Homeschool Record Keeping and Transcripts Are Critical For College Scholarships

Outstanding Homeschool Student Loses Out on Scholarship - No GPA - Parent Cries

Your child's future and your financial future depend on how well you keep your homeschool records and transcripts. There is ongoing discussion in homeschool circles about the importance of maintaining records, grades and transcripts for each student.

Rather than tell you my opinion, I want to tell you a story ...

Joel had been a homeschool student since kindergarten. He was an exceptional student, with a passion for learning, an incredible ability to reason, and a real gift for writing. Unfortunately, his parents had attended a homeschool convention when he was still in middle school and were informed that grades are not important on a homeschool transcript. In fact, "they could simply choose to use a pass/fail system" for his transcript rather than grading each assignment. That sounded so much easier than maintaining grades for their homeschooled children!

When they decided to homeschool without worrying about grades, they had no idea that grades are significant when it comes to scholarship funding!

When Joel graduated, he took the SATs and scored above the 97th percentile in English and 96th in Math. The college and universities were excited about enrolling him! In fact, they were willing to offer scholarship funding in order to spark his interest in their institution.

But they had one problem, the transcript . . .

Without a GPA, they were limited in the scholarship amount that they could offer. And without grades on the transcript, it was impossible to provide a GPA.

Did his lack of grades affect his ability to get into college?

No!

But, it was a huge factor in the cost that he would incur when he did attend college.

I met with Joel's mom shortly after she heard the news. And do you know what she said?

"I wish I would have known how important grades would be when it came to scholarships."

For this student, who was working with a homeschool evaluator and doing everything else by the book, records and transcripts become extremely important. Fortunately, because we had been working together from the beginning of Joel's high school career, we were able to go back and provide grading for those homeschool assignments that I had reviewed over the years. Joel's mom now understood the importance of grades on a transcript and I guarantee she will be grading tests and keeping records for her other homeschool students.

If you take nothing else home with you after reading this article, please remember this: colleges and universities rely on GPAs when it comes to scholarship funding for higher education. Therefore, your child's eligibility for scholarships include a transcript with a GPA.

Joel is not the only homeschooler who has faced this difficulty with his homeschool records and transcript. I have worked with many homeschooling families in similar situations-some of whom have heard my exhortations about the importance of careful record keeping. However, they were also falsely informed that a transcript really does not matter. As a result many outstanding homeschool students with the potential for an impressive transcript lost the opportunity to capitalize on their academic accomplishments.

I don't want you to find yourself in the same situation. If you are homeschooling or using a correspondence course, please put the time and energy into accurate records today to impact your child's tomorrow. The amount of time it takes to keep records is nothing compared to the dollar amount a grant or scholarship can save you and your college student.

A Homeschool Story with a Much Better Outcome

Justin's mother understood the importance of a homeschool transcript. As a result, she enrolled her son into a homeschool organization where he would receive a state recognized transcript upon graduation.

In addition, we began to keep a detailed transcript for Justin in ninth grade knowing that he would be a good candidate for scholarships. Not only did we include his academic achievement but his other homeschool accomplishments as well. He too was an impressive student, who not only excelled in academics, but also took advantage of many opportunities to pursue his interest in politics. As a result, we were able to place his internships and his training on Capital Hill to work for him on his transcript, even providing a grading scale for each.

Justin graduated with a 4.0 GPA and was a National Merit Scholar finalist. Armed with his transcript and other accomplishments, he received an offer for a full scholarship to Harvard and almost a free ride to Georgetown University.

Justin's careful grading, record keeping and homeschool transcript complete with a GPA and credit for his many extra-curricular activities enabled him to receive the funding he needed to pursue his degree at Georgetown University via a scholarship.

I would have been heartbroken had this extremely impressive student and future leader not had the opportunity to pursue his dreams, especially if his only roadblock had been the lack of a transcript and GPA. With or without it, Justin has the makings of an incredible scholar and leader. However, the constraints of the system may have kept him from receiving the scholarship funding he so desperately needed if he had not had the grading and records to back him up.

There are many others like Joel and Justin out there whose accomplishments merit well deserved scholarships. Take the steps now, start keeping records and a transcript and ensure that your homeschooler can take advantage of the financial aid available.

Calculating Letter Grades/Grading a course

How to record grades for a homeschool transcript.

