The Homeschooling Handbook_ From Preschool to High School - Mary Griffith [23]
You probably won’t get a black-and-white “this is what the rules are” answer to your homeschooling legal questions. But you will get a good idea of your state’s homeschooling climate and how other homeschoolers live within those rules. In many states, the rules are ambiguous at best, but by gathering as much information as you can from a variety of sources, you’ll get as close as any of us can to learning “exactly” what the laws are in your state.
Living with the Law
Whatever your state’s requirements—a simple filing of a form once a year, keeping a learning log, getting your kids tested every year or two, or even getting advance approval of your curriculum plans—you’ll probably find that complying with them is not too complicated. For the first year or two you’ll probably worry about getting it right, but the novelty of homeschooling, of doing something different from most of your neighbors, wears off quickly, and complying with even the more burdensome regulations becomes pretty routine.
We file as a private school every year, and Rosie gets some help from the public school independent study program she’s enrolled in. I know the law, and therefore I don’t worry about the legality. I also interact with, on average, one to five new or potential homeschoolers each week, reassuring them of the legality of homeschooling as well. I appreciate having our state homeschool association as a resource.—Carol, California
I worry to a certain degree about the legal stuff, meaning I intend to start getting to work at a very basic level to change the law. Our state doesn’t recognize homeschooling as such, so the only way we can qualify as a private tutor, aside from having a teaching certificate, is to be under the umbrella of a private Christian school—“church school,” I think the law says. So, we have to meet with them, pay out our noses, and go along, merrily or not.—Shari, Alabama
We file as a private school. I don’t worry about legalities. I feel I could drag any school officials who’d show up into our “office/ library” and knock their socks off with all the educational stuff we’ve got around here and all the outside activities he’s been involved in. Ethan presents himself well, too.—Lillian, California
We file as a private school. I don’t worry about legal problems because I don’t feel like a good test case—I’m not poor, single, or on welfare. California rules are gray—not too hard, no real record keeping is involved. No evaluations, either.—Melissa, California
Illinois is easy. We are considered a nonregistered private school. This means no lesson or curriculum plans have to be submitted, we don’t need to be certified, no attendance records need to be kept, no home visits are allowed, and testing is not a requirement. On the other hand, it’s kind of scary not being accountable to anyone but yourself. Having only a public school background, it is hard not to wonder if our child is measuring up to some standard.—Anne, Illinois
We comply with Hawaii’s requirements, which basically are to submit a notice of intent to the local public school, along with annual progress reports. Any parent can homeschool their own children; we don’t have to ask for permission or submit curriculums for approval at all. The rule says parents shall keep a written record of the planned curriculum, but we don’t have to share it with the school unless progress is inadequate, and even then, only under certain conditions. Progress reports can take the form of standardized tests, a written evaluation by a Hawaii-certified teacher, or a narrative report with student samples.
From what I know, the requirements are less onerous than in most states, except for places where homeschoolers don’t have to report to school officials at all. The