When homeschooling high school, should you give semester grades or yearly grades?
I so enjoy reading your blog and have learned so much. I have researched the archives but am not finding an answer to a question. I was planning on just recording a final grade for each subject. However, in reading some material from Jay Wile he suggests recording a grade per semester. That really doesn’t work as well for us as our schooling is lighter in the fall semester than the winter. That binds us to a typical public school semester. Do you have any words of wisdom regarding this?
Thank you,
~ Barbara in Arkansas
Hi Barbara,
My words of wisdom; do what seems right for you.
I did it exactly the way you suggested, and gave one grade for the whole year. Here is a sample of my transcript, so you can see what it looks like. Just click on “view transcript by subject or by year” and you’ll see it.
The final grade on the transcript was the sum of all the different ways I evaluated in the year; tests, quizzes, and lab work. But there was only one grade on the transcript, just at the end of the year.
In all my work with clients and colleges, I’ve only heard of ONE college that requested semester grades – but I think they ended up being flexible after all.
In my homeschool transcript solution, it comes with 10 transcript templates. I think perhaps three of them come with semester grades. Not everyone gives semester grades, and it’s not necessary. I agree with you, it does seem a little bit like Jay Wile is thinking like the “system” a little bit too much on this one.
Do it the way that works for you.
I hope that helps!
The HomeScholar Gold Care Club will give you the comprehensive help you need tohomeschool high school.
My son, Alex is getting his degree in Political Economy, and he gave me the “thumbs up” on Economics in a Box . It does look like a LOT of reading, so I don’t think it would be a good fit if your child doesn’t like reading or hates economics. It’s also coming from a distinctly free market perspective, which tends to be more conservative. It doesn’t include a Biblical component, as well. You might want to look at Jay Richard’s book, Money, Greed, and God, for which Alex earned a mention in the Forward!.
I wrote a blog post on economics for beginners here:
Most high school economics classes are 1/2 credit. Since American government is usually 1/2 credit as well, they are sometimes done in the same year. You can do anything you want, but I didn’t want you to think economics had to be a whole credit.
The HomeScholar Gold Care Club will give you the comprehensive help you need tohomeschool high school.
For example, read how UC Riverside actively recruits homeschool students:
“Among the homeschool community, we find large numbers of students who are smart, mature, creative, independent and well-socialized people,” said Frank Vahid, a professor of computer science who has three children who are homeschooled. “We want such excellent students in our classes. They have a lot to offer the university community.”
“Smart, mature, creative, independent and well-socialized people.”
An AP exam is a wonderful way to demonstrate mastery of a subject. You can prove your child has learned a wide variety of subjects with one long, graded exam. It’s standard for many highly selective schools, so they can be quite common. That doesn’t mean, however, that AP exams are always a good fit.
One of my clients reported that her son struggled to follow an AP course that homeschoolers commonly utilize. She said each day he would study for 4 or 5 hours just on the single subject. Finally, exhausted, he had little emotional energy left to spend on his remaining school work. Not surprisingly, he was burned out and his mother was worried.
With everything, it’s important to find a balance between life and academics. Take a step back. Try to look at the big picture. From within the family, I’m sure there is confusion and strife. Perhaps there is anxiety about whether the child is trying hard enough – or whether the parent is pushing too hard. From outside the family, the bigger picture is a little easier to see. One AP subject was interfering with homeschooling in general. In this child, one AP subject came at the cost of education.
If something is getting in the way of educating your child, remember why we homeschool. We can be flexible, and change and adapt to meet various situations. No matter how great the AP class sounded when you signed up, once you recognize it doesn’t work, flexibility can save the day.
An educated, well adjusted, happy student will look better on your transcript, and look better to a college, than a child that passed an AP exam at the expense of the rest of school.
Some kids don’t do well on standardized tests. Nobody knows that better than a homeschool parent with a child that doesn’t do well on tests. For college admission, though, it can really help to provide test scores from the SAT or ACT.
Colleges want test scores. It’s very uncommon (although not impossible) to get college admission and scholarships without taking one of these tests. A child doesn’t need to score higher than everyone else. They need to score higher than they would have scored if they either freaked out or didn’t study at all.
Colleges usually use tests to evaluate. When your child gets to college, they likely will face fill-in-the-bubble tests. Giving them practice with bubble tests can help them prepare for the tests they take in college.
I have heard some colleges complain that homeschoolers aren’t well prepared for standardized tests. While they don’t generally complain about the quality of homeschool academics, some have expressed concern that our children aren’t prepared for the tests that ACCOMPANY academics. Teaching your children to take a standardized test can help them be prepared.
Are Apologia science textbooks rigorous enough for college-bound students? Sure, they are popular with homeschoolers, but how GOOD are they as science books?