Record keeping for homeschool students does not have to be overwhelming. If you are using a standard curriculum that includes tests and evaluations, simply calculate a grade based on your student's performance on those tests. Then, keep a notebook where you can record each test grade for each course. At the end of the year, you simply add up all test grades and divide by the total number of tests to determine the final grade for the course.

For example, Jennifer takes 6 tests throughout the school year scoring 95, 86, 93, 88, 92, and 95. When added together, these scores equal a total of 549. Divide 549 by the number of tests (in this case, 6) to calculate the average score-91.5%. This becomes Jennifer's final grade for the course.

Calculating Weighted Grades

Adding Extras to a Homeschool Transcript.

Some homeschoolers choose to add projects or written assignments to the courses they offer and want to ensure that their student's transcript reflects those efforts. No problem. Simply assign a grade to each project or assignment that you believe should impact the final outcome of the course. Then, determine if you want those grades to carry the same weight as the test portions of the course. If so, simply add all final grades together and divide by the total number of grades.

For example, if Jennifer's homeschool supervisor assigned a major research paper and an oral presentation for the course above, she may want to incorporate those projects into Jennifer's final grade.

Therefore, if she earned an A (or 95%) on her research paper and an A- (or 92%) on her oral presentation, she will add those grades in with her test scores for a total of 736. When you divide this number by the total number of grades (this time a total of 8 grades), Jennifer's new overall course grade is now 92%

Homeschool Grading - More Complicated Method

Determining a final grade can become more complicated if you prefer to allow tests to carry more weight than projects or vice versa. If that is the case, let's walk through that process.

First, determine the average of each set of grades using the formula above. For example, Jennifer has an average of 92.5% on her tests and 93.5% on her projects. Because of the work involved in her larger projects, Jennifer's homeschool supervisor would like to weigh the projects more heavily than the tests. She therefore decides that the projects will make up 65% of Jennifer's overall grade and the tests will make up the other 35%.

To calculate the final grade, she must first take the average earned on each portion of the course and multiply that average by the weight assigned to it.

In Jennifer's case, she will multiply the test average of 92.5% by 35% for a total number of 32.37 points. She will then take the average score for the projects (93.5%) and multiply it by 65% for a total number of 60.77 points. When added together, Jennifer's total percent score becomes 93.15%.

As you can see, the weight you assign to the various assignments within a course does impact the final grade.

Jennifer's Grades-For non-weighted transcript (See fig 1 at http://www.homeschoolacademy.com/resource/homeschool-articles/grading/)

Final grade for course: 92% (B)

Jennifer's Grades-For weighted transcript (fig 2 at http://www.homeschoolacademy.com/resource/homeschool-articles/grading/)

Final Grade for course: 93.14% (A)

Keeping it Real - Homeschool Wisdom

I do caution you to be realistic with your grades. A student who earns 100% on all assignments and tests will raise concern among college admissions counselors. Be careful to provide accurate records and award grades based on performance, not on a desire to skew the actual results.

In addition, to avoid the temptation to weigh one aspect of a course more heavily than others with the goal of raising a grade, determine how you will grade your homeschooler and the weights for each type of evaluation at the beginning of the year. Then be sure to inform your child, write it down, and stick to it.

If you prefer to use a letter grade system, simply define the range for each letter grade.

For example, an A+ might have a percent range of 97-100; A 95-97 and A- 93-96. Once defined, be sure to include that grading scale on your homeschooling documentation. This makes it easier for college admissions officers to see the performance of a student. In addition, a letter grade system makes it possible to determine the GPA for your student.

How to calculate your child's GPA

Rather than provide a complicated method of determining a child's GPA based on a grading scale that includes pluses and minuses, I will outline for you the easiest method of grading.

A GPA is calculated based on the number of quality points your child earns throughout his or her high school career. Quality points are awarded according to academic achievement, number of credits and your grading scale. The most basic method of assigning quality points is on an A, B, C, D grading scale, A=4 points, B=3 points, C=2 points, D=1 point:

So, if a student receives the following grades on his or her transcript in a given year, the GPA for that year is calculated based on the grading scale above and will look like this:

Quality Grading Table (See Fig 3 at http://www.homeschoolacademy.com/resource/homeschool-articles/grading/)

In some cases, courses are weighted more heavily based on the academic level. For instance, Bridgeway students are able to register for honors, AP, and college level courses that are weighted more heavily than others and therefore receive more quality points. If you are enrolled in a homeschool program, ask them about weighted courses.

