Home Education

Always Learning

My Homeschool Resources

Things my family has developed or modified over the past 20+ years home educating our children.

The Jackson High School Transcript Template

This is a Google Sheet I use to make our official "Jackson Home Education" transcripts for our children. This template can be copied to your own Google Drive (see instructions below), or downloaded as a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet (also below). Please use it and change as you require. No need to give me any credit.

Lesson learned, I keep each child in a different tab (worksheet) as they graduate, but I also print to a PDF and store those. Every so often our graduated children need copies, and it's great to just have a PDF to email them.

In general, 99% of all transcripts look boring and very generic, like an early 90's printout on a dot matrix printer. Simple tables and plain font are what colleges and universities are use to. As a major Indiana university told me in 2011, "just make it look professional" (no joke).

HOW TO copy to your Gmail account

Sign in (if the blue "Sign in" button is shown)
File > Make a copy
Select where the location on your personal Drive to save it to

HOW TO Copy to Microsoft Excel

File > Download
Choose ".xlsx" for Microsoft Excel

External Resources

HSLDA - Home School Legal Defense Association

Many links and helpful data. With over 100,000 member families, Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is the nation’s largest, most trusted homeschool advocacy organization. Our family has supported HSLDA for over 15 years. I think of this like insurance. You hope to never need it, but you pay yearly to be covered should any legal action be taken against you or your family. I also HIGHLY recommend supporting HSLDA as they also defend my right to home educate my children and provide hundreds of useful links and articles helpful when looking into homeschooling.

Daniel, our first son, in 1999 learning BASIC programming (in his PJs).

Home Education - Why?

Over twenty-five years ago my wife approached me about home schooling our son. Initially I was not thrilled, but started to change my mind once I looked into the cost of private school.

A short time later in the mid 90's we attended the Indiana Association of Home Educators conference in downtown Indy. MY MIND WAS CHANGED. Home education moved from my "wife's thing" to a OUR commitment. Our goal was, and still is, to train up our children to love and follow God, and to know how to learn. With those tools most anything is possible.

Things I Hear about Home Schooling

Oh I could never do THAT

Well with that attitude Missy you probably can't. Seriously I think this comes from the idea that it takes so much to home educate. The false assumption is you need to duplicate the public education system. NO - that's not working for the school systems... don't bring that home.

Think about what you did in public school, and how much was crowd control or what needed to be done when working with hundreds of students. Want an example? Worksheets, quizzes, study hall, passing time,

What about Socialization?

Ha ha ha ha, this one always cracks me up.

First - In my experience, as a home school dad and working with other home schooled children in the community, the typical home schooled child has had many more interactions with adults and can hold meaningful and thoughtful conversations beyond most teens. Even my eight year old is comfortable talking and challenging adults.

Second - Step into any school and you will find many socially awkward students. That's not the mark anyone is judged on. Some people are just awkward and appear unsocialized when they are young.

Third - What do you mean by socialization? They go along with the crowd? Do what other teens are doing (pregnancy, drug use, lacking in critical thinking, self absorbed)? Thinking bigger.

What about Learning Gaps?

Oh... things we all forgot or never knew? That questions is funny, it assumes that in other school settings there are no gaps. WHAT? Everyone has gaps, and we just look up what we don't know and learn. Never stop learning.

How are you Qualified to Teach Calculus... or Something Else?

Simple - the parent gets to learn too! It can sometime be tough, but that is OK. Parenting is tough. Usually there are other homeschool parents in co-ops and home school groups that can help or encourage. If you attend a church, ask around and see who might be available to help and guide.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse