Prepping for High School Archives - Academic Advantage Association

How Do I Withdraw My Child from Public School to Homeschool?

In South Carolina, you may not legally withdraw a child from traditional public school until you have enrolled in one of three homeschool options.

If you withdraw your child without the proper paperwork in place, you are at risk of contact from truancy officials.

When you begin to consider homeschooling, take a look at our member handbook and our S. C. Homeschool Law tab. Review our information regarding what is required of you as the parent-teacher in your homeschool.

To homeschool in South Carolina, you must have legal physical custody of the child you are homeschooling and must have at least a GED.

Follow these steps to withdraw your child from public school:

1) Fill out our membership application and submit your payment.

2) Be sure to indicate you are withdrawing a child from public school on the membership form.

Checking that box let’s us know we need to provide three documents for you: a school withdrawal letter, a membership letter, and a membership card.

If you are withdrawing children from separate schools, we will send a letter for each school with the name of the child who is withdrawing from that school listed.

3) Once we have received your application and membership fees, we will create your school letter, membership letter, and membership card.

You will receive your membership card and letter in the mail within 5-7 business days.

We will email you a scanned copy of the school letter as soon as it is ready.

Keep a copy of the school letter for your records. It will serve as your member letter until you receive that document in the mail.

Give a 2nd copy of the school letter to the school from which you are withdrawing your child. Once you present them with the letter, you are free to take your child home and begin homeschooling.

***In an emergency, you can come to our store, fill out your paperwork, pay your fees, and leave with a school withdrawal letter the same day.

May I Award High School Credits During Junior High?

Are you a panicky junior high mom who feels high school breathing down your neck? Rest assured, you are not the only mom with questions and uncertainties keeping you awake at night. One concern we often hear is, “May I award high school credits during junior high?”

In South Carolina, junior high students may be awarded high school credit for core academic courses including English, math, science, history, foreign language, and computer keyboarding/applications. The curriculum used must be 9th grade material.

When a student completes a 9th grade core course in junior high, the course is considered to meet ‘honors‘ level requirements. Upon successful completion of the course, the student will receive the corresponding extra .5 credit on the GPA for that class.

So, for example, a student taking Spanish I in 8th grade who receives a final score of 95 will receive a 4.75 GPA for that course. Had the course been taken in 9th grade without opting for an honors level class, they same student would receive only the standard 4.25.

When completing core academics, the guiding principle for determining credit is successful completion of at least 80% of a high school level text.

In situations where one may pull from a variety of resources to create courses (ie using living history books for American History, etc.), a combination of 150 hours of instruction and related activity in that course would equal a full credit. Again, the work must be equal to what would be required of a high school student.

Track hours spent in instruction time with teaching adults, independent reading, and completion of related projects, research papers, or field trips. Upon completion of 75 hours, you may award 0.5 credits. Upon completion of 150 hours, you may award a full course credit.

Keep these ideas in mind as you plan your junior high experience. Any credit earned now will free up time during high school!

Have more questions than answers? Member families may contact us Monday – Friday from 10a to 5p. Give us a call (864-968-1118) or email us! If we are not available to assist you, leave a message. We return calls between 1:30p and 4:30p and try to return calls (and emails) within 24 hours of receipt.

Not a member? Join now!

***If you live outside the state of South Carolina, please consult your local state guidelines for more definitive information about timelines for assigning high school credits.

Prepping for High School

If you’ve ever seen one of the extreme prepper shows, you know prepping for high school can seem much the same. The territory seems extreme, foreign, and just a bit – o.k., a whole lot – beyond your reach.

Junior high parents who are prepping to homeschool in high school often feel as though they are getting ready to fall off a cliff of uncertainty. I get it. I do.

You have awakened with a rapid heartbeat and clammy PJ’s. A tiny scream is caught in your throat. You’ve been dreaming about being ill-prepared for your junior high student’s academic career. You have realized with a sinking thud that high school is just around the corner.

G.U.L.P. Things are about to get serious up in your house.

Your head is a-whirl with the idea that you cannot keep on with life as usual. No more park days. No more field trips. No more PJ days. It’s time to scramble to make up for every lost day you’ve let slip by since pre-K days.

Well, know what I have to say to that?

Here’s your brown paper bag. Hold it to your mouth and nose and breathe deeply. Deeeeeeeeeply! In about six years you are going to wonder what all the fuss was about. Yes, I promise.

Look behind you. Yes, go on. Look at all the years that are trailing along behind you. Did you break that 7^th grader yet? Guess what? You aren’t going to break them now either.

Homeschooling is a lot like riding a bike. Remember the days you were on training wheels. Then, someone ran along beside you while you wobbled around without them.

You got brave enough to ride around the block alone, maybe taking out the neighbor’s hedges and skinning a knee and elbow along the way. Before you knew it, you were saying, “Look, Mom!” as you rode without hands.

The early years of homeschooling have been your boot camp for what is coming next. Little by little, you and God have worked together to get you to the edge of this exciting new cliff. And, I admit, it does seem a lot like a cliffhanger.

Remember when your K5’er was using that cute little antique desk you got at a garage sale to show how many ways his body could bend, twist, and wrap like a piece of Playdough?

Didn’t 6th grade seem just as unattainable then? Now look at you! You made it. You really, really made it.

Homeschooling is a skill just like any other you have developed over the course of your life. Scripture promises:

Phillipians 1:6 (Amplified Bible)
I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].

So, today, take a minute and rejoice over the equipping you have been granted over the previous years of homeschooling. Celebrate your successes, and begin to take stock of your strengths. Be honest with yourself about your weaknesses.

Ask the Lord to show you how both of those will work together for the good of your student. Commit what you are doing to him. Listen for his voice as you plan. Be ready to follow his lead if he tweaks something you have planned.

You can do this if it is what he has burned in your heart to do. And yes, you can do it even if it’s hard and uncomfortable and scary.

Why don’t you tell us your biggest fear in the comments below? If it seems too personal, email us. We can share it anonymously on your behalf. I bet big money, someone else needs to know they are not alone in their fear.

Be kind to yourself and your kids today. You deserve it! See you soon.

Image of cliff sitter by Jordan McQueen courtesy of Unsplash.
Image of school desk courtesy of Pixaby.