Homeschool Review: Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork #hsreviews #highschooltranscripts #homeschoolhighschool #homeschooltranscripts

I am working on the very last transcript for Long Leaf Academy (how is that even possible?), so I was happy to get my hands on Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork by Janice Campbell from Everyday Education.  I always enjoy looking at different approaches so that I can best highlight the individual education that my children have received through home schooling.  I especially appreciate Janice's reminder to make time for the things that matter.  This has been our number one goal throughout the years and we have worked to make sure that each of our children has been introduced to a variety of things and allowed ample opportunity to explore what makes them happy as they strive to realize GOD's purpose and calling on their lives.

Individuality is important and I want to make sure that my daughter's transcript reflects her personality, as well as her educational journey.  Her transcript, like her educational career, is not the same as her older sisters' and brother's transcripts.  Her interests were different than theirs and our approach to school was different for her, so her transcript must be different as well.  I also realize that even though her transcript is her individual record, it needs to be similar in form and function to the transcripts of other graduates for purposes of college entrance.  Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork helps me to do just this.  

Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork is a 138-page eBook that is chock-full of helps, advice, encouragment, and printables to make the world of high school easier for the homeschool mom to navigate.  Divided into six parts, it explains exactly what a transcipt is, who needs one and why, and how to put a transcript together that will best benefit your student.  The eBook lays out HOW to plan for high school and beyond, offers study strategies and skills that will prepare students for college, trades, and/or the workforce, and even explains how to set up a family system to easily keep high school records.  Simple, but effective goals help organize you now for later -- and sharing these with your high schoolers will help them learn to help themselves.  

Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork explains grading systems and scales, shares how to calculate a GPA, how to assign credit to courses and classwork completed, and gives printables to walk you through it all.  Janice even understands the hearts of unschooling moms and "chronically relaxed" homeschoolers and offers her Check-Off Transcript to help you lay out the organization of where you have been, where you want to be, and/or how to create a portfolio of academic achievement.  I found this section to be very encouraging and I know that you will, too, since each of our homeschooling environments is unique to our families.  The Check-Off Transcript was helpful to me in making sure that we have covered all of the basics for my girl.  Using it as a worksheet gave my daughter and I an opportunity to sit and discuss and remember everything that she has studied over the course of her high school caareer.  I will make sure to include it all on her official transcipt, but I will treasure our time together reminiscing even more.

Check-Off Transcript

All of these "helps" make Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork a wonderful resource for homeschooling families -- moms, dads, and students alike will benefit from reading and utilizing this book.  There are very specific parameters shared so that you know exactly HOW to make your transcript and there is information given to help you decide the best names for the classes your child has taken.  I really like the section titled Naming Classes as it helps me to realize the importance of all educational experiences and reminds me to structure informal learning experiences so that they can be counted as credits earned.  There are Subject Worksheets included for every subject and they have guides that help you know what life experiences you could/should include as you classify courses into Carnegie units.   I printed the Fine Arts Subject Worksheet so that we could begin to organize four years worth of attended performances.  Pulling out the calendar and sorting through our collection of playbills has brought a flood of memories.  There is more than enough real-life here to award a credit for Theatre.

The transcript information is invaluable in Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork but the additional encouragement offered makes this a must-read/must-have resource.  The Skills and Habits to Cultivate in High School section explains the importance of communication skills, writing basics, and learning MLA and APA citations.  It also discusses organization, time management, and test taking skills.  Cultivating these skills and habits early help students as they transition to college.  Professor Carol Reynolds shares Seven Strategies for a Successful First Year at College and this section should be required reading for EVERY high school student everywhere.  It discusses the importance of rest, how to deal with the "unfair" of life, advises students that deadlines in college are truly deadlines -- unlike what they might have experienced in the homeschool environment -- and discusses the importance of attending class and giving your all.  This is perfect for helping our students envision college life and begin to strategize for success.

As important as academics are, there are many other things that our students can be doing during high school that will help impact them [and others] later in life.   Six Things Your Teen Can Do While Homeschooling High School reminds us all of the many opportunities to serve and grow that homeschooling affords our children and families.  You know, mom, we are privileged to love on some phenomenal kids and I can think of no better way for us to prepare them for life than to allow them to discover their talents and passions now.  Whether it be through early college credit, volunteering within the community, or pursuing special interests and travel, the world awaits and we can help our teens discover fully who GOD has intended for them to be. 

These are exciting days.  This is the stuff that matters.  I want to help my daughter be her very best and reach her fullest potential.  I know that you want the same for yours.  I count it all joy.  

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Start early.  Begin reading this today. 

I was given the opportunity to review Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork from Everyday Education as a member of the   Homeschool Review Crew.   You can check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought of this book as well (or just click on the banner below.)

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