Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork Review

What is the one area that seems to panic most homeschool moms and bring trepidation when they think of homeschooling their children in high school-its transcripts and record keeping! I have to agree that it is a bit daunting as this is their end game and what we do now really does matter. I was thrilled to learn more with Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork from Everyday Education.

I received a digital version of Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork. This is the fourth edition of this book which was first published in 2001.

This is available as a digital download or you can purchase a physical copy of the book.  The author Janice Campbell is a homeschool mom who homeschooled her four sons from pre-school through high school. I love the fact that she has been in the homeschool trenches and is now helping others navigate all the necessities involved in high school.

Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork
comes as a PDF file format. There are 138 pages and 6 Parts covered in this e Book. Each section is broken down in smaller sub topics.

This is great resource if you preparing for high school, in the middle of their high school, or scrambling to graduate them this year and haven’t even started a transcript. She tells you where you should start in this book. Even if you are looking at graduating really soon and need a quick fix.  This e Book is great for every season you are in with your high schooler.

Part 1: Meet the Transcript:

A good overview of what a transcript is and who needs a transcript.  It explains that every high school student should have a transcript whether they are planning on going straight into the workforce, military, trade school or college. What we do with our children’s high school records and transcript really does matter. We don’t know if as an adult they may want to go to college or go another path. 

It explains what the three basic parts of what should be included on a transcript: Identity, Basic information, and Course Record. From there it breaks the three parts down even further. I love the straight forward information. It’s easy to understand, not wordy but straight to the point.

I really appreciated the details included and a few hints. The author even points out some information is optional and may depend on what your student is planning on doing and may vary by colleges.

Where do I start and when should I be doing such and such. She gives you a plan to execute the whole paper work, record keeping and then to the transcript starting from the beginning.

Part 2: Plan with the End in Mind

Now that I have a high school and middle school student that question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” isn’t so cute as it is was when my kids where younger. Now my brain starts to create list! This part gives you an overview of planning from subjects to study, credits needed, College alternative requirements, and NCAA eligibility.

There is a sample showing you the differences of a standard diploma and a college prep graduation requirements.

If you're wondering what skills they need to succeed in all career paths the book explain what skills you should prepare for and gives you several resource options to look into. Everything from communication skills, writing basics, citations, research skills, organizational and time management skills, and test taking.

There is a section for scheduling it in six different formats from on subject plan to year around schooling. There’s a sample page of what a four-year College bound student should look like.

What about the standardized test. There is a list of several test, when they should be taken, what each one is for, achievement test information, and GED information.

I like that she looks at this as a mom and helps use to remind our kids the reality of the world outside of home and that it won’t be fair and we need to prepare our kids before they graduate school from a mom’s deadline to a real world deadline and many other reminders of real world life skills that we may have not considered.

My favorite section is the section on College alternatives everything from skilled trades, entrepreneurship, apprenticeships, military, and even guilds. Then she list so many wonderful resources that I wouldn’t have even know about. I plan on researching this area in the near future at depth.

One are that caught my attention is with my daughter and her honey and lip balm business. It reminded me that I need to put that in her transcripts and the resources we used. I mean she started this almost 5 years ago and it’s been very educational for her.

Part 3: Keep Simple Records

She breaks down creating a high school binder, what work samples from school you need to keep, and other forms and paper work you should keep.

How do you record unit studies and how to name classes from basic to advance subjects? I never thought about that before so I have to put more thought in this area.

Finally, a high school planning book that gives you more than just a sentence blurb with a child with special needs! Five pages that answer questions: if you need a transcript, college, test taking, and what’s the difference between an SEP and IEP. She recommends resources for you to read and plan. I have one of the books that I have forgotten about and need to pull it out to revisit it.

Part 4: Grades, Credits, and the GPA

How should you grade your own kids realistically and even ethically? She has a lot of information here to read on grading a written assignment and even includes a grading rubrics.

How do you grade if your school style is an uncschooler or chronically relaxed? She expounds on that if you need help there.

A grading scale is included, how to grant credit, granting credit for honor, AP, Dual Credit, and so on. There is even a section how to figure out a GPA. If you’re not great at math she points you to a free GPA Calculator site.

Part 5: Create the Transcript

Now you’re ready to create your own transcripts. There are a few tips to making it look professional. Something I never thought about is how to issue an official transcript. There are a few suggestions about how to not create a transcript yourself. Also included are some helpful information about community colleges.

She offers several transcript formats that you can create yourself with step by step instructions on how to make a transcript on a computer.

This is just one example of a transcript

There are also several examples of how a completed transcript should look.

Part 6: References, Resources, and Reproducibles:

You may have already heard terms like DSST, FAFSA, AP, CLEP, and other terminology. There is a glossary that helps you know what all those common words and acronyms that are associated with high school and college. I appreciated this section as I have heard most of them but, a few I didn’t fully grasp what it really means.

Included is a section that list websites for resources for teaching your student, recommended books for you as a homeschool parent, and even a section for special needs (that part caught my attention).

She also lists several testing resources like ACT, CLT, and other testing links to help prepare your high school student. There is even a Personality/Aptitude assessment link that is free to help with planning for college major or career searching.

This section also has a plethora of forms so you don’t have to create your own layout. There is a reading log, activities log, class, profile.

There are several subject worksheets: English, math, history, science, social studies, religion & philosophy, foreign language, arts (2), PE, electives, and a blank form. This is a nice approach of keeping track of each subject instead of having them all grouped together. It has everything in the forms for when you transfer the information to your transcript. It has a section for units earned, course/book, date, grade, test scores, and a space for comments. I really never thought of doing it like this and this is something I might do with my son.  

There are different styles of blank transcript forms. She gives you a few tips like if you’re doing more than one page you should number your pages 1/3, 2/3, and so on.

What I Would Love as a Feature in this?

I would love to see a downloadable EDITABLE PDF for all of her forms. I would be willing to pay extra for that feature.  Yea, I know I can create it myself but, life is so busy and it would be an amazing option for the homeschool mom to have ready to fill out.

How did I use Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork?

After I downloaded the book and skimmed over the e book. I decided to print all 138 pages. I wanted to highlight parts and write myself notes throughout on the pages that I needed. 

I decided to print this out and put it in a binder.

I currently have a special needs 10^th grader and a 7^th grade son. Both of their transcripts and records are going to be completely different in many ways.

There is so much helpful information that I have highlighted several areas. This section talks about preparing our kids for the real world and real deadlines and not mom's deadlines.

My 10^th grader daughter has special needs and we don’t foresee her going to college due to her academic level. We are still exploring options for her once she graduates. I want to be prepared for wherever God leads her and want to lay out her transcript for several possibilities. 

I'm going to revisited the recommended book for writing her up a SEP.

I was glad to see the micro-buisness information and I will be adding this into my daughter's transcript. 

I plan on cleaning up her transcript and changing the title of the subjects. I’m going to add in Entrepreneurship 101 to it with her micro- business.

My son will be in 8^th grade next year and we have already been trying to map out his high school classes. Most likely he is college bound but, we are very open to other options. Now I feel I have a lot more information to make him a good transcript.

I really liked the individual subject worksheets and I'm considering on utilizing them with my son.

I know I will be revisiting Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork many times over in the coming years.  I really appreciate all the hardwork and research that went into this. 

I feel so much more at ease and less stressed about paper work and transcripts now.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janicepcampbell
Twitter: https://twitter.com/janicecampbell
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/janicecampbell/

I am 1 of 50 other homeschoolers who have been reviewing Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork from Everyday Education. Click on the banner to see what they think too.