My Home School Grades Review............A Wonderful Grade Tracking and Transcript Program

Another update for the wonderful program.  First to get a good idea of what they offer check out this introductory VIDEO :-)   They also now serves under co-ops, cover, and umbrella schools.  Go check out their website for more details on this great program that keeps getting better!! We still love it two years later!!!

I'm updating this review to brag on it some more!!! I have been slacking this year on getting our grades recorded and I just decided to bite the bullet and do it.  It took me 30 minutes ONLY to log into My Home School Grades and input grades PLUS redo all the curriculum schedules for both kiddos!!! AMAZING!!!! Please if you are a homeschooler take the time to check out this wonderful website.  The new features now offered since I first reviewed it are great.  Their pricing has changed so be sure and check out the new ones (without a doubt worth it!!!) on their pricing page.

When my Husband and I made the decision to homeschool our children it was with determination and clear minds.  There wasn’t really any room for doubt, I knew I could do it (although I was a bit worried about my consistency quality) and he knew I would do it.  The only con we even bothered discussing was something that would not affect us until later years.  We wondered about high school transcripts and how not having them would affect the boys getting into college.  After some research I found several pieces of information that would make that a non-issue but the best option I have found by far to keep track of everything is My Homeschool Grades .

There’s not a huge need for grade keeping in Kindergarten at the Jackson Homeschool Academy but that is not necessarily the case for others because several states have much more strict homeschooling regulations then we do here in Tennessee.  Regardless I wanted to be able to keep a record of the progress we made each year…. more for myself, the Husband, and the kiddos then for anyone else.  I considered keeping a paper grade book but paper doesn’t survive long in our house.  It either gets thrown away, drawn on, turned into an airplane or drowned in the endless supply of spilling beverages ;-) This began my search for an online system, a search that ended pretty quickly.  They were all complicated so I shoved the issue to the back of my brain and decided to worry about it when we were actually grading.

When I learned I would be reviewing a program for Mosaic Reviews just like the ones I had been researching, I was pretty intimidated.   I didn’t want a program where I had to spend huge amounts of time entering information into and I didn’t want to pay a large fee in order to be able to spend that time.  My Homeschool Grades is BRILLIANT!!!  It has MANY great qualities but here are the main two...1. It is EASY, 2. It is AFFORDABLE (Really it is!!).  Here’s how you get started; go to their website, sign up.  Seriously that’s it!!!  Once you get signed in then you just start entering your children’s information.  It is a step by step process that leaves very little room for error but just in case they have a handful of quick and helpful videos there to show you the way.  You can gain access to My Homeschool Grades for just $5.99 per month per family or $49.99 per child.  As it is right now My Homeschool Grades is pretty convenient…they have a list of curriculum to pick from when you start creating classes or they let you pick an option for Custom in the event they don’t have the one you use listed or if you create your own (you can also submit a request to add your curriculum to the list).  They let you choose how you want your grades to be entered, whether it is letter grades, numerical percentages, or even a simple Pass/Fail, plus when you enter grades they automatically do the math so you know what grade your child has in that class and what their GPA is.  They also allow you to add any extracurricular activities your kids participate in from sports to volunteer work.  The big perk is that once you click on the button to create transcripts the program does it for you; they take all the grades and classes that you have entered and make a very professional transcript for you to print out.  One last thing that was a huge hit with me is that it works fabulous on any device, I can log in from my computer, my smartphone or my Kindle and get the same quick and easy access.  Sounds pretty great, right?!  Here’s where it gets even better My Homeschool Grades isn’t stopping here…they have several new features coming SOON….most will be here within the next calendar year but some may take a bit longer so be patient.  

Here’s a sneak peek of a few……

·        Lots of additional curriculum choices

·        Automatic layout for lesson plans and testing for each curriculum

·        State specific guidelines

·        Online Portfolio where you can upload pictures and work for when you have to turn in an update or even use it to spice up a college application