Homeschool Records: Keeping It Simple
Homeschool record keeping can be worrisome and stressful for many homeschool parents. Concerns about meeting state requirements, creating high school transcripts, and submitting documentation associated local school district requirements add a level of complexity that can overwhelm even the most organized mom.
The good news is, there is an online option available to help streamline and improve our systems for keeping track of learning in our homeschools. Read on to learn more.
When my oldest made the decision to begin applying to colleges a few years back, I was immediately anxious. This was not the plan. We were supposed to have a couple more years at home, with community college as a potential option, but in the future.
Suddenly, we were in the throes of high school standardized testing, transcripts, college applications, and GPA’s without ever really preparing for it.
The Importance Of Establishing A Homeschool Record Keeping System
My youngest also graduated just last month. He is not planning on attending a four year college and is opting instead to remain home, with a year or two of learning with me supplemented by 1-2 classes at the community college.
Because of my past experience however, I was much more on top of his transcript and felt good about his documentation once all was said and done.
That being said, I am confident that if I were to do it all over again, I would absolutely employ some sort of online recording keeping system for our learning, especially in the high school years.
Online record keeping is how colleges expect to receive a student’s information, and having digital access to the records would’ve been so much easier for me and my children.
With this in mind, because I know many of you are right in the thick of the homeschool record keeping years, I wanted to introduce you to an online record keeping option now available.
Homeschool Records: An Overview
Homeschool Records is an online information management system designed by a retired homeschool mom, specifically for homeschool moms.
The premise is simple. The program walks you through, step by step, how to document and keep track of academic progress and requirements in your homeschool, including high school transcripts and resumes.
Helpful Features Of Homeschool Records
Here are all the options available for tacking and homeschool records management:
- Attendance tracking
- Course descriptions (often necessary for portfolios, state reporting, and high school transcript submission)
- Hours of instruction
- Reading logs
- A resume builder
- Transcripts (Homeschool Records is contracted with Parchment, a service that securely sends official homeschool transcripts to colleges)
- Volunteer and community service tracking
I found the platform to be easy to navigate and intuitive. It literally walks you through every step, prompt by prompt, to help you create the homeschool reports you need.
Competitive Pricing
Homeschool Records is $50.00 a year for the first student, and only $10.00 a year for each subsequent learner.
The Advantages Of Using Homeschool Records
I think the greatest advantage is having one place to keep track of everything for the purposes of reporting. I’ve already shared that if I were to do it all again, I would want a digital record keeping system, without question.
Homeschool Records not only walks you through how to create the records, but also houses all the information for you in an easy to access platform.
Record Keeping For Classical Conversations
If your family is a part of Classical Conversations, there is a special degree plan option included for Classical Conversations families.
Designed to integrate with your Classical Conversations studies, it is one more feature designed with homeschool moms in mind!
For Homeschoolers Looking For Flexibility Across Learning Styles And Ages
I do want to note that if you are an interest-led, eclectic homeschooler, or have younger children with less defined academic lessons, this may not be the best tool for you. The beauty of Homeschool Records is that it literally walks you through everything, step by step to give you the best possible records of learning and achievement.
Because of this step-by-step approach, you must follow the platform’s prescribed path, generally designed for more traditional, upper level, high school learning.
Try Homeschool Records For Free
The good news is, you can take a peek and give Homeschool Records a try without spending a dime with their 7-day free trial. You’ll have access to all of the features available to regular Homeschool Records subscribers except the ability to print or send transcripts. Once you subscribe, these features will then become available.
