Homeschooling is NOT the same as being in a parent partnership programs. There is LOTS of freedom with independent homeschooling! My Gold Care Club will give you all the help you need to succeed!
I was looking at an accredited homeschool program the other day, looking for “messages”. At first I was very impressed. Then I read the details. Let’s do a little compare and contrast.
“Each curriculum package is individualized” – but they only use the textbook/workbook/school-at-home learning. That’s not a very high percentage of homeschoolers’ chosen strategy.
“These outstanding curriculum choices coupled with the expertise of your advisor” – but the only expertise you truly need is the love for your child. True expert advice would encourage you to follow your heart and your own expertise. And remember those “outstanding curriculum choices” only include the options above.
“Our courses range from vocational to advanced placement” – so does our independent homeschool. We are also not limited by curriculum choices, and we can make ANY class that our student needs, at any level, no matter how strange or unusual the interests our kids have.
“record-keeping options for courses on their own or through a coop”. – We have options that go far beyond that. We can include ANY educational experiences on our official homeschool transcript. We can include a public school calculus or band, a coop class, a distance-learning class, delight-directed experiential learning and community college classes all on the SAME official homeschool transcript. See my book if you need a description. The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts.
“tuition is only…” – maybe it’s $195 for first student, but the fine print will describe huge costs of $1000 or more, with no more assurances than we have from our own homeschool and our own official transcripts.
Sometimes accredited distance learning programs are the right choice for families. But look closely at the messages, weight the pros and cons, and think carefully before choosing. Remember that there is NO NEED to be afraid of homeschooling at all. There is NO REASON for concern about homeschooling high school. Make sure your choice is based on what is right for your own child because you know your child best, and make sure it is NOT based on fear of homeschooling. Fear is no reason for making an important choice about schooling options.
Independent Homeschools are TRULY flexible, individualized, supportive, and official. We are not flexible within some artificial boundaries, or individualized within certain curriculum choices, or supportive as long as rules are followed. We can be official by following state law, and we recognize that accredited is not a panacea or holy grail. Our advisors are mothers and fathers who truly love their children and want what is best for them.
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Whenever you become involved in state sponsored Alternative Education, you have less control than when you are homeschooling independently. In fact, any classroom setting (public school, private school, alternative education, and even co-op classes) give you less control and flexibility than homeschooling independently.
You can’t control the content (you have to choose what they offer.)
You don’t control the speed of the curriculum (you have to go at their rate.)
You can’t choose how it’s graded (if your student goofs up on a test, you can’t re-do the chapter and re-take the test to keep his grades AND his learning optimized.)
You lack the flexibility to change course at the drop of a hat (dropping curriculum choices that don’t work.)
You can’t control their transcript (neither the names of classes nor their grades.)
Dealing with “certified teachers” can make you feel like you aren’t a “real” teacher – when in fact, you are! And YOU know what is best for YOUR child.
When a class is “accredited” is also is “written in stone.” No amount of re-learning, supplementing, or review will change those grades. With accreditation you get a lack of control and responsibility.
There are other small issues as well, but it mostly boils down to “who has control?” Homeschooling is so effective because the parents can always use what works, always work at the students level in all subjects all the time, or they can change the moment they recognize a problem.
Evergreen Freedom Foundation contacted the WHO board asking to interview “a homeschooler.” Nobody else on the board wanted to go, so Matt and I took Alex. They also asked for a learning disabled homeschooler, but we never found one. EFF ended up interviewing all three of us; my husband, my son, and me. We knew it was for “a documentary” and it was supposed to highlight ALL the effective ways to educate.
Now that I’ve seen the video, I’m a bit disappointed. They didn’t include homeschooling in the main documentary (only alternative education through public schools.) The snippet we put on the website was actually taken from the “bonus features”.
I gave the movie to Matt and Alex for Christmas, and we watched the whole thing, waiting to see ourselves. We were so disappointed to be just part of the bonus reel, LOL! But we are listed on the credits.
In the main documentary, they highlight the alternative-education girl who won the geography bee. Turns out her mother was my roommate in college! She was in a study group with Matt – she’s an engineer! I hadn’t seen her since college, and then one day I was at a homeschool swing dance event, and she walked in. We started talking about what we were up to – surprised to see we were both homeschooling. That’s when she told me she was in this documentary, and I told her I was in the SAME documentary! It was amazing!
