Review: One of My Favorites in Binz's Series - Nuts and Bolts of Making a Transcript
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 22, 2013
Binz's Coffee Break ebook series often overlaps and references many topics but this one is fairly focused.Here Binz discusses grading for the transcript and what to do if your student flunks a class or a year. Binz had her students work to mastery then deemed that a 100 score (A+). She says colleges expect the grades to be as high as the standardized tests and said some homeschooling parents are too rough on grading and downgrade their coursework.Binz addresses how to figure out if a credit or half credit was earned. How many credits are not enough versus too many? When does a transcript seem padded? Binz suggests making courses out of a student's "delights" even if it means 5 years of vet science courses in four years. Also high school level work done in junior high or middle school should count as a high school course on the transcript.Binz lightly touches upon the topics of special needs students saying some parents think the kids are doing far worse than they actually are. She mentions too briefly, gifted students and the freedom to pursue topics of their interest and calling it a class, even if kids in public school don't get to study those topics.I liked that she addressed double dipping and discourages it yet says that multiple classes in one subject area are possible such as journalism and English in one academic year.The challenges of homeschooling through a medical problem, an injury, or emotional issues such as depression were touched upon.  These are things that are not rare occurrences. The cover letter (and essay) are ways the student can explain their situation to give explanation for an uneven looking transcript.She wraps up the ebook by explaining we need to create a grading policy and use the professional terms to speak the same language as colleges do so what our students learned can be clearly communicated.This ebook cemented some things I had heard elsewhere and I am happy to have read this little book.I rate this book 5 stars = I Love It.