Spring is a time when many parents reassess their school plans. As they look objectively at the situation, some will decide that they’ve had it, enough is enough, they can’t take it anymore, damage is being done, and now is the time to withdraw their student from public school.
Homeschool by itself is not terribly difficult, but it can be stressful to figure out what do with with a student who stops attending public or private school. For example, what do you do with their transcript?
Assuming that you want a transcript for college applications, the colleges will require you to send the transcript from that public or private school, so I’m assuming your transcript will show two things:
1) semester grades from the first half of the school year
2) “W” grades for the second half, showing she has withdrawn from school
On your homeschool transcript, put in all the complete grades they provide as 1/2 credit semester-long classes. Ask the school for an “official transcript” so you can see exactly how they do it, and you can do it exactly the same way on their transcript. No guess work – you want their official transcript to look just like your official homeschool transcript.
For the part of the school year that hasn’t been completed yet, the school transcript won’t have final grades. Instead of the “W” grades they provide, give your homeschool grade instead. As you decide on a grade, consider the time spent in that school as if she were homeschooling – as if it were a homeschool coop experience. Add content to each class when schooling at home, just like homeschooling independently. Compile the “at school” work plus the “at home” work into a semester-long 1/2 credit homeschool course, giving a homeschool grade based on what you know about the student’s knowledge and performance.
It’s a good idea to address the “W” in a cover letter or application essay when applying to college. Be clear about why they stopped going to that school – stated in a good way. Perhaps “I wasn’t challenged” but not “I quit because it was boring.”
Learn how to translate all those great homeschool high school classes into the words and numbers that colleges will understand. Get the Total Transcript Solution.