 February 2010 by Lee Binz
The HomeScholar
***Taken from Chapter 1 of my soon to be released book, “Setting the Records Straight: How to Craft Homeschool Transcripts and Course Descriptions for College Admission and Scholarships"***
A homeschool transcript is the “love language” of colleges. A transcript is your homeschool experience translated into words and numbers that colleges understand. When homeschoolers talk among themselves, they may say, “Today we had so much fun! We had a great lesson, and combined it with a wonderful hands-on experience, and then read a book in the park together. It was wonderful!” A transcript is just translating these conversations into words like “course titles” and numbers like “grades and credits.”
You don't have to change the way that you homeschool to make it fit a transcript! It goes the other way. You take what you are already doing in your homeschool – what is already working – and create the words and numbers that colleges understand. What you are doing is taking your wonderful educational experiences and translating them into “college-ese.” Document your homeschool “as-is.”
Parent-made homeschool transcripts work! My students were admitted to all four colleges they applied to, and they were given fabulous scholarships from each one. In fact, both of my sons were given four-year full-tuition scholarships to their first choice university. They applied using my homeschool transcript with my own “mommy grades.” You don’t need to worry about accreditation or fancy paper or getting software to do it the right way. You can make your transcript the right way just by doing it yourself.
 Creating an impressive homeschool transcript that colleges will love is easy and completely possible. The best thing about transcripts is that there is really no right or wrong way to do them. The process is more of an art than a science. There are so many ways you can make a transcript, and each way is OK! There is freedom in making your homeschool transcript! My transcripts were nothing particularly fancy. They were created as Word documents on my home computer and printed on regular printer paper. And still, the colleges LOVED THEM!
Why would you make your own homeschool transcript? By making your own, you retain your status as an independent homeschooler. That gives you complete control over your student’s academic record, and you can make sure that it truly represents who they are and what they know. A homeschool transcript can include all your academic experiences.
Your transcript can also save you money if your children go to college. Properly documented transcripts can earn big scholarships. Creating your own transcript is a very important piece of documentation that colleges need from all applicants. Your transcript is as official as your homeschool. Don’t be shy about it! These days, almost every college will accept a homeschool transcript made by a parent. Homeschooling is a very popular educational option, and colleges want our students!
Don’t worry about whether you can create a winning homeschool transcript. I’m living proof that you can! There is no reason to feel overwhelmed. You can learn how to make an AMAZING transcript that will perfectly represent your student and your homeschool.
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From the Back Cover: What keeps you up at night? Transcripts and credits? Course descriptions and grading criteria? Grade point averages? Great News! You can prepare homeschool records that impress colleges! This book provides the information and confidence you need. Setting the Records Straight is a complete resource for homeschool records! Easy to read and logically organized, it provides plenty of examples from real homeschool families. If you have ever longed for a visual example of successful homeschool documentation, this is the book for you.
“ This is a must-read for those of us planning to homeschool through high school. If you are thinking about high school records, this book will answer all your questions!”
~ Heidi Strawser, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
“ This book was the most VALUABLE tool I’ve seen on the nuts and boltsof transcripts and course descriptions! You literally answered EVERY question that came to mind.”
~ Lori MacMath, Heart of the Matter Magazine
“ With humor, understanding, and simple step-by-step instructions, you’ll be encouraged and equipped to consolidate your educational experiences with excellence.”
~ Ann Dunagan, Author of The Mission-Minded Family, HOMESCHOOLING MOTHER OF 7
“ I was very, very impressed. I have already recommended it to others. It really is amazing information... well organized, well written, and professionally put together.”
~ Robin E. Williams, HOMESCHOOLING MOTHER OF 5
Copyright Lee Binz, 2010
You have permission to reprint this article as long as you don't make any changes and include the bio below.
Lee Binz, The HomeScholar, specializes in helping parents homeschool high school. Get Lee's 5 part mini-course, "The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make Homeschooling High School." You can find her at www.TheHomeScholar.com. I’d like to thank Lee for helping me gain the confidence I needed to start teaching high school this year. Instead of timidly requesting information from various sources I simply devoured everything I could find on her web site and spoke to her several times as part of a Gold Care Club membership. I also purchased the Transcripts e-book, High School Testing CD and the Scholarship DVD. I cannot stress enough how empowering it is to have this important information up front! I am not worried about missing test dates. I know when to start communicating with colleges. I know generally what courses my daughter will need to complete. Scholarships are not a big mystery anymore. Transcripts will be a labor of love instead of a necessary evil. And if we prepare well, we may save thousands of dollars by obtaining college credit in high school. Yes, high school is a lot of work for both student and teacher – but what a difference it makes to have a plan and to know the game rules. Thanks again, Lee, for being such a great mentor.
~ Dana in Oregon
 "I hired Lee to help me with transcripts. Lee was wonderful. She called me and we discussed Allison's work over that time period and she helped flesh out the transcripts with really good questions. She not only asked about each and every usual subject, she also asked about outside activities, during her free time. These questions helped me to see all that we had accomplished during these two years! Lee compiled a professional transcript for Allison and sent it to me that day.
I found Lee's business to be extremely helpful to me. Could I have done it without her help? Possibly. I know that there are many free helps out there these days, but just having someone walk me through the first two years was a tremendous help. She not only helped me flesh out what needed to be put on each transcript, she helped me SEE what transcripts really look like. It is also nice to have actual transcript forms to just enter in the next year's work.
When it was time for me to enter in the next two years worth of school, I purchased Lee's The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts E-Book, plus I also joined the Gold Care Club. I got a bunch of free helps, along with more transcript templates and I also get one free 20 minute phone call with Lee each week for a month. Very nice. Through her website I was able to work through my transcripts without trouble and finished them all in under a week."
~Lisa in Florida  "Your transcripts and records were
the best organized and documented I have seen"
- Bryan Jones, Associate Director of Admissions,
Seattle Pacific University |
