Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler’s Guide to High School Paperwork {Review}
Homeschooling High School
Many homeschool parents balk at homeschooling high school. For those that do, the questions for how to do so successfully begin early–and most of them center around. . .paperwork! Janice Campbell from Everyday Education aims to streamline this stressor through her eBook Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler’s Guide to High School Paperwork.
About the eBook
The eBook arrives as a PDF file and contains 138 pages, should you choose to print it. The contents are then broken up into six parts.
- Meet the Transcript
- Plan With the End in Mind
- Keep Simple Records
- Grades, Credit, and the GPA
- Create the Transcript; and References
- Resources
- Reproducibles
The Experts
In the Preface, she also introduces three guest experts. She consulted with them to glean information from and provide the parent with the best information possible. These experts include:
- Professor Carol Reynolds, who offers tips for helping your child succeed in college
- Judith Munday, who is a professional special needs consultant and
- Kathy Kuhl, an author who shares resource suggestions for struggling learners.
Where to Begin
In the first part of the book, there is a section titled “Where to Start in This Book.” Depending on where you are in your homeschool journey will determine which section you begin in. One of the things I liked about this guide was that it was applicable regardless of the stage you are in. Although the sooner you begin, the more benefit you will receive from it.
Transcripts
Right now I am in the process of preparing transcripts for Raena, my oldest who will be graduating next year. I started by looking at the table she includes to see what credits she suggests for a college-bound student. Then I checked those against what we have to see whether or not we should look at making adjustments next year. I did notice some disparity from when I first looked (almost four years ago!) and what she suggests. However, they weren’t so different–four years instead of three for history and three years instead of two for foreign language. We decided we would add a history. Since she chose Latin as her foreign language and she doesn’t need to be fluent in it, she will look at taking a foreign language at a community college next year.
For the transcript, she gives several different formatting options and styles. She also gives advice on which one you might choose. Then she walks you through the formatting for the style you chose step-by-step. I found this very helpful in ensuring that I had a professional looking transcript. While I probably could have figured the formatting out on my own, it was such a time-saver to just have it all done and not have to worry about getting it to look just right.
Determining GPA
There is also advise offered on calculating GPA, including a weighted GPA, and determining grades. For grade determination she includes awarding grades for different types of homeschooling, such as mastery vs. time and grading for unschoolers or the chronically relaxed.
I appreciated the section by Professor Carol Reynolds on Seven Strategies for a Successful First Year at College. My husband and I have been having increasingly frequently conversations with Raena on what to expect out of college life and how it will be different from what she is used to. Some of the things she mentions we have discussed or touched on. A few I didn’t think about mentioning. For example, having the summer between be more relaxed. We will either bring those few up or just give my daughter the article to read herself.
Going Forward
In addition to having a daughter graduate next year, I have another one beginning her high school journey. I found it helpful to read through to see what changes I might implement to make the process smoother next time. Definitely already having the transcript format done so I can just add as I go will be helpful already. I also think I may utilize her Subject Worksheets that she includes to just help my record keeping. Mostly, so I don’t have to keep re-creating the classes.
Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler’s Guide to High School Paperwork is easily beneficial regardless of where you are in your high school journey. Whether you are at the end and needing to prepare a transcript or at the beginning and need to plan courses, this is a useful tool to have in your homeschool arsenal.