If this all sounds overwhelming, there is help. Consider enrolling your student in a home school academy like Bridgeway Academy where your child will receive detailed record keeping, an accredited transcript complete with a GPA, a recognized private school diploma and expert guidance counseling to prepare your child for the college or university of choice.

Because your child's future (and your financial future) depend on it!

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An Online Homeschool Offers Many Advantages

A lot of parents nowadays are considering homeschooling for their children. You can find a lot of benefits to schooling your children at your home as an alternative to sending them to a general public or private school every morning.

For example, just about the most obvious benefit is you never have to worry about the tension and craziness of the morning rush to get yourself geared up for work along with the children ready for school. You additionally will not have to be bothered about an additional clothing investment for school uniforms or designer brand names that all the children at school are sporting.

And by far the most important benefit of all is that you'll be able to be certain that you are aware of precisely what your kids are being exposed to and learning due to the fact you will be the one schooling them. Because of the homeschooling trend, fortunately, there are many online homeschool sites to obtain lesson programs and instructional information from.

If you want to spend funds to buy an online homeschool curriculum you'll find choices for both secular and non-secular instruction. Numerous homeschool parents educate utilizing religious instruction materials and there are plenty of excellent choices to choose from on the web. Should you have a tight budget, like a number of men and women do during this economic downturn, there are plenty of reputable, free, educational internet sites for your children to learn from at home.

Additionally, there is a fantastic help forum for homeschool parents on the internet. Just about all you really need to do is to search for "online homeschool support forum" and then you will be given several choices to choose from. There are actually additionally sites that give you information and assessments to research whether or not homeschooling is the correct choice for you.

There's an endless amount of good information online to assist you in not only making the decision on whether to homeschool or not, but to in addition guide you in determining the very best curriculum and resources to buy, free lesson plans to follow, and interactive internet sites that are age-appropriate for your kids.

With regard to those parents who choose to homeschool yet are concerned in regards to the socialization aspect of doing this, you can actually discover information online of like-minded homeschooling mothers and fathers that get together weekly or once a month with a planned educational activity involved so your children are not isolated from various other children their age.

As you are able to see, you will discover numerous alternatives to choose from if you come to a decision to homeschool your children. Although at the start it may possibly seem to be a challenging task, after you do your investigation online you'll locate many useful and educational sites to get you going on teaching your children from the comfort of your own home.

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Homeschooling:is It Working?

 

 Homeschooling: Is it working?

The negativity that homeschooling still receives since its recognizable notability in the late sixties and early seventies due to published content from advocates of the idea of homeschooling is still extreme. The debates on why homeschooling works and why it does not give those that oppose the idea and those that like the idea a plethora of opportunities to express their views on the subject. I, the author of this paper have children and they currently are schooled using traditional public school systems; however, I am in favor of homeschooling if that is the choice of caregivers and believe that homeschooling may have more benefits for children if used to its full potential than that of a public school system. It is my position that homeschooling does not involve lack of socialization, sheltering children from real life realities, nor lack of regulations with regards to beliefs that are acceptable in society. It is my belief that homeschooling, as with any decent education can provide a child with a wonderful start to a bright and promising future.

Socialization

            Unquestionably public schooling offers good practice for students learning to socialize with others outside their close friend and family units and many argue that "when children are homeschooled, they do not have opportunities to work in partners and learn about cooperation and group responsibility" (Wey, 2010 p.1). Those that support homeschooling know that finding other students to work with on projects with is possible when parents of homeschooled children get together with others in their communities to establish effective "group" projects and fieldtrips. Students in homeschooled environments can benefit from the skills of group thinking and collaborations using social measures to contact others in similar situations. Many homeschoolers may view this as a "education play date".  Another argument that is often used for socialization problems is that homeschooled students "lack" the knowledge of what is considered acceptable values and beliefs in society as a whole; however, as with any well-rounded education, homeschooled children are often taught about real world systems, which are not limited to religions and political systems. True, many homeschooled students are taught based on personal family values and belief systems, but these same students are also taught that other positions exist and need to respect other positions even if these beliefs and values differ from that of their own. Many famous and successful persons like our second president John Adams and famous photographer Edward Curtis were homeschooled ( Carolyn, 2009) so the argument that homeschooling limits socialization is seemingly ridiculous as presidents must have superior social skills to have come into such a position.

