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Awana is a wonderful program, and a great way to get Bible credit naturally in a fun activity. I know it take a LOT of work. Because it takes so much time and effort, I usually suggest including it on your high school transcripts. In private schools and many homeschools, families include Bible on their transcript as a regular subject area – just like math, or science, or physical education. On my transcript, I had Bible listed every year, and I gave my boys 1/2 credit each year based on the topics we studied.
To determine the credit value or your class, estimate how many hours they have spent doing Awana. If it takes about 5 hours per week, give them 1 credit each year. If it takes 2-3 hours, give them 1/2 credit each year. You can combine your normal religious studies with Awana to create that high school credit. I don’t recommend giving more than one credit per year.
To determine their grade, decide if they met your expectations. The expectations in Awanaare quite high, really. If they meet expectations, you can give them an A. If they win the Citation Award, then they certainly deserve an A!
To determine the class title, you can simply call it “Bible 1″. If possible, try to be more specific, and call it “Bible: Old Testament” or “Biblical Discipleship” or something like that.
To write a course description, look online for the descriptions provided by the program. You may find a full one paragraph description. If you don’t, I’m sure you’ll find enough words and phrases to combine them into a full course descriptions.
To determine grading criteria, if you are adding that information to your course description, list each topic and supply a grade for each task your children performed. So you might have a grades for each of the following: reading Romans, memorization, public speaking, analysis, application, competition. In fact, your could use those grading criteria for EACH book of the Bible they memorize.
You can list this on the transcript as an elective, or put it in a separate category called “Bible.”
You can mention Awana in the activity list on your transcript as well. In my high school, I was involved in Choir. My public high school transcript said “Choir” for all four years of high school. It also had “Choir” listed as an activity for all four years. I encourage you to do the same with your transcript – both a class and an activity. When you list it on your transcript, your activity might say something like this: Activities: Awana 9, 10, 11, 12 – Citation Award 12. (Other activities would follow, of course.)
This whole technique will work with Boy Scouting, Speech & Debate, 4H, and other activities as well.
I hope that all these resources can help you. If you are looking for even more, I am now a featured expert on Bizymoms.com! You can read my articles here.
For the problem of “too many credits” you can handle it a few different ways.
You can keep only the most recent credits.
You can lower the credit value of all classes.
You can eliminate classes that could also be considered an “activity” instead (so ballet would be an activity and not a PE credit.)
You can pick and choose some classes to drop off the transcript if you have more than the usual requirements. (Drop the 5th history class.)
You can combine classes together (British Literature and Ancient Literature make one European Literature class.)
You could also explain the situation in a cover letter – tell the school that this is what your child did, document that it is high school level, and let them see what your child is really capable of.
Need more help? The Comprehensive Record Solution provides you the guidance and coaching you need to finish the your homeschool records with confidence.
Have you ever changed your mind? What happens when you change your mind about a transcript? Nothing bad, actually!
If you change your mind about grades, you can change your transcript. You are the teacher and principal and administrator, right? And sometimes we get more information that can change how we assess a grade.
You can consider your classes and transcript “in process” until the point you submit it to colleges. Once you have submitted it to a college, it’s hard to change it without having a conversation with them – AWKWARD! It’s also difficult to keep things straight if you submit different transcripts to different colleges – NOT recommended. But up until the point of sending your transcript to college, you can keep changing and modifying and editing to your heart’s content. I know that my transcript changed over time. Class titles, grades, and other details changed from freshman to senior year.
Changing grades is fine and easy to do – as long as you haven’t already submitted the transcript to colleges. If you sent it other places (for private scholarships or insurance or whatever) that’s not a problem.
Learn how to translate all those great homeschool high school classes into the words and numbers that colleges will understand. Get the Total Transcript Solution
Studying for tests CAN go on the transcript. It can take a lot of work for kids to prepare for high school tests. There are a variety of ways to give them credit for the work they do.
•Some people consider it a supplement for math and science classes, and don’t list is separately.
•Some people consider it part of the college application process that everyone has to do, and they don’t put it on the transcript.
•Some parents consider it hard work and a valuable experience that helps kids learn, and they put it on the transcript.
If you put it on the transcript, I don’t recommend calling it “test preparation.” Instead, I prefer to give it a more general title for the class. I prefer calling it “Study Skills” or something similar. I usually put it in the “elective” section of the transcript. For a credit value, estimate how many hours are spent. If there are more than 75 or so hours, then give 1/2 credit.
I hope that helps!
The Comprehensive Record Solution provides what you need to create HOMESCHOOL RECORDS to amaze and impress the colleges.
Catherine asks: How important is it to have a typical looking transcript with grades and a GPA vs a more narrative type of transcript or even one with courses listed but no grades, since our goal is mastery and so they’d all just be A’s anyway?
Hi Catherine,
Perhaps you might attempt to think about this a little differently. Imagine yourself being a foreign language translator. Your job is to translate what you have completed in your homeschool, into words and numbers that colleges understand. Your job isn’t to alter your homeschool – simply do what gets results for you. Your job is only to translate your activities (whatever they are) into the “love language” of colleges.
I know that many colleges don’t mind a narrative description of a homeschool. I went to a Christian college fair last Monday, and there were a variety of colleges in which 15-20% of their student body were homeschooled. Those admissions people discussed narrative records in a very nice and receptive way. This weekend I’m going to a Homeschool College Fair, and I’m certain it is going to be equally welcoming to many types of homeschool records (or else they probably wouldn’t be at a fair just for homeschoolers, right? ) However I think the vast majority of colleges might not appreciate anything besides a transcript due to the fact it will look like a foreign language to them.
