Homeschooling Transcript/ Report Card
A few months ago we took a year off to travel. We took our kids out of their BUSD elementary school and have been homeschooling them while living in a different country for the past few months. We will enroll them back into BUSD when we return back to Berkeley this summer, but we are required to submit their report card for the current year. I did not register with any school district or charter school officially for homeschooling. Instead I looked up California state standards for Math, Reading and Writing and have been homeschooling on my own using curated online resources to meet those standards. How do I create a transcript or report card for my kids? I am not enrolled with any organization who can issue one, so should I just make a report card/ transcript on my own laying out the topics we have covered and what the kids have learned? Really appreciate any input from this community!
Parent Replies
What a wonderful experience for your family! Congrats on the successful year.
I’m a few years out of the loop now, but maybe some current homeschooling parents have a template for transcripts…
Through a State of California website you register as a Private School with yourself as the Director/Head of School or whatever name you fancy. Mine was a school with one student. Just type up a transcript listing the subjects per California Common Core and assign a grade. Add a comment if you want. You can provide course descriptions but not necessary unless they ask. I believe they need to “cross the t’s” with transfer paperwork more than satisfy curiosity about the detailed curriculum.
best Luck
The simplest way is probably to file the required paperwork to homeschool as if you were still living in California so that you're doing this above board. (The Private School Affidavit on the CDE website has instructions for how to complete it for homeschooling; you can submit it online, and it's pretty straightforward.) Other countries may have their own schooling mandates and depending on which country you are living in (and whether you formally changed your country of residency or are still using your California address), navigating homeschooling options in that context is likely to be more challenging. It may also be worth reaching out to BUSD to see if it would make sense to have your children enrolled in independent study for the rest of the year, if you're following CA state standards anyway. Some districts have their independent study programs set up to accommodate students who are traveling for extended periods while their parents teach them, but I don't know how Berkeley's works. Either way, I would reach out and explain your situation and ask what the next steps should be, since you will be on their radar once you apply to re-enroll anyway.
Hi, veteran homeschooler and former Board member for Homeschool Assoc. of CA, here. Create a simple report card with the various subjects:
4th grade math: pass
4th grade social studies: pass
4th grade science: pass
etc.
Don’t overthink it. You can find sample report cards online and make your own. Use a pass/fail metric. It’s not high school, it’s perfunctory and a box they check for reenrollment. If the kids are still not technically enrolled in any school because you’re still traveling, or even back in California, you should file a private school affidavit (everything you need is at HSC.org/quickguide) to create a school so you can have a school name on your transaction and be official and legal.
I don't have an answer but we're thinking about doing something similar in a few years and I would love to chat with you about your travel. Sounds amazing!