Recordkeeping

[Robin]

What are you guys using for recordkeeping?
For many years I've used HST. Then I got a Mac, and started using HSTOnline. Meh. It's okay, but I like to have my records on my own computer, and paying an ongoing fee wasn't setting well with me.
Yesterday I figured out how to use Parallels to get Windows on my Mac and I'm back using the regular version of HST.

I think I've tested every single system out there. What about you?

[Shoe]

We've used HST the last 2 years, and it took enough effort for me to learn the basics that I think I'll continue to use it..especially since it. Seems to have most of what I want.

[Jamie]

I made my own, so it has what I felt we needed on it. I patterned it after ones that I used when I taught/was a principal.

[Lee Binz]

I agree it’s really important to document your homeschool with good record keeping, so that colleges can quickly and accurately identify your student’s strengths and qualities. You want to demonstrate the authenticity and passion of your student, so that colleges will want to woo them—which is, after all, the purpose of record keeping! I think the best record-keeping strategy is often the simplest, the one that is easy. The one that feels right; in a nutshell, the one that doesn’t drive you or your children crazy! Records can include your transcript, course descriptions, reading list, awards and activity list, and samples of work. When we submitted our records to the colleges our sons applied to, the results were amazing! Three of the four colleges quickly admitted us, and the college scholarship offers started to pour in. Clearly, good records are a must! Blessings, Lee

[Jamie]

I have to say that now that our daughter has been accepted into the university that she wanted to attend... all the overkill I put into her records really paid off. We were part of a homeschool umbrella program, so her transcripts looked just like a regular school transcript. She also had done dual enrollment in a local Christian college, so she had transcripts from there as well. I also submitted course descriptions for all of the dual enrollment courses she had taken, and had created a hobby/interests page as well. We didn't have a single question about her transcripts. They accepted her with EASE... So, put a good bit of time and effort into making the records look good and I doubt you'll have any trouble.

Oh, as a side note... in our state there are usually issues with homeschoolers receiving the Georgia Hope Scholarship the first year. The will often have to "prove" themselves by getting a 3.0 average the first year of college, and then the Hope scholarship will reimburse them for their first year of college. Since we went through an umbrella program, and her records transferred from a "school"... she received the Hope scholarship in full her first year... just a side benefit of using an umbrella school, I guess.