You may desire to simply cluster your student’s learning experiences together into groupings that are about 1 credit worth. Name it something that seems similar to a class title. Once he has put in a year’s worth of math work, for instance, you may name it “discrete math” or “concepts in math” or something. You might look at CLEP exams, and see which ones seem similar to academic content that your student has mastered, and record those subject details on your transcript. Have you looked at Barb Shelton’s Homeschool Form-U-La book? Her book isn’t for everyone, but she gives you a good description of the best way to take what you have done and describing it in college-friendly language.
My transcript templates as well as course description templates are like tasty recipes. They supply FLEXIBLE advice that you can adjust to fit your wants. Feel free to edit them! That’s the reason we chose to avoid creating software for our templates, actually. By giving our templates in Word and Excel, you are able to change them and change them in a million ways. Like they say on American Idol, you can “make it your own” easily with these!
A while back I was working with a mom who had altered the colors, modified the phrasing, and removed a few columns. That is absolutely fine! Whenever you are cooking a recipe for the first time, do you add the peanut butter if your children are allergic to peanut butter? No! You feel at ease cooking, so you feel free to make substitutions. That’s how a transcript template should be! I want you to be comfortable with them so you can substitute and modify them as desired.
Several people tend to be intimidated by grading. A number of parents tend to be fearful of high school credits. Then you will find some unschool or delight-directed homeschools that definitely stress out regarding naming courses. It can be very easy if you use textbooks (look at the title of the textbook! ) however in other conditions it’s not as simple.
I just got off the telephone with a mom attempting to name an unconventional class. If you are stuck, try to Google a few key words from the course you are making an attempt to name, with the words “course description. ” You’ll come up with a bunch of high school and college class course descriptions that will be similar. Look for the title that best represents your class, and Voila! In this mother’s situation, we determined that “Occupational Education: Restaurant Occupations” was the perfect title for her class.
Are you aware that every week on Facebook I provide you with a video tip of the week for homeschooling high school? Not too long ago I put on Facebook a video tip about Naming High School Classes. If you are on Facebook, make sure you check out my fan page! You can “LIKE” my page, grab my free mini-course known as “The 10 Essentials – What Every Homeschooler Needs to Study Before Graduation”
When is the PSAT?
How do I find a College Fair?
Should my freshman take Physics before Biology?
But other questions are very big, and very complicated. Sandi asked a big and complicated question on my blog the other day.
Hi Lee. I have 5 kids, 3 remain to be homeschooled. All high school age. My 17 yo has had some issues with seizures since Spring. As a result he has fallen behind somewhat in his work. He will be 18 in Oct and should graduate in June of 2012. How do I catch him up this year? He has fallen behind in math and Eng comp. He has so many credits in all the other subjects. Should I just focus on these 2 subjects this coming year? Also, he wants to go to art school. He has been taking art lessons at a studio who will also help him with a portfolio. He just loves it. Any suggestions you have i would appreciate. ~ Sandi
I would LOVE to help, but each issue is not a simple yes/no question or quick fact. Instead, each of these issues is complicated. Here is what I was able to give Sandi.
Dear Sandi,
I have quite a few Gold Care Club members that just need support for handling homeschool while facing unusual issues just like this. These are complicated issues that can’t be answered by a quick email, I’m afraid. Briefly, here are some options to consider:
Complete high school in 5 years;
Take one more year but only count the final 4 years for high school;
Focus on math and English, but don’t double up on those subjects;
Evaluate to see if he is truly behind in those areas, or if you just *think* he is behind;
Find an art school by going to a college fair as a first contact; Learn about junior year and senior year tasks.
I remember when I was homeschooling high school. Sometimes I’d get hung up on ONE small issue that would drive me completely BATTY! I remember wishing for ANYONE to give me one clear, concise, yes-or-no answer. One issue I seemed to stress about was driver education. Wendy asked a question I asked myself years ago!
Hi Lee,
I’m putting together my first transcript and I’ve seen differing credits (.25/.50)/grades for Drivers Education on samples. I have to be honest, I guess I hadn’t thought of putting it on her transcript and I don’t know, it feels like a gimme or fluff to put it on there. So I thought I would get your thoughts. She did complete 24 hours of classroom instruction through a training school. I signed an affidavit verifying that she drove 50 hours as required by law, but I didn’t keep all the dates and minutes she drove before going for her driver’s test and she passed her driver’s test the first time. Your thoughts? Being driven crazy in Ohio ~ Wendy
Dear Wendy,
I felt EXACTLY the same way!!!
This is what I did: I put it on the transcript, gave it 0.5 credits, and put “Pass” as a grade.
Now I’m older and wiser. This is what I suggest: Put it on the transcript, give 0.5 credits, and put “A” on the grade.
This is my rationale:
I don’t think putting “Pass” on the transcript is ever a good idea.
I think some high schools include it on the transcript (mine did.)
I think colleges may just leave it off if they think it’s a fluff class, others may keep it.
It partially answers the “socialization” and “life skills” question, demonstrating our kids do in fact leave the house.
Another similar question that drove me crazy was the class title. Is it “Driver Education” or “Drivers Education” or “Driver’s Education”? To be honest, I have seen class titles using all three variations! Does it even matter?
When you get consumed by things like this (as I did!) then at some point you have to remember the key. Do your best and be honest. That’s all. Just do your best and be honest. Then let it go. Watch the pretty bubbles float in the sky, and don’t stress anymore about it.
I was totally driven crazy by that exact question myself. I hope I’ve given you some peace!
Learn how to translate all those great homeschool high school classes into the words and numbers that colleges will understand. Get the Total Transcript Solution http://www.thehomescholar.com/easy-truth.php
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