Thank you for your informative web site. My eldest child is entering eighth grade, and I’m educating myself on how to homeschool  high school. We’ve always homeschooled, but I’m learning that high school will have added complexities.

I’m considering buying your book Setting the Records Straight, but I’ve been unable to browse a copy beforehand. Do you include many sample transcripts and other record-keeping forms in the book? I love to keep records and thrive creating files in Microsoft Publisher, Word, and Excel. I suspect I could create my own files if I can copy your ideas from enough sample pictures in the book. Would that be feasible? Is that the intent of the book?

Thanks for your help.

~ Julie Larson

Dear Julie,

Thank you for your interest!  You can go to Amazon and see their “look inside” feature to browse a few random pages here

When I discuss transcripts, I use my own homeschool transcripts to list the discussion.  You can see two of my transcript samples.

Look where it has the hyperlinks:

- View sample transcript by year
- View sample transcript by subject

When I discuss course descriptions in the book, I give examples from my own homeschool.  You can see a few pages here:

- table of contents
- sample course description
- sample reading list

The course description portion of the book also includes homeschool records from two other parents who were also successful with college admission and scholarships.

If you do best with downloads, then you may want to consider getting the Total Transcript Solution.  It comes with ten transcript templates, not just my own, so you have a wide variety to choose from.  The Total Transcript Solution also comes with one month of support through the Silver Training Club, which has a new course description every month, so you’ll have lots of those to choose from as well.  The Total Transcript Solution does not come with Setting the Records Straight, and it’s intended to help you mainly with your transcript, not with course descriptions.  To read more about the Total Transcript Solution, you can read this page

I hope that answers all your questions!

You can get the Total Transcript Solution here. Then all you have to do is implement!

I have multiple redundancies for my computer because I use it for business.  External hard drives and remote back-up systems like Carbonite Online Backup serve a great purpose.  Most homeschoolers don’t have the time or energy to back up all their data like that, but disasters can happen.  A single computer virus, a major computer crash, or a household disaster or theft can destroy all the hard work you put into making your transcript.

There is a very simple solution.  Send an email.

Once you have finished or updated your transcript, email it to yourself. When you receive the email, save it!  If you can create email folders, then save it under “Back up Copies.”  If you have online email access from anywhere, then you will always have access to that email you send yourself.

This is a great strategy for saving your teenagers written reports as well. Each time they complete a paper, they can not only save it on the computer but also email it to you.  Saving those emails will make sure you always have samples of work to give to any college that wants to see something.

My sons have used this technique throughout college, so share this idea with your college-bound students.  Alex would work all day on campus, and then email himself his work.  From home, he would check his email, download his work, and continue working from home.  It was a great alternative to using an expensive flash drive (which can easily be lost.)  It allowed him to transfer his work easily between computers and gave him free online back up as well.

If you don’t have online email access, consider getting a gmail account just so you can use this amazingly cost effective back up strategy.

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.

It’s easy to pull children out of school and begin homeschooling.  It’s more challenging to go the other way.   If you have been homeschooling, you may have difficulty convincing a public or private high school to accept credits earned in your homeschool.

High schools don’t have to accept your homeschool credits, and you can’t MAKE them accept your credits. Create the transcript as you would for a college, but recognized that they have all the power. Accredited high schools will accept accredited homeschool credits.  Unaccredited high school may accept unaccredited homeschool credits.  It is entirely at their discretion.  The format of your transcript probably won’t matter.

Ironically, colleges don’t care so much about accredited or unaccredited transcripts.  They see transcripts from unaccredited high schools all the time and treat unaccredited homeschools much the same way.

I do have articles that will help:

This one explains homeschool accreditation.

And this one talks about how to move kids from homeschool to public school.

Let’s be friends on Facebook!

Sometimes messages come by Facebook, but other times I get them on the phone, by email,  or on my blog.  It usually goes something like this:

“Yikes-please help fast! Transcript due tomorrow and I am on the fence with this one……How do we count a European home stay for a month on a high school transcript? How much credit? Never encountered this one…..”
Angela on Facebook

Believe me, I’ve heard it all.  I never feel judgmental at all, because I really KNOW what it’s like to be overwhelmed by life and caught off–guard by a sudden realization like that.  In fact, that’s what my life is like right now, as I prepare for the wedding in a couple of weeks!

“Yikes-please help fast! Catering count due tomorrow and I don’t have all my RSVPs……How do we count people who haven’t responded?  Never encountered  this one…..it’s my first son to get married in a couple of weeks!” Lee in Real Life

Yup, I’m living that “Uh Oh!” feeling right now! No judgment will be handed down by me, that’s for sure!  But can I give you the secret to making sure a “Transcript Yikes” doesn’t happen to you?

