Transcript hand holding needed

[Karenciavo]

This year my son will complete the following:

 

History of the World: Foundation of Rome - 1800

English I

AP Biology

Algebra I

Latin I

History of Philosophy .25 credit

Government: Plato - Edmund Burke .5 credit

 

How would you list, or would you list, classes taken in a co-op setting such as Asian Cooking or Calligraphy, both of which my son has taken this year. They only meet for 55 minutes, 1x a week (20 weeks total), but there is homework. He also plays bass with the homeschool group praise band, takes bass lessons, and plays during our church service just about every Sunday. How do I include the music? Elective? Extra curricula?

 

Thank you for your help. If you just want to direct me to a book or web site, that's fine too.

 

Karen

[Nan in Mass]

What I'm doing (and I don't know yet if it will work because my older one is in 11th this year) is combining things. I'd combine the cooking with other things and make it into a home-ec credit, and I'd combine the calligraphy with other art things and count it all as Art 1. After I have a few of them, I think about what else is needed to round the class out and we do some of that. Or I decide that it isn't going to round out into a general art or home-ec class and I decide to give it an entirely different spin, like combining Asian cooking with the bit of Japanese studied with some history and literature and calling it Asian Studies. I try to give things very descriptive labels, so colleges will have some idea of what my son did. This is not the standard recommended approach LOL, which is to take everything English-like that your child did, all those lovely things that make your child unique, and label them English 1, English 2, English 3, and English 4 on the transcript. That approach may work better for college apps, but I can't bear to do it. I'd just look at what else it can be combined with to make an interesting full course and be resigned to skipping a few orphan things. The music stuff I'd label extra curricular, since that is a standard extra curricular thing for many ps students. I also would take anything that the child continued doing on his own after the class and list that as a hobby in extra curricular rather than on the transcript. Homeschooling you always have to decide where to count things, because all of life could be counted as academics and lots of academics tend to look like life. I've just tried to get a good balance between what I count as which. It seems like people here typically have too many credits rather than too few. I'd just keep track of everything and then match it all up into credits and classes at the very end, if you can get away with that as far as your school system is concerned. I give the school department a list of "completed so far" organized NOT like a transcript, with a short bit about how I intend to organize it into classes at the end because homeschooling is very flexible. Since things like math look pretty standard, nobody has complained so far.

HTH

-Nan

[Karenciavo]

Thank you Nan. This brings to mind another question. Can I carry items from one semester into the next and combine them? If one semester he studied Kanji and the next he studied Asian cooking, could I have him read some books and write a few papers over the summer and call it Asian Studies, depending on the hours, for .25 or .5 credit?

 

Also, is there a distinction then on transcripts between extracurricular and hobby?

 

Thanks again for your time. I know I need a book or a web site so I don't keep bothering you poor people. If anyone has a recommendation I'd appreciate it.

 

Karen

[Jackie in AR]

There was a recent thread regarding how studies/activities, including music, could count for hsers. I spent a couple of minutes searching for it but couldn't come up with anything.

 

If I'm remembering correctly, a poster who has experience working in a college admission's office stated that any type of music that a public schooled high school student would do outside of school couldn't be counted as high school credit for homeschoolers since the public schooled students wouldn't receive credit for it on their transcripts. The list included instrument lessons, church bands, etc. It seemed pretty restrictive when I first read it, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

[Nan in Mass]

My son travels mid-school-year, so if we can't combine things from year to year, I'm in trouble GRIN. I'm listing courses by subject on the transcript and not giving dates. Other people here have done that successfully. Occasionally, someone says that the college didn't like it and they had to give dates. In this case, you do something like list the course in the year when the most work for it was completed, or list it the year it was completed.

 

Hobbies go under extra curricular (it is just shorter and easier to spell GRIN)

 

I'd definately do Asian studies GRIN. You could include something on geography, religions, film, or music, too, as well as art, history, or literature, if you wanted to. How about a manga segment? Or do the Pimsleur Japanese 10 CD set (not too expensive or time consuming that way)? Or look at Material World and compare the stats for Asian countries? Visit a temple? If I'm counting something as a class and not as extra curr., I try to include an academic componant - some reading and at least a little writing.

 

Have fun!

-Nan

[Karenciavo]

If I'm remembering correctly, a poster who has experience working in a college admission's office stated that any type of music that a public schooled high school student would do outside of school couldn't be counted as high school credit for homeschoolers since the public schooled students wouldn't receive credit for it on their transcripts. The list included instrument lessons, church bands, etc. It seemed pretty restrictive when I first read it, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

 

 

I can understand that, but they probably list it as something right? My son volunteers his time 2x a week for church music practice and the service. I'm wondering then is it extra curricula? volunteer? unpaid job experience? People at my church get paid for playing the piano, organ, or leading contemporary worship.

 

Thank you Jackie.

[Jackie in AR]

I can understand that, but they probably list it as something right? My son volunteers his time 2x a week for church music practice and the service. I'm wondering then is it extra curricula? volunteer? unpaid job experience? People at my church get paid for playing the piano, organ, or leading contemporary worship.

