Hi Earthschoolers! As you have probably discovered by now, every area of the world and every state in the United States has a different set of rules for how they want to regulate your homeschooling experience. Some areas simply require that you submit a short list of what you are doing for the year, other states require that you consult with a teacher each month and other states require more detailed documentation. We have designed this page as a resource page for Earthschooling members so you all can find the resources you need to fulfill the requirements in your area. This is an ongoing project and one that is “in progress” at the moment so if you have information to share please share. The more contributions we receive the more complete this page will be!

General Resources

We can only provide resources that are specific to Earthschooling or help answer questions about how Earthschooling can fit into your state’s requirements (if you send them to us, we do not have the staff to do the research for you). To find resources specific to your state, forms, local groups that can help you and more you can check the HSLDA website HERE.

What Earthschooling Can Provide

1. Graduation Certificate in English for any curriculum purchased with us and a statement that your student has completed it.
2. Transcript in English
3. Sent to you by e-mail or regular mail at specific times of year (see below)
4. Letter of Attendance (This is only e-mailed. If you want it mailed please make a payment for official documents)
5. Letter of Recommendation for Student (e-mail only and you need to provide content)
6. Letter of Good Character for Student (e-mail only)
7. Core standard charts 

We ONLY provide documents once you have made your payment and once you fill out the form below. We do not accept document requests by email.

You can order documents on this page HERE.

Document Request Form

What Earthschooling Cannot Provide

1.Translation Services. Any documents we send need to be translated by you. You can translate yourself or use an official translation service that is accepted by your school board.
2. Rush services or special shipping services.
3. Personal pick up and delivery.
4. Any documents not listed on the list above.
5. Certificates or transcripts from curriculum not purchased from us.
6. Notary services
7. Printed and scanned documents are not part of the email service. If you need the documents printed (but not mailed) and scanned and emailed you need to make a payment through the official documents link above.
8. Apostille verification of your documents: https://www.usa.gov/authenticate-us-document – The office for this service is in Washington D.C and we are in Iowa

See below for details…

How Are Students Assessed for Documents?

We serve as the administration and you are the teacher. Just as in a regular public or private school the teacher submits the grades and assessment to the administration and the administration sends documents to the student. Just as in a school, there is no assessment done by the administration. Assessments are all done by the teacher (we work with parent-teachers, private and public school teachers) and we assume that the information submitted to us is done in a professional manner.

Does My Student Need to Finish All Their Classes with Earthschooling?

Your student can still receive their diploma with us even if they substitute some classes from outside of Earthschooling. You only need to verify that you made substitutions and indicate what those were.

Can My Student Skip a Grade?

To graduate high school your student will need a specific amount of credits based on your region. You would need to look up the credits for your region and then make sure your student has classes to cover those credits. So, for example, they may have taken eighth grade classes twice. You can count some of those classes towards their high school credits. Or, they may have taken some college courses or extra courses outside of Earthschooling. You can count those towards their credits as well. In some cases you can count volunteer work or work done at a job towards credits as long as those hours are spent in learning activities, such as volunteering with a wildlife refuge or working for a newspaper writing articles. There are many opportunities to earn work or volunteer credits. Those are just two examples.

Does my Student Need a Teacher Evaluation?

We serve as the administration and you are the teacher. However, if you prefer to have another teacher look at your student’s work you can register for a teacher evaluation package HERE.

Graduation Certificates and Transcripts

Earthschooling can provide your family with these documents. They can be sent to you or directly to your state. Let us know. You can order these items HERE.

We can adapt the look of the certificate our transcript or what is written on the certificate or transcript to the language required by your area. Since members live in different areas of the world we realize that the needed language may differ. Please let us know if you need any modifications to the documents or they will be sent as they appear in the photo. Once you have made your purchase we will need the following information:

1. Student Name as it should appear on the certificate/transcript
2. Date of graduation
3. Grade completed at graduation
4. Classes completed at Earthschooling
5. Additional classes completed outside of Earthschooling
6. Address to send transcript and certificate

Will Colleges Accept Your Transcripts?

