Accredited Homeschool Courses: How important are they really?

Accredited homeschool courses – find out how important they are (or aren’t) for your high school student’s future.

I had a little dilemma arise awhile back. We almost decided to stop homeschooling our kids.

However, the actual problem was not our plan to stop homeschooling. The school where we were contemplating enrolling our kids did not “recognize” any of the coursework recorded on our homeschool transcripts.

The courses were not accredited homeschool courses.

They wanted my high schoolers to take 20+ exams to “test out” of almost every single high school course they had completed over the years. 

Essentially, they would spend their entire summer reviewing and studying for tests. Not to mention, actually taking ALL the tests!

Definitely not my (nor their) ideal summer – at all!

I was compensated for my time in writing and sharing this product. All opinions expressed in this post are my own and I was not required to post a positive review of the products.

As a mom, I was kicking myself for not realizing that such a problem could arise when taking non-accredited homeschool courses. That’s why learning about Stepmojo was so intriguing!

Stepmojo is an online education platform that curates and delivers high-quality, synchronous (live) online courses for high school-level students. The live instructional format helps teens stay more easily engaged and motivated.

And, who doesn’t want a positive, bully-free, learning environment designed to develop teamwork, communication, and leadership skills?

And, yes! The courses are accredited! Keep reading to find out more!

Guaranteed Quality:

There are tons of content and course providers out there in the market, whose offerings vary a lot in quality. Stepmojo has already done the up-front work of vetting and curating only the highest quality courses. This way, you don’t have to sift through countless catalogs to figure out which ones are worth your money and your student’s time.

Stepmojo has a rigorous process to ensure that every single class follows a thoughtfully-planned curriculum. Plus, they have engaging teachers who are experts in their subjects and experienced in leading effective virtual classrooms.

Live Instruction:

Stepmojo courses are offered in a live synchronous format, multiple times per week. This allows students to regularly interact with their teacher, have rich discussions with their classmates, and receive personalized feedback and support.

Positive Learning Environment:

Stepmojo works tirelessly to ensure all classes have a safe, productive, and friendly learning environment. They take pride in ensuring that all students are able to learn without fear of bullying or indoctrination of any set agenda.

Soft Skills Development:

By design, Stepmojo classes are full of rich student discussions with teachers and peers, enabling students to build core skills including teamwork, communication, and leadership. Students often say that this is the best part of their Stepmojo class.

Curriculum & Accreditation:

Stepmojo accredits all their classes through a transcript issuing body. This eases the logistics of the college application process and, if needed, ensures traditional schools grant credit for completed courses. (Yep, this is the part that I didn’t think about when we first started homeschooling.)

College Prep & Recommendations:

Stepmojo also offers several advanced placement (AP), college-level courses so students can earn college credit. Students get plenty of live interaction and opportunity to build relationships with their teachers, who would be able to provide recommendations for their college applications (at no additional cost).

More on our Dilemma with Accredited Homeschool Courses:

And, about our little dilemma (aka the potential summer of torture) – we averted it. We decided to continue homeschooling. 

However, had my kids taken Stepmojo classes, accreditation would not have been an issue! Now, I know better! And, you do too!

In conclusion, does your high schooler’s future depend on them taking accredited homeschool courses?

If you plan to homeschool all the way through, accredited homeschool courses are not mandatory. In fact, my oldest child heads off to a top-ranked college this fall. And, she has mostly non-accredited courses on her high school transcript.

However, if you plan to transition from homeschool to a traditional school, you want to avoid the problem we faced. In this case, I recommend taking accredited homeschool courses like those from Stepmojo.

This post was originally published on June 13, 2022.