I think that Evergreen Freedom Foundation may be trying to promote alternative education. Unfortunately, it may be at the expense of independent homeschooling. EFF just believes alt-ed is a great way to go with public education dollars. That’s one of the reasons why I came down so hard on that in Olympia, when I spoke to the legislators. Evergreen Freedom Foundation was there, and they had just spoken on alternative education, and their movie Flunked.
Anyway, it’s an Evergreen Freedom Foundation documentary to encourage alternative education approaches, including vouchers. It was filmed about 2 years ago. I thought it would include more homeschooling, but homeschooling was pretty much just a “P.S.” to the movie.
And now you know…”the rest of the story.”
In case you haven’t seen it, here is the clip of our homeschooling interview. We spoke for about an hour but were edited to a few minutes.
Hey Lee,
As you may remember we are moving into the High School years and I just saw your email on the new Transcripts. Scott and I are looking into purchasing it. One quick question…We live in Georgia and at our Homeschool Group many students in High School use an “accreditation counselor.” Quite frankly, I’m not impressed with what I’ve seen but I’m a little confused. Do we have to have someone put these together for us or can we do it ourselves? We’re looking at a few homeschool high school options for Madison, such as online classes as well as traditional courses…She has done some online virtual classes this year and LOVED it and is enthusiastic about doing it for high school.
Please don’t feel like you need to respond, but I thought I’d ask the EXPERT!:)
Thanks for your time Lee! You are certainly a resource that we’ll be using. In fact we hope to finalize our plans for her for 9th grade over Christmas when my husband is off and we can spend some really good time researching our options.
Peace!
Lori
Oh…and Congratulations on your Homeschool Blog AWARD!! Well deserved!
Dear Lori,
Thank you for your question – and for your sweet comments and encouragement! I’m really pleased with my response to the e-book on Transcripts. I wasn’t sure how it would work with the economy being so rough right now, but I’m getting a LOT of responses, so it’s very encouraging. I think parents, ourselves included, are willing to spend money on their children’s education, and cut back in other places. Although, I guess that really isn’t a change, is it? LOL! It’s always been that way! I do have a long section in my book about accreditation, by the way. I talk about strategies that will help you bypass accreditation as well.
Anyway, to answer your question about “accreditation counselors” – it depends. SO much depends on your state law, that I really can’t tell you one “right” answer. I can tell you my perspective, from a nation-wide view. Colleges across the nation get applicants from everywhere – schools they don’t know. Some public schools are not accredited, neither are some private schools. Colleges don’t always know which public or private school applicants are from accredited schools and which aren’t. Usually, they see homeschoolers as one of those applicants that comes from a high school they are not familiar with. That’s one of the reasons why they look at SAT and other scores, course titles, and essays.
In my experience, it’s almost always a high school teacher who is concerned about accreditation. I almost NEVER hear about colleges talk about accreditation. Colleges see kids every day, who have good grades from accredited schools, yet come to college without being able to read and write well. Did you know that 30 percent of children admitted to college are considered “remedial?” Colleges know that accreditation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Meanwhile, accreditation has become quite a racket among homeschoolers. There are organizations that make money by accrediting homeschoolers when homeschoolers don’t need to be accredited. Some parents get pressured into it.
Each parent knows their student. Each parent can make the decision about accreditation for themselves. Some people choose to go that route, and that’s fine. I just don’t want people to seek accreditation because they fear they “have to.” I was NOT accredited. My children were admitted to every college they applied to, got good scholarships, and both won full-tuition scholarships to their first choice university. You do NOT have to have accredited transcript in order to go to college or get scholarships.
You may need to pursue these counselors if your state law requires it. If your state law does NOT require it, then it’s completely optional, and the right answer will depend on you and your family situation. My job is to make you feel confident that you can do it yourself. Then no matter what you choose to do, you didn’t make the choice based on fear.
If you ever need more confidence, that’s one of the things I do in my consulting on the phone. I have a group of parents that call me regularly to discuss their high school plans and courses – and other parents that call me help to them with college applications. I’m here if you need me!
I hope that helps!
There is a lot of excitement building over our Saturday e-book launch, for “The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts.” Stay tuned for more information on Friday!
It’s true that I look back at my years homeschooling and miss it. It’s true that I remember few of my mistakes, and focus more on my successes. Yet whenever I look back, there is one thing I don’t have. I don’t have REGRETS!
I’m so glad that I homeschooled my children! I remember it was difficult, and there were times when I really struggled under the weight of it. Now that I’m done, I can see the rewards even more! It’s nice to be able to say that I did my best, I worked hard, and I have no regrets about my choice to homeschool.
