Hello
there! If you are new here, we invite you to subscribe by RSS
feed or by
email. On Facebook? We would
love for you to join
us.
When will you need your homeschool transcript? It’s hard to say exactly. The first time you need it may be sophomore year, when your child starts driving. Many insurance companies provide a good student discount for teenage drivers, and your homeschool transcript is required. It may be during junior year, when you need to review grades and credits with your child, so they report their grades correctly when they take the PSAT for the first time. You may need a transcript for the first time when your child applies for a scholarship opportunity or a summer camp.
Making a homeschool transcript is never convenient, though. It does seem like the first time you need it is never when you have plenty of time to spend on making it a perfect transcript. It always seems to sneak up on parents.
What will you do when you find out, “Surprise! You need a transcript today!”
Here is one mother’s experience.
In April, my homeschooled senior daughter was applying to a very competitive specialty summer college program at a major Ivy League university. I had to come up with a really professional looking transcript, FAST, and I was really dreading it. However, I ordered your Homeschool Total Transcript Solution guide, and it was all you said it was! I was able to write brief course descriptions and find legitimate credits in activities and learning experiences I had never thought of as ‘transcript material’ before! And the format was very professional and official looking, plus easy to use.
You even made the process fun!
She had very good SAT scores, and a unique portfolio, and — in a program where they seldom give scholarships — she received TWO different scholarships! So she was able to attend, and enjoyed a very intense and horizon-expanding six weeks. THANK YOU so much for your common-sense and friendly information.
Learn how to make a transcript early in high school, long before you think you’ll need it. Keep your transcript up-to-date each year. Then you’ll never be surprised!
My husband volunteered to grade all of our English papers. Not because I wasn’t smart enough to do it myself, but because I didn’t actually DO it. I was always busy with other tasks, and it never seemed to get done. My husband took over the job, and took it very seriously. He was a little difficult to please. He gave feedback; circling things that were confusing. Pointing out misspelled words or mixed verb tenses. It was awesome. And if I say so myself, my children turned into EXCELLENT writers – got A’s in college classes, and the whole bit!
Now it would be nice to think that my husband was a perfect English teacher. Not so. Will great trepidation, I’ll now confess the truth. I have to confess gently and carefully, because my husband is listening.
My husband is not a perfect spelling. My children have spelled better than both of us put together since they were in junior high. In fact, some experts have pointed out that my husband technically may spell near a 7th grade level. I don’t know if it’s true. [Editor's note: experts have been known to exaggerate. -MB]
The other day my husband suggested I include this phrase in my newsletter: “Here me talk about my BEST strategies for homeschooling high school.” I pointed out his teeny, tiniest error. My husband will turn 50 in just two weeks, and he responded by saying, “Geesh….My new goal is to master the usage of Here/Hear and There/Their/They’re by the time I’m 60. Dream big, I always say….”
My point is NOT to make fun of my husband. And it’s NOT to point out that my English skills are vastly superior even though I can’t add 2 plus 2 in front of an audience. My point is merely that you don’t have to have perfect English skills in order to provide outstanding English evaluation. Think about it for a moment. If we took our child’s writing, and correctly every single problem with it every single time, the paper could look like it was bleeding there would be so many red marks and circles! It’s probably best to provide a measured amount of feedback each time you evaluate writing. Other teachers take expectations into consideration, and evaluate with “effort” in mind. You don’t want to stifle writing, you merely want to shape and mold the skill as it grows and matures with your child.
You don’t have to be perfect. My husband and I certainly aren’t perfect. And yet somehow, remarkably, our children can write. Don’t be afraid of evaluating English!
Do you enjoy these daily doses of high school homeschool wisdom? Sign up to get them delivered via email or reader!
I received a sweet note from a client, and she gave a wonderful review of a free homeschool resource for foreign language. I thought it might encourage others, so I’m passing it along.
Hi Lee,
Thank you so much for focusing on high school, homeschool students! Your web site has been very valuable to me. I am homeschooling a son who is profoundly gifted. We are “refugees homeschoolers” – We always believed our son would be schooled in public education. However, we had to flee the public school system when his needs weren’t being met. I just wanted you to know first hand your site is helping my son and many people in our homeschool group – Denver CO Common Ground Homeschoolers.I can give you a 100% thumbs up for the LiveMocha program. This is a free program to learn foreign language. Koa loves, loves, loves this program. The site is designed for adults but people of any age can utilize it. The system is ingenious. Koa is learning Spanish so he does Spanish curriculum which includes practicing his Spanish writing and speaking skills. Native Spanish speakers grade his work and give feedback. In turn, Koa reviews and grades people’s work who are trying to learn English. Students receive LiveMocha points (arbitrary points of progress) for the language lessons and they receive teacher points for helping others. Isn’t that a great concept? And all of this is free IF you help enough people – just a reasonable amount of teacher points nothing crazy. You could talk with Koa directly if you’d like more information but he loves it!!
