully completing an academic year of study or mastering the subject matter, as determined by the local school district. Students must complete a minimum of 21.5 course credits as follows:

4 credits of language arts

3 credits of mathematics, including algebra, geometry, statistics and probability sufficient to satisfy the standards. Students in the graduating class of 2015 and beyond must complete an algebra II credit or its equivalent as part of the 3-credit requirement. In addition to the high school credits, students in the graduating class of 2015 and beyond must also complete an algebra I credit by the end of 8th grade.

3 credits of science, including a biology credit. In addition, students in the graduating class of 2015 and beyond must complete a chemistry, physics, or Career and Technical Education (CTE) credit as part of the 3-credit requirement. (The CTE credit must meet the standards underlying the chemistry or physics credit.)

3½ credits of social studies, including U.S. history, geography, government and citizenship, world history and economics

1 credit in the arts 

7 elective credits

Plus passing certain required assessment tests. 

I'm guessing your state's requirements are somewhat similar.

Now you can be sure that I don't follow all these requirements for our girls.  I don't believe in wasting our time on teaching a year of some subject that will soon be forgotten and the information NEVER used.  I know my girls, and many of the upper math, as well as chemistry & physics, would be a waste of time and healthy brain cells in our family...we have bigger fish to catch. :)  If, and that would be a big IF, the girls would ever need to know any of that information, they know where and how to look it up as the need arises.  That's not to say we carry on a free-spirited unschool with no structure (although some days the thought is appealing) -- we go way beyond the 21.5 credits (to 34 credits), and that's without what most consider upper math or science.  (The girls had some biology in their Jr. High health books and an introduction to chemistry & physics in a co-op science class -- that's enough.)

What I did is write down these requirements as a springboard, but then looked up the Admission Requirements for 4 or 5 colleges.  Granted, Amber isn't planning on going to college, ever, but I thought that would be a better indication as to what would be more acceptable on a high school transcript.  I do encourage you to check out several colleges.  I found that some of the Christian colleges were far more flexible in their admission requirements, possibly due to encouraging foreign students, but of the colleges on my list, one had very high academic requirements and so I formulated my transcript more after that college's admission requirements and knew it would be above & beyond the requirements of any other college she may (doubtful) consider.  Note:  While we are talking requirements, do remember that if your child is going the college route, most colleges do require ACT or SAT test scores and there are a lot of test helps out there that your child can work on from early on in order to score high.  We never did this and if your high schooler does PSEO (dual enrollment of taking college courses while in high school), your child may be considered an automatic shoe-in to college since they have some AP (advance placement) courses under their belt.  Just pay attention to the requirements of any intended colleges as often the admissions process starts well before a child's senior year.  Also note that many colleges do not acknowledge credits for health, PE, drivers ed, or vocational courses, and just one credit for computer science.

Okay, so after looking at college admission requirements, my transcript framework (planned course for high school) looked like this:

4 credits English

3-4 credits Math

3-4 credits Science

3-4 credits Social Studies

2-3 credits Foreign Language

+ electives

Now comes the fun part.  Decide what your child will study for each of the 4 years of high school, for example, for the 4 years of English your plan might look like this:

9th Grade: Grammar

10th Grade: English Literature

11th Grade: Speech & Debate

12th Grade: Composition & Writing    

Unless you are going with a boxed curriculum all through high school, where the courses are already titled and it's pretty cut & dry, feel free to be a creative.  Consider all that your child did that could go under that subject (essays, field trips, vacations).  You can even double dip, which means if you have more than a full year of say Old Testament study, go ahead and give your child 1 credit under Bible for Old Testament and maybe ½ - 1 credit under English: Ancient Literature.  College admissions counselors appreciate creativity in course work, but just remember creativity does not mean goofy, unless your child plans on going to clown school, don't get too funny or sarcastic.  I encourage you to become familiar with college lingo.  Just as I learned legal-ease when I went into law, so too, academia has it's own pet words.  Google various college courses and see what courses are named and how they describe them (more about that under portfolios).  For example, one of our high school English courses I named "Literary Genres".  It sounds fancy smancy, but just means we dabbled in a little bit of this and a little bit of that. haha

For more information on how to turn everyday learning experiences into impressive courses for your transcripts, I HIGHLY recommend:  Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La    by Barbara Edtl Shelton.  It's an easy read with lots of humor and very honest, Godly wisdom.  The author thinks a lot like I do, and we never take the establishment too seriously.

HSLDA has a VERY nice printable online brochure (28 pgs. booklet) that helps walk you through the whole homeschooling high school process with sample planning forms and information on various options like military entrance.   

Okay, so now you have a plan.  Of course, the electives can be anything that your child delights in -- music lessons, computer, theater, woodworking, home ec., sewing, arts & crafts, equestrian...and don't forget Bible.  The world isn't going to mention Bible as a core requirement, but I do.  To me, Bible isn't an elective, it's a necessity and it's easy to rack up 4 credits in Bible to add to the transcript.  Btw, on Amber's transcript I included all those hours of church nursery, babysitting, Cubbies leader, etc. and titled the course "Early Childhood Practicum" (pretty clever huh?).

The LOOK (of the transcript)
and whether purchasing one of those online transcript programs is right for you. 

