It’s Graduation Time!!!

This is the time of year that most people are thinking about graduation. Either you have a family member graduating from high school or college, or you have friends who have invited you to their graduation. What an exciting time to celebrate the accomplishments of a friend or family member!

Graduation is a topic that has come up when I discuss homeschooling with different people. What does a homeschool graduation look like? What should you expect if you plan to graduate one of your children? Do you need a diploma, and where do you get one? What about a transcript? Cap and gown? Or do you just have a party to celebrate your child’s achievements? Should your child take the GED?

The Flexibility of Graduating a Homeschooler

One of the wonderful things about homeschooling is that there is not one right way to do things. In this case, there is not one pattern for graduation that every homeschooling family must follow. You get to decide what works for your family.

Some people we know have their child participate in a graduation ceremony that their church holds for homeschoolers in their congregation. This graduation looks very much like a traditional school graduation complete with graduates walking down the aisle in cap and gown, speeches by the graduates and/or their parents, and diplomas handed out. One nice thing about this style of graduation is that there is usually a message by the pastor, who blesses the graduates on the next phase of their lives.

Another family that I met recently went to the other extreme for graduation. The son that was graduating did not want a lot of attention, so they did not have a ceremony or a party. He preferred to end his high school career without being in the spotlight. Remember, there are no rules that say you have to do things a certain way, nor do you have to do it the same way for each child!

Other graduation ideas that I have heard of include having a party at a park that may or may not include a formal ceremony, taking a special trip as a family, or just sending out senior pictures and graduation announcements without a specific gathering to celebrate.

All the Paperwork

Besides planning the venue and schedule for the actual event, you also need to decide whether you will have a diploma for your graduate. While I cannot speak to specific laws in different states, here in Wisconsin we, as the parents of the graduate, can compose and print out a diploma to give him. I have done this for my two graduates so far. There are many options for free printable diplomas online. We liked one from the following website and used it: https://allfreeprintable.com/diploma-of-graduation. I feel that having a high school diploma is a nice thing to have for those who have earned it. This is true even though I don’t remember ever having been asked for mine from an employer or institution of higher learning.

In my opinion, the more important thing to provide your graduate is a transcript. This is what is often required when applying to colleges. (Of course, in order to prepare a transcript, you need to have been keeping track of grades for your child throughout the course of his high school career.) There are lots of good resources out there for a free editable form to use to create your child’s individual transcript. We used the following: https://www.flandersfamily.info/web/2015/03/23/mailbag-high-school-transcript-help/. Most of the information on the transcript form is self-explanatory, but the GPA was the least understood part for me. Here is a good website that helps you calculate that: https://gpacalculator.net/high-school-gpa-calculator/

The GED

I know homeschooled adults who went on to take their GED. I also know those who did not. I think this decision depends on where you live and what you plan to do in the future. The people I know that got their GED did it because they expected that they would be asked for it at some point. Some were never asked. They did say that the prep work and actual GED test were extremely easy compared to the work they did for their high school courses. However, this would vary depending on what curriculum was used for homeschooling and if they were diligent in completing it well. People think they might need a GED to get into college. Because homeschooling is so well known and accepted these days, a lot of times a homeschool graduate can provide a college with his transcript as proof of his level of education attained. I would recommend the student contact specific colleges he is interested in and ask what is required for acceptance in their institution. This decision must be made on a case by case basis.

Our Experience

We have just finished “graduating” my second child, so this has been on my mind (and taken a lot of my time) recently. Because it was my second child to graduate, it was a lot easier than two years ago when we did this with our first. Once you figure out what you want to do with the first child, copy it for the next ones!! It was fun to plan out how to make this event unique from that of our first child and to see their different personalities and talents display themselves.

Because our children are musicians, we have chosen to host a “Senior Recital” for our graduate in lieu of an official graduation ceremony. We find a location that has a piano and organ and plenty of seating, plus a separate room for refreshments afterwards. Our graduate spends a lot of time ahead of time preparing musical pieces with each of his instruments, including some solos, but also pieces that include other people and instruments. My son had solos, duets, small orchestra pieces, and a few songs that our family sang together. Other than introducing different pieces and a few words said by his dad, we did not have long speeches or sermons. Most of the hour was music.

After the recital, we invited our friends and family to join us in the other room for refreshments and fellowship. In that room, we had a couple of tables set up with a picture board of our son at different ages, his framed diploma, a photo book of his senior pictures, and a sampling of his school papers from different grades. We have enjoyed this unique way of graduating our two oldest children and hope to follow a similar event for future children. As I have at least 14 more years of homeschooling to go, I envision this special time over the years to be an opportunity for older, married siblings to come back and participate in the music as they celebrate their younger sibling’s achievement.

What About You?

Have you planned graduations for your homeschooled children, or are you a homeschool graduate? How have you done it? What do you recommend or not recommend? What questions do you have that I have not addressed in this article? Please comment, and let me know!