Graduation path · Parents · Honest
How this becomes a diploma — without pretending we are accredited
Finish Kindergarten–5th, then 6th–8th, then 9th–12th. Each band prints a certificate and a transcript of the coursework and credits. You, the parent, are the teacher of record. That is how legal homeschool diplomas work in the United States. $35/month per student or $69/month per family (up to 4 students) · Week 1 free. Not a state diploma. Not currently accredited.
The three stages — K–5 → 6–8 → 9–12
Who issues the diploma?
In a homeschool, the parent is the school. You keep the hours, the mastery evidence, and you sign the transcript as school official. Life Academy supplies the coursework, the quizzes, the live transcript pages that fill from this device, and the printables. Completing our weeks does not make us a regionally accredited institution. It makes you a parent with a complete, documented year.
Follow your state’s homeschool notice, attendance, and portfolio rules. The curriculum is written for all 50 states — the legal filing is yours.
What the transcript actually shows
| Band | On the record | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| K–5 | Weeks completed, Friday mastery, teach-backs | Portfolio · promotion to 6th |
| 6–8 | Standard course titles + pathway credits + letter grades | Middle-school certificate · high-school readiness |
| 9–12 | Carnegie units (~22–24 college-prep map), GPA, course descriptions | Common App / dual enrollment / employer |
High-school core: English 4.0 · Math 3–4 · Lab science 3+ · Social studies 3–4 · Spanish 2.0 · STEM / CTE / Life Skills electives. Spanish I–II is the language elective so two years of the same language print on the transcript.
Will families buy if we are not accredited?
Yes — the families this product is for. The U.S. homeschool curriculum market is mostly not accredited schools. Parents buy Abeka, The Good and the Beautiful, Easy Peasy, and a hundred other programs because they want the teaching, not a seal. Accreditation audits a school entity (board, teachers of record on payroll, finances, a site visit). A curriculum site cannot be accredited. There is no button for it.
Families who need a school to enroll the child, issue the diploma, and carry the accreditation — Connections Academy, a private umbrella, Penn Foster High School — should buy that. We will not pretend we are them.
Families who already homeschool (or will file as homeschoolers) buy a classroom that actually teaches: Science of Reading that speaks the sounds, labs on this page, papers in high school, a STEM pathway every grade, and a transcript they can sign. Honesty is the sales pitch. Fake “DOE approved” badges would be a reason not to buy.
Penn Foster and “accredited but thin”
Penn Foster High School is a real accredited distance school. Accreditation means an agency audited the institution — it does not mean every lesson is excellent. Parents who have used mills like that often say the paperwork is official and the teaching is thin. Life Academy is the opposite bet: thick classroom now, parent-issued diploma, no fake seal. If a college asks “Is your school accredited?”, the honest sentence is: Parent-issued Life Academy / homeschool transcript with the college-prep courses universities already look for. Admissions offices already have a homeschool box. They care about Algebra II, lab science, English papers, and SAT/dual-enrollment as corroboration — not whether the workbook brand paid for a site visit.
What colleges actually look at — this program already has it
If they complete 9–12 here, the transcript names the same college-prep courses admissions offices already know: English I–IV with papers and MLA, Algebra I → Geometry → Algebra II → Precalculus or Statistics, Biology → Chemistry → Physics path, lab notebooks, U.S. and world history, Spanish I–II. Grade 11 practices SAT/ACT skill families on this campus. The College Board still gives the real SAT. After Grade 12 — or after high school if that’s when they enroll — the parent-signed packet is for college, a trade, or a shop.
After Life Academy (college · trade · shop) · SAT / ACT skills gym · Sign the live transcript
- Save mastery evidence and revised essays as you go.
- Fill the live high-school transcript (quiz averages and completion from this device) or the blank printable template.
- Attach the High School Pathway Certificate. Parent signs as counselor / school official.
- Optional corroboration: SAT/ACT, dual enrollment at a community college, a recommendation.
- Always follow your state’s homeschool notice and portfolio rules.
College-prep rigor for every U.S. family
A child in any state gets phonics that is Science of Reading, math that is mastery, science that is inquiry plus engineering, and a K–12 STEM pathway that becomes named high-school credits. We do not teach one state’s towns as the social-studies spine. We teach college-prep demand, everywhere.
The program · STEM pathway · State-test skills
Browse by subject
English (includes reading) · Math · Science · STEM · History · Spanish I–II · Driver’s Ed (9–12 theory) · Business & Economics · Life Skills.