 

Thank you Jackie.

 

Oh, yes, I would definitely put it on there as volunteer work or extracurricular. I was thinking only in terms of awarding credit for it.

[Karenciavo]

I'd definately do Asian studies GRIN. You could include something on geography, religions, film, or music, too, as well as art, history, or literature, if you wanted to. How about a manga segment? Or do the Pimsleur Japanese 10 CD set (not too expensive or time consuming that way)? Or look at Material World and compare the stats for Asian countries? Visit a temple? If I'm counting something as a class and not as extra curr., I try to include an academic componant - some reading and at least a little writing.

 

Have fun!

-Nan

 

The Japanese film industry and anime are already hobbies for my ds, sometimes I wonder if God is preparing him to be a missionary to Japan :)

 

I guess we could add in some other cultural aspects and we'd be good to go.

 

Thanks again for your time.

[Mama Lynx]

There was a recent thread regarding how studies/activities, including music, could count for hsers. I spent a couple of minutes searching for it but couldn't come up with anything.

 

If I'm remembering correctly, a poster who has experience working in a college admission's office stated that any type of music that a public schooled high school student would do outside of school couldn't be counted as high school credit for homeschoolers since the public schooled students wouldn't receive credit for it on their transcripts. The list included instrument lessons, church bands, etc. It seemed pretty restrictive when I first read it, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

 

However, a friend of mine in public school takes violin lessons through the school, as part of her school day; and of course, one could be in the school band. I appreciate that you can also do these extra-curricularly, but if schools do offer them, and your experience is comparable ... how does that work? In other words, if my local high school offers private music lessons during the school day as part of school credit, then I would be inclined to count our private music lessons for credit as well.

 

I see the admission counselor's point, but there are some very diverse high schools out there.

[Janet in WA]

If I'm remembering correctly, a poster who has experience working in a college admission's office stated that any type of music that a public schooled high school student would do outside of school couldn't be counted as high school credit for homeschoolers since the public schooled students wouldn't receive credit for it on their transcripts. The list included instrument lessons, church bands, etc. It seemed pretty restrictive when I first read it, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

I think you mean OhElizabeth. She hasn't said that anything "couldn't" be counted -- she's just offered her opinion about what "should" be counted. Not to diminish OhElizabeth's very valuable knowledge or experience at all -- I have to say that many of us don't (or didn't) do things in a way that aligns with her suggestions, and been fine (or more than fine). I also think that she may not have said (or meant) exactly what is assumed above. I hope she'll weigh in here at some point.

 

For many homeschoolers, life is our classroom. Our transcripts reflect that, and do it well. Our children are accepted to the colleges of their choice every day.

[Jackie in AR]

I think you mean OhElizabeth. She hasn't said that anything "couldn't" be counted -- she's just offered her opinion about what "should" be counted. Not to diminish OhElizabeth's very valuable knowledge or experience at all -- I have to say that many of us don't (or didn't) do things in a way that aligns with her advice, and been fine (or more than fine).

 

For many homeschoolers, life is our classroom. Our transcripts reflect that, and do it well. Our children are accepted to the colleges of their choice every day.

 

Of course, Janet. We may choose to count whatever we wish and include it on our dc's transcripts. But that doesn't mean that some of the credits that we include won't be marked off in the college admissions office.

 

Every situation is different, and there will likely be as many opinions on this topic as there are posters on this board. Or admissions officers. :001_smile:

 

Here is a link to the thread I was referring to above for anyone who would like to read it:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=164988#poststop

[Jackie in AR]

However, a friend of mine in public school takes violin lessons through the school, as part of her school day; and of course, one could be in the school band. I appreciate that you can also do these extra-curricularly, but if schools do offer them, and your experience is comparable ... how does that work? In other words, if my local high school offers private music lessons during the school day as part of school credit, then I would be inclined to count our private music lessons for credit as well.

 

I see the admission counselor's point, but there are some very diverse high schools out there.

 

There are a lot of gray areas, aren't there? Our local high school doesn't offer private instrument lessons, but if it did I agree that I would likely include it on a transcript as well.

[Ruth in Canada]

However, a friend of mine in public school takes violin lessons through the school, as part of her school day; and of course, one could be in the school band. I appreciate that you can also do these extra-curricularly, but if schools do offer them, and your experience is comparable ... how does that work? In other words, if my local high school offers private music lessons during the school day as part of school credit, then I would be inclined to count our private music lessons for credit as well.

 

I see the admission counselor's point, but there are some very diverse high schools out there.

 

 

The Ontario high school curriculum "counts" external music when standard exams are passed. This makes putting "RCM Grade 8 piano" credit on our transcript easy--it's worth one grade 12 credit here. The curriculum also describes choir and theatre classes, so some choir and theatre will go on DD's transcript. Work that has an academic component and progresses each year will be on the transcript. Work that doesn't have an academic component and is essentially the same each year will go in the extra curricular list.