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How Do Homeschoolers Get High School Credits?
The greatest change when homeschooling students graduate from middle school to online homeschool is the challenge of earning credits. In order to get a valid transcript, credits ought to be earned clearly and honestly.
What Are High School Credits?
High school credits are one of the main techniques utilized in determining and documenting that learners have attained education requirements at their high school level. Students get these credits after finishing and passing a required high school program or high school courses.
How Can a Homeschool Student Obtain a Transcript
A high school transcript states the courses a learner has completed, grades he or she received, as well as the credits the student obtained. Learners homeschooling through an online high school can get a transcript from that particular school. On the other hand, homeschooling parents are responsible for the creation of their teens’ high school transcripts.
Learners are supposed to submit their high school transcripts when applying for university or college. Admission departments utilize the transcripts of learners to determine whether they qualify for admissions. Also, high school transcripts help in determining the eligibility of learners for different scholarships.
Ensuring that a high school transcript is complete and professional is crucial to promoting your students’ future success. High school transcripts are required when pursuing higher learning. Also, a high school transcript is important to those who wish to go direct to the labor force.
How to Make a Homeschool Transcript?
Basically, students and parents ought to sit down and come up with a learning plan for the high school years of the student. The high school plan ought to ensure that the learner is committed to meeting the state’s graduation requirements and must include recordkeeping. Here are the steps involved in the creation of a high school transcript:
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Come up With a List of Material and Coursework Covered by the Student
With the advantage of careful records, developing a listing of subjects covered each year as well as the materials the learner has learned ought to be easy. In the event records are scattered all over, compiling this list might take a lot of effort. Be sure to include independent high school courses, extracurricular activities, classes the learner has taken in community colleges, as well as online classes.
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Check the High School Graduation Requirements of Your State
There are states that have specific homeschool requirements, stipulating the number of high school courses or credits they are required to complete in every subject while in high school. States that do not have specific homeschool requirements which student have to meet in order to graduate. Homeschool transcripts that show that homeschooling students didn’t meet state graduation requirements might indicate a subpar education. Every state in the U.S. has its own credit requirements for high school graduation and a way of calculating homeschool credits. Ensure that you follow the system that is used in calculating your credits in your state.
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Create the Names of Your Courses and Assign Credits
Turn the list of high school courses and learning materials that your homeschooling learner has covered into something that you may enter into a diploma transcript. Since homeschooling might differ from traditional learning, changing the academic experiences of your student into credits and courses can be challenging. Utilize the high school graduation requirements of your state as a guide. In the event your state needs four credits of English, you ought to have four credits of English listed.
The high school transcript you create ought to authenticate that the learner meets the state’s high school graduation requirements. However, the creation of a transcript is like a puzzle, compiling pieces together as well as ensuring that everything fits properly.
Your homeschooling teen might earn high school credit by:
- Finishing a high school level textbook
- Finishing a year-long unit study
- Pursuing a semester-long high school course at a college
- Taking a typical year-long high school course at a local high school
- Pursuing an online course
Since homeschooling occurs outside the box, you might have to think outside the box also. Although completing an Algebra textbook might translate into credits and courses, other things might take more thought. A high school transcript ought to showcase the educational accomplishments of the student.
When a high school course overlaps over one academic year, you might make a decision to state it in one year or the other. Nevertheless, taking two years learning a particular subject might not translate into two credits. For instance, you ought to only assign one credit for Algebra II even if it took learners two years to finish the subject.
Can You Graduate with Missing Credits?
First, find out whether the high school learner has covered learning materials in ways that might not look like formal high school courses. For instance, a writing workshop or a study of poetry may count toward a year of English, including timed writing exercises and additional reading. The learner might have the needed credits; they might not be instantly obvious.
Secondly, note that, for a student to graduate, he or she has to technically complete the graduation requirements that are set by the high school – that is, by the parents – and not the graduation requirements set by the state. That’s, students, do not have to attain graduation requirements for high school that are set by their state. Nevertheless, universities and colleges usually necessitate applicants to meet these graduation requirements, as well as a transcript that discloses a deficient high school learning might be judged insufficient by employers.
Thirdly, contemplate putting the transcript and graduation on hold as the learner completes the credits that are required. Most community colleges admit learners who do not have high school diplomas; hence this might present a chance to meet the graduation requirements while acquiring college credits. Also, there are numerous online resources for bridging gaps in the learner’s knowledge.
Fourth, earning a General Education Development might be the best path for some learners. Whereas some students consider General Education Development (GED) substandard to a high school diploma, getting a GED might, however, the best option for students who intend to move past high school education but haven’t met the requirements for high school graduation. GED prep courses are typically provided at zero cost by the state.
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Enter the Information into a Formal High School Transcript Template
There are many ways: you can pay to get the transcript, design your own transcript utilizing a word processor, develop a transcript using an online form, and download and personalize a template. If you want to pay a service or utilize an online template, design a template from scratch or download one, it’s crucial that the homeschool transcript look professional.
The high school diploma transcript ought to include:
- Student information
- School information
- High school course taken, grade received, and credits earned
- Total credits as well as GPA
- Date of graduation
- Date ad signature
- The grading scale
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Computation of the Learner’s Grade Point Average (GPA)
In order to compute a high school learner’s GPA, you are first required to allocate grades to every high school course. Some high school courses can be regarded as pass/fail. Such courses do not require a grade and are not significant to the GPA. For all courses that can be graded, ensure that the grades that you allocate are reasonable, and they replicate the effort of the student as well as the mastery of the course learning material. Take into consideration the effort of the high school learner must put into a program in order to obtain a particular grade, as well as the knowledge and skills that they are needed to master. Attempt making your grade point average as accurate and fair as possible.
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Get Your High School Diploma Signed and Certified
Now your high school transcript is complete! It’s now time to print your transcript and sign it. Notably, the transcript’s signature is typically that of a homeschooling parent. However, it can be that of an assessor or any other person who has knowledge regarding the educational achievements of the student. Also, you can notarize your high school transcript, which entails signing in the presence of a notary public. Additionally, this validates the identity of the signatory. If you intend to enroll in college or university, remember that you need to send transcripts to all learning institutions that you apply to. Thus, you are required to plan accordingly.