1. Work on your transcript every year.
2. Finish the transcript a month before it is due.
3. Plan ahead to seek help.

When you work on a transcript every year, you may be faced with one or two “Yikes!” courses, but you aren’t going to be faced with multiple “Yikes!” courses spanning four years of high school.

When you finish the transcript early, you have time to see help AND make an adjustment if necessary.  Put it on your calendar for a month prior before it is REALLY due.  Send yourself electronic reminders if necessary, or have a buddy nag you, so you remember to complete it on time.

Transcript questions are sometimes cut & dried, but other times complex. This particular question about counting European Home Stay for high school credit would take some time and conversation to figure out, and it depends on time spent, and lessons learned.  You may need help, and you have to plan ahead for help.  For example, right now I’m scheduling appointments three months out.

By the way, in a last minute situation like this, with no further information or time to discuss it, I suggested using it for an activity, or her activity list.  Not every educational opportunity MUST be counted for credit.  Sometimes it’s OK to just call something an activity and not stress over it too much.  That’s what I would suggest for a college-prep transcript that already looks full.

If you are planning ahead, things like this are great topics for a college application essay!!

You can get the Total Transcript Solution here. Then all you have to do is implement!

What you recommend non-tradional (unschoolers and eclectic) homeschoolers do about making transcripts for 4-year state colleges?  Do they have a better chance at admission if they transform what they have  done  into a
traditional transcript?
~Julie

Dear Julie,
In general I think the best answer is to convert non-traditional experiences into a traditional transcript with grades made by mom, and credit values clearly labeled.  I have heard some moms truly regret NOT doing that, believing that it cost them a lot in scholarship money.  It’s best to include course descriptions as well, that give a narrative description, but I think a transcript is VERY important if you need any scholarship money.

Of course it will depend on the college, so check with the college your student likes first.  But I have seen successes with making a traditional transcripts, and I have seen regrets without a traditional transcript.

Do you Twitter? Follow me here!

Leanne is a reformed pyromaniac.  At the end of every school year, her policy was to torch all schoolwork.  A rite of passage, she would gather all her children’s homeschool records, and they would celebrate with a giant bonfire.

Thankfully, she realized that may not be her best option in high school! She came to my “High School Record Keeping” speech and gained a new appreciation for keeping high school records.  Completely reformed, she said she promised not to have a burning party again.

The following year she told me that her family has a new tradtion.  Instead of having their usual “Paper Burning Party” they have changed to a “Binder Building Day.”  The collect the significant papers from the school year, and place them in binders arranged by subject.

What a great idea!  Turning drudgery into a party sounds GREAT!  Some parents don’t regularly practice record keeping throughout the year. Instead, you can practice an annual record keeping strategy, filing at the end of each year.  If you can’t get to it regularly, it only makes sense to accentuate the positive, and pretend like it’s intentional.

We are mostly done (earlier than I had planned but my son and daughter were motivated) and this is the first year we won’t be having our paper burning last day. Instead we’ll be having our binder building last day. So thankful we meet last year.
~Leanne

Use a record keeping strategy that works for you.  Don’t burn everything, but keep representative samples from each class, and lists of grades you provided.  When regular record keeping isn’t an option, celebrate the end of the year with a “Binder Building Day” and then celebrate with ice cream.

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.

“How do I determine if a curriculum is high school material?  My son is interested in learning Biblical Greek. I found a few great workbooks at Half-Price books, but they don’t have any grade recommendations on them.” ~ Charlotte on Facebook

Look up the book online, through Amazon or a homeschool catalog, and see what it says. You can also look at the author and reviewer, to see if they are high school or college reviewers. you can also ask your pastor – if he took Biblical Greek, then he might know.

Let’s be friends on Facebook!

“Hi Lee.  I heard you speak at the Midwest Homeschool Convention.  I really appreciated all your information.  I need to ask you a question.  Can I count a computer graphics class or video editing class for fine arts credit on the homeschool transcript?”
~ Trina on Facebook

Sure, Trina!  You can use those classes for fine arts on your homeschool transcript.  Some parents use classes like that for a technology credit, and others will use it as a way to get art into a techie kid. Either way is just fine. Remember when we were in high school and we could take photography for art? It’s the same sort of thing, only now we have computers.

The fine arts include music, art, theater, and dance.  Graphics are an art, and  video is like theater.  You can get an art degree in “Graphic Arts”, so I suppose that might be my “go-to” title for that course.  For more class titles, look at a community college or university catalog, and see how they name their classes.

