Letters of recommendation

[Shannon H P]

Hi there, we have a 5th grader, and looking ahead are considering an online junior high school for 7th grade. Because we are homeschooling, I wonder how it is we find/solicit letters of recommendation based on academics (specifically language arts) for application-- has anyone done that before? Thank you.

[Lori D.]

Welcome! I see by your post count that you are new! 😄

While I have not personally had this exact situation, it is very similar to a parent writing a counselor letter for their homeschooled teen who is applying to college. 😉

First -- has your 5th grader had any outside person involved in their education -- A homeschool co-op? Online course? Tutor? Part time at a school? Even an extracurricular program? Or will the student have any of those options as a 6th grader? Then you might have a built-in outside person for a letter of recommendation about the student's academics in that way.

If not, then just be up front in your letter of recommendation: "(Name of student) has been fully homeschooled for grades X - Y, and as her/his parent / teacher / administrator, I have a very clear and accurate picture of his/her academic progress in the core subjects of Language Arts and Math, as well as content subjects of Science, Social Studies, etc."

Since you're esp. needing recommendation on the language arts, I would then go on to give a brief overview of what has been covered in the LA area, specifically what types of writing the student has done, and a brief list of major literature covered. Also list any writing the student may have done outside of homeschooling, such as: creating their own blog or newspaper; creative writing of short stories; participation in NaNoWriMo's Young Writers Program, etc. 

Also, if the student has taken any standardized tests, I would include the pertinent scores. For example: "(Name of student) consistently scores in the 90th percentile for all subjects on the annual Iowa Basic Test."

I would also offer to include further documentation, such as copies of standardized tests, a comprehensive book list from 5th and 6th grades, and several samples of the student's writing assignments.


As a side note -- some totally unsolicited advice, here 😉 -- if planning on an all-online middle school, I would suggest slowly ramping up your 5th grader (and as a 6th grader) with taking a few online classes to start getting used to how that works, and to see if that is actually a good fit or not for your student's learning style. Many students do not do well at all with online classes, much less all online. And those who do fit with online classes really do need a slow building up for the year or two in advance of going all online. 😉 

All that to say, maybe look for a short online language arts class your 5th grader can do in the spring, and then do several subjects online as a 6th grader to see how that is working (or NOT working) for this particular student, and if it is working, it can also provide you with a source of outside instructors to write some letters of recommendation addressing your student's academics.

A few ideas:
- Brave Writer upper elementary level online courses (usually 4-6 weeks long)
- Lantern English upper elementary level classes):
    - Writing (8 week courses)
    - Beginning Literature (8 week courses)
    - English (starts with 6th grade; full year; covers grammar, vocabulary, writing, literature)

Edited December 2, 2020 by Lori D.