Regulation

            Taking a side that there is a lack of regulation in homeschooling may have made better sense back when homeschooling first began, but now the argument that there is too limited regulation may be harder to convince people of since regulation is quite extreme when it comes to homeschooling. Just a click to HSLDA.org may convince even the biggest critic of homeschooling that the new regulations and ongoing updates in laws and guidelines for homeschooling are profound and proactive. This site, although is clearly an advocate site for homeschooling offers updated information on the legal issues of homeschooling and links to several others that offer additional resources for finding current laws on homeschooling.

            Social Experiences

Dr. Raymond Moore, an author in more than sixty articles and books about human development has done much research on the effects of socialization on homeschooling and found after a thorough analysis of over 8,000 childhood studies that parents are the best to teach them good social skills and not other children. (Shaw, 2000)  Isabel Shaw, a home school teacher and parent and contributing writer on homeschooling topics has interestingly noted that she knows and sees homeschoolers actively going to museums, beaches, parks, etc. (Shaw, 2000) This shows that homeschoolers are not confined to a "seat" all day and that they are able to travel and experience many things that only public schooled children are able to enjoy during an occasional field trip.   The flexibility that homeschooled children have to come and go with their teachers to experience many types of environments is unlimited and offers a good dose of social interaction in the "real" world.

            Success

            Below is a list of some positive outcomes from that of homeschooling

The largest study so far, authored for the Home School Legal Defense Association by respected University of Maryland statistician Lawrence M. Rudner, shows that home-schooled kids score better than 70 to 80 percent of all test-takers. (Anderson, 2000)
SAT and ACT scores in 1999 showed that homeschooled students scored an average of 67 points above the national average or that of the public schooled students. (Anderson, 2000)
Sixty-nine percent of home schoolers go on to college, compared with 71 percent of grads from public high schools and 90 percent of private school grads. (Anderson, 2000)
The year 2000 home-schooled kids swept the top three places on the National Spelling Bee, and Stanford accepted 27 percent of its home-schooled applicants, nearly twice its average acceptance rate. (Anderson, 2000)

Clearly, homeschooling is working and deserves to be respected as another alternative route for educating our children. Public school systems now know more than ever just as people in general are diversified, the way in which we learn to our fullest potential is also diversified. Should we be critical of those that choose to home school because they have found the style that works and allows their children to intellectuality bloom to their fullest potential? No, we should not. Education with all respect is not a one size fits all matter and should not be constricted to be so. Homeschooled children are social butterflies, they are not subject to non-regulation, and they are exposed to a plethora of social experiences. Like the famous Einstein said, "I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." (Squidoo, 2010) Homeschooling is the environment of many today and it is working for them.

 References supplied immediate on request.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

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How Can Online Math Tutoring be a Great Homeschooling Resource

Homeschooling is a rewarding experience, one that allows children the unique opportunity of one-on-one learning. One-on-one learning helps students absorb information more quickly and also helps parents better see any weak points in study. It also helps students be more open to asking questions and getting their doubts cleared as opposed to a group setting where they may feel shy or embarrassed. There are many homeschooling resources available for homeschooling families (just Google it and you'll know what I am talking about) but have you ever thought of online math tutoring as a helpful and effective resource?

Why Online Math Tutoring And Not Traditional In-person Tutoring?

You may ask- since I am seeking tutoring, why don't I go for in-person help as opposed to online math help? Online math tutoring has a lot of advantages over traditional tutoring (you can find some on clickandclimb.com homepage) including convenience, flexibility, and affordability. I will highlight some advantages of online math tutoring here that make homeschool math a breeze.

Extra Learning Boost/Support

Sometimes there are points in a child's study where the parents do not feel they have the capabilities or feel the need to give their kids an extra learning boost. This is true especially for higher grade level math like algebra, geometry, calculus etc. Some venture with a new or different curriculum, some seek help of other families and some even put away math for some time. Online math help can be very beneficial during such times. You can have a professional tutor work with you at your pace and provide that much needed support and bring back the confidence in your child. It can help a child who is behind catch up. Also, it can help a child learn a certain concept better or prepare for a test like SAT with professional support.

Coincide With Current Homeschooling Curriculum

Online tutoring sites, such as clickandclimb.com often will work with the child directly from the
curriculum that the child is using as a part of their home school program. This feature is beneficial to homeschooling students, as they will be able to keep up with their lessons. It also gives the parents reassurance that student is being taught from the family's chosen resources. The fact that the child's current curriculum is used helps the child not only learn the concepts, but to also re-enforce previous concepts.

