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Putting Public School Classes on Your Homeschool Transcript
When your child has taken homeschool AND public school classes, it's best to create a homeschool transcript that is a summary of ALL educational experiences.
As I explain in my book, Setting the Records Straight you want to be the clearing house, so that the sum of all your child's education is in your single homeschool transcript document. Here are 7 steps for putting public school classes on your homeschool transcript:
1. Choose an acronym
Create an acronym for each college or high school where your child took classes. Like this:
HHS = Highline High School
2. Place the acronym before the class title on the transcript
Where you normally type the class title, type in the acronym first, and then include the exact class title provided by the high school. Like this:
HHS: Choir
3. Define the acronym in a key or legend
At the bottom of your transcript, explain what the acronym means. Like this:
HHS indicates classes taken at Highline High School
4. Insert the public school grade
No matter what the grade is, include it on the homeschool transcript. You can change it from a number grade to a letter grade, or from a letter grade to a number grade, but you can’t actually change the grade. No, not even if it is a bad grade.
5. Collect course descriptions
The public school probably has course descriptions available online or they were provided on the first day of class as a "syllabus." Be sure to collect these course descriptions so you can include them in your comprehensive homeschool records.
6. Explain difficulties or changes
If your child took public school classes or withdrew from public school, it's often best to explain what happened in a cover letter. A cover letter is helpful when sending a college your child's transcript or comprehensive homeschool records. Often it consists of a very simple statement of "enclosed is my child's transcript." When your child has taken some high school classes or spent a couple of years in high school, this is your opportunity to briefly explain what happened. Keep it to one page or less. Don't mention anything that happened before high school. Don't talk about yourself or your family, only your student. Be positive about what happened.
7. Send all transcripts to the college for admission
When your child is applying for college, they will need all transcripts from all schools sent directly to the college. Your homeschool transcript provides the summary of every educational experience. Your acronym use will clearly show what schools will also be sending transcripts. They can use your transcript as a checklist, to make sure they have received information from the other schools. Public and private high schools must send their official transcripts directly to the college, not through you.
Don't attach a public school transcript to your homeschool transcript. Simply include the information in your homeschool transcript. Public schools will send transcripts directly to the college where your child is applying.
Does your child have a mix of public school and homeschool classes? Please share!
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Comments 13
I have been homeschooling my children and blog like these have always been helpful. Keep sharing such a great blog.
Great read!! Thanks for sharing such a great blog. Keep sharing such a great blog.
My daughter did 9-10 grade in public school. Her school calculates credits differently than I do (1 credit per semester instead of 1/2 credit). Should I adopt the school's way of awarding credits, or should I adapt the school's credit awards to my method? I'm confused about how to do this. Thanks.
Hi, Karen.
Yes, if you have transcripts from public schools, you'll need to send those separately (directly from the public school to the college) from your homeschool transcript. You can still add those grades to your child's transcript to reflect that those first three years were taken at a public school, but the official transcript from those three years will need to come directly from the school.
Great question!
Blessings,
Anita
Assistant to The HomeScholar
In submitting 3 years of public high school transcripts along with the senior year of homeschool would the official transcript from those 3 years come directly from the public school itself and go to the college or would I add those grades to my homeschool transcript?
Hi Michele,
There are a few reasons... We include those classes, primarily, because they are on our children's permanent record, and those classes will influence your son's GPA. If we include only the classes we want (of those in the public record) the GPA's won't match up, and we look dishonest.
Also, on YOUR transcript, you have a chance to add comments, where you can EXPLAIN bad grades, unlike the public school (and even private school) records, where there is typically no explanation. You can read more about that here: How to Write a Cover Letter for Your Transcript - https://www.homehighschoolhelp.com/blogs/how-to-write-a-cover-letter-for-your-transcript
You still have the freedom to leave off bad grades from classes taken at home, or at a homeschool co-op where no public records are kept.
I hope that helps!
Robin
Assistant to The HomeScholar
Silly question - why must we include all transcripts from all schools? My son is having some health issues and will not get the grade he is capable of at a private school. He takes math 1 day a week at the accredited school and then I have that grade transferred to his public school (first year at public school) Most likely he will take the class again next year at the public school because he wants mastery - as he plans to major in the stem classes. If I was homeschooling that class, we would simply do it again. Why because it’s accredited are we required to “declare” it. Does that make sense??
My son was required to enroll in a public school for the first quarter of his Freshman year in order to play on the football team. We withdrew him to resume homeschooling after the quarter ended. He only took elective classes at the public school and did his core classes at home. How should I include those elective classes on his transcript? He only earned 0.25 credits for 6 classes for a total of 1.5 credits while he attended the public school. The public school used a different grading scale than the one I prefer. How do I include the GPA from the grades he earned there with our homeschool class grades?
Hi Kim,
It sounds like you have a good plan already. That's the kind of question that Lee handles for her Gold Care Club members. I included my grading scale on my transcripts, and indicated the classes that my children took at the public school by acronym, but I didn't include the school's grading scale, since there is public access for that information. Then, I averaged the school's GPA in with mine for the years they attended the public school. Again, that's one of those very unique questions best answered in a consultation. You can learn more about the Gold Care Club here: https://www.homehighschoolhelp.com/gold-care-club
Robin
Assistant to The HomeScholar
Due to an unexpected and challenging situation, my daughter will begin math at the local high school for third trimester this year, her sophomore year - not ideal, but it is what it is. When everything else we have done is by semester, any suggestion how to incorporate what will be a one trimester grade on her homeschool transcript? Thank you!
Dear Shauna,
Normally, I would suggest an article or blog post. For example, the blog post Acronyms for Outside Classes will tell you how to include classes from the local high school on your transcripts, but as far as figuring out how to show trimesters, I recommend you talk to Lee. Consider The HomeScholar Gold Care Club, which is full of templates and tools, but also weekly consultations, which will allow you to ask Lee any questions that are unique for your homeschool situation.
Blessings,
Robin
Assistant to The HomeScholar
Does this also apply to dual credit college classes the same way? The college course and grade would go on the transcript? And the college course description would go in the comprehensive record?
Dear Connie,
Good question! It's very similar to including dual credit on your transcript. You can read more about that here: Two for the Price of One: Putting Dual Credit on Your Homeschool Transcript
Blessings,
Robin
Assistant to The HomeScholar