Are Apologia science textbooks are fairly rigorous, for college-bound students? I’ve heard a few conflicting reports…
~Jill in Seattle
Apologia is a very rigorous college prep series. I don’t usually recommend specific curriculum, because I know it’s all about “fit” more than a textbook. When it comes to science, though, I had such success with the curriculum we used, that I really do recommend it – even to my clients that are not Christian.
I know it for a fact that Apologia is a great college preparation because Alex (my non-scientist son) was able to pass a CLEP in Biology 3 years after taking Apologia Biology at home. He earned a 4.0 in Engineering Physics in college after taking Apologia Physics. Remember, he is NOT my science major. I made him take that engineering physics at community college with his brother, because he was too young to take a class by himself. So he learned well from the books even though he didn’t “love” science. Apologia is GREAT stuff.
I know for a fact that Apologia is great college preparation because my son Kevin is an electrical engineering major in college. He still refers to his Apologia Physics book now and then. He used Apologia chemistry over the summer, to review for a class he was taking. He has reviewed his physics book frequently. It’s been one of my “best buys” for curriculum, because they have literally used them for 5 years. Kevin has a fabulous GPA in engineering, and I believe it is in part because he was so well prepared with Apologia Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.
If you want to make Apologia even MORE rigorous, it is possible. You can go through a book in a semester instead of a year, and make it an AP course if you want, but it’s not necessary at all, just an option. I have heard of some “college prep” AP classes, like through Pennsylvania Homeschoolers for example, that actually take a child 5 hours a day to complete. That would be so frustrating to spend 5 hours a day on one class! One mother was letting core subjects in reading, writing and math slide, just so her child could get an AP Chemistry credit. That’s a lot of work for not a lot of benefit. It’s easier to keep your subjects at the level of your children when they do it at home with a homeschool curriculum.
Apologia is a self-teaching homeschool curriculum, so kids can learn it on their own, and moms don’t have to know what they are doing in order to be successful. That’s a big deal, because I didn’t have a clue about physics, and barely was able to keep up with the chemistry.
Yes, absolutely Apologia is college prep. It’s not perfect, because no curriculum is perfect. All textbooks have typos- ALL of them – and I’m sure someone could find a flaw in these books like you can find a flaw in every book. Still it’s great preparation, and I recommend it even for my clients that aren’t Christian.
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Colleges love to see leadership qualities, but leadership can take many forms. It seems like parents think about leadership in terms of their own high school experience, as if you have to be captain of the football team or class presidents in order to demonstrate leadership. Instead, consider leadership experience something that happens when you are doing what you love long enough to get good at it.
Colleges look for demonstrated leadership skills. How can I find opportunities for a homeschooler to demonstrate leadership skills or be part of activities that will lead to these opportunities? It is quite tricky to find opportunities to get a child involved with sports or other activities that will allow them to demonstrate leadership skills if they are not in public school. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
~Judy
For some, that means they love something so much they become a natural leader, or others vote for them because of their skills. This may happen in Boy Scouts or Youth & Government, when kids are placed into leadership roles. There are a lot of groups that have leadership roles to be filled.
Sometimes leadership means you stand in front of a group to do your beloved thing. That often happens when kids love music or acting, and they get on stage in a theater, performance or church to play their instrument, sing or act. If your child is involved in the worship team at church, that is leadership.
For some kids, that means they love something so much the teach it. My son loved chess so much he ended up teaching chess classes in public and private schools as well as homeschool groups. I have seen children teach Karate, ballet, and piano. Other children become a leader at Vacation Bible School, or during the summer get a job on staff at a day camp.
Sometimes leadership means you have floated to the top. On a team, or with group, sometimes longevity means leadership. When I was a hospital volunteer (Candy Striper) the older volunteers were in charge of showing the younger volunteers what to do. Usually if a child loves an activity they will stick around long enough to have some opportunities for leadership.
If your child is beginning high school, don’t look for an activity called “leadership.” Instead, looks for activities that your children love, so they can become a leader naturally. You may not know in advance how that leadership role will play out. When my son Alex was working with an economics mentor, it never occurred to me that it would grow into a leadership experience. Yet it was through that activity he became involved in an international economics conference. When he presented his economics research I thought, “Aha! Leadership!”
Do you need a speaker at your next homeschool conference? Talk to your conference coordinator about having me come. I would love to meet you in person! Here is a list of my speaking topics, or you can read my profile on the Homeschool Speakers Bureau.
If your child enjoys being part of Boy Scouts, consider yourself blessed! Scouting can be one of THE ABSOLUTE BEST things you can do for college!
If your child is working toward an Eagle Scout, it can almost guarantee success. Every single thing you do in scouting is educational and can be put on the transcript somewhere. Usually I see the hours spent with Boy Scouts recorded as PE. All of the camping and hiking can be part of his PE credit. There are a million names you can call it – you can use names on the badges, too. Just estimate hours (“16 hours this weekend plus 40 hours that week equals….” that sort of thing.) But in general, when your child is involved in scouting, and they do the scouting activities that are required, my job is just to remind you to include those in your PE hours.
Some kids focus more on academic activities within scouting, and others focus on the physical activities. Remember the Golden Rule of Credits: No Double Dipping. When you count the hours of scouting, you can’t use the same hours for two different classes. You can, however, say that some scouting hours are for PE and the other scouting hours are for volunteer work or other classes. Although double dipping is a no-no, for many kids there are more than enough hours in their scouting year to cover more than one course.
Eagle Scout is “golden” and how it fits well with the Congressional Award. Here is the link if you want to read more about the Congressional Award.
When you are applying for colleges, you will need a great homeschool transcript. The good news is you can “do-it-yourself” and save thousands. Discover the“Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts.”
Record keeping is for important so that you keep things that are needed by your state law. It’s also important to keep records that you will need to make course descriptions AND keep records that colleges may ask you for (writing samples, etc.)
One of the things colleges seem most interested in is a high school reading list. But why should they care? The reading list gives a snapshot of the student, so colleges will know more about their reading level, interests, and extracurricular reading. The reading list should include ALL books, whether for school or for fun. Not every college asks for one, just like not every college asks for a course description. So both come under the category of “always be prepared.”
Learn more about finding a perfect college fit with my DVD, Finding a College!
My friend Tricia sent out an informational letter the other day, and I thought it might encourage others. Tricia is committed to helping other homeschoolers, and she provides a wonderful resource for all of us!
I talk about the “process” of taking CLEP exams on my webpage devoted to Homeschooling College. Tricia provide the resources on “how” to take CLEP exams.
I hope this helps someone!
Dear Support Group Leader,
We would like to share with you a link to our website which contains FREE lesson plans for earning college credits using the CLEP examination program. Again, all the plans on our site are FREE and we would like to share this information with the wider homeschool community. If you feel led, would you please share this information with your local support group?
Some homeschooling parents find formulating a plan for homeschooling through high school a challenge. Should our focus be on achieving a high school diploma? What about facing the college recruiters?
These concerns drive some parents to plan hours of unnecessary course work that would hopefully lead to a diploma. Others choose educational paths that attempt to satisfy nagging doubts about future college entrance. CLEP solved BOTH these concerns for our family by allowing us to chart an independent course that will ultimately show college recruiters that our student is ready for the next step.
What is CLEP?
CLEP is the “College-Level Examination Program” and is also known by terms such as “testing out” or “credit by examination.” Simply put, you use independent study to prepare for a specific college course and then go to a local college to take the computerized multiple choice exam. If you pass, you are issued the credits, as if you had taken the class at the college.
CLEP exams can be used to:
-accumulate dual credit, showing credits that will count toward high school requirements AND, at the same time, count towards a college degree
-shorten the years of study required to attain a college degree, since you are starting in the teen years
-save you money in earning a college degree, as CLEP exams are MUCH cheaper than registering for a college class on campus
-show ANY “brick and mortar” college that your child is capable of performing at a college level, and you’ll have the credits to PROVE it!
-avoid “basic skills” classes when entering college by CLEPing college math and freshman english
-give your child the chance to delve into the subject being studied while moving at a comfortable pace for optimum learning
-sharpen your child’s independent study skills, which are a MUST in the college environment
-continue to share your “world view” with your child when studying controversial topics contained in many social science classes
-tackle tough subjects ONCE and get the credit the FIRST time around. Why do high school biology and then retake it again for college credit?
SOUNDS GOOD, BUT WHERE DO I START?
A normal college course includes classroom instruction, followed by testing and then the granting of credits earned. Through our FREE lesson plans you will be able to use your child’s independent study skills, replacing the instructional phase of the college class process with the appropriate books and videos we’ve selected as study tools. Your child will prepare for the exam and the college board will issue them credits for passing the test. These credits can be “banked” with the college board and then transferred to the college of your choice in the future.
DO ALL COLLEGES ACCEPT CLEP CREDITS?
CLEP credits are accepted by more than 2,900 schools. The exams are 90 minute, multiple choice format. There are other widely accepted credit-by-examination programs as well, such as DANTES. It’s important to check with the colleges on your “wish list” to see how many credits they allow to be “transferred in” from any one testing source. The colleges we have listed are VERY “credit by examination” friendly, some even allowing you to “test out” of your ENTIRE four year degree! Remember too that colleges that have enrollment requirements, such as SAT scores and basic skills tests, often waive them when college credits have already been accumulated by the student.
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