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Questions on record keeping and a transcript...


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I am coming to the point where I am fairly comfortable that you do not need an accredited diploma to get into college but how do I make and keep daily records to build a transcript for high school? I have several books from Cafi Cohen and Lee Binz that instruct on how to build a transcript but It is almost too overwhelming for me...too many choices, I guess.   Can anyone suggest a service that will help me (via phone calls and/or emails, spread sheets) on how to keep records and keep a transcript?  

 

Here's our plan for 9th grade, do I have everything labeled correctly?

 

Math: Teaching Textbooks

Fine Arts: Voice lessons with performance, piano lessons, Jr. choir, church cantoring. ***MUSIC IS HER PASSION***

Science: I have no idea.  Maybe Seton's online Biology course. Currently doing curriculum through Mother of Divine Grace.

English: Write Guide and lots of independent reading.

History: Home school Connections online.  Not sure if to do World or American History.

Foreign Language: Spanish through Homeschool Connections.  I am fluent in Spanish and I can help her.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

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I am coming to the point where I am fairly comfortable that you do not need an accredited diploma to get into college but how do I make and keep daily records to build a transcript for high school? I have several books from Cafi Cohen and Lee Binz that instruct on how to build a transcript but It is almost too overwhelming for me...too many choices, I guess.   Can anyone suggest a service that will help me (via phone calls and/or emails, spread sheets) on how to keep records and keep a transcript?  

 

Here's our plan for 9th grade, do I have everything labeled correctly?

 

Math: Teaching Textbooks

Fine Arts: Voice lessons with performance, piano lessons, Jr. choir, church cantoring. ***MUSIC IS HER PASSION***

Science: I have no idea.  Maybe Seton's online Biology course. Currently doing curriculum through Mother of Divine Grace.

English: Write Guide and lots of independent reading.

History: Home school Connections online.  Not sure if to do World or American History.

Foreign Language: Spanish through Homeschool Connections.  I am fluent in Spanish and I can help her.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

On the transcript, all you will have is something like this:

 

Course           1st Semester 2nd Semester   Credit (I'm assuming California, which is 10 credits for a one-year course)

Math                        B                      B                    10

English                   A                       A                    10

Biology                   B                       A                    10

World History         A                       A                    10

Spanish I                B                      A                     10

Music                     A                       A                    10

 

If your dc needs course descriptions for college, that's where you'd include instructional materials (e.g., Teaching Textbooks), other methods of instruction (e.g., voice lessons with performance, etc.), and so on. 

 

Oh, and it is most common for each year of *English* to include literature and composition, with grammar as needed.

 

Daily grades and whatnot can be recorded in something like this Home Schoolers' Journal.

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One of the pinned threads on this forum has a lot of things that can help you with transcripts, record keeping, etc.

 

Dd and I tried to do US history first but found it was difficult to find where something stopped being US history and was more of a world topic, so we're doing world history first.

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Look at the transcript advice in the sticky thread.

Really, you don't need a "program" to make a transcript. Word or Excel works just fine. Look online for a few examples of formatting.

All you need to do at this point is keep a record of what your kid has done. You'll make the actual transcript when they are applying for college and will adjust then anyway.

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... how do I make and keep daily records to build a transcript for high school?

 

...  Can anyone suggest a service that will help me (via phone calls and/or emails, spread sheets) on how to keep records and keep a transcript?  

 

...Here's our plan for 9th grade...

 

 

You've got a VERY simple set of courses, and it would be super easy for you to make your own transcript, even using something as simple as a basic word processing software -- just line everything up with tabs.

 

_______________________________

 

1. title

OFFICIAL ACADEMIC TRANSCRIPT (at graduation, add the word "FINAL" in the title)

optional: add the name of your homeschool, if you have chosen to name it

 

2. personal info:

student name: _____________

sex: ___________

DOB: ___________

address: ___________

phone: ___________

email: ___________

administrator:  (your name)

signature: (your signature and date)

 

So the top portion of your transcript might look like this:

 

 

 

OFFICIAL ACADEMIC TRANSCRIPT

 

name    Journey00 Daughter____  address    1234 Main Street____

sex    F____                                    email    Journey00@email.com  

dob     01-01-1999                        phone    123-456-7890              

 

administrator     Journey00            signature     Journey00, May 16, 2014    

 

_______________________________

 

3. decide if you prefer to list courses by:

- grade/year (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)

- or by subject (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Foreign Language, Fine Arts, Electives)

 

4. when you list your courses include:

- course title (English 9; or, Intermediate Composition, or American Literature....)

