The biggest topic this week on my homeschooling message lists is accreditation. More specifically, the argument was, “do my kids really need an accredited homeschool diploma.” For some the answer was an emphatic NO! Others insisted that it would be absolutely necessary in the near future.
An accredited homeschool diploma is one issued to the homeschoolers by an umbrella school or correspondence school, instead of by the parent. Some states even offer programs that allow homeschoolers to gain accredited diplomas. This accreditation proves your child has met the same minimum requirements that children in public schools are meeting. It is also a convenient way to say, look, my kid graduated high school.
One popular homeschooler who wrote on her website (homeschooloasis.com) why she does not care about accreditation, one-way or the other. She says,
The main purpose of accreditation is to make one’s course of study and/or diploma look good in someone’s eyes and to (therefore) open doors. If your school is, “accredited” that, means someone – or a board of “someone’s” go together and came up with a set of standards that they felt were necessary for academic excellence. This might include: the content of the courses, books used, teacher certification, certain criteria for the school itself, grades, standards for grades, etc.
The only people I find promoting accreditation diplomas are the accreditation programs and the people that have used them. People find these centers valuable because they feel they will not have to “prove” that their child earned a diploma, after the fact. They believe that having this accredited diploma will put their child on equal footing with public school children. Many also fear that as more and more homeschoolers apply for college entry that colleges will require more of homeschoolers that the previously accepted homeschool portfolio. They are essentially being prepared, just in case. These centers will review the work your child has completed (you have to send them all of your child’s work for review) and they will assign credit points, and eventually a diploma.
So is accreditation necessary? Like homeschooling, the answer to the debate is going to depend on the individual. This is something my family is currently pondering with a child in 8th grade, and already taking Algebra and Physical science, we need to decide just how we will start keeping track of completed high school level courses.
Stay tuned for the pros and cons of accredited diplomas.
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