High School Credits

You should give high school credits to your children when you have taught them a class within the curriculum that can be counted as a high school credit. You can record everything you taught your children on the report card and give your children proper credits. However, if you taught your sixth grader a class that is supposed to be for seventh grader, wait until your child is a seventh grader before you give him or her that credit. You should save all documents related to that course that you have taught and enter it on the child's transcript at the appropriate level.

Bear in mind, though, that some states do not acknowledge high school credits given by parents who are home schooling. Other states feel that if the child is smart enough to pass a standardized exam, then there is no problem. You will want to check your state's home schooling rules.

Your child can be in many course levels at once

For example, if your child is normally a sixth grader but excels in mathematics, you child can be the equivalent of eighth grader in Mathematics also and still be a sixth grader in all other subjects. This is an advantage of home schooling. Your child can excel in whatever areas he or she can excel in. It is more important, though, that whatever grade your child is in, he or she can read or do what an average child of the same grade can do. While home schooling, you need to not let your child's age be a question of what he or she can study. How old a child is and what grade that age should be in has no meaning in home schooling. The bottom line is, make sure that your child knows AT LEAST the same amount as the kids in public schools.

Entering High School or College from Home School

If you have been home schooling your child for awhile and now want for any reasons for your child to go to a public high school or private high school, there is no problem. Your child may have to take a test given by the chosen high school. Usually, if your child passes the test, you child can just attend the class he or she passes the test for. However, some states will not recognize the high school credit from home schooling and will want your child to re-take those classes. You need to discuss the high school credits validity with the chosen high school. The same with entering a college from home schooling, you or your child need to discuss your child's high school credit with the college. Sometimes, scores from a standardized test will be enough to enter a college. Other times, high school credits on your child's transcript are also a requirement.