I'm at a point where I need to start thinking about high school for my two darlings... And I truly have no idea where to even start. It looks like we will do a half time public school/half time homeschool program - and I'm fine on that aspect. What I need help with is figuring out the whole graduation/transcript/what they'll need for college stuff. Any suggestions?
Just be sure to keep track of grades as you go! We put Rachael in cyber-school at the end of this year so she can take college classes next year free during her senior year of high school (orientation TOMORROW!!!). Trying to put the transcripts together, when I really hadn't been doing it all along, was a BEAR!!! And I REALLY DID try to do it, but it had just gotten away from me.
But how do you go about getting grades?? That's what I don't understand. I keep hearing that you need to have transcripts and grades and all that - but if you are designing a program around life experiences you won't have grades and transcripts! I have no doubt that I can tailor a program that will make sure my sons know what they need to know - that's not the issue. But how do you put a grade on visiting the Holocaust Museum or talking a Holocaust survivor? I really don't want to use some standard, pre-written curriculum - that just seems so... redundant?? I'm not sure the word I want. I want to design my children's learning experiences like I used to do as a teacher. But since I know the kids so well, I'm not going to give them grades. That seems crazy!
for transcript purposes, you must assign grades. How you do that is somewhat up to you, as long as you can back it up. You are the teacher and have discretion. But at this stage in the game, if you want colleges to look at them, you need to have some way of showing that they know their stuff--work samples or something to merit the letter grades you decide to give them. Colleges aren't going to know how bright your child is just by hearing they've spoken to Holocaust survivors, you know? I'm not trying to sound abrasive at all (I'm personally very impressed!) I'm just playing devil's advocate. =)
Barbara Shelton's book Senior High: A Home Designed Form+U+La!!!!!!!! I can't say enough good about this book if you are looking into making your own graduation requirements and curriculum for high school. She has forms set up you can print out for keeping track of hours or assignments or experiences. It has really helped me out with our schooling here. Hope this helps!
I used homeschool tracker + for sd in high school. I was able to load her test and project grades and it would create a very nice transcript. Now about assigning grades you choose what the criteria is. Colleges will want to see actual grades and high school is a good time to transition to testing and essays. You could require projects, essays or such that could be graded. You can grade based on their effort and let them know that.
You're going to have to assign grades. Last year, Rachael took French (SOS), Calculus, American History, American Literature, Physics, Research, and Logic. She completed the book for each subject, she took tests. She and I together chose which classes for her to take. Only one, Research, was taught outside the home by a former high school English teacher. He teaches one day a week from a local church, and is AWESOME!!! We also did Physics Lab at a co-op, but she didn't test or give grades. Grades were given based primarily on her test scores. If you're grading "life experiences" (for example, Faythe is making a Rag Quilt right now, and I will be giving her Home Ec credit for it), it will be sujective. SO BE IT! Carl gave Rachael a half credit of Technology. She didn't go through any formal program, but he felt that what she DOES do informally is enough to allow for it.
I should have added above that the Senior High book includes idea for assigning grades. One method is to have a list of goals you want your student to reach. If they complete the goals, the grade is a C. If they do extra, good attitude, etc., their grade goes up from there, but the expectations for a B or A is written down and understood by the student ahead of time. I have not used that method yet, but I'm thinking about it. If I give ds15 an A for completing his work, that doesn't mean he is on the same level as students who put in a lot of extra effort to receive A's in other schools. I haven't worked through all of this in my head yet, but we are getting there.
Thanks for your info! I think I'm starting to realize that we won't be able to have the loosy-goosy informal program we're used to. Darn! This is all so weird because for so many years as a classroom teacher *I* was the one who said whether kids knew what they were supposed to or not - and the world took my word for it. I've had hundreds of students and nobody has ever challenged me when I said the kid knew it - so now having to document they know it is odd. I've been the unchallenged expert for 21 years and all of a sudden I feel like I'm challenged
Actually you can. You'll just have to figure out a way to label things with a subject/grade. Why? Are you planning another trip with the boys?
We're not planning another long trip - a couple months here and there, but nothing huge like the PanAm! Now that I realized what my struggle was - that I was always the uncontested expert - I think I can make headway on figuring out how to solve that problem. I just didn't know that was my struggle
Your boys have learned SO MUCH that really can't be quantified! I know it's hard to see in black and white, but it will most definately do them so much more good in the long run than book-learning.
You can just plan out a basic rubric and grade based on that. It does not always have to be formal tests or things like that. You may need something written because some colleges may ask for hours, lab books or things like that. Most of them around here do not do that but I have heard of some that have before.
If I were in your shoes, I would create a binder for each year to help you document things. The binder would have 5-6 sections in it, one for each subject. Every time your child does an educational experience, you document it. Write the date, the experience and have your kid write a paragraph or two about what they learned. For creative projects, take a photo of their project. For ongoing projects, for instance say they attend YMCA PE classes 2 times a week, I'd print up a log page for them to record that they attended each week. Transcripts are documentation. What they did and how well they did it. PS. some items can go in more than one section. A science report might go in the science tab and the LAnguage arts tab, since it would use both. Then you can assign a grade for the science part...how well they researched and understood the topic and a grade for the LA part, how well the report was organized, mechanics, etc.
I like the idea of a binder of some sort. Now that I understand that I need to document their learning just like I did with my students, I'm OK with it. A LOT of my students' grades were totally subjective - and I'm sure a LOT of my sons' grades will be subjective as well.
