This is a heads up for all students planning to take the SATs. Remember, you must have a photo ID in order to gain admittance to the test site giving the SAT. If you do not have such an ID, you likely will not be allowed to take the test. Examples of acceptable IDs include a driver’s license, a passport, or a DMV photo ID. Because it may take time to obtain, please plan in advance to secure this appropriate photo ID. 

Homeschoolers who are interested in registering for the PSAT test which is given in October should contact a local school now to make arrangements for taking the test.  Read more about the PSAT in one of our back issues of the Homeschooling Thru High School email newsletter or on our website under testing.

If you have a senior graduating this year, you may want to consider purchasing graduation announcements to send to family and friends.  HSLDA’s bookstore offers graduation announcements which come with suggested wording for an insert to let others know about and rejoice in your child’s graduation from high school.  Along with the announcements, HSLDA also makes available for purchase caps, gowns and diplomas.

When you register your child for the College Board SAT test, please know that the code for homeschooled students is 970000.  Apparently there has been some confusion since parents have told us when they input this code number online, New York state comes up on the screen.  The College Board representative has told us that this happens because New York is the default setting; so homeschoolers should ignore this and continue to use the 970000 code when registering for the SAT.

We are happy to pass along a suggestion from a homeschool mom and teacher who provided us with a link that gives helpful suggestions for designing rubrics that you can use as you evaluate your child’s compositions.  Rubrics help you to determine components of a composition that will be given a certain number of points when grading.  This helps to break down the composition into sections for evaluative purposes.  Also, providing the rubric to your student at the beginning of the assignment will enable him to self-check his composition for items such as grammar, content, mechanics, etc. before he hands in his assignment to you.  If grading compositions has always been difficult for you, this website may offer you assistance and structure.

Many parents are confused about how to evaluate and determine the number of credits a particular high school course should be awarded.  Many resources are available that give detailed information about methods to do this, but we’ve written up a short and concise explanation to give you some basics and help regarding calculation of high school credits.

Resources for a more detailed explanation:

Transcript Pro and Education Plus products

Homeschooling High School: Planning Ahead for College Admission by Jeanne Gowan Dennis; forward by Michael Farris

Senior High: A Home Designed Form+U+La by Barbara Edtl Shelton

The High School Handbook: For Junior High, Too by Mary Schofield