The decision to home school your child can be a difficult one to make. Many parents wonder if it is the right thing to do. Many wonder if their children can get the same “grade” of education if they are homeschooled.There are many reasons why parents choose to homeschool their kids. For many it is because they want to add religious content to their children’s learning experience.
Making the decision to home school is usually a very difficult not and it is not one to be taken lightly. It is a personal decision that no one can make for you, but maybe I can help in the thought process by providing you with a comprehensive guide to making the choice to homeschool your kids a successful one.
If you have considered all of the reasons mentioned above and more, and have decided that homeschooling really is right for you and your kids, you will likely want to know what to do now. This section is going to help you know what you should do in order to get things running. Here are some quick points for getting started with homeschooling:
• Locate your state’s homeschool group. You can do this online easily by typing in your state and the keyword “homeschooling” at your favorite search engine. Then go to your state listing. You can usually find many different sites that will offer this information for you.
The court recognized that certain factors should be considered by the superintendent or school committee when it comes to deciding whether or not to approve any homeschool proposal that they receive. One of these factors is a form of periodic evaluation of the children that is designed to ensure educational progress and the attainment of minimum standards that are required by the state.
The court says clearly that school officials and parents should and must agree on a method of evaluation that may include one of the following approaches: standardized testing, periodic progress report, or dated work samples. Home visits may not be necessary as a condition of this approval.
As I mentioned in the above section, part of the main aspects of getting approved to homeschool your children is in the creation of your education plan or proposal. In it, you need to prove that you are ready, willing, and capable of teaching your own children. This section is going teach you how to create your education plan. Here are some of the statutes regarding these plans:
Compulsory Attendance Statute
School officials may consider the subjects the child will study, the length of the homeschool year, and the hours that these kids will be taught. While some school officials may consider hours of instruction in each subject, they may not dictate the exact way in which the subjects will be taught.
Subjects the child will study:
First of all, you will have to consider the lists of the core subjects such as mathematics, science and technology, history and social science, English, foreign languages and the arts. Other subjects that may be included in your child’s area of study may include orthography, reading, writing, the English language and grammar, geography, arithmetic, religion, drawing, music, the history and constitution of the United States, the duties of citizenship, health education, gym and good behavior.
School officials may ask you for information that pertains to the academic credentials or qualifications of the parents who will be teaching the children. Certification would not necessarily be required for parents under a home school proposal.
Let me just tell you that parents do not need to have college or advanced academic degrees. All the laws state clearly that what is needed for homeschooling is that teachers shall be ‘of competent ability and good morals. For example, if you have a criminal history on record, you would not be deemed worthy to teach a child.
School officials may consider teaching materials, but only if it is to determine subject and grade levels of the children being taught. School officials may not use this access as a means to dictate the manner in which the subjects will be taught. There are actually some lessons that are considered intangible to school systems.
For example, travel, community service, visits to educationally enriching facilities like museums and places like this, and meeting with various resource people, can provide important learning experiences apart from the four corners of a text or workbook that can make homeschooling more rewarding for parent and child.
School officials and parents have to agree on a way to host the evaluations that may include any of the following approaches:
• Standardized testing,
• Progress report,
• Dated work samples.
• Other methods of assessment, if they are agreed upon by parents and school officials, are also allowed.
You need to choose the one form of assessment that best fits your own individual style of homeschooling, either testing, progress report or dated work samples. If you add a line such as, An annual progress report/dated work sample/standardized test results will be submitted upon request, as was mentioned earlier; it is a good way to just be sure. If they don’t ask, you don’t need to submit anything.
Parents’ names Go Here
123 Main St.
Anytown, any state
August, YEAR
Superintendent
Anytown Schools
Anytown, any state
Dear Dr./Mr./Ms. Superintendent:
We are writing to inform you of our decision to home educate our child, NAME/AGE. Below you will find our education plan, submitted in accordance with the laws of this state.
We will cover the following subjects: [Choose from the following subjects listed in above sections, or make up your own, keeping in mind your plan must meet the same requirements as the schools in your area], reading, writing, the English language and grammar, geography, arithmetic, drawing, music, the history and constitution of the United States, the duties of citizenship, health education, physical education and good behavior, mathematics, science and technology, history and social science, English, foreign languages and the arts, etc.
Choosing your teaching materials can be an overwhelming decision because there are so many excellent resources and products available and each one claims to be superior to all others. Many veteran homeschoolers would suggest that you stick to a “prepackaged” or traditional curriculum for the first year or so, just until you get the hang of it.
Other parents will encourage new homeschoolers to consider correspondence schools to start with. I don’t necessarily agree with these recommendations, because for many it seems to encourage the idea of viewing home schooling as being “school at home” instead of an exciting and enriching lifestyle of learning.
