The Homeschooling Handbook_ From Preschool to High School - Mary Griffith [18]
The parent holds at least a high school diploma or GED certificate.
Instruction occurs at least four and a half hours per day for at least 180 days.
The curriculum includes, but is not limited to, reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies, and in grades seven to twelve, composition and literature.
Records, including a lesson plan or record book, student work samples, and records of student progress evaluations, are maintained for school district inspection on reasonable notice, and semiannual reports of student attendance and progress are submitted to the school district.
Students have access to library facilities.
Students participate in the state’s annual assessment tests.
Parents sign a waiver releasing the school district from liability for any educational deficiencies that might result from home instruction.
If homeschool students do not meet the promotion standards for their grade (determined by the state test scores), the school district can place the child in a public school or in a special education program or provide instructional support for the home education program. In such cases, the parent still has the option to enroll in a private or religious school instead.
The second homeschooling option under South Carolina law is to homeschool as a member and under the auspices of the South Carolina Association of In dependent Home Schools (SCAIHS). The statute requirements for parent qualifications, instructional days, and areas of instruction are the same as for the district-approved option, but SCAIHS adds a few requirements of its own, in a quest for what it calls “voluntary accountability.” Specifically, SCAIHS requires that its staff review the curriculum, that parents attend a SCAIHS orientation in September; that a daily or weekly record book be kept along with a student work portfolio; that quarterly, midyear, and year-end attendance and progress reports be submitted; that students take annual achievement tests; that an annual tuition fee be paid; and so on. Failure to comply can result in the revocation of membership and loss of this option as a legal alternative.
In mid-1996, as a result of lobbying efforts by homeschoolers dissatisfied with the restrictive policies of SCAIHS, the South Carolina legislature authorized additional homeschool organizations to supervise homeschoolers under this provision of the statute. According to one active South Carolina homeschooling parent:
There’s a much better climate for homeschooling here now. Many new associations have started, and the relationship between these smaller regional associations and the local school districts, for the most part, is very good. School personnel and truancy officers appreciate being able to deal with local folks when problems come up, and more school personnel are referring parents to the associations in their area. I’d describe the climate as much more welcoming.—Dianna, South Carolina
Washington
The homeschooling statute of the state of Washington is considerably friendlier than those of Pennsylvania and South Carolina. The compulsory attendance statute, covering children from eight to eighteen, includes a specific exemption for “home-based instruction”:
Instruction shall be home-based if it consists of planned and supervised instructional and related educational activities, including a curriculum and instruction in the basic skills of occupational education, science, mathematics, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, and the development of an appreciation of art and music, provided for a number of hours equivalent to the total annual program hours per grade level established for approved private schools…
The statute also lists the four different ways parents