Acronyms To Know
What do SAT, ACT, AP, GED, AMDEC, and ILC stand for? And how do they relate to how homeschoolers can get into university?
Category: Information for Homeschoolers
A Plan for High School for Ontario Homeschoolers
QUESTION: If my admission will be based on only 12U credit courses or standardized tests written in my last year of home schooling, then how do I structure the earlier high school years?
High School Credit Courses for Ontario Homeschoolers
With many Ontario universities accepting the “Top Six” for university entrance, you do not have to take all 30 credits required by the provincial high school diploma (OSSD) to gain admission to an Ontario university. In many cases, simply taking six 12U courses is acceptable. Here are some schools that offer 12U credits through distance learning.
Do I need a high school diploma?
Before I answer the common question, “How do I get a high school diploma as a homeschooler?” I thought it would be a good idea to make it clear that, depending on your situation, you might not need a diploma at all.
AP exams for Homeschoolers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
For a couple of years now I’ve been casually mentioning on various message boards that there’s “some school just west of Toronto” who has been open and welcoming to having homeschoolers participate in their AP exams. Allow me to now formally share the details:
Lost in Translation – or the high school transcript for homeschoolers
What started with a discussion of “mastery” and transcripts led me to observe that the Ontario transcript, in its current form, is predicated on the notion of a LACK of mastery. (If the material in classes were “mastered” then why would we need grades?) So, if transcripts are not meant to demonstrate mastery, but only one’s proportional lack thereof, how is a homeschooler to use a transcript? Is one necessary at all?
Homeschool Diplomas – Fact vs. Fiction
When I speak on the topic of university admissions, I’m often asked how homeschoolers “get a high school diploma.” The reality is, many homeschoolers do not get a high school diploma. And in fact, by definition (according to the universities), if you *have* a high school diploma, you are not a homeschooler!
Afraid of your “average” homeschooled kid’s university admission chances? Spend LESS time on academics!
I always suggest that effort is better spent cultivating the real and natural talents of a child instead of constraining them to fit in some arbitrary box to be packaged up for university admissions. This advice is well-received by parents of the gifted/talented, but sometimes parents of “average” kids feel that it can’t be a strategy for them. I think they’re (often) wrong.
Home school university admission policies – freeing or constraining?
No matter what kind of home schooling family you are, if you think your children might be bound for university, you need a plan. You can be unstructured about schooling but you cannot face the bureaucratic beast that is Ontario’s post-secondary education system unprepared. Certainly our planning is made easier with the home school admission policies available on the web. But, have these plans freed home schoolers, or have they now constrained our home-school-through-high-school options?
Is Virtual High School Right For Me?
Is Virtual High Schooling the high school solution homeschoolers have been waiting for? Maybe, maybe not. Here’s what you need to know.