• Home
• About HS'ing
• Curricula
• Resources
• Homemaking
• Forums
• Contact Us

Custom Search

Curricula and Learning Links - High School

Assigning Credits and Keeping a Transcript

What Is A Credit?

Many homeschooling parents worry about assigning credits at the high school level, but this isn't as daunting a task as it may seem! The first thing to do is to check your state homeschooling requirements. Are you required to take particular courses or have a certain number of hours for credit?

If your state does not have specific requirements, think of one credit as finishing the curriculum that you have chosen. If you are doing a Charlotte Mason or unschooling method, think of the credit as completing particular goals of learning or possibly hours (120 -- give or take) of effort. Unless your state requirements say otherwise, you have a great deal of flexibility in how you assign credits.

Creative Credit

Many parents worry about their children having enough credit to graduate, especially those who don't use specific curricula. Here are some ideas to help you realize that you can give credit for many activities that you do in every day life:

• Volunteer work -- You can offer credit in many areas for volunteering. For example, "Community affairs" for volunteering at a town office, "Civics" for working on a candidate's campaign, "Construction Principles" for building houses with Habitat for Humanity, and "Small Business Principles" for working in a charity thrift store.
• Chores -- Activities around the home can count as "Home Economics" for cooking, laundry, shopping, and cleaning; "Mechanics" for work on the vehicles; "Botany" for gardening and yard work.
• Church activities -- Working in the nursery or Sunday school for younger children could count as "Child Development," and playing in the church band or singing in the choir could count as "Music."
• Clubs and Organizations -- Memberships in organizations could count towards credit in whatever the club specializes in.

How Many Credits Are Needed to Graduate?

The number of credits needed depends on your plans for the future. If you have a college or university in mind, check the admission requirements there FIRST. If you have not made plans, check your state's public school requirements to get some ideas. (NOTE: These requirements probably do NOT apply to homeschooled students, but you should understand what the other students competing to get into a college or get a job will have.) In the state of Florida, for example, public school students have the option of a twenty-four credit, four year high school program; an eighteen credit, three-year, college preparatory program; or an eighteen credit, three-year "career preparatory" program. Here are the requirements for each.

Credit for Community or On-line College Courses

Some states allow high school students to dual-enroll in the community college. This means that the student can take college classes while continuing to work on high school at home. Families may also choose to take on-line college courses for credits. You can count each college course as one high school credit. See Figuring A High School GPA for more information about grade point averages when taking college courses.)

Credit for Work Study

If your student works at a paying job during high school, credit can be awarded for "work study." Here is some information provided by one of our HomeschoolChristian.com message board participants about example credits from an Alaska school.

Credit Limits:

No more than 1/2 credit per semester (90 hours of work) of either Work Study or Service Learning.
No more than 1 credit in the summer.
No more than 1 full credit (180 hours of credit) will be awarded for each type of job. If the student wishes to earn more than one credit, he can do so through a different job.
No more than 4 credits in Work Study and Service Learning combined, earned over the course of the student's high school years.

Work Study:

Credit for paid employment. Student must be 14 or older, and there must be a supervisor present.
Fill out an AK Department of Labor work permit application. You can get this at http://www.labor.state.ak.us/worker/worker.htm.
Before beginning, include in your ILP and turn in (1) Work Study Proposal and (2) Work Permit or Work Permit Application with the ILP. If sending application, please send a copy of your Work Permit to your contact teacher as soon as you receive it.
While working, maintain log of hours.
With High School Evaluation, turn in (3) Work Study Student Log, (4) Work Study Self Evaluation, (5) Work Study Employer Feedback, and (6) Work Study Parent Evaluation.

Service Learning:

Credit for volunteer work. The student may combine volunteer work and job shadowing to accumulate hours for credit.
Before beginning, include in your ILP and turn in (1) Service Learning Proposal with the ILP.
While working, maintain log of hours.
With High School Evaluation, turn in (2) Service Learning Log, (3) Service Learning Self Evaluation, and (4) Service Learning Volunteer Feedback (for volunteer work - filled out by supervisor) or Service Learning Job Shadow Verification (for job shadowing - filled out by mentor).

Another example:
"Business Principles" 1/2 credit for a semester's work as a bookkeeper
"Health and Human Relations" 1 credit for 25 hours per week work at a nursing home
"Work Study" 1 credit for work at a sales job or at a newspaper

Additional Information

Ambleside Online's article on High School Credit Hours

Ways to Build Your Resume
HomeschoolChristian.com article on building a resume that colleges and employers want to see.

Figuring a High School GPA
HomeschoolChristian.com article on figuring your student's grade point average.

What Students Should Know Before They Graduate
Recommendations for practical skills you should make SURE your student knows before graduating high school

For real-time encouragement, visit our message boards!