Rebecca122 Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Good morning! I'm hoping someone can help me with some questions I have regarding transcripts for accelerated learners. My oldest son just completed algebra 1 in 6th grade this year; he will continue with algebra 2 in 7th, followed by geometry in 8th grade. Since he will complete these subjects before beginning high school, do I just not put them on his high school transcript? If I do put them on his transcript, how should I go about doing that, since they will be completed before high school? He will also complete a couple AP courses (with the AP tests) prior to high school as well. Do I add those to the transcript as well? I would think this is a necessary, but how do I go about doing it? Thank you! Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 This is not that unusual of a scenario. I include them on mine. This post includes a sample of a transcript that is easy to use for kids with pre-9th grade courses. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/627201-achievement-singular-on-transcript/?p=7254159 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 I list those on the transcript. I use a similar transcript format as 8FillTheHeart, but without the columns "before 9th". I use italic print for courses taken before 9th grade and explain this in the "notes" section of teh transcript. I have not counted those among the total number of credits or the GPA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 (edited) Prepare/ organize the transcript by subject instead of by year. I have heard of people then inserting an asterisk or some other symbol to indicate the courses were pre-high school. Mine graduated early and we ended up listing grade levels too but indicated that although the preHS courses were listed in the transcript, only the grade 9-12 courses were used to calculate gpa. Edited May 30, 2017 by quark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca122 Posted May 30, 2017 Author Share Posted May 30, 2017 This is not that unusual of a scenario. I include them on mine. This post includes a sample of a transcript that is easy to use for kids with pre-9th grade courses. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/627201-achievement-singular-on-transcript/?p=7254159 Thank you all for your replies. It's helpful to know how others have tackled this as well. 8FillTheHeart, your sample transcript should work perfectly. ðŸ‘🻠Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4KookieKids Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Mine graduated early and we ended up listing grade levels too but indicated that although the preHS courses were listed in the transcript, only the grade 9-12 courses were used to calculate gpa. Tangent: How do you calculate grades/gpa? I find this concept very perplexing, because I feel like homeschooling affords us the opportunity to work on things until we learn them, and thus get A's all the time (excepting courses done elsewhere, like AP or a CC or something). But it seems to me that will just look like an inflated transcript. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 (edited) Tangent: How do you calculate grades/gpa? I find this concept very perplexing, because I feel like homeschooling affords us the opportunity to work on things until we learn them, and thus get A's all the time (excepting courses done elsewhere, like AP or a CC or something). But it seems to me that will just look like an inflated transcript. I have the opposite problem. I think it's good to give A's when A's are due. I learned not to overthink it. My kid has many external grades and high test scores in 10th-12th that competely validate the homeschool grades I'd given in 9th and 10th. It all works out somehow. I would have been worried if *I* felt A's were necessary when a series of external providers gave, say B's or C's instead. That would have had me seriously assessing *my* priorities. I tend to veer towards knocking off points instead of inflating though so I actually had to work hard to give the kid the grades deserved instead of trying to justify reasons to give less points! I tend to forget how old this kid actually is too. If you mean the actual mechanics of calculating gpa, I will list a few links instead of reinventing the wheel! :laugh: http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/how-to-calculate-homeschool-gpa/ https://thewritefoundation.org/articles/how-to-calculate-gpa/ https://everyday-education.com/free-gpa-calculator/ To be honest, I copped out and just gave the kid an unweighted GPA of 4.0 (there was nothing less than an A on kiddo's transcript and I simply noted in fine print that I considered A+ as A when calculating GPA). I am lazy that way. Many schools do recalculate gpa according to their own formulas. The schools mine applied to tend to do that -- you could check with adcoms at chosen schools to see if they do too. Edited May 31, 2017 by quark 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Tangent: How do you calculate grades/gpa? I find this concept very perplexing, because I feel like homeschooling affords us the opportunity to work on things until we learn them, and thus get A's all the time (excepting courses done elsewhere, like AP or a CC or something). But it seems to me that will just look like an inflated transcript. No. If you teach to mastery, an A is the result. It will only look inflated if it is completely out of synch with the standardized test scores. For high school, you will want a few tests or outside classes that provide outside validation for a small subset of courses. Nobody will question transcript A's for a kid who scores high on the tests or gets good grades in DE classes, in a few subject areas - you don't have to have substantuation across the board. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4KookieKids Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 I have the opposite problem. I think it's good to give A's when A's are due. I learned not to overthink it. My kid has many external grades and high test scores in 10th-12th that competely validate the homeschool grades I'd given in 9th and 10th. It all works out somehow. I would have been worried if *I* felt A's were necessary when a series of external providers gave, say B's or C's instead. That would have had me seriously assessing *my* priorities. I tend to veer towards knocking off points instead of inflating though so I actually had to work hard to give the kid the grades deserved instead of trying to justify reasons to give less points! I tend to forget how old this kid actually is too. If you mean the actual mechanics of calculating gpa, I will list a few links instead of reinventing the wheel! :laugh: http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/how-to-calculate-homeschool-gpa/ https://thewritefoundation.org/articles/how-to-calculate-gpa/ https://everyday-education.com/free-gpa-calculator/ To be honest, I copped out and just gave the kid an unweighted GPA of 4.0 (there was nothing less than an A on kiddo's transcript and I simply noted in fine print that I considered A+ as A when calculating GPA). I am lazy that way. Many schools do recalculate gpa according to their own formulas. The schools mine applied to tend to do that -- you could check with adcoms at chosen schools to see if they do too. No. If you teach to mastery, an A is the result. It will only look inflated if it is completely out of synch with the standardized test scores. For high school, you will want a few tests or outside classes that provide outside validation for a small subset of courses. Nobody will question transcript A's for a kid who scores high on the tests or gets good grades in DE classes, in a few subject areas - you don't have to have substantuation across the board. Thanks! This was exactly what I was wondering. (And no, I didn't mean actually calculating gpa so much as giving grades.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Tangent...because we report grades to a cover School, and normally grades given before 8th grade do not count on the high school GPA, currently DD has a 5.0 GPA-because the only class that they figured info the calculations was the college one, and college classes are automatically weighted :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 While many list courses before 9th grade somewhere on the transcript, I choose to simply leave them off. It's obvious if you are taking high math or further foreign language that you learned the prerequisites sometime. I also teach to mastery and have no problem giving an A if the work is mastered. The main classes I'd have trouble giving an A in, I ended up outsourcing and my son received A's from outside teachers. If ACT/SAT scores are also high, noone is going to think twice about the grades. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in SA Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 While many list courses before 9th grade somewhere on the transcript, I choose to simply leave them off. It's obvious if you are taking high math or further foreign language that you learned the prerequisites sometime. I also teach to mastery and have no problem giving an A if the work is mastered. The main classes I'd have trouble giving an A in, I ended up outsourcing and my son received A's from outside teachers. If ACT/SAT scores are also high, noone is going to think twice about the grades. While I really like this approach, we've found that it only works up to a certain degree of asynchronicity. You ultimately still need so many credits in each subject area, and may have to reach back to find them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 While many list courses before 9th grade somewhere on the transcript, I choose to simply leave them off. It's obvious if you are taking high math or further foreign language that you learned the prerequisites sometime. I agree but in our case I opted to not do this because most readers would assume my kid only completed the traditional math sequence while mine had actually done so much more than that. So I went ahead and listed the number theory, university logic, and group theory/ abstract algebra courses in addition to the traditional math courses. Each one was heavily proof-based too. Mine is also bent on applying as a math major and why I felt necessary to give the history/ spiky focus leading to that decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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