“I just heard from SNHU and they are accepting Nils’ (Earthschooling) transcripts.” – Christa F.

“As a family, we are thrilled to share that our Kadu Titi started studies for a degree program today, his is the first Waldorf High School Diploma to be accepted for a degree program by a University in Africa.” – Kadu

Yes, colleges will accept our transcripts. Over the past five years an increasing number of colleges have accepted homeschooling transcripts. With the increase in home education brought on by the pandemic this percentage has reached almost 100%. Our certificates and transcripts go beyond a “homeschool” transcript. So, although most colleges do not require them, they will help your student go “above and beyond” and they are accepted. 

Colleges in the UK, Canada, Europe, and Australia have also accepted our documents. However, as there are different rules in each country you will need to check with your local school board or college to see what their document requirements are. You may want to refer them to our school page here so they can see how many accredited schools we work with.

Sample Transcripts

Coming soon.

Letters of Attendance/Shelter School

We can provide a letter addressed to you or your supervising organization that states your student(s) are attending Earthschooling. This letter is on letterhead and is signed by the dean of students. It can be mailed by USPS, scanned and e-mailed, or e-mailed to your address or the address of your supervising organization. You can see a sample letter below. If you need a similar letter please let us know the following:

1. Do you need us to make any changes to the standard format we use below (different states, regions or countries might require different wording)?
2. What is your child’s full name?
3. What grade of Earthschooling are they currently enrolled in?
4. These letters are provided by e-mail to all members (upon request) for free. Which e-mail address(es) do you need this letter sent to? Should it be addressed to a specific person?

Sample Letter of Attendance

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Other Sample Letters

The letters below are samples without the details of the student filled in. These samples are to show you what you can request for your student to see if it suits your needs. Also note that the letters below can be modified to fit your needs

Returning to Public School or Enrolling in College

Earthschooling works with many private and public schools around the world. As our curriculum is accepted in many schools we have not found that students have ever had an issue with our certificates and transcripts being accepted at their schools or colleges. Transition from Earthschooling back to public school or to college is seamless. 

However, in most cases you do not even need to order a transcript or certificate from us. Some online education academies try to convince parents that they need a special kind of accreditation or certification to be able to return to school. This is often used as a ‘selling point’ or it gives them an excuse to charge extra money for their program or require the purchase of certificates. 

We do not make these claims and requirements as they are not necessary. As a homeschooler your rights are clear in each state, region, and country you are in. In the United States this means that homeschooled children are treated the same as public school children when they transfer back to public school or when they enter college. All you need to do to enjoy these benefits is one of two things:

OPTION ONE: Do nothing. We take care of it all. Check with your state, region, or country’s laws. Some areas have laws that say that as long as you provide documentation and records (we provide those for you) that your education for the year is accepted.

OPTION TWO: Register as a homeschooler in your state, region, or country. This is always an easy process and we can help you with it. 

NEW! ID Cards Now Available

You can download the provided blank templates below and create your own card. To do this:

1. Download the template by clicking on the image to take you to the larger version and then download it.

2. Use any image program to “white out” or “erase” anything you do not need

3. Use the same image program to insert your own child’s information.

4. Laminate your card at home.

5. If you are unable to do steps 1-4 at home you can order a personalized electronic version from us for $25.00. You can make a payment here and then fill out the form below.

We will assume your school year starts in August of the current year and ends in June of the next year unless you state otherwise.

You can send us a picture of your child or you can insert a photo on your end after you print the badge and before you laminate it.

You will also need to fill out the form below…

Blank Templates…

(back and front: Large version and smaller wallet size)

Note: For some reason the quality does not look good on the smaller versions online. However, when you download them the quality is sharper

Accreditation

Earthschooling works with certified teachers, provides core standard charts to administrators, and weekly contact with a certified teacher. Earthschooling can also provide certificates and certified transcripts to students. This is sufficient to fulfill most regional requirements for accreditation. If your region/state has specific requirements for your student please check with them to make sure these are sufficient. Note that most states in the United States, Canada and Australia do not have accreditation requirements for homeschooled students. These services are usually used by our International students.

