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You decided to home school your child because you believe you can give your child an above-average education at home. You want to decide on your own curriculum and your own courses. You do not want to be bogged down by public school rules and requirements. This is all well and good; however, in the event that your child decides to go to a university, trade school or pursue other educational courses, you do not want him/her to be prevented from doing this by your lack of record keeping. Therefore, it is prudent to keep records and especially prudent to make a transcript for your child.

Preparing a transcript can sound like a difficult task, but it is not as difficult as you may think. What you will want to do, though, to make the task easier is to keep good records on a daily basis. Keep a book that outlines your courses, lesson plans and assignments, and keep a daily log for each child showing his progress and grades. This will make the job of preparing a transcript much easier.

To create a professional looking transcript, there are many good internet sites that can help you. Here's two sites that will help you; one gives a model and one offers printable forms:

http://teascript.com/

http://ww w.printablehomeschool.com/tran scriptforms.html .

Here's some tips for preparing the transcript:

Include your student's name and basic information (address, phone number, social security number, date of birth, gender and parents' names) as well as basic information about your home school.
List the specific name of courses (identify courses with common sense descriptions) and the year completed. Include the words "with labs" if labs were included in a course.
List number of credits for each course (a credit is generally defined as 45 minutes for 180 days). Most public school classes give students one credit each, and most public schools require 18 to 24 credits to graduate.
List grades (use a system of A, B, C, D and F rather than pass/fail) and the grade point average. Use the following site to set up a spreadsheet to figure GPA: http://www.themathlab.com/home work/algebrahomework/GPAstart. htm
Include signature of person certifying transcript along with contact information and date.
Do not over-do; colleges do not want to see every project your child ever completed.
Limit the transcript to two pages.
Do not hand write the transcript.

Preparing a transcript for your child is fairly easy, especially with the help available on the internet, and it will be well worth the trouble in regards to your child's future.

Learn more about this author, Sherry Horton Blake.
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