These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
—DEUTERONOMY 6:6–7
Let’s talk about transcripts for a moment. This can be a daunting thing for many homeschooling parents. Here are some things we’ve done for transcripts (and we’re including copies of some of the kids’ transcripts at the end of the book, which you may find helpful).
Before we talk about these, we’d like to share what constitutes a “course” in each subject and how a child completes them.
Basically, our kids bounced around grade levels and courses depending on their interests and abilities. So, under the “ninth grade” we have the courses that were ninth-grade level regardless of when they took them. The courses are listed as they progressed academically from the ninth to the tenth and so on. We did not think that there was anything unethical about doing it this way because our kids were not the typical age in the “ninth grade” anyway. And some kids may be in the twelfth grade in English but not in math. Also, it may not take a full “school year” to finish a course, so the date is not as important anyway. You may even need to spread out a course over a typical “school year” if extra time is needed. The point is that they completed the course.
The easiest way to complete a course in any subject is to buy a boxed curriculum. By “boxed” we mean that it literally comes to you in a box in the mail. Just as one example, we have already recommended Alpha Omega products (AOP.com) as an easy place to start. Each box has the grade level printed on the front so you know what level of work your child is doing. Once your child is finished reading all of the workbooks and taking the quizzes and tests in the back of each workbook (if you so choose), then the child is done. It is really up to the parent to decide if the student needs to have 70 percent, 80 percent, or 100 percent proficiency before moving on. We believe in going over the material until our children understand all of the material. We are not teaching the material just for the grade.
Over the years, we have collected many college textbooks and use those as high school curricula. When we are not able to teach the advanced material to the level of 100 percent understanding, the kids know how to go to the Internet to look things up. Once they have worked through one college textbook, we are satisfied that they have earned high school credit for that course.
Another great evaluation tool that gives our students English credit is having our kids write a paper or write a chapter summary for what they are reading. This proves that they are understanding the material. Some of our kids like answering the questions in the back of books and taking the quizzes. Others just like to write. If we are using a “real” book from the library (not a textbook), then there will not be questions and quizzes at the back of the book. A book report can be a good evaluation tool. The child can read a whole set of history books that will equal a course. Or if your kids want to read real biographies, then perhaps the biographies can be supplemented with a textbook that gives an overview of the time period being studied. We, personally, enjoy the biographies more than the textbooks.
The same applies to science. A general science book from the library is a good place to start. We do not mind if our child quickly finishes the general science book and chooses to check out books that go into greater detail in a particular area, e.g., anatomy, creation science, physics. As long as there is learning going on, we count it. Parents will have to figure out for themselves what they will require from their students and how much material will satisfy a course requirement.
The “bouncing around” that we do is because of what we have learned. We have learned that it is easier, much more fun, and more efficient to let kids pick what they want to work on and when they want to do it. Every day we try to study the Bible, do math, write, and read. The fun and freedom is in the reading. The kids choose to read books about history, science, and any subjects that they are uniquely interested in—computers, music, drama, etc. If they get immersed in a history book, they can skip reading science for a few days or weeks until they are done with that history book or set of books. We are keeping track of how much reading they are doing and filling in the transcript as we go. The order in which they do the work is not too important. We believe that it is more important that they stay motivated about learning. Giving them some choices helps to maintain a high level of motivation. They will eventually cover everything that we have agreed upon together to put on their transcript and graduate.
This is the beauty of homeschooling. You can tailor their education to fit their needs and interests. As long as, in the end, their transcript accurately shows what they learned at the high school level, then it is fine. Some homeschoolers use portfolios, which include samples of their work. However, some of their work may be more like “service learning,” where they are learning by doing. Or they may be in an apprenticeship, which might resemble the type of learning that the Bible speaks of in Deuteronomy 6:6–7.
So far, AUM, Huntingdon College, and Faulkner University have all accepted our homeschool transcripts. In 2003, Troy University did not, but that was more because they could not get past our daughter’s age at the time. Serennah was twelve. They said that they could not accept “unofficial transcripts.” Our daughter’s transcript was not coming directly from our cover school (which functions like an umbrella of a local church). It was coming directly from us. So we just took our business elsewhere and she started at AUM and then graduated from Huntingdon at the age of seventeen. Fortunately, though, we did get to speak to a Troy University recruiter recently (in 2013) who was excited to inform us that they have changed their policy and do accept a homeschool transcript from the parent. Alabama State University, however, still has not changed its policy of requiring an ACT score of 20 for homeschoolers with an “unofficial” transcript. If a student attends a public school, the student only needs a 15 on the ACT.
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Continuing our journey into homeschooling and having our kids reaching college by twelve, it was completely natural for Serennah to want to do what her sisters had done. There was a catch, though, since we were now living in Alabama. There was no high school proficiency exam in this state, as there had been in California. I had called the surrounding states and there were no such exams there, either. There was only the GED, and you had to be between the ages of sixteen and eighteen in some of these states to take it, if I remember correctly. I am thankful that we were stationed in California when our oldest daughter was ready to pursue higher education. The CHSPE may be a hassle when you’re trying to declare true independence from high school, but it was a valid certificate, once completed, that served as some piece of legitimacy we could use in our child’s favor in further enrollments.
