Somebody, slow down time! I have received my very first high school review. I am not sure how we got to this point already. After all, this child was born just last week and started homeschooling yesterday, right? Right?? Alas, our firstborn starts high school in a few months. High school. It's exciting, intimidating, and shocking all at the same time.
Janice Campbell from Everyday Education offers resources that help take away some of that daunting feeling that comes from home educating a high school student. She's an expert on the subject, too, as she homeschooled her four boys all the way through graduation. Her book Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork helps make planning, record-keeping, and transcript-making easy.
Janice Campbell from Everyday Education offers resources that help take away some of that daunting feeling that comes from home educating a high school student. She's an expert on the subject, too, as she homeschooled her four boys all the way through graduation. Her book Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork helps make planning, record-keeping, and transcript-making easy.
Janice believes in a purpose-filled life, so she helps streamline the process of keeping records to give you more time for relationships and things that are important. Her methods have been proven beneficial. Since 2001, Transcripts Made Easy has sold thousands of copies all around the world. The book is currently in its fourth edition. As the admission process changes and colleges look for different criteria, Janice updates and adds more information from both her experiences and experts in the field.
The book is written so that the reader can start at any point and use just the sections he needs. It is divided into six parts, each with many sub points:
- Meet the Transcript
- Plan with the End in Mind
- Keep Simple Records
- Grades, Credit, and the GPA
- Create the Transcript
- References, Resources, and Reproducibles
The beginning of the book explains all the ins and outs of a transcript: what it is, why you need it, and what information is included. It is helpful information to understand the purpose of a transcript and why every student should have one, whether or not he plans to further his education through college courses. During my years teaching in the christian school before our homeschooling days, I spent time working in the secretarial office. I was responsible for inputting grades and other information and printing report cards. I didn't handle the actual finalization of the transcripts, but I was familiar with the process. Therefore, I didn't focus on this section, but moved on to areas that were beneficial for me personally.
The first section I was drawn to was the Sample Four-Year Schedule for College-Bound Students. Homeschool requirements in the state of Michigan are fairly lax and vague. While that can be a freeing feeling for the homeschool parent, it can also be distressing wondering if you're doing everything right. I appreciate having this list that covers the courses, tests, applications, skills, and other suggestions for the next four years. This will help us plan our son's education now, while making sure he is ready for college. He's not settled yet what he wants to do for the rest of his life, but we want him to be prepared for whatever path God leads him.
Another part of the book that was especially interesting was Six Things Your Teen Can Do While Homeschooling High School. Our education philosophy leans heavily toward life schooling (with an emphasis on literature and hands-on learning). It is our desire to give our kids many opportunities for learning, not just book work but experiences that will help them through life itself. Suggestions to start a microbusiness and develop special talents are included, but the section titled Serve Others Through Volunteering spoke to me the most.
"I have heard it said that teenagers are old enough to be useful, but young
enough to be dangerous . . . Homeschool teens have the opportunity to learn
while meeting real needs for real people."
This book has already been so helpful for me. I'm learning which work samples I should keep, how to name those tricky life-schooling classes for credit, how to give a grade to those same courses, and how to fill out the actual transcript. There are many examples along with reproducible forms and logs. It's easy to print out the pages and fill in your own information.
Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork is a must-have book for anyone educating a high school student at home. It is a valuable resource filled with practical information. Janice's easy-to-follow directions make this an enjoyable read. It feels as though you're sitting in a conference listening to her explain her methods. She's honest and truly wants to help the homeschooling family succeed.
The book is around 130 pages in length, and though I received the digital copy of it, it also is available as a printed book. Along with this book, Everyday Education offers many other materials to help both the parent and curriculum for the student, such as Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting which I personally used a few years ago. Janice Campbell's materials are a joy to use.
I know that Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork will be a resource that I reference time and time again as we continue on our homeschooling journey.
You can connect with Everyday Education on the following social media sites:
You can see how other homeschooling mom's used this book by reading the reviews on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.
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