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MarilynW
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| Posted: Jan 09 2010 at 1:37pm | IP Logged
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...please can I ask you for some help and reassurance...
Please would you post if you have written your own high school program and prepared your own transcript.
My question is - have colleges accepted your own portfolio and transcript with no problem - and do your think your children would have done better with an accredited school transcript. Especially if your children are seeking scholarships...
This year I have my dd enrolled in Seton for Grade 9 - I mainly did it because I was scared of the transcript and accreditation. Seton is fine and dd is doing well - BUT there is very little choice in subjects and we have added our own independent study courses. Also Seton's volume of work is HUGE and so it is hard to add many extra things. Next year my dd wants to do many other courses such as web development, music history and theory, home economics - and to do Seton we would have to do these in addition to their core courses. Also Seton is so expensive and eats up a huge chunk of our budget..
I am fairly disciplined and write my children detailed lesson plans. So having daily lesson plans is not necessary. But I am worried about the whole transcript thing. My choices as I see it are:
1) Prepare my portfolio and transcript myself - I need to do a lot of reading and prep to be able to do this
2) Use an organization such as NARHS - but this is costly
3) Register with Kolbe just to do the transcript
Not sure if there are any other choices.
I would so appreciate any views you may have.
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Marilyn
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Mary K
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my daughter chose to attend a local community college for her 1st 2 years. she was able to receive financial aid , but no scholarships. at a much lower cost, she has been able to tae the basic type classes every school asks for and classes in her future field of study (theatre major, minor in psychology).
We unschool, so just wrote out my own transcript putting my daughter's interests and classes she took in "educationese". That and a letter from our school district saying she had fulfilled all homeschool requirements was all that was necessary.
God bless,
Mary-NY
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Angie Mc
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MarilynW wrote:
Please would you post if you have written your own high school program and prepared your own transcript.
My question is - have colleges accepted your own portfolio and transcript with no problem - and do your think your children would have done better with an accredited school transcript. Especially if your children are seeking scholarships...
1) Prepare my portfolio and transcript myself - I need to do a lot of reading and prep to be able to do this
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Quickly...Yes, my dd was accepted into a Community College (the summer after 10th grade) and then was accepted into a competitive school at a large university and she has already received one scholarship. No, she would have done worse if she was tied down and unable to follow her own path. It was because of her unique experience and studies that she has done so well. Also, I don't believe that *you* have to do an undoable amount of research and prep. The key is to know that this path is a good fit for you and your child.
I hope to write more on our experience in the future, but I need to get back to my Saturday work  .
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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MarilynW
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| Posted: Jan 09 2010 at 5:10pm | IP Logged
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Thank you Mary and Angie. I really appreciate your postings.
Community college followed by university is a definite possibility for us - esp as my dd will be young when she graduates and the community college is near us - also for financial reasons. I will encourage my children not to go into debt for their college degrees.
Angie I would be really interested in anything you have to write.
I am in the process of compiling a reading list and website list for high school record keeping, for college deadlines etc. I will post when I am done.
I did not go to high school or college in the US - so much is foreign to me - eg CLEP, PSAT, SAT, ACT, credits, transcripts etc etc The British system is so different. I want to write a 101 guide for my dh and myself - and which may help others - which explains what all of these are, what the deadlines are, what we should be doing in the different grade levels to prepare.
Also at this point - I have no idea but will be researching - how do you find scholarships and funding, when do contact colleges etc. (the British system seems so simple compared to here)
Whilst I am not sure at this point that all of my children will go the college route, I want to be prepared. I never want any of my children to feel that they were disadvantaged in any way because of being homeschooled.
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Marilyn
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Nina Murphy
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| Posted: Jan 09 2010 at 6:52pm | IP Logged
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We did not create our own highschool transcripts for our two college students. One was from Seton/MODG, and one was a combination of MODG and 2 yrs. at our tiny traditional parish "school". But I know several people who have done it quite successfully and are very confident and capable. For me personally, with my hectic schedule, we have determined that being enrolled with MODG is the best thing for our current two highschoolers. 
