Two families, two students, same question, same answer.
A mom called me for transcript help. Her daughter homeschooled for two years, using Alpha Omega LifePacs and Weaver Curriculum for 9th and 10th grade. Once her daughter got up to grade level, she wanted her to go back to public school. She asked me how to get her homeschool transcript accepted by a public high school.
Today a father called me for transcript help. His daughter homeschooled for one year, using Alpha Omega Switched on Schoolhouse during 9th grade. Now he wants his daughter to go back into public school, and asked how to get his homeschool transcript accepted.
They both got the same answer: there is no guarantee that a public high school will accept the credits a homeschool transcript. It’s very easy to pull a child out of public school to homeschool them. It’s more difficult to put them BACK into public school.
Let’s be clear about one thing, though. Colleges don’t give us nearly the trouble about our homeschool transcript! Colleges are fairly used to seeing transcripts from unaccredited schools. They are used to seeing kids will accredited transcripts who are poorly educated. They know that “accredited” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. They will usually accept a homeschool transcript with the same wary eye as any other transcript, and we aren’t at a disadvantage at all. Not so with public high schools. I’m not sure they just don’t like the competition – our business as homeschoolers threatens their business, you know. For some reason, they care much more about having control over a transcript. Depending on the district, you have a 50/50 chance of having a particular homeschool class accepted by a local public school.
If you want to homeschool high school, it’s a good idea to go into it knowing you’ll continue for the full four years. If you know you will only homeschool for a year or two, choose an accredited program, or an accrediting agency, which can give you greater security that your credits will transfer into a public high school.
If you are homeschooling, and you know you want to continue for all four years, do NOT worry about whether or not a public school will accept your transcript. Maybe they would – if you gave it to them. But frankly, if you continue homeschooling through high school, there IS NO REASON to give them your transcript. You don’t give it to public schools at all, you give your transcript to the college. And colleges understand.
I hope you feel stronger, knowing that your transcript has value to colleges! Don’t you worry about those persnickety public high schools. You don’t have to interact with them if you don’t want to 
Have you added my button to your blog yet? It is a great way to get the word out about homeschooling high school. You can grab the code in my right sidebar. Thanks. I really appreciate it!
Related posts
- The difference between ACCREDITED and OFFICIAL transcripts
- Online Homeschool Taskmaster
- Help with Homeschool Transcripts!
- Accredited vs. Independent Homeschool
- Homeschool High School: Teaching Health
- Latin Road- A Good Curriculum Choice
- What if They Say They Aren't Going to College?
- Senior Year Grades on the Transcript
- College Application Lexicon
- Are Scholarships Available to Older Students?
Christianbook.com Curriculum Page
Angie says:
Thank you for reminding us of this. It is SO TRUE about the Public School Administrators. They feel threatened and therefore will NOT offer services to homeschoolers. However, IF you do need Special Services, they are required by LAW to get them to you if they cannot provide the service–can be worth it or not depending on the school administrators’ desire to be helpful or not. Or you just want to help in elementary schools with your homeschoolers, ask the teachers first then have them ask principal.
May 22nd, 2011 at 6:20 am
Carol says:
When I was a high school student my family moved from another country to a city in Massachusetts. Since the public high school I had gone to in another country was not ‘accredited’ by MA and had a completely different curriculum and grading system, my mother had a terrible time with the public school as to what grade to place me in. They had no process by which to evaluate where to place me in high school. They could not bring themselves to believe the evaluation or judgment of another system or parent.
November 10th, 2011 at 6:32 am