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Acronyms for Outside Classes on Homeschool Transcripts

When homeschoolers take classes outside the home, or use a tutor, the transcript can seem a little complicated. You can make it easily understandable by simply using acronyms for outside classes.  

Should you show the use of a tutor on a homeschool transcript?

There are some very intense homeschoolers that don't feel confident in homeschool classes that are taught independently. That's not me. But, if you are feeling pressured to list your tutor on a homeschool transcript, relax. It's not even really necessary.

Some homeschoolers say that you "should" do classes outside the home or that you "should" indicate the location of each class. I disagree - there is plenty of research showing that homeschoolers provide a good outcome without outside classes, we don't need to prove anything by having our children take classes with a tutor.

But for classes that are taught outside the home, perhaps by a tutor, I suggest only making a note of that in the course descriptions, and only if you want to. I recommend keeping the teacher, or tutor, information to a simple statement on the course description - perhaps like this.

English: Literature and Composition

Resources used:
Primary Text: IEW Live Online Writing Class
Supplemental Text: Excellence in Literature: American Literature
Tutor: Laura House, IEW Live Online Writing Class Instructor

How do I show outside classes on the homeschool transcript?

On the other hand, some homeschoolers take classes at a brick and mortar school, a high school or college. Sometimes those classes are taken as an "extra resource" class and sometimes the student may take those classes with a dual enrollment purpose. For classes at a school or college, you do need to indicate those classes on the homeschool transcript. 

You can set up your transcript to represent outside classes like this:

Choose an acronym for each location where your child took classes. Here are some examples:
DHS = Denver High School
HCC = Highline Community College
FHC = Family Homeschool Cooperative

Once you have chosen an acronym, use it on your child's homeschool transcript. This will help colleges figure out where each class was taken, and where they can expect other transcripts to come from.

Place the acronym by class title on the transcript. For example:
DHS: Algebra 1
HCC: SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
FHC: Latin 1

Then, in key or legend toward the bottom of your transcript, define what each acronym means. It might look like this:
DHS: Classes taken at Denver High School
HCC: Dual enrollment classes at Highline Community College
FHC: Homeschool co-op classes taken at Family Homeschool Cooperative

If the outside classes were taken at a brick and mortar school or college, your homeschool transcript grade should look exactly like the transcript grade that comes from that school. Homeschool co-ops are not schools, so if they give you a grade it's really just a "serving suggestion" based on their interactions with your student. If your student took classes at a community college, high school, alt ed program, or accredited online school, you must use their grades, and have them each send a transcript directly to the college. In fact, if your child has withdrawn from public school, classes taken there can be listed on the homeschool transcript as well.

If you have many questions about making a transcript, this article may help: How to Make a Homeschool Transcript.

I hope this helps to put your mind at ease. The homeschool transcript can be done a variety of ways, but I chose to make it reflect our homeschool in the simplest, truest way possible.

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Comments 2

Lee Binz on Monday, 01 June 2020 14:41

Hi Jennifer,
There are 4 ways to determine credit, and they don't all involve counting hours. If someone else has measured the class credit for you, then you can use their measurement. If an online class says "This is a semester" and your child finishes the class, then give them a semester credit, or 0.5 credit when the class is done. You can read more here:
https://homehighschoolhelp.com/blogs/4-ways-to-earn-high-school-credit/
Blessings,
Lee

PS. Thanks for finding the typo - my staff fixed the image

Hi Jennifer, There are 4 ways to determine credit, and they don't all involve counting hours. If someone else has measured the class credit for you, then you can use their measurement. If an online class says "This is a semester" and your child finishes the class, then give them a semester credit, or 0.5 credit when the class is done. You can read more here: https://homehighschoolhelp.com/blogs/4-ways-to-earn-high-school-credit/ Blessings, Lee PS. Thanks for finding the typo - my staff fixed the image ;)
Guest - Jennifer on Friday, 29 May 2020 21:43

I recently read a PDF by you about homeschooling high school that talked about how a semester credit is about 60-90 hours of work and a full-year credit is about 120-180 hours of work. That seems logical to me and seems to align with the amount of classroom time you'd get in a brick-and-mortar school. Between this article and that information, here's a question that maybe you can address some time in a blog post.

I'm wondering, when your child is doing outside coursework (a live online class, for example) but their time invested is substantially less than these general benchmarks, should you give them full credits? I've been looking into having my children take some online classes, however, many of the live, online classes I've looked at only meet for less than 1 hour each week with an expectation of 1-2 hours of outside work between each class. They often meet for only 12 weeks per semester, but consider that amount of work to be a full semester credit. If the course descriptions are fairly accurate, that would be only 36 hours of work on the subject at most. Would you give a full semester credit for a class such as this?

Wonderful website! I look forward to reading more of it!

I recently read a PDF by you about homeschooling high school that talked about how a semester credit is about 60-90 hours of work and a full-year credit is about 120-180 hours of work. That seems logical to me and seems to align with the amount of classroom time you'd get in a brick-and-mortar school. Between this article and that information, here's a question that maybe you can address some time in a blog post. I'm wondering, when your child is doing outside coursework (a live online class, for example) but their time invested is substantially less than these general benchmarks, should you give them full credits? I've been looking into having my children take some online classes, however, many of the live, online classes I've looked at only meet for less than 1 hour each week with an expectation of 1-2 hours of outside work between each class. They often meet for only 12 weeks per semester, but consider that amount of work to be a full semester credit. If the course descriptions are fairly accurate, that would be only 36 hours of work on the subject at most. Would you give a full semester credit for a class such as this? Wonderful website! I look forward to reading more of it!
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