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~~Nina
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Mary K
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| Posted: Jan 09 2010 at 7:26pm | IP Logged
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My daughter took the SAT and the community college still required a placement test. My 17yodd also plans on attending the same school. She is skipping the SAT (about$70 fee) and taking the California Achievement Test ($20 fee) for the end of year assessment (NY requirement).
God bless,
Mary-NY
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guitarnan
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My son chose the community college route, too - mainly because he took a class there this semester and 1) liked it and 2) aced it. He is comfortable there and will save thousands of dollars by living at home for a year or so (weirdly, our state universities charge top dollar for dorms and meal plans - don't know why it's so expensive, but it is).
We toured a bunch of schools last year (grade 11) and I would encourage you to do that as time and material considerations permit. I am a big believer in visiting schools in person. I don't think picking a school from a web page or brochure tells you much about what it's like to be there.
Grade 11 is also a good time to learn about the FAFSA (federal financial aid application) and double-check college entrance requirements.
In my county, public schoolers take the PSAT twice, grades 10 and 11, and start taking the SAT by early grade 11 at the latest. (You should be able to sign up for the PSAT at your local public high school. It's in the early fall - find out what to do ahead of time.) 11th grade PSAT qualifies students for National Merit Scholarships.
One of my son's friends has applied to zillions of schools - I will ask her mom what they did about transcripts. We have an umbrella school, so I have not had to worry about that.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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MarilynW
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| Posted: Jan 09 2010 at 8:24pm | IP Logged
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Thanks Nina, Mary and Nancy.
Nancy - what umbrella school do you use? Thanks for the heads up on visits and the deadlines.
Did you do AP classes?
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Marilyn
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guitarnan
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We use The Learning Community International. Good - very student-oriented and we have 100% control over our childrens' learning experiences. Not as good - pricey, particularly during senior year. We've had two different consultants - both good and quite helpful. You can PM me for details. (We are in Maryland, different state requirements than where you are...)
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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guitarnan
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No AP classes - nowhere to take them, and I'm not certified to teach them. Ds took a community college history class this fall and did well - dual credit, yee-ha.
I did a lot of college visits myself, as a teen, and then more with my brother...We took ds mainly to state universities, but also to schools he expressed interest in - Coast Guard Academy, IUPUI, IU Bloomington - and he's been to UCLA (my alma mater) and MIT (my dad's alma mater) because, well, he just had to see them. 
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Tonya
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Hello Marilyn. I have two that I have homeschooled through high school. My oldest daughter did Seton her 8th grade year, hated it and went back to public high school for high school. We decide that Seton just didn't work for our family. My second daughter was completely homeschooled with a very eclectic curriculum with a transcript that we furnished ourselves. All of the colleges she applied to accepted her. A few did ask for more information such as reading lists and scope and sequences. I had kept fairly good records so that was not a problem. She ended up going to a state school with an almost full ride (and has maintained a 3.95 GPA).
My oldest son is a senior this year and since we have moved to Pennsylvania, he is enrolled in a Pennsylvania homeschool diploma program. We still use a very eclectic curriculum based around his interests. He has applied to quite a few schools, most of which we will not hear from until April but he has been accepted to Pitt and Penn State. The University of Pittsburgh hassled us a little with his transcript but they had hassled us with our daughter, also. They are not particularly fond of homeschoolers. However, both of my kids got into Pitt.
As for AP classes, my son has taken many online AP classes from PA Homeschoolers which is available to people outside of PA also. Most of the classes have been very good and my son has scored well on the AP exams. They are a lot of work but he has enjoyed them. We do not have easy access to Community College where we live.
On a side note, my oldest daughter is an Admissions Counselor at Franciscan University. They see a lot of homeschoolers. They have to put a lot of emphasis in the ACT or SAT scores. They will basically accept any kind of transcript that homeschooling parents provide. I think that the state schools are the hardest to deal with and they vary from state to state.
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Tonya
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Angel
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| Posted: Jan 12 2010 at 9:10am | IP Logged
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Just a clarification... Those of you who said your kids chose to attend community college in 11th or 12th grade... you meant that your dc graduated early and entered community college in what would have been 11th or 12th grade, right? They didn't just take a few classes from the cc here and there?
Does that mean that they had already met all the requirements for graduation before they were 16/17?