Earthschooling is used in schools around the world and has been approved for use in some public as well as private schools. You can see a list of these schools here. The curriculum had to go through an approval process at each school to show it reaches suitable standards. In this way, Earthschooling has been accepted and accredited by individual schools. However, because of our international audience we have not sought accreditation by one entity as it would not apply to all of our students, parents, teachers, and schools.

Question from a Student: Is your school accredited?

Reply from Earthschooling: When homeschooling there are a few items to consider. Usually, schools in the United States do not require that you have attended an accredited school. You can enroll with them as a previous homeschooler. However, documents like a graduation certificate and transcript do help the school see that you have been keeping track of your work in an official capacity.

1. We work with accredited teachers. You can find those here:https://earthschooling.info/thebearthinstitute/about-us/gallery-3/
2. We work with and are used by accredited schools. You can find those here: https://earthschooling.info/thebearthinstitute/charter-schools/
3. We fulfill core requirements for all grades. You can find that information at the bottom of the page here: https://earthschooling.info/thebearthinstitute/charter-schools/
4. More information on accreditation can be found here. This page also contains information on some colleges that have accepted our transcripts in the past. However, the list is not complete. Since none of our students have ever had any issues (beyond perhaps the school asking for additional documents from us) we have not re-contacted students to provide a complete list. Nor have we pursued accreditation in an official capacity as we work with students, teachers, and schools around the globe and there is no one agency for all of these.

Consultations with a Teacher

We offer you the opportunity to consult with one of our teachers on a regular basis to fulfill your state requirements or to get regular help from a certified teacher. You can purchase these services HERE.

Basic Documentation 

Iowa (my state) requires only that I provide them a simple list of concepts we are using each year. I submitted portions of the document below to my state teacher. She was very happy. Other years I have given her the indexes. However, now that we are not using the indexes you can also just print out the web-pages to show them what you are doing for the year. We have provided a sample below…

Advanced Documentation

Some states require that you show how Earthschooling meets their common core curricula standards. We can help you through this process. All you need to do is submit a list of your state’s common core curricula standards in the format below. You can submit data for one grade, more than one grade, one subject or whatever you need.

You can easily find a list of core standards for your state or region by going to a search engine and using the terms “(Region), Core Standards”. For example, to search for Iowa core standards I put in the term “Iowa Core Standards” and it takes me to this website here: https://iowacore.gov. Usually the page you are looking for will end in .gov and will come up at the top of the search engine page. Some states/regions have a more organized website than others. The Iowa website required that I go to multiple pages to download what I needed. Other states have everything on one page.

Be sure to check at the bottom of this page to see if we have already done your state. Once we do a state/region we post it below so other members can use it.

This is the format you need to submit to us in (You can download this example and cut and paste your own state/region’s information into it to make it easier):

OR another example (with the links to show you how I cut and pasted from the original):

We will then return it to you in the format below. Below you will find all the ones that have been submitted which we have finished. You are welcome to use any of the documents below for your state if you happen to live in a place that has an Earthshooling core standard already.

California

Colorado

Iowa

Pennsylvania

Wisconsin

Canada

Australia

Homeschooling Requirements with Your State

If you have information on how you filed with your state as a homeschooler or what the main website you use for your state (or country/region) is please let us know by sending an e-mail to: CustomerService@TheBEarthInstitute.com. We can then share this information with other members to help them!

California

We work with many charter schools, schools, parents, and teachers in California. Most of our members register with the state as homeschoolers. However, we provide them with detailed schedules, core standard charts, and transcripts to make their record keeping easy. The form to fill out in California is extremely easy to use. It is only one page HERE and is called a “Private School Affidavit”. Members that are using it have found it very easy to transition from public to homeschooling status.

To find updated information on your state or country please link here.