Homeschooling through high school can be tough. Recording keeping was one of my biggest struggles (until my friend gave me a high school credit planner).
Keeping good records in high school is very important. If your child plans to go to college, it is essential. The computer or a notebook are both good places to keep records. You can use a spread sheet program or create tables in a word processing program to keep the information organized.
Important Homeschool High School Records You Should Keep
1. All books that your student uses as curriculum and reads for pleasure. Include the title, author, and publisher. If you have an umbrella program, this information may be required for the curriculum books you use. If not, keep the records yourself.
2. Test scores and other graded work. Whenever you give a grade on a test, paper, or project, record the grade. Keep all the grades for one subject together. This makes it easier when you fill out a report card.
3. Attendance. Have a place where you keep attendance, other than your family calendar.
4. Hourly classes. Sometimes subjects such as P.E., music, and art are done on an hourly basis, such as 175 hours for a credit, depending on your particular requirements. This is something your child needs to learn responsibility for. If they mark it on a calendar, be sure to transfer it to another format that would be easy to show to someone evaluating your program.
5. Report cards. Quarterly or semester evaluations are useful for both the teacher and student. Report cards should include grades, attendance, and how many credits each class is worth. Once final grades are given for the year, figure out the grade point average.
6. Monthly reports. This is not essential, but my umbrella program requires it, and I think it is very helpful for me and my kids. The reports list what the student has done in each subject for that month and how close they are to completion. For example, Science: chapters 5 – 10, 10/20 chapters completed.
One tool that kept me on track throughout my kids’ high school year was the credit planner. It allowed us to evaluate class decisions before we enrolled in expensive co-ops or dual enrollment and made sure my kids stayed on track to graduate.
I recommend downloading the planner when your child is in the 8th grade.
High School Credit Planner
Why start so early?
In the eighth grade, download your state’s graduation requirements. Unfortunately these vary by state so it is extremely important you know what’s required where you live. All states have a minimum requirement to graduate. However many states offer scholarships to kids who meet additional requirements so make sure you know those as well.
By beginning this process in the 8th grade you will be prepared for high school before you choose your 9th grade homeschool curriculum.
How to use the high school credit planner
On the left side of the planner you’ll find the credits needed and subjects. These are already filled in on the PDF version of the credit planner since the requirements and subjects are the same for most states. However, if you have different requirements use the editable version of this planner to make modifications.
Starting with ninth grade, fill in the planner with the courses your child will take to fulfill the requirements. I always had a paper copy of the planner that I filled in with pencil. I kept a digital copy that I would turn in to the state evaluator or use to create a transcript.
Think ahead
At the end of eighth grade, I would fill out the planner completely from ninth to twelfth grade. This will give you a big picture view of what your child needs to complete to graduate. I always made changes to the planner over the high school years, but knowing what was required helped me plan and purchase curriculum.
Planning ahead also gives you time to find co-op classes to supplement their education if necessary.
To download your homeschool high school credit planner just right click and save. You will then be able to open the document and print or edit.
Update the planner every year
At the end of every year, I total the credits at the bottom of the form. (The credits will automatically total on the spreadsheet)
This helps me easily track my child’s progress and I can make changes based on their progress.
I was able to use this credit planner to help my daughter get into college. Recently I printed out my son’s planner for him to take to the Navy recruiting office. Both the university and the Navy accepted the planner as a high school transcript. (I edited the planner to include grades and gpa)
It’s never too early to start planning for high school, so download your planner today.
Lisa says
This is great! Thanks.
Cheryl says
I love this. Although, the pdf does not download, and the doc. file does not open correctly, It gave me an idea of where I should begin for my highschooler. Thanks.
TheHappyHousewife says
You might want to try again by right clicking on the links and downloading them. I’ve asked around and other people seem to be able to download them without problems.
MarshaMarshaMarsha says
thanks for the templates! while we aren’t quite to high school yet, my mind is already quite occupied with the thinking, praying and planning.
Carrie says
I love (and appreciate) these forms! While it is a bit early for us, I downloaded and saved to my hard drive. I know this will prevent any anxiety attacks on my part 🙂
Penny says
This is fantastic! Thanks!
Gracie says
Thanks for posting this. I have a high schooler and this is a great BIG help. I appreciate it. Take care and God bless!!
Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans says
Thank you for sharing the template! This is our first year of high school.
stacy says
How do you find out what your state requires? We are in the process of pulling our 16 yo son out of public school and need to figure out how to homeschool him until he can graduate.
TheHappyHousewife says
Just google “your state high school graduation requirements.” It might even be on his high school transcript.
lisa @thebeadgirl says
exactly what i needed. thank you!
tuxgirl says
I’d suggest letting your high schooler see this and help with planning it out too. I had to make something like this for college, in order to get all my credits in time for graduation. I had to try to balance hard classes with easy classes to make sure that I could keep up with all my classes. Seeing something like this in high school would’ve made it easier! 🙂
Connie, the daisyhead says
This looks very similar to the form I use. My oldest often likes to look it over to see his progress. I think it makes him feel accomplished to see how much he has already finished.
Sherri says
I’m in WA and we don’t have to follow the PS requirements so I plan on working off the local college requirements, her career focus and then fill in the gaps. We just have to have 11 subjects covered…