Keeping a record of the progress made by your homeschool student is not just optional, but a necessary requirement for many states. These homeschool transcripts may be required per subject along with a consolidated one for the entire academic session. It is a lot like the report card that a child in a regular school may receive at the end of the academic session. Creating these transcripts can be a new and challenging task to the first time homeschooling parent. Here are some ideas to get you started.
State Generated Guidelines
If your state has specific guidelines for the transcripts that they need you to follow it will be easier for you to keep records. You can just ask for the blank templates from the education authorities and fill them out. If however your state does not have a fixed form, you will need to read the guidelines provided in order to understand what all headings you are required to fill out details under.
Using Transcript Templates
If you find the task of designing your own records and transcripts from scratch too daunting, you can take a look at the number of templates available online. Homeschool transcript templates can be downloaded for free from a number of websites. Once you have seen a few you will get a good idea about all information needs to go in to a transcript and how you should arrange it.
Individual Subjects and A Master Homeschool Transcript
It is a good idea to divide the school year into four quarters and give the children grades and credits for each individual quarter in each subject you have taught. Then at the end of the year you can make a master homeschool transcript in which you can show each individual subject grade or credit in one sheet. This will be like an annual report card for the student.
Making transcripts is not as difficult as you think it is. The first year you may struggle a bit to get things just right, but the second year onwards you will already have a basic template available with you. Then its just a matter of filling out the printed sheets.