Technology credits are sometimes used as electives, and other times they are put into the science category.  It depends on which way will make your child look the best to the college of their choice.

Click here to read more about why teaching your high schooler is highly overrated.

When is your homeschool transcript official?  When do you add grades? Sometimes the details can drive parents crazy!

Karen is a Gold Care Club member, and she asked me her questions:

I was just looking over your book setting the record straight.  Thank you for sending it and it looks great. When you started  doing your 9TH grade transcript did you write everything you  were going to study in the beginning of 9Th and then just add on  the semester grades as you went along? This may sound silly but when you sent your transcripts to the colleges how did you package them? You know how colleges send transcripts in official envelopes that say official if not opened? Just curious.
~Karen in Florida

Dear Karen,
When I was making my transcript, I worked at it during the END of each school year.  Some of the things we fully intended to do never actually happened.  At the end of the year I would be aware of the classes we would complete, so I would insert them at that time, work on the course descriptions in the spring (right about now) and then add the final grades  and details in June, when we were done.  I didn’t choose to use semester grades, I just had the final grade at the end of the class.  It just fit my homeschool better – since I didn’t do a lot of real “grading” it seemed to make sense to just have one big grade at the end.  Other homeschools do it differently.

For packaging, we laid the one piece transcript on top of the spiral-bound comprehensive record.  On top of that I had a cover letter explaining what it  contained and the student that it was meant for.  I put that into a large manila envelope.  Only one college wanted my transcript sealed, so they were the only one that got it sealed. They wanted the transcript in a sealed envelope with the “principal’s signature” on the seal of the envelope.  So I did that for them – it didn’t hurt anything after all.  But when I got ready to mail that transcript, I had a sudden moment of panic – had I put Kevin’s transcript in Alex’s application?  Opened them both up, yes I had mixed them (in my own defense, they were both applying to four schools, so I did actually have 8 applications in front of me at the moment, LOL!)  I fixed the problem, resealed the envelop, and resigned it.  I’m not sure how a sealed envelope helped them <smile!>.

Each college will want their applications submitted in their own unique way.  I encourage parents to conform to the wishes of the college, as long as they don’t ask you to compromise your values in any way.  If they want an official school envelope, then print an envelope on your computer saying “Official Home School” with your home address.  If they want it sealed, then seal it.  Notarized?  Notarize it at the library for free!  Whatever they want, that’s how you do it.  Of course, that means you have to read the fine print.

If you are curious about providing a great homeschool education for gifted children, check out my audio training, “Gifted Education at Home.“

When is the best time to start YOUR homeschool transcript?

I was wondering I have been told that middle school is the right time to start putting together a transcript. She is now in 8th grade and I have not officially started. How do I get started and is there a good software out there that is worth getting.

Thank you
~ Antonia on Facebook

Middle school is the BEST time to start putting together a homeschool transcript for two reasons! First, it will give you the practice you need to feel comfortable and confident in your new homeschool role as high school counselor . Because transcripts are so critical in high school, learning that skill a little early can help you become more knowledgeable and do a better job.  Record keeping, particularly in some states, can come as a big surprise to homeschool parents.  Although it isn’t difficult to learn, it does take a little bit of effort.  Homeschooling will give you the edge in confidence and ability.

Second, learning how to make a transcript in middle school can be very important because some courses you are teaching may actually be high  school classes that should be on a high school transcript. Because some middle school students take high school classes without realizing it, these courses may be mistakenly left off the transcript.  By learning about the  homeschool transcript now, you can be SURE whether classes should be on the high school transcript or not.   Beyond just “for practice,” this kind of learning ahead of time is critical to making sure your child gets the credit they deserve, particularly if they are ahead of grade level in any course or standardized test.

Transcript software is about all the same.  They all give you nice forms and templates to type on.  When I tried transcript software, I quickly became frustrated that there was no template that I preferred – I had to fit my homeschool into their charts and graphs, and my homeschool didn’t fit!

I also found that while software is “nice” it actually requires some brain-ware to back it up.  That’s what was missing!  I didn’t actually know what to type – regardless of where I would type it.  That’s why I worked to make my Total Transcript Solution .  I wanted to teach parents WHAT to type.  Then I give them 10 templates in a variety of looks and formats so they could choose to make it look any way they want it to look.

I will say that high school record keeping is really not that hard.  There are easy strategies that can save you a ton of time so that you don’t have to tediously count hours, so don’t worry about that part.  I hope that helps!

If you are curious about providing a great homeschool education for gifted children, check out my audio training, “Gifted Education at Home.“