Jun. 7, 2009 - Accredited or Not?
Homeschooling families are faced with many dilemmas throughout the course of their homeschooling journeys. One of the dilemmas facing many homeschoolers is whether to connect themselves with an accredited school or to remain purely unadulterated and unattached. There are pros and cons with either decision.
Many families like the support and safety of an accredited program. In this method of homeschooling, students may actually be enrolled in a private school yet they complete their lessons at home. Some of these programs allow parents to grade their children’s work, while others require that the work be submitted to their staff for grading. Usually, when a child is enrolled in a private school/homeschool program, he is first given a diagnostic test to determine the grade level for each subject. The school will then notify the parents with a suggested plan of study. The school normally dictates the curriculum and specific daily assignments. Parents may have a great deal of contact with the school staff or a very limited amount of input from the school. Many schools assign an educational advisor to each family. These advisors will work to insure that each student earns the proper needed credits at each stage. This may be extremely helpful for families homeschooling high school students. Having an educational advisor, or graduation coach, at that point can be very beneficial. It can be quite traumatic to have a child on the brink of graduation and find out that he is missing a credit for a class he should have taken. Another benefit to being involved with an accredited school is the fact that students receive diplomas from that accredited school. The student’s transcript will show that he matriculated in a private school and earned a diploma from that school. This could make college admission a much easier and more pleasant experience - for the students and parents alike. Also, some scholarships are rewarded only to students with diplomas from accredited schools. Dual enrollment eligibility may require that the student is enrolled in an accredited program as well. For those homeschooling parents who don’t feel comfortable with being completely responsible for their children’s education, this can be a very attractive option.
Enrollment in an accredited program does have its downside. It can mean quite a financial commitment. Usually the school has an enrollment fee and a registration fee. These fees may be doubled or tripled for more than one child being enrolled. Some programs include books and/or access to online classes in their upfront fees. Others require that families purchase student materials separately. The curriculum may be rigidly designated with no allowable alternatives. Courses are usually limited to stiff time constraints. The student may not receive credit if the coursework is not completed by a set deadline.
Parents who don’t want outside limits imposed on their children’s education may take a different path. Pure homeschooling may be more appealing to these families. Parents have complete authority over curriculum, activities, grades (or no grades). If a student needs more than 180 days to complete a course, he has that freedom. If the students and/or parents decide that they just don’t like the curriculum they chose to use, changes can be made midstream. Also, families can use materials from more than one publisher. For instance, parents may choose to use Saxon for math and Shurley Grammar for language arts. Parents may decide to use only what is available from their local library, making for a very inexpensive homeschooling program. Student interests can guide subject choices, too; and student weaknesses can dictate that more attention is given to that particular area of study.
All of this freedom of choice calls for a great deal of research and decision-making on the part of the parents. It will be necessary for parents to become familiar with different types of curricula and to seek out recommendations from other homeschoolers. The parents will also benefit from becoming familiar with their students’ individual learning styles. These parents who prefer pure homeschooling will need to be true educators. That is not to say that they must hold degrees in teaching, but they must themselves have knowledge before they can impart this knowledge to their students.
Students who are homeschooled completely under their parents’ authority may meet with roadblocks when they apply to colleges. The homeschooling community looks forward to the day that homeschoolers will be wholeheartedly welcomed into all colleges, but for now this is not so. It may take more work on the part of the student to earn college admission. Each college has its own admission requirements, but by far the high school transcript is the most important required document across the board. For those parents who have chosen to “go it alone” the high school transcript may be the most daunting of their responsibilities.
There is, however, a compromise for even the most independent homeschoolers. Families can hire a professional record-keeper. Usually included in the list of services offered by these professionals is academic advisement. These record-keepers are educated in state requirements and can guide families in making choices that will keep them on the right path toward high school graduation. Of course, there is a cost involved in receiving professional help. The cost, however, should not be as much as enrollment in an accredited program. Some of these record-keepers offer personal consultations and ongoing personal advisement throughout the high school grades. They may teach the parents how to keep their own records or they may ask the parent to submit grades and course descriptions in order to create the transcripts themselves. This path does not lead to a diploma from an accredited school, and the student may be left open to questions and scrutiny. However, as the homeschooling movement grows and as homeschooling becomes more accepted as a legitimate form of education, homeschooled graduates will be increasingly welcomed into all institutions of higher education. Prospective employers will appreciate the dedication, diligence, and level of knowledge of hardworking homeschool graduates.
Homeschoolers indeed have many decisions to make on behalf of their children, but making the decision to homeschool is a great first step for any family who wants to help their children succeed in life.