- amount of credit earned -- full or partial credit (1.00; 0.75; 0.66; 0.50; 0.33; 0.25)

- grade earned -- decide on your grading scale (A, B, C, D, F  --- OR --- A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F)

- some colleges may also want to see "date completed" of when each credit was finished

 

So, your courses could look something like this, if listed by grade/year:

 

9th GRADE

 

course  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  credit  .  .  .  grade  .  .  .  date completed

English I: Literature & Composition .  .  1.00  .  .  .  .  A  .  .  .  .  .  05-2014

Math: Algebra 1  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 1.00  .  .  .  .  A  .  .  .  .  .  05-2014

Fine Arts: Music  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .1.00  .  .  .  .  A  .  .  .  .  .  05-2014

Science: Biology  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  1.00  .  .  .  .  A  .  .  .  .  .  05-2014

History: World  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 1.00  .  .  .  .  A  .  .  .  .  .  05-2014

Spanish 1  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 1.00  .  .  .  .  A  .  .  .  .  .  05-2014

 

Be sure to make a note if any of the courses were taken outside of the home -- online or distance course, dual enrollment, at a local high school, etc.

 

_______________________________

 

5. grading scale, total GPA

at the bottom, include a little chart to show how you graded, and what the total grade point average of your student is.

 

optional: SAT and/or ACT test scores

 

Example:

 

 

 

grading scale   .   .   .   .    final total credits   .   .   .   .    national test scores

A = 4.0    .   .   .   .    .   .   .   . 26.50    .   .   .   .    .   .   .   .   ACT (taken10/2013) = 30

B = 3.0

C = 2.0   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  final total GPA

D = 1.0   .   .   .   .    .   .   .   . 3.75

F = 0

 

_______________________________

 

 

 

 

To help you make a transcript, I'd talk to someone in a homeschool group near you, and ask for some mentoring, and to see how they've done it.

 

Or, you might look at other people's samples from this past thread: Any of you willing to share a copy of your child's transcript

 

Or, you might look into downloading a template (Donna Young transcript template, plus GPA calculator, or downloadable template at Let's Homeschool High School), or use software, such as Transcript Pro or Teascript, or the free Homeschool Transcript Generator or free Transcript Creator.

 

If you really feel it is beyond you, then Lee Binz offers a full transcript service for $350/year. You could also join an umbrella organization, which would track your credits and create a transcript for you. Most will run at least $350-500/year.

 

For more help and answers to specific questions, check out all the past linked threads on the topic of transcripts in this pinned thread at the top of the high school board.

 

 

For record keeping to track hours if that is how you will award credits, you can use a software program that both tracks hours AND then helps you create a transcript, such as  Transcript Pro or EduTracker.

 

Or, download a form in which you just fill in the month/year in each box every time your student has completed approx. 60 minutes of work (pretty much that will be each day) of a subject; when you hit 120-180 hours (depending on how you are counting credits), you've completed a credit. The Ask Pauline website has this or this for downloadable 1-page full year attendance worksheets that you could easily adapt for this purpose -- there's even room under all the check-boxes to jot down books read, projects completed, test scores, etc. Or, you may prefer this free printable form which tracks hours weekly, and holds up to 12 weeks per page.

 

Barb Shelton's book, Senior High, A Home Designed Form + U + LA has lots of reproducible forms, including record keeping forms such as charting hours.

 

Finally, Lee Binz' website The Home Scholar has free video tutorials and articles about what records you need to keep, and how to do so, and Inge Cannon's DVD Transcript Bootcamp walks you through everything you need to know about tracking credits and creating a transcript.

 

 

 

The only other thing you need to do is to then write up a course description for each class, describing what materials were used for the course, book list, etc. Check out that pinned thread (I linked it above), as under all the transcript threads, are course description threads, with examples and explanations of "how to".

 

 

Really, it's a lot easier than you're thinking it is! Relax and breath... you can do this! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

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@ Lori D:  I do not even know what to say....I cannot believe the time you took to for your response and the visual.  I am ecstatic, elated, super happy.  A million thank you's to you.  I am printing it out so I can re-read it many times. You

have helped me feel super empowered.  Seriously, THANK YOU!   :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:  

 

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