Comfortable Studying Pace

This benefit of online tutoring coincides with one of the varied reasons that parents choose homeschooling. Homeschool students can move at a pace they are comfortable with while learning. Not all children learn at the same pace or with the same learning styles. Online tutoring is done at the child's pace. If a child needs extra attention in a concept, that concept can be worked on until the child fully understands it.

Affordability

Options exist for both offline, as well as online tutoring. Online tutoring can be more cost-effective as companies use global resources and easy to use cutting edge technology to make online tutoring affordable for all. You can schedule sessions when you want and not revolve your day around it.

Cultural Experience

Because of advanced technology, students can interact with teachers that may be in a different country like India. Homeschooling parents and students find it fascinating to learn from a qualified and professional tutor with such a different cultural background. The interactive tutoring sessions makes sharing cultural experiences very enjoyable and informative.

Confidence

Online tutoring can build confidence in both the children and the parents. Parents will gain confidence in knowing that their children are succeeding with homeschooling. There also will be confidence gained, due to the fact that lessons are being taught by an expert. The children will gain confidence as they learn and understand each new concept. When children are confused during learning, some might feel frustrated or worthless. A child's natural confidence can again be restored when those hurdles are overcome during online tutoring.

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Online Learning: the Internet Serves as a Tool for the Homeschooled

What has made so many more parents decide to hop on the homeschooling band wagon? The vast resources offered by Internet access that make homeschooling children a much easier process than ever before. Thanks to the advent of the Internet, parents have all of the resources they could ever want or need when it comes to homeschooling their children appropriately. As more parents are catching on to this fact, more children are being homeschooled. In fact, parents will find that the Internet is an invaluable resource when it comes to teaching their homeschooler everything they need to learn.

From free interactive games to free classic literature e-books, parents are finding that all of the educational tools they require to educate their children are easily accessible with the use of the Internet. No longer do parents have to worry about running from one library to another or from one educational supply store to the next, now that the Internet has made getting homeschooling supplies such a simple task. In fact, with the use of any search engine, parents that are homeschooling their children can find an array of services, both premium and free, for their children. Finally, the homeschooled student can learn much as they explore various interactive and educational sites on the Internet.

The basic resources like dictionaries, encyclopedia articles and mathematical tools are easily available online for the homeschooling child to use whenever they need. Moreover, with the rapid increase in online course offerings, homeschooled students can take several classes specifically designed for the homeschooler. Everything from reading to studying can be done with online tools, and homeschooling parents are thrilled with the new and latest resources at their fingertips.

Parents looking for educational games, lesson plans, worksheets, study guides and the like will find them easily enough while using the Internet. In addition, supplies can be ordered right online and delivered to the homeschooling family’s door—no need to travel to get all the homeschooling resources a family will ever need. Moreover, parents will find that Internet resources can easily supplement what is being taught to the homeschooler in the homeschool setting. Finally, for those parents looking to incorporate strong faith teaching in their homeschooling efforts, online resources can prove invaluable; from biblical stories to online scripture, the homeschooled student can supplement their learning with teachings pertaining to their faith.

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Online Learning: Advantages of Online Learning

Online homeschooling is sweeping the nation. There are several reasons why this is the case.

Perhaps the single most important factor to consider is the reduced cost of e-learning. Homeschool students are able to access courses at a fraction of the cost that it takes to staff teachers, administrators, maintenance workers, and more in the public school system.

Another benefit of homeschooling with e-learning is that it allows students to work in the comfort of their own homes. This has far-reaching implications. For one, students can focus on learning with no distractions. There is no need to spend money transporting children from the home to school. Homeschooling allows children to spend more time with their families. Delivery of information is consistent. There are no snow days in online homeschooling! Students are free to move to a new city, take a few weeks off for vacation, and more.

Online learning is incredibly flexible. It can be tailored for the unique learning needs of each homeschooler. Online learning is asynchronous, meaning that students at different levels of ability can both achieve success using the same software. Fast learners are not forced to learn along with the rest of the class and similarly, less advanced students are able to take as much time as is needed to complete the course material. No one is left behind or barely keeping up with online homeschooling.

Online homeschooling allows for multimedia and interactive presentations that make learning a more active process. Online homeschool students are engaged with video, audio, and interactive hands-on projects rather than passively listening to a lecture. Students of a variety of learning styles are thus served simultaneously.

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