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Angela
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guitarnan
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No, our cc has a dual-credit program for high schoolers who are still enrolled in 11th or 12th grade. My son has started taking classes through that program. Credits go on both his high school and cc transcripts.
He liked his first one so much (maybe it's the good grade he earned  ) that he plans to attend that cc full time next fall, after graduating from high school.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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stefoodie
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Our dd did not take any entrance exams and got into the community college. Her program is a joint one with the first 2 years at cc and next 3 at university (also local). We were planning to go with NARHS but we were very lax with record-keeping and found that if we wanted to go that route it was still going to take a lot of work and we were all (dh, dd, and I) getting stressed out over it. And then we had to travel and ran out of time, plus plans changed last minute as we thought we were going to be out of the country and then had to go back.
Last minute I decided we're going to try for a homemade transcript. That's what we presented to the counselor/admissions officer. We also presented two letters of recommendation, and then the officer asked for one more letter from us detailing more about our daughter (stuff that you wouldn't necessarily put into a transcript). She also had two entrance interviews. She did take placement exams and got into honors.
In retrospect, we would have done many things ahead of time, took advantage of dual credit courses, etc. But at least for this child everything worked out well. We could have used scholarships but right now it's not a problem and there are other scholarships she can/will apply for in the coming semesters.
For our second child we might be doing the dual credit thing. He's allowed to do that starting in 9th grade but I'm not sure I want him in that environment yet until at least 11th grade.
Also still considering Kolbe or MODG for high school, if he commits to the work. Looks like this child might be more motivated by a third party involvement. And I could use some help with record-keeping, etc.
Re "if they would have done better" -- I think it depends on what course/major your child plans to take. The program my dd is on right now is one of the first few in the country, so while culinary arts is popular the 5-year degree program is new and untried, so my feeling is they were eager to admit qualified applicants.
It might be a different matter altogether with our next since he wants to go into mechanical engineering so entrance into any program will be a bit more difficult/competitive.
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stef
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stellamaris
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Kolbe has an excellent booklet entitled Parent as Counselor that describes when and why to take the different entrance exams, what a college level program looks like, and other valuable info about planning your high school program. It would be helpful to begin looking at this kind of information in the 8th grade year.
We took the SAT's here. I had the kids take them the spring of their junior year, but if I had to do it over, I would have had them take them each spring (in 9th and 10th grades, too), just to get familiar with the tests and gain some test-taking experience. Most private schools do this today.
I'll post later on transcripts. Got to go do the chauffeur thing now!
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Caroline
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Erin
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Marilyn
I was reading Heart of the Matter Online's post this morning on Does Homeschool Highschool Terrify You? and thought I must share here (in one of these posts )Lori is highly recommending Lee Binz's book. Actually I did subscribe to Lee's free download over the holidays when I was having my panic attack, haven't read it yet 
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MarilynW
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Erin wrote:
Marilyn
I was reading Heart of the Matter Online's post this morning on Does Homeschool Highschool Terrify You? and thought I must share here (in one of these posts )Lori is highly recommending Lee Binz's book. Actually I did subscribe to Lee's free download over the holidays when I was having my panic attack, haven't read it yet |
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Thank you so much Erin - I have bookmarked to check it out - looks very good.
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Marilyn
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Maria B.
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Two of my kids are in college after being home schooled through high school. My son is in his third year at the Naval Academy and my daughter is a freshman in her second semester at George Mason University (she started out at Belmont Abbey, but it was not a good fit for her.) Anyway, I was terrified at the prospect of transcripts. For me now, that's the easiest part about high school. It's the day to day stuff that can be challenging. I don't claim to be an expert, but I would be happy to talk with anyone who has concerns or questions. Once you get a system in place, it really is not hard. Good luck to all!
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Maria in VA
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Bethany
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I'm not even close to having HS'ers but thought I would let you all know about a book I read recently. It's title is Homeschooling: A family journey by Gregory and Martine Millman. It was very interesting and even in the blurbs on the back John Taylor Gatto states "The chapter on college is worth the price of the book all by itself."
Just thought I would let you all know about it, I did find it a very interesting. Oh, and by the way, they are Catholic, I did not know this when I picked it up.
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Bethany
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: Those who have homeschooled to college..