I researched the local universities in Montgomery and found that they had dual-enrollment programs, but the SAT scores required for high school students were much higher than for high school graduates. So it is interesting that public high schoolers are being discouraged from enrolling in advanced education with requirements that are harder to meet. In our opinion, this is one more way to dumb down kids by holding them back.
I had heard a speaker at a homeschool conference talk about transcripts and how to go about putting one together. I got the idea that everything that is “high school level” can go on the student’s “official” transcript. I put the word “official” in quotes because I have found that it is really up to the university to decide if it is official enough. As I mentioned, Troy University would not recognize my daughter’s transcript as being “official.” Yet, the other two universities had no problem with it. So you can work with your cover school or any homeschool organization to make it “official.” But really it comes down to figuring out what your desired university wants.
When first working on these transcripts, I searched online for basic formats. Most of what I did was formatted from my own high school transcript. As I dug my old transcript out, I realized that there can be a huge disparity among transcripts. At my high school there were those kids who were applying to Stanford and UCLA. Their transcripts included advanced placement (AP) physics, AP chemistry, calculus, and many extracurricular activities. I know because I hung out with these folks. Then there were the ones who were going to graduate with the bare-minimum requirements. They may have started with prealgebra and ended up with a consumer math class. I hung out with these folks, too, mostly at parties. Then there were others who had plenty of intelligence but didn’t get inspired by what their school was offering. In other words, a transcript that a homeschool parent creates must be authentic and fit among the plethora of public education students’ transcripts.
Take Kip and me, for instance. We were very different. He felt uninspired by school. I wanted to go to Santa Clara University. I was above average among the students because I was able to earn some AP credits. The point is that not everyone’s transcript has to look alike and not everyone’s home life is conducive to learning, either. As a homeschooling parent, one has to truthfully grade one’s children based on an honest appraisal of their work.
In our case, our two oldest never needed a transcript because they went from being sophomores in home high school to being dual-enrolled at a community college that didn’t require a transcript. Then they tested for their high school diploma (CHSPE), which didn’t require a transcript. And finally they attended the community college full-time until they had enough credits to transfer to a four-year institution. At this juncture, the four-year institution did not require a high school transcript because they had enough college credits to be considered transfer students. This is that “back door” into college for homeschoolers if you choose to use it and if it applies in your area.
What matters most is that they can do the college-level work when they get there, not that you have to be creative in making a high school transcript. We have done it both ways (with and without a transcript) and feel we have made no breach of integrity in our children’s records or education.
An important point here is that we believe in 100 percent teaching—that is, teaching until a child can earn an A in the subject matter. If I’m going to give a grade for something, my child is going to learn the material until they earn an A. This explains our 4.0 averages for Serennah and Heath. Our school philosophy is to teach educational material until we know the children have mastered the subject matter for the future. If we’re confident they have got the skills to complete a certain math level or English level, we press forward to the next level. We don’t want the child to get bogged down or bored. Conversely, we want each child to research and explore to the greatest degree those things that truly interest that particular child.
The girls excelled in college, but had they been in public school, I’m sure their transcripts may have suffered from the public school educational system, which holds a different teaching philosophy. Public schools allow students to earn grades that are less than an A, letting them move on when they haven’t mastered the skills they need. There are just too many students in the classes. Teachers cannot give the individual attention that is required to help all students earn A’s. I believe education should be pass/fail, only no one is allowed to fail; they simply have to retake that subject. And subjects should not go for whole semesters. Courses can be completed in several weeks or a couple of months at a time, according to your child’s interest and ability.
Weaving through subjects in homeschooling is a wonderful method of keeping kids interested. Educators can reel children in to be interested in any particular area in which the educator feels the child is lacking by mixing subject matters. The challenge in this is later reflecting that on a transcript, but with integrity, a parent will know how to rate a child’s abilities on this important document.
As soon as we knew that Alabama would be different for Serennah, we started “filling in” her transcript. She was eleven and doing a lot of high school–level work. We went back and documented all high school–level work that she had done up to that point. Then we started to make sure that everything she did from this point on was at a high school level so that it could be put on her transcript. The next few kids started working on their high school transcripts between the ages of eight and nine in the subjects where they were ready. This is one of the keys to getting to college by twelve: work on that high school transcript as soon and as quickly as possible. It should not have to take four whole years to cover four years of high school, especially if you homeschool all year-round.
Serennah was a great student. I could give her a stack of books and tell her what I was going to require. I would tell her to read each book, write me a paper on it, answer the questions at the ends of the chapters, or take the tests or quizzes at the ends of the chapters. Whatever it was that I required, she would crank it out. She was also studying for the SAT and took it in December of 2002 at the age of eleven. She knew what she had to do to meet the enrollment requirements at AUM, so she was self-motivated to do what her sisters had done.
This is where I have to say that it was so important that she could see herself in college by twelve. Kip and I knew she could do it, but she had to believe it and want it. It would have been too hard to “push” her through high school. I do not think that one can push a child and get the same great results. They must be inspired! She wanted to be a doctor and knew it was going to be a long, hard road. We totally supported her and helped her in pursuing her dream. This was her dream, not ours.