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Homeschool diploma for mostly public school educated student?


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Hello, I haven't been on the boards for a long time as my son had stopped homeschooling a while ago.  Well, he had home schooled on and off since ninth grade but when he went back to public school full time this fall as a junior, he was told that he had to repeat tenth grade if he wanted a diploma from them as they did not accept any credits from our home school. So... if he were to continue going there for just two years instead of three, and I give him credit for math, foreign language, English, science, art, and P.E. that he took at home which would only be seven credits out of the 24 credits needed for graduation, then he could graduate in two years. (He has other credits from outside classes).  But what I am wondering about is whether he would have earned enough credits to justify a home school diploma.  The home school diploma shows that he completed his education mainly at home while a public school diploma shows that the student went through the public high school.  My son is fine with not getting a public high school diploma and with skipping the graduation ceremony even though he doesn't want to do any more education at home which makes me feel a bit uneasy about issuing him a home school diploma.  But then again I want to support him in finishing school in two years instead of three.  So what's the best option where a diploma is concerned?  Are there any home school regulations regarding this?  I do know that private schools will not issue their own diplomas to students who do not take the bulk of classes with them.

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This may vary by state. But, in my state you wouldn't get a diploma from a school you're not enrolled in. If you are enrolled in public school, can you also file homeschool paperwork?

 

I file homeschool paperwork for my daughter, but her transcript shows most of her credits in 11th and 12th from dual enrollment in community college.

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My son is enrolled in the public high school as a part time student.  He had dropped two classes recently with the understanding that he would take them in home school instead.  But he could go back full time next year if he wants to  if he chooses to go that route and he still wouldn't get a diploma from the school as he has too many credits to make up to graduate next year.  He would have to go for two more years to get enough credits to graduate from there.  The school does not accept any home school credits at all. (He was home schooled in ninth grade and part of tenth grade).  On the other hand, if he gets his credits from both the  home school and the public school this year and next year or he could just go to the school full time, then he could get a home school diploma from me using his home school credits in addition to the public school credits rather than getting a public school diploma so that he can. graduate next year rather than in two years if he were to get his credits only through the public school.  He is fine with the home school/public school combo but what bothers me is that the home school diploma would not reflect the true home school experience if you know what I mean.  He would be getting about 3/4 of the credits from the public high school. 

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He is fine with the home school/public school combo but what bothers me is that the home school diploma would not reflect the true home school experience if you know what I mean.  He would be getting about 3/4 of the credits from the public high school. 

 

So what? The diploma just indicates that he completed a course of study and has been graduated. It doesn't matter that not all of the credits were earned in the same way or in the same place. It would be no different than children whose parents are in the military and so they attend many different schools. The last school they attend graduates them and issues the diploma.

 

If you wanted to do that, though, IMHO, you would need to be homeschooling according to whatever the homeschool laws are in your state (if any). I don't believe it would be ethical or something if you just graduated him while he is attending another school.

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Ha, I guess this is sort of what my son is hoping that I will do, just graduate him while he is attending another school without all the credits that he is supposed to have.  Okay, I will make a list of all the credits he will need and what he must do to earn them and present them to him.  Thanks.

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Yes, I would be checking very carefully what the laws are regarding homeschool issued High School diplomas in your state, looking at all the credits he has earned for both homeschooling and public school High school and any on-line or outside of home but not PS credits he has earned and see what he is missing to finish a homeschool diploma in your state.  Start creating a rough transcript while you are at it.

 

And if he wants to go on to college or a vocational school I would also be looking at requirements for schools he is interested in to see what needs to be done to meet those goals, too.

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Another option would be to stay another year at the public school, and use that time to really build his transcript, especially if he is college-bound. For example, he could take a bunch of AP classes his last year, which would look good on his college applications and also potentially earn him college credit (depending on his scores and the college he attends), which could save a significant amount of college tuition.  Now, I don't know if he is college-bound, if the school offers AP classes, and so on, and of course there are many pros and cons to consider, but I thought I'd mention this approach of treating his last ps year as a "grade 13/freshman college" year.

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