Credits?

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SetApartForHisGlory
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Credits?

Post by SetApartForHisGlory » Fri Jul 10, 2015 11:04 pm

Hello! I am just wondering, since it seems everyone knows but me- what is with making sure your child gets high school credits? I guess I'm still not clear on the whole homeschooling-diploma thing. I know that this will vary by state, I live in WA if anyone happens to know specifics on that. The laws here for homeschooling, as far as I've ever been told and read, are to simply send a letter of intent to homeschool yearly, and end of the year standardized testing. Are they also supposed to record credits once they're high school aged? Or is the purpose of making sure you have credits to submit them to a high school and receive a diploma? I guess I had just figured I'd be teaching them as best as I can for the 9th and 10th grade (without needing to record or submit anything official), and then the plan is to enroll in community college and earn high school/college credits for two years. Then at the same time they "graduate" high school they graduate from community college. And I thought they'd be needing to get a GED or something. But if there is a way to get a diploma by making sure they earn credits, I want in on that! I had been told the only way to get one was to do an accredited homeschool program, like Abeka. Can someone explain this credits thing to me? TIA!
Andrea (35) ~ God's Hand in Life's Little Moments
Daria (16) ~ World History
Cooper (1) ~ Preparing Hearts for His Glory
Stacia (8) ~ Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory

Little Women
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Re: Credits?

Post by Little Women » Fri Jul 10, 2015 11:45 pm

I haven't used HOD for this (yet? I'm about to start HOD with my youngest in 7th grade), but I have graduated 2 students from homeschooling. The best quick explanation I've seen is from HSLDA. It's on their non-member section, so you can look there for their high school page.

In most states and for almost all colleges, homeschoolers can make their own diplomas and issue their own transcripts. About the time your student starts high school, look at what is required for admission to a few of the colleges you think your student might attend. It doesn't have to be extremely specific, but it's good to look at a state school and a private school or two. If you know already about an interest in a highly selective college like Cal Tech or an Ivy League school, then definitely check with them as well. You will find a pretty standard list, usually 4 years of English, 3 years of math, 2-3 years of science, and about 2.5 years of socials studies. Some places do require more though. (If you live in CO, eg, U. of CO requires 4 years of math.) These requirements can change over time, so there's not a lot of point worrying if your oldest is 5yo. :) Some schools have other requirements, such as the state university which one of my kids applied to--they accepted her application but said she would need to take 2 semesters of foreign language if she didn't finish 2 years of them in high school.

There are very few situations which require a GED (some state colleges in NY require them, from what I have read), and a few situations where it's pejorative, such as going into the military. In almost all cases, you issue the diploma and make a transcript, and it's good. It helps if you have test scores that back up your claims. Eg, if you claim your child has done honors courses, they'd better get pretty good scores on SAT/ACTs.

The only generally difficult thing to do without accredited course work is to put a teen into a public high school after 9th grade. It's easier to get into Harvard than to accomplish this feat! There are a few cases, more lately that I've heard of, where a public school was willing to accept homeschool credits towards graduation, but many simply reject them out of hand. In that case, you might be forced to finish via homeschooling, to use a private school, or to simply skip into community college. None of these are extremely bad options, in most cases, so I have never worried about it.

A transcript needs to made for each year from 9th grade onwards, and dual enrollment courses count double--1 semester college course = 1 year high school course. You will put all their courses, including CC courses, under each year of schooling, and then total up units and grade points. The HSLDA website will talk you through some of the options of how to count units, calculate GPAs, etc. (I can also do it if you want me to me that specific. It's not extremely difficult, but does have several steps.)

If your children do finish a full AA at the community college, it makes transferring easier, but it can also be done without that. My kids had 20 units and 8 units, and had no trouble. Since the courses are done before the end of high school, they are still considered freshmen when they come in, and qualify for freshman scholarships instead of transfer ones. The freshman ones are usually significantly better, and one of my kids got a National Merit scholarship. The other has 1/2 tuition at her Christian college. My oldest had 20 units, and will finish after 3 years there. My 2nd has the National Merit but had only 8 college units and is taking honors courses, so she will be there the full 4 years.

It is possible to pay someone a great deal of money (NARHS was $450 per year, last I checked, don't know what Abeka costs) for an accredited diploma, but it's really not necessary. The vast majority of colleges, including state universities, private colleges both Christian and secular, and Ivy League schools, like homeschoolers and will accept them at rates similar to or higher than public school kids. My kids got into every school they applied to with at least 1/2 tuition scholarships offered to them. They did have very good SAT/ACT scores, but it was not hard to get them in.

Does that all make sense? I'm glad to answer more questions if anyone has them, and there are probably others here who have done it, too. :)
Long-time homeschooler, short-time HOD user.
Mom to
K21: college senior
L19: college sophomore
C15: high school sophomore
J12: 7th grade

LynnH
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Re: Credits?

Post by LynnH » Sat Jul 11, 2015 7:01 am

Most homeschool mom's issue their own diploma's and put together a transcript. The transcript is what any college either 4 year or community college will want to see. The pp did a great job of explaining that and yes HSLDA is a great resource and there are also lots of books available that will help with this. A credit is anywhere from 120-160 hours of work. On a transcript each course is listed followed by the grade and if it is .5 credits or 1.0 credits. It is usually recommended that homeschoolers do not take the GED. There isn't any need(except as stated maybe in New York) and it can give your student a stigma as not having finished high school when in fact they did. They will most likely need to take the ACT/SAT, although if they go the CC route their last 2 years then that might not be necessary, but if they go on to get their bachelor's then the 4 year college might still request it. You also want to make sure you keep course descriptions and samples of essays, lab reports etc because some colleges request those. HOD makes it easy because Carrie has done all the work of writing the course descriptions.

It sounds confusing, but it isn't. My dd did her last 3 years of high school at home and we ordered her a diploma from homeschool diplomas which my husband and I signed. Most likely no one will ever ask to see that and I put together her transcript and sent that with her ACT scores to the colleges she applied to and she got a very good scholarship with that alone.
Mom to:
dd 22 college graduate and employed as an Intervention Specialist
ds 18 US2, Loved Preparing, CTC , RTR , Rev to Rev, MTMM ,WG, WH and US1
http://www.graceandfur.blogspot.com/

SetApartForHisGlory
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2015 2:20 pm
Location: Central WA
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Re: Credits?

Post by SetApartForHisGlory » Sat Jul 11, 2015 3:46 pm

Thank you so much! I think I've got it now :) I have a few years before I have to start recording stuff so I have time to figure out the details!
Andrea (35) ~ God's Hand in Life's Little Moments
Daria (16) ~ World History
Cooper (1) ~ Preparing Hearts for His Glory
Stacia (8) ~ Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory

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