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How Do You Graduate If You Are Homeschooled?
Most parents opt to homeschool their teens for numerous reasons. Some parents homeschool their teenagers to offer a more rigorous academic focus, or they intend to personalize their teens’ academics to their learning style. Other parents homeschool their teenagers due to safety concerns or religious reasons. Homeschooling families come from different ethnicities and backgrounds, and they might have strong religious and political beliefs.
In 2014, the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) reported there were around 2.2 million homeschooling learners in the United States. Presently, the homeschooling curriculum, which is usually guided by the state, can’t only be taught by educators and parents but also by online homeschools. Depending on the location, homeschooling learners can take part in extracurricular activities, athletic teams, and traditional classes.
Academics and Graduation
Homeschooling learners don’t lag behind their colleagues in traditional schools. According to the nonprofit group Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), homeschoolers preparing for graduation ought to have finished the following high school courses:
- A minimum of two years of a secondary language
- 2-4 years of math
- 2-4 years of science
- 2-4 years of history
- 4 years of English
To prepare for university or college, homeschooling learners can take advanced courses like learners in traditional high schools. This means enrolling in college-level courses or undertaking Advanced Placement classes. Additionally, homeschooled learners at their senior and junior levels are advised to take the ACT or SAT.
How Do Homeschoolers Get a Diploma?
The quick answer: their parents can give them one. A homeschool diploma is a document that indicates that the holder has attained the graduation requirements from a learning program. A homeschool diploma is issued by the school or person responsible for supervising the student’s academics. And in case you are a homeschooling parent, that means you.
Homeschooling is a good idea, especially if your teens intend to proceed with a post-high school of some sort to clarify your requirements from the start to assist your teen is staying on track to accomplish them. Also, you might need to ensure that you keep a record to have significant evidence – for your teen, yourself, or anybody who requests it – of the work your teen has finished to attain a high school diploma.
Transcripts
As a homeschooling learner, your primary educator or your parent is responsible for creating your high school transcript as well as sending it to your universities and colleges. Parents have various options for going about this:
- Creating their own high school diploma and transcript
- Enlisting a service that specializes in diploma and transcript creation
- Enrolling in a homeschool group that produces diplomas and professional transcripts
- Working under a high school that produces official diplomas and transcripts
Since a homeschool day is different from a traditional environment, attempting to turn the academic experiences of a student into credits and courses can seem like a challenging task. Nevertheless, parents can be assured that there is no a “standard” or “correct” transcript.
Your transcript must include the following:
- Your name, your homeschool’s name (if applicable), phone number, and address
- List of your high school courses (grades 9-12)
- The institution where every class was taken (that is, community college, online school, homeschool)
- The grading scale utilized in your homeschool
- Your overall Grade Point Average (GPA)
- Signature of the parent with date
- The expected date of graduation
- Credits for every course
In case you have taken classes online, contact your online high school to ensure the school sends an official copy of your transcript. The transcript created by your parent ought to be cumulative and include homeschooled classes as well as classes you have taken at an outside organization.
How Do Homeschoolers Go to College?
Homeschooling students don’t require a high school diploma or GED in order to apply for college or university or be eligible for financial aid; you are only required to declare that your homeschool learning meets state law requirements. Many homeschooled learners opt not to take the General Education Development (GED) in case they have valid transcripts since colleges emphasize more on your standardized test scores and transcript.
If you are homeschooling through a virtual high school, then it will award you a high school diploma depending on its own standards. If you are homeschooling independently by your parents, then your parents have the choice of issuing you a high school diploma if your transcripts show that you have attained the basic state graduation requirements. When filling out the FAFSA, ensure that you check “homeschooled” when it asks for your high school completion status.
How Do Homeschoolers Graduate Early?
There are many ways of assisting your teenager in graduating from high school earlier than normal. Also, you will first require to make sure that a fast-tracked learning will work well for them with the rigorous pace and heavy course load.
Common high school early graduation paths consist of taking the four GED tests, pursuing dual enrollment, testing-for-credit, taking more credits, year-round homeschooling, and utilizing an accelerated homeschool curriculum program.
For students who are not familiar with CLEP testing (testing-for-credit), it’s a service by the College Board for learners to attain equivalent credit for college courses by excelling in an examination at a testing facility. For instance, if a learner wants to skip English 101, he or she can pass the College Composition I CLEP test in order to earn credit.
Additionally, GED testing is the best way of skipping a year or two of high school work. Rather, your learner will be required to pass a series of four tests: Science, Social Studies, Math, and Language Arts. If students utilize official General Education Development (GED) revision materials, they can ensure that they understand all the content and be confident when taking the examinations. Also, this is a good choice for homeschooling learners who didn’t utilize an accredited homeschooling curriculum, more especially if they want to join Ivy League or private universities.
Here are the ways of graduating from high school early:
- CLEP out of classes
- Continuous homeschooling
- Dual enrollment
- Take GED test
- Take numerous credits at the start of high school and in the middles school
- Use rigorous and accelerated curriculum
- Virtual programs may provide an accelerated pace
Homeschool Graduation Requirements
Typically, you are required to check with your state laws for any legal requirement that may affect homeschooling students from graduating early. Even if your teenager earns equivalent homeschooling high school credits for the school board graduation standards in your state, the regulations have varying provisions for homeschoolers. For instance, it might be a grey area if the required age for school is 18, yet your teenager has attained credits to graduate at 16.
It is crucial to double-check the guidelines of your state.
Here are some of the things that you have to consider regarding homeschool high school requirements:
- Annual assessments
- Attendance regulations
- Compulsory attendance age
- Laws for early graduation
- Required documentation
- Standardized testing laws
What are the Pros of Graduating Early from High School?
Graduating early from high school is a common option for learners who opt to get an early start on their college, particularly in case they intend to pursue courses that need extended years of learning.
For instance, if a student is interested in a law or medical career, jump-starting their college education can be very crucial.
With accelerated high school programs, learners usually earn enough homeschooling high school credits at least one or two years early. The most popular choice for accelerated graduation is dual enrollment.
Dual enrollment provides high school learners the opportunity to earn homeschooling high school credits and college credits simultaneously. Community colleges typically offer these high school programs.
The colleges could be flexible and let you select the courses, while others require participation in a preset program. Nevertheless, the goal is one: building both high school credit and college credit during high school years.
These credits are great on a transcript for competitive college applications in the future. High school students can earn their associate prior to their high school graduation! Dual enrollment isn’t for every student, and it is not found everywhere, but it’s a deserving choice consideration in case you have an opportunity.
Here are the major advantages of accelerated graduation:
- It helps in building a focused career foundation.
- Enables students to get a head start on college.
- Perhaps be eligible for early graduation scholarships.
- Stand out during the process of applying for college.
- Utilize the final year of homeschooling the high school years for internships.
- Use the chance of already having enough credits so as to graduate.
