What you think about homeschooling??

[kuntrygirl]

Do parents or individuals who plan on homeschooling have to pass a test/curriculum to qualify them to homeschool a child?

 

[TexasLisa]

Do parents or individuals who plan on homeschooling have to pass a test/curriculum to qualify them to homeschool a child?

Hi Kuntrygirl!

I homeschooled my two from kindergarten thru high school. I did not have a college degree, my husband does. Anyway, below is what I found out for the State of Louisiana:

The law states that children ages 7 to 18 (or graduation) are required to attend school. A 180-day school year is required. Before the age of 7 there is no need to share information with the state. There seem to be two methods of fulfilling these requirements for homeschoolers. The first, is a home study program. Parents have to apply to the Board of Education and present information on the course content. Progress is measured by the state by way of copies of student's work and letters from outside sources (certified teachers or another "qualified" person) stating the student's progress and standardized testing.
The second method requires much less state intervention and reporting on the part of the parents. This method involves sending a letter to the Board of Education stating that you are running your homeschool as a private school, not seeking accreditation. All that is required is the number of students and the number of days you will be operating (180 days). No reporting of curriculum, test scores, or information from third parties is required. Either the application for the home study program, or the letter of intent for the private school option must be submitted annually.
The private school option is the one we educate under. Within 15 days of the beginning of our school year, usually in August or September, to coincide with the public school calendar, I send in a certified letter of intent to the Board of Education in duplicate. Usually within a week, they send me a response and a copy of my letter with a date stamp on it. Since we school all year long, we have no problem meeting a 180 day schoolyear requirement. We include field trip days as school, but not things like grocery store or doctor's appointments, despite the fact that those things can be educational.
The biggest difference between the two methods (home study or private school) occurs for high school students. To qualify for TOPS (state supplemented scholarships to universities), a student must be a graduate of an accredited high school. The private school option does not allow students to qualify for TOPS, but the home study program does. The switch from non-accredited private school (homeschool) and home study program for the purpose of qualifying for TOPS must be made by the beginning of 10th grade.

Lisa

 

[MirandaM]

Homeschooling high school can be very difficult unless you have online classes or lots of home school support like coops in your area. I have found online homeschooling to be the perfect solution for my older kids and would never attempt homeschooling without online help.

 

[cassie]

I have saiad this before. Get the book Homeschooling For Excellence by Colfax. The Colfax's did such a good job of homeschooling their three sons that all three boys were accepted into Harvard on full scholarships. They all graduated, too.

 

[kgripp]

I was home schooled my high school years and was able to finish 1 week after I turned 16. I loved being able to travel and find out who I was before going off to college. I plan to home school my son during middle school and high school unless we move to a better school district.

 

[chickencrazy429]

I've been homeschooled since 1st grade and I love it!! Homeschooling is not for everyone-- my brother was homeschooled and he didn't like it so my Mom put him in a private school and he likes it much better there. I do think that homeschooling was more fun with my siblings. Now that my brother Hunter went to college, and Turner goes to school I homeschool all by myself. My Mom does a great job-- and I take two online classes. 1 that is self-paced history and 1 that is a live online class. I also go to a co-op on Wednesdays that just ended last week. Homeschooling is great-- but it's not for everyone.

 

[oldrooster]

Depending on the state there is also public online available through K12. ( in many states its free and its still accredited because its through the public school) K12 is Awesome in my personal opinion. Can do all sorts of AP classes. Tons of science and math. Even though its not free in my state its what we are using to homeschool in the future. My oldest will start taking high school classes now while he is in middle school so he can take AP maths. We are doing high school stuff for the most part already so I was thrilled with how many classes he could take.

Indiana has just started that, online k-12 and they are advertising it like crazy on TV here in the last year or two, I wish it was around when I was in school. My cousin had a friend whom was a year behind him in school and when my cousin went to a JR college near by he saw this friend a few weeks after school started on campus with college level books under his arm. my cousin called to him ran up and asked why was he on campus carrying college books instead of being at their high school (knowing this kid should be a senior). It turns out he had some minor health problems that kept him out of school a lot but had doctor statements for each missed day, he told my cousin he was thrown out of school with like a week, week and a half to go and was not allowed to turn in the last few homework lessons they had for the year and not allowed to take finals so his parents where going to sign him up for night school (both over the summer and regualar school year) and summer school (regular daytime). the administration said even if he did summer school both da and night that summer and the next he could not graduate with his class he'd have to go to high school a fifth year even tho his grades where there and good enough that he shouldn't have to. the parents solution was for him to drop out take his GED go to college and graduate. They knew in their area you had virtually no chance at a job if you where a drop out or had a GED and that it was difficult for high school grads to find a job so that was the only reasonable option at that time they had. The school system just didn't like it that he was not in a chair for x many days a year so they could get money from the state for him, so they fought him dropping out (his parents threatened to sue and had a lawyer write a nasty letter to help them sign the papers the school should have legally let them to begin with). They had to have a lawyer threaten them again for trying to illegally prevent him from taking a GED test. And to top it off they tried to prevent him from going to college! the parents where on campus trying to get the last minute paperwork pushed through the system for that fall and they hit a snag when the college needed some forms from the school system above and beyond the GED and they got the correct person whom figured out the problem (aperantly this kid wasn't the first they tried to mess with). She simply called a friend in the college's legal department and told him she came across the same type problem shared the specifics and they threatened suit to the school system and told them if they didn't back off to try to match lawyers and money with their alumni. the school system backed off very fast and very quietly.

 

[Chickies4ever]

BE HOMESCHOOLED! I have been homeschooled my WHOLE life. And i am absolutely addicted. Yes addicted.

 

[Homesqool Eggs]

Ah.... You reeled me in with a homeschooling question! Should you be homeschooled? Both you and your parents seem excited to give it a go.... So, YES!! Do it!
I currently homeschool my 5 children... Is it always fun? No. After the "new" wears off is wear the hard work begins but it is SO worth it! You didn't ask, but I would highly suggest something like http://www.americanschoolofcorr.com/ or going with a curriculum that is DVD based. GOOD LUCK!

 

[chickencrazy429]

And whatever you do, do NOT do Saxon Math. It's a horrible math curriculum and I hate it. Thank goodness we're changing next year.