Homeschooling and records

By ChristyM Fri, 07/23/2010 - 7:08pm
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ChristyM
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Hi all, as some of you know, I am not a homeschooler. We have been blessed to have other appropriate learning situations for our two. I am on a local scholarship committee - which right now is made up of two of us, both schoolteachers; I am in the public schools, the other one is a long time friend who has taught in our local Christian school and also is not an experienced homeschooler. The applicants have always tended to be a mix of publicly schooled and homeschooled students, with an occasional private school student tossed in. This year we noticed a trend by the homeschoolers toward having typed up statements from parents regarding academic work done by their high school students. If I recall correctly, when we had homeschooled applicants before, there has been fairly good supporting documentation from either the local school district or community college/Running Start program. To be fair, one young person had very little notice regarding eligibility and has the diploma in progress as part of a vocational program, admitted the application was *slapped together* right before the deadline; but the others seemed surprised when we questioned the validity of their grades and coursework.
I welcome input on how stringent we should be with these students regarding documentation of their schoolwork as this is a merit-based scholarship. Also, just wanted to give a *heads up* to those of you with high school age students - how do you plan to document their work for scholarships, college admission, etc.?

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Sat, 07/24/2010 - 5:07pm
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Susan R
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Documentation

That's really odd- the first question I get asked by potential and beginning homeschoolers is "What do you do for transcripts?" Just last week this lady wrote to me about how to keep records for high school, and when I asked her how old her child was, she said "He's four". Laughing out loud

I'd say you should be as strict with the homeschoolers as you are with everyone else. It is the responsibility of home educators to find out what they need in order to apply for the vocation/college/scholarship etc. of their choice.

The first thing a homeschooler has to do is find out their state's requirements for awarding a legal diploma. In Ohio, I can award my children a legal diploma- it isn't accredited, but it is legal, as long as my kids complete the courses and credits they need. I use forms from Donna Young to plan and keep track of their course work. I keep all of their tests (including yearly evaluations), projects, reports, and we make scrapbooks of their school year that also serves as documentation. We keep a record of things like karate lessons and the volunteer work they do (we volunteer with an agency that trains service dogs for the disabled). Church ministries can also be a way for kids to get involved in community projects, drama, musical performances, etc.

Homeschoolers that are planning on going to college should start preparing for the SAT, and also familiarize themselves with the admission requirements of the colleges they think most likely to be the ones they will apply to. It is a mistake to wait until the junior or senior year to start finding these things out. I don't think you need to research colleges if your kids are in preschool, but middle school is a great time to be thinking about it and asking questions.

My firstborn graduated in 2004 and went into the military with no problems at all with his diploma and transcripts we provided.

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Sun, 07/25/2010 - 2:05am
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ChristyM
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Thanks

Thanks - we didn't want to be too hardnosed or too lenient. I'll take your thoughts plus any others that get posted here, synthesize them a bit and discuss them with the other committee member before next summer. As organized as you seem, I wouldn't have expected your children to have had a bit of trouble with their transcripts being accepted! BTW in public school the students in this state are to be thinking about possible careers and training in middle school, and making up their post high school plan in 9th/10th grade.

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Sun, 07/25/2010 - 3:26pm
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Audrey Cahilly
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Establish your own standards

Susan, as usual, has given very good advice. Especially on checking up on your state's rules, since they vary more than widely.
To argue for "leniency": We were at the other end of exactly your situation when my son seemed eligible for a scholarship to his technical school last summer. (He got the highest score among incoming students on the school's own qualifying test) But the school kept insisting on some sort of documentation on me, as his teacher, that is not required in NJ, since all of their previous homeschooled applicants had used umbrella schools and had all that paperwork to show, and we had a self-generated transcript. It was soooooooo annoying! They had NO idea what the law required, just what they had experience in the past. So just be aware of what your state requires of homeschoolers, if anything, and understand that many, many people will have that much and no more. So although it is common to show off a student's strong subjects through CLEPs, APs, and SAT IIs on a transcript, (at least around here) that doesn't mean that the student given grades by Mom has mastered the subject any less. (And no, we never got the money, but he stayed at the head of his class with a 98% average and qualified for an internship and all is well, except for owing the bank $24 grand)
To argue for "stringency": "He who pays the Piper calls the tunes", right? There are scholarships for children of employees of certain companies, those whose parents belong to a particular club, ethnicity rules, income limits.... If you want to see a certain certification of achievement, feel free to ask for it. Just make sure that you keep the playing field level regardless of school type. When you have a homeschool policy you are happy with, and can live with for years to come, make sure that it is published as widely as the rest of the scholarship information. Then those that are interested can make sure they have met any requirements in recordkeeping well before the application deadline, and you will show a consistency in your decisions. (The little "homeschoolers click here" button was such a lifesaver for us when my oldest two were going through the college application process!)

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Sun, 07/25/2010 - 7:35pm
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Susan R
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Good points

Very good advice, Audrey. A few things came to mind when I was reading your post that I wanted to emphasize. It can never be assumed that school officials understand the legal requirements that apply to homeschoolers, especially at the college level, since they are receiving apps from different states, and each state can differ with regards to how homeschoolers award diplomas. But homeschoolers can get tunnel vision, and not realize how every bit of information could be important somewhere down the line. The best thing a parent can do is start talking to people and asking questions. It is also a good exercise for the student to learn how to make phone calls, schedule appointments, and do interviews themselves in order to glean important information that will impact their future. I tell my kids all the time that it isn't my education they are working on, it's theirs. Parents should be supportive, but they need to leave as much of the responsibility, research and legwork up to the child as possible.

An example of what I'm talking about is when Seth was enlisting in the Army, he had to explain their own rules about accepting homeschoolers to the recruiter (which were clearly posted on the Army website), and then has had to do the same about three different times when applying for classes and further training. So... I guess I'm also saying that sometimes homeschoolers can seem adversarial, but if they've done their homework, they may feel like they are 'fighting' to be treated fairly.

The clearer the information provided and more knowledgeable everyone is, the better.

On a side note- My only regret is not having Seth go ahead and take his SATs. He didn't 'need' them to enlist, and he figured that at any point he wanted to take college classes, he would take his SATs then. But he was deployed to Iraq for a year, and now the last thing he wants to do is prep for and take the SATs. He is applying for flight school right now, and he doesn't need his SATs for that, and at some point the whole testing thing will become moot, but he continues to have to prove he was legally homeschooled. It would've been best to get it done while he was 'fresh' from high school, and it would have paved the way instead of leaving the road so bumpy. So- even if a parent doesn't think their child's career choice requires SATs/ACT, do it anyway. It's not expensive and it's a good piece of paper to have in the long run.

The best website I think I've ever come across to help parents and students with this is http://www.thehomescholar.com/

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