Another Year Completed and Now Transcripts
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In a few hours this school year will come to a close. I can’t believe my sweet son will be finishing up with his 9th grade year. When I began this journey, I did not plan on educating the high school years; my plans were to have him grounded in the subjects he needs for success in high school and then both of us return to school. I honestly believed I would be back teaching while Jamie was learning in a nearby classroom; evidently the Lord has other plans for my life.
As the 9th grade year drew closer, I realized we would be learning at home. I was fearful of that idea; I wanted to hand over the reins and allow another to take charge of all the hard stuff. Thankfully, I continue seeing, you can do this, other’s have done this before and been successful, it’s really NOT ALL THAT HARD from other high school home educating moms. Speaking from my heart here... those are nice encouragements and all, but I still have doubt tucked inside, and I’m praying my husband will be transferred to an area where I can teach. Until that time comes, if it comes, I’m going to give all I can to my son’s education.
In the early months of 2014, I bought a notebook just for high school. In it, I divided the pages up between 9th-12th grades. I labeled pages REQUIREMENTS, CURRICULUM USED, CURRICULUM TO RESEARCH, and NOTES. Inside the flap of the notebook, I taped one 5x6 note card with our state’s graduation requirements and one with my own requirements, since we are going the four-year math and science route. I have also included our four-year plan, even though some things are being changed. Those who really know me, yes it's covered in sticky notes!
This little notebook is my high school brain. Anytime, I hear of a curriculum, a book, or a method I'm curious about, I write it down in my book until I can do further research. I now understand when those who live by a planner talk about their planner, because school wise, I almost live by this notebook.
Now, I’m facing what is probably the hardest part of ending the first year of high school – TRANSCRIPTS. That word just scares me, because these are more important than a diploma. Transcripts are the story of what my son has learned during his high school years and if I mess them up, he is in a mess. There are plenty of notes from this year just waiting to be used on the transcripts.
Thankfully, today there are experienced high school home educating families who are willing to help others. I can’t even imagine trying this on my own during the early days of homeschooling, like so many have done. Over the past year, I have found several websites to be of tremendous help in getting ready for this up and coming task.
Another Year Completed
As the 9th grade year drew closer, I realized we would be learning at home. I was fearful of that idea; I wanted to hand over the reins and allow another to take charge of all the hard stuff. Thankfully, I continue seeing, you can do this, other’s have done this before and been successful, it’s really NOT ALL THAT HARD from other high school home educating moms. Speaking from my heart here... those are nice encouragements and all, but I still have doubt tucked inside, and I’m praying my husband will be transferred to an area where I can teach. Until that time comes, if it comes, I’m going to give all I can to my son’s education.
In the early months of 2014, I bought a notebook just for high school. In it, I divided the pages up between 9th-12th grades. I labeled pages REQUIREMENTS, CURRICULUM USED, CURRICULUM TO RESEARCH, and NOTES. Inside the flap of the notebook, I taped one 5x6 note card with our state’s graduation requirements and one with my own requirements, since we are going the four-year math and science route. I have also included our four-year plan, even though some things are being changed. Those who really know me, yes it's covered in sticky notes!
This little notebook is my high school brain. Anytime, I hear of a curriculum, a book, or a method I'm curious about, I write it down in my book until I can do further research. I now understand when those who live by a planner talk about their planner, because school wise, I almost live by this notebook.
Now, I’m facing what is probably the hardest part of ending the first year of high school – TRANSCRIPTS. That word just scares me, because these are more important than a diploma. Transcripts are the story of what my son has learned during his high school years and if I mess them up, he is in a mess. There are plenty of notes from this year just waiting to be used on the transcripts.
Thankfully, today there are experienced high school home educating families who are willing to help others. I can’t even imagine trying this on my own during the early days of homeschooling, like so many have done. Over the past year, I have found several websites to be of tremendous help in getting ready for this up and coming task.
- Lee Binz of the HomeScholar is amazing! She has a wonderful Youtube channel with videos for everything imaginable for a high school home educator.
- Cindy Downes with the Oklahoma Homeschool has help I have used over the years. Just recently, I found the Transcript Creator, I fiddled with it and found it rather easy to use. While I’m not ready for it right now, I will be later on.
- The HLDA has information on record keeping and transcripts.
- Liberty University even has a sample transcript for a home educating family.