Link: http://www.livemocha.com/
Best and Blessings with your work.
Thanks again,
Marilyn in Denver, CO
My son’s nonprofit is www.fastfoodfree.org
For those of you with gifted homeschoolers, I do have an audio course available on CD called “Gifted Education at Home.” It’s designed to help parents with children of ALL ages, not just high school. I do talk about what it is like in public school, to encourage parents that the grass is NOT greener on the other side! My children were in public school until 2nd and 4th grades, when we determined that the gifted education program was not going to help. I share my stories about that, to eliminate the temptation of thinking that public school might be the only option for gifted or profoundly gifted children. Here is the link to that course: Gifted Education at Home.
Do you like getting this sort of help for homeschooling high school? Gold Care Club members get extended answers to their most challenging high school issues.
Sometimes homeschooling begins wonderfully, but other times it can seem an overwhelming challenge. What can you do if you don’t WANT to homeschool but you feel guilty about it?
I tried homeschooling my 4 & 5 year olds. My daughter is a strong-willed little girl who stands up against authority figures. I don’t feel called to home school this year mostly because last year went so badly and in the middle of the year I just stopped doing school by the book and focused more on my health goals. I registered them both for school. They will spend 45 mins each way on the bus. That means my boy in 1/2 day Kindergarten will be in school about the same amount of time on the bus. I can’t help but feel a little guilt about not wanting to do it. I did a co-op for 4 months and hated it. I also have now a 2 year old who wants all of my attention which was very challenging when trying to teach as well. Any words of wisdom? I actually think others can teach my children the basics better than I can. I bring God into every aspect of our lives – but I don’t feel cut out to homeschool my kids. Thanks for any thoughts.
~ Feeling Guilty
You don’t have to do ANY formal education until 8 years old, when you are living in Washington. You can keep them at home and not even fill out a declaration of intent until they are 8. Once they have been enrolled in school, then you do need to complete a declaration of intent, but that doesn’t mean you have to get all intense and “schoolish.” For more information on Washington State Homeschool Law, please visit this website: Washington Homeschool Organization.
You can try schooling gently and naturally, using literature. Instead of “doing school” you can just experience education. I love Sonlight Curriculum. Use their curriculum for 5 year olds, and it will only take about 1 hour per day, and you can share it between both kids. Perhaps you can do that during the nap time. Here is the link to Sonlight.
To handle babies and toddlers underfoot, my favorite tip is the book “Managers of Their Homes” by Teri Maxwell. It made a HUGE difference in my life and homeschool. In fact, that book is the reason why I have been (mostly) consistent with my quiet time, because she really focuses on putting God first and everything else will fall into place. She is not as academic as I am, but I found that to be a nice balance, because I tend to do too much at times. Here is the link to her book.
Guilt is a horrible feeling. It’s difficult to decide what to do, and many people will have strong opinions in opposite directions. The best advice is what my midwife told me the day my oldest child was born. She said, “Know your child and trust yourself.” Only YOU know your child and your situation. Move forward without guilt, trusting your own judgment.
If homeschooling went that bad, then probably it was a curriculum mismatch, and you were using a curriculum that was great for someone else, but wasn’t a good fit for you. My guess is that you were making it more intensely academic than is necessary or desirable at that young age. If you want to try homeschooling again, then completely change gears, and back away from the heavy academics to focus on the love of learning.
I just had a quick question. (or at least I think its quick!) I am wondering if you have any suggestions for a good geography program? I seem to remember noticing on one of your kid’s transcripts the name of a geography course, and wondering if you had any advice in that area. It was great to hear you at the Heart of the Matter conference last week. I don’t email or call a lot yet, but I use EVERYTHING in my gold care club!
Thanks,
~ Traci
Dear Traci,
Geography can simply be taught within the context of other social studies classes. In other words, world history may include some of the geography of Europe, etc. But if you want to teach a separate history class, we really loved Runkle’s book, the Wonderful World of Geography. Here is a link.