Someday you will be able to join me in looking back with NO REGRETS!
Oh boy, I wrote my last chapter of my first e-book, “The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts.” Now I need to get my cover designed and have my IT Department (husband Matt) load it all on the web. I am SO EXCITED!!
People are starting to panic about their choice to send their kids to public school. As homeschoolers, sometimes we look at the other side of the fence, and think the grass is greener over there by the public school. You may not realize how many public school parents are thinking the same thing about homeschooling!
When people ask me about pulling their kids out of public school for a while, “until they get up to grade level” or “just though this year,” I have a hard time advising them. I know that some people want to know about homeschooling high school for a “respite” from public school. My expertise is homeschooling, and about how to homeschool independently. My expertise is NOT navigating the revolving door between educational options.
I believe homeschooling is a great way to educate kids, but I also know that it can be very difficult entering and exiting the public school system. Independent homeschooling is different than homeschooling for a few months or a year. If you think it is likely that your homeschooling time will be very short, and that your kids will be going back into public school and graduating with a public school, that is about the only situation where I recommend you consider some sort of accrediting agency.
Since my job is helping independent homeschoolers, I rarely hear much about accrediting agencies, other than the ones I’ve mentioned before.
(National) Clonlara
(National) NARHS
(Washington State) Family Academy
I really don’t know anything about them that can help (except they are expensive!) My job is to help independent homeschoolers. If you need something else, then contact an agency that can provide more of a “revolving door” with public schools.
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Have you ever wondered about the difference between an “accredited” and an “official” homeschool transcript? Sally discovered that her son could play on a private school baseball team – IF he entered that school’s Independent Study program. The school says he needed an accredited transcript from his 9th grade year to prove that he was in the 10th grade this year. She was under the impression that his work was accredited basically by her. The school disagreed and said that could review his transcript from last year for $50 per credit hour.
Sally asked: What does accreditation mean? How does a homeschool student get “accredited” transcripts without paying $300-400?
Sally,
There is a difference between an “accredited” and an “official” homeschool transcripts. Homeschool credits are official, and our transcripts are official. Homeschool transcripts are usually NOT accredited, however. Accredited transcripts are provided by certified programs, which independent homeschoolers aren’t. (Please note: a certified program is not necessarily better than your homeschool program.) So the school is correct, our homeschool credits are simply not accredited. Our homeschool credits ARE official – just not accredited.
There are other programs that can accredit your transcript. North Atlantic Regional High School (NARHS), Family Academy, Clonlara…. and others I’m sure. They are usually about $50-$100 per credit. It adds up quickly, and it can be VERY expensive in the long run. At one point I calculated that a whole 4-year high school would be $2000-$5000 just for a piece of paper that says “accredited.” It wasn’t worth it to me and apparently didn’t matter too much to the colleges. They gave us two four-year full tuition scholarships based on my “mommy-made” official transcripts. The accreditation agencies make a lot of money this way, though.
Accreditation programs generally come with some strings attached. You have to enroll with them, and use their curriculum and programs. Try to find a baseball experience that allows you to homeschool independently, without giving away your flexibility to homeschool your child the way that fits.
Strangely enough, you may have better luck with a baseball team associated with the public school. You can ask them about playing on their team, and see if they will allow you to access that under part-time enrollment, without going to school there at all. I know other homeschoolers have done that, but I don’t know much about the process. You can also search for other baseball experiences in your area. Try contacting Run To Win, located in Seattle, and see if they have some suggestions.
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 HomeScholar Total Transcript Solution.”
I just published a 5 part mini-course about “The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make When Homeschooling High School.” It captures some of the most important lessons I’ve learned in homeschooling my own children through high school and helping other parents succeed as well. These five short lessons will provide an overview to help you stay on track as you think through high school issues with your student. Whether you are already into the high school years, or just wondering whether homeschooling high school is a possibility, this is the course for you.
When you sign up, please make sure you fill out the question “What is your BIGGEST question about homeschooling high school.” Your answers will help me know the best issues to address in my blog, newsletter, Dig Deeper pages and my Products and Services. Thanks!
My husband wrote an article in our September newsletter that talked about all of the options parents face when their kids reach high school. He discussed homeschooling, alt-ed, accreditation agencies, certified teachers, co-ops, and public schools. This is a very timely subject and I thought you might enjoy it. Read all about your options here and then let us know what you think!
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