I would encourage you to just spend a couple hours and google "High School Transcript Image" and see the various looks and options that are out there.  Some excellent sources are HSLDA, Cindy Downs, and Education Plus.  (I also had a handout from a large homeschool co-op that gave some nice details - your local homeschool co-op might also provide such information).  Just first of all, do know that THERE IS NO ONE RIGHT WAY or wrong way to do a transcript.  There is no industry or academic standard one must follow.  About the only requirement is that they are neat, easy to read, concise, and give pertinent information.  You want your actual transcript to be only 2 pages (one page front & back is best).  (More detailed information can be included in the portfolio (described later)).

If organization or administration are not your strong point, or you just have more money than time, and you would rather pay someone to provide you with a decent transcript, there are plenty of programs & software out there to choose from.  Do shop around.  Just beware, the most expensive programs are not always the best.  I've even seen a site that sells transcript programs that talk big, are heavily advertised & endorsed, but after a lengthy search (like it was some big secret), I found a sample of their transcript and it was very poorly designed and looked rather second rate (at the tune of $27/month - yikes!); but some software programs are very nice, will do the math for grade point averages for you, and plug in all the pertinent information in a snap at a cost of around $50.  However, if you are like me and enjoy organizing and have a little computer savvy, transcripts are easy to put together and look just as good or better than anyone else's.

Then pick a look you like and that applies to your homeschooling method.  My personal favorite source is Education PLUS (by my hero, Inge Cannon), specifically their  homeschooltranscripts.com  website (go there now).  There you will find several nice articles that I recommend a homeschool high school parent should read and they give wonderful samples of transcripts that you can either mimic yourself or buy their software.  If you take a look at her samples, there are two basic types of transcripts -- one that sorts the courses by grade and/or semester, and one that sorts the courses by subject.  I do like the look of the one that sorts the courses by year (freshman, ...) better and that would probably work out if you use certain curriculum where you complete your subjects in one year's time, but that isn't the case with our teaching style, where I commonly take several years to thoroughly cover some subjects like American History or Old Testament Studies, so I went with the transcript look that sorts courses by subject, that way I don't have to give any dates of start to completion.  (Btw, I had attended Inge Cannon's Transcript Bootcamp several years ago and just think she is one of the smartest ladies I know.  I highly recommend anything she offers).  Once you decide on a look, then you just need to gather the information to put on your child's transcript...

  

Five Steps to Making a Homeschool High School Transcript

1. Name your Homeschool!  It adds a sense of legitimacy to the transcript in the eyes of college officials.

2. Establish a Grade Point Average (GPA) System.  Personally, we use the 4.0 system:

A+ = 96% (3.84); 97% (3.88); 98% (3.92); 99% (3.96); 100% (4.00)
A = 93% (3.72); 94% (3.76); 95% (3.80)
A- = 90% (3.60); 91% 3.64); 92% (3.68)
B+ = 86% (3.44); 87% (3.48); 88% (3.52); 89% (3.56)
B = 83% (3.32); 84% (3.36); 85% (3.40)
B- = 80% (3.20); 81% (3.24); 82% (3.28)
C+ = 76% (3.04); 77% (3.08): 78% (3.12); 79% (3.16)
C = 73% (2.92); 74% (2.96); 75% (3.00)
C- = 70% (2.80); 71% (2.84); 72% (2.88)

In our homeschool, we generally require work to be done correctly; if a problem is wrong, the paper is returned to the student and we work on it until it is right and it is fully understood by the student.  Therefore student final grades are always in the A's.

A great article on grading from HSLDA is found HERE.

3. Determine Your School's Graduation; Credit Hour Requirements; and Assigning Course Credits to Subjets.  There is a lot of information out there on how to calculate credit hour requirements which I'm not going to get into lest this post quadruple in size.  Personally, I don't get into all the math for credit hours.  The standard is 120 hours of class period time for every one credit (60 hrs/½ credit; 30 hrs/¼ credit), however homeschooling is unique in that there is far less wasted time than in a classroom situation and what may take a minimum of 120 hours of class period time for one credit, may only take you half that (or less) in a home environment.  Depending on your state's laws and how much time you put into a subject, you will have to be the judge on how you want to determine credits.

4. Add to the Student's Transcript Each Year.  Remember this is your rough draft and can be tweaked throughout the years.  It's much easier to work on it a little each year than wait until they graduate.

5. Keep a More Detailed Academic Transcript Each Year For Those Institutions of Higher Learning That May Require More Documentation of Courses Completed.  I highly recommend working on a detailed transcript to add to your child's portfolio yearly as this is the most time consuming.  I have found that sometimes in the course of describing a course, I will decide to change the name or the course or move some credits here or there under a different course heading in my 2-page concise transcript.  Looking online at Christian high school or college catalogs' course titles and discriptions help.  Remember to use academia lingo for a little polish.  You can also copy the table of context in your child's high school textbook for a listing of areas of study in a particular course.

That's about it.  It's hard to cover everything in a simple post, but I hope this was helpful to those that wanted to know.  I've probably forgotten to mention something, so let me know if you have any questions.

Here are copies of the front & back of Amber's transcript (subject to slight changes as I'm still working on her detailed transcript) just to give you an idea of what one can look like. (address & personal info. whited out of course).  Not sure why the "Academic Summary" got cut off on the scan, but it's just a little gray box with her Final GPA, Total Units, and Graduation Date (important to put that in); and it didn't copy well, the colors are much more vibrant, the blue is much darker with a nice contrast & the school info. & student info. and boxed in a light gray.

And below is the backside of her transcript.

It looks very much like the Education PLUS samples, but I did it myself and saved $50.

That's it for today.  Next time we'll talk briefly about putting together the whole portfolio.

Blessings,
~Jane