It’s worth it to get the student activity workbook with it. My children memorized all the countries of the world using that curriculum, and we LOVED it and still use the information regularly!
Geography is one area of social studies. Colleges are often specific about what they want to see for high school social studies. They often specify American History, World History, Economics, and American Government. Since Economics and Government are often just half-year classes, together take only one year. That can leave you with some options – with three years of social studies specified, that leaves one year of social studies that can be more delight-directed. Options include geography, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and other “ologies” as well. If you want to cover physical geography, this book is great! This book is for grades 6 through high school. If your child is high school age and uses this book, I would include it on the high school transcript.
I’m SO glad you are enjoying your Gold Care Club membership!
I hope that helps!
Do you like getting this sort of help for homeschooling high school? Gold Care Club members get extended answers to their most challenging high school issues.
Frankie on Facebook was concerned about high school accreditation, and contacted me with this question:
I have a son who is entering High School and we are trying to find a High School program that is accredited. The trick is to find one that will also be accepted by an accredited College. At this point my son seems to want to go into the criminal justice direction but it has been tough for me since there are so many different kinds of accreditation (regional I believe) I was wondering if you knew of a website or if you had a list of accredited colleges and what accreditation they accept? Anything you can provide would be a great help!
Just to remind everyone that my Homeschool Superheroes Week interview will be broadcast tomorrow at 3-6 PM Eastern Time. It is NOT a 3 hour interview, that is just the time that it will be available to listen to for free! My topic is “Strategies for Homeschool Success.”
Sign up now and you will be sent log-in instructions via email. Listening to all the interviews is free during the times noted. After the free peiriod they will be available for sale, so definitely listen while they are free.
This just in! You can watch foreign language channels on your iPad or iPod and practice your foreign language skills!
Find the iPod Touch app called “TVU.” You can’t get your local channels, but you can get channels from across the country and the globe! The app costs $4.99, so it’s much cheaper than cable, and you can get channels that broadcast in the language you want your children to learn. There are dozens of foreign language channels, including some in French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, and some lesser-known African and East Asian languages.
Success with foreign language often boils down to frequency of practice. Many experts recommend a minimum of 15 minutes per day practicing foreign language skills through listening, speaking, reading, or writing. How fun would it be to practice on Mom’s iPad each day! I wonder what it might say on your assignments sheet: iPad French 15 minutes? TV Show in German Today? Arabic Disney Movie? I remember how much my children giggled when I wrote “Finding Nemo in French” for their foreign language assignments!
Play TVU on the iPod Touch
Have you heard about these FREE homeschool interviews? Kerry Beck is hosting interviews with some of the coolest people in the homeschool community – to get your homeschool year off to the right start!
Why is she doing this?
She knows what it is like to be in the trenches as a homeschool mom. Sometimes you need a little encouragement or a few fun tricks from experienced homeschoolers. Real homeschool parents who have real experience balancing school, family, cooking, cleaning, chauffeuring.
So, she is hosting interviews of 14 experts in the homeschooling community who have practical advice for you to get started on the right foot this year.
–>> It’s called Homeschool Super Heroes Week!
Actually, it’s the next 2 weeks of August and you can listen to the interviews each day for Free.
All you have to do is register for Homeschool Super Heroes Weekand you will have access each day to practical tips & tricks for you to start your year right.
No traveling to your state convention.
No hotel expenses.
No registration fees.
I’ll be talking to you soon during Homeschool Super Hero Week
If you are part of a local homeschool group or co-op, feel free to send them so they can listen to the interviews for free, also. http://budurl.com/hssuperheroes
I keep finding “random quotation marks” in things I have “written myself.” I find it “frustrating” and think I should read the book “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves” by Lynne Truss again.
It’s a hilarious book. I do remember that there were some “questionable” words, and I hesitated before showing it to my older teenagers. Don’t use it with “younger” children, and you may want to pre-read it before giving it to your older children as well. (Warning, her second book isn’t as good, and the language is more “troubling.”)
Another great book that I should probably read again is the Strunk and White classic, “Elements of Style.”
In case you are wondering, the “White” of “Strunk and White” is actually the author of Charlotte’s Web and Trumpet of the Swan, E.B. White. Pretty “cool,” huh?
Hello
there! If you are new here, we invite you to subscribe by RSS
feed or by
email. On Facebook? We would
love for you to join
us.
Filed under: 
Christianbook.com Curriculum Page
