Homeschooling and the State Courts

What Will the Courts Expect of You As A Homeschool Teacher?

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.

Dated work samples mean just what they sound like in that they are a few samples of work with dates on them. You do not have to compile an extensive portfolio in order to submit it to the school although you might like to keep these kinds of records for your own use.

Progress reports can also serve as your plan for the coming year if you include information about how current learning will be extended into the next year, and what new areas will be added. While the law does not specify that a homeschooling plan needs to be submitted annually, many towns have come to expect them.

If you live in a town that tells you that your approval is only valid for only one year, you might also want to add any important information such as how long the homeschool year will be, how qualified the parents are, as well as the fact that you plan to submit one such report a year. I will provide a sample report in a later section.

It is important for you to include in your education plan what form of evaluation you are planning to use. That way if the school later asks you for a form of evaluation that you'd prefer not to use, you can refer them to your approved education plan in which you already said that you would submit your preferred evaluation. It doesn’t matter if you choose to submit test scores, a progress report, or work samples.

Adding a line in your annual report such as, an annual progress report/dated work sample/standardized test results will be submitted upon request; is a good idea if you aren't sure whether or not they'll ask you for anything. Of course if they don't ask, you don't need to submit anything.

If you know for a fact that your town consistently requires people to report, then it's somewhat pointless to state the terms “at your request” since you know they'll ask and it just creates more work for them to have to. Some of the information from the most recent homeschool policies will vary by state, and what form and frequency of assessment that homeschoolers provide is also very interesting and worth a quick look. Some of this information is like the following:

About half of the respondents actually write a progress report.

• 21% of the respondents who did submit work samples or a portfolio; several of them indicated that the schools expected them to also submit work samples.
  
• Fourteen percent of respondents chose to test instead. Tests used include the California Achievement Test (CAT), the Personalized Achievement Summary System Test (PASS), the Wide Range Assessment test (WRAT), the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS), the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and the Stanford Test.
  
• Thirteen percent of the people didn’t submit any evaluation at all.
  
• Ten percent of the people indicated their evaluation method changes often.
  
• Four percent of the people indicated that they use of a form of evaluation other than testing, progress reports, or work samples.

School Committee Homeschool Plan Review

4 things every school committee looks at when approving your home school proposal.

The court systems have recognized that certain factors may be considered by the superintendent or school committee in helping to decide whether or not to approve a home school proposal. The factors that are considered are as follows:

1. The proposed curriculum that you decide to show, the length of the homeschool year and the number of hours of instruction in each of the proposed subjects

2. The competency of the parents who are to teach the children

3. Parental and student access to the textbooks, workbooks, and other instructional aids that are to be used by the children and to the lesson plans and teaching manuals to be used by the parents

4. A form of assessment of the children so that the system can be sure that the educational progress and the attainment of minimum standards are up to par


Practical Application of Guidelines
Before you begin submitting anything to your school district, it is a good idea to talk to other local homeschoolers in your area. You can probably find someone by contacting a support group near you. While the statutes for homeschooling do not specify that a homeschooling plan needs to be submitted annually in every area, most towns expect annual plans.

Guideline 1: 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.

To follow these guidelines parents can list the subjects that they plan to cover when drawing up their proposal. A simple list of them should be good enough, since the school is not allowed to dictate the manner in which you teach anyway.

You may want to use key phrases or paragraphs that will be of help to convey the flexible nature of homeschooling:

Topics that will be placed in the education proposal may include, but do not have to be limited to, the following:

[Child's name here] will use a developmentally-appropriate and integrated curriculum. We will plan her learning process together, based on her interests, so that while it is impossible to state in advance which specific topical areas we will cover, we expect to cover the following subjects during this school year:

We will be practicing learner-directed educational skills; [child's name]'s course of study is based upon his/her specific interests. His/her range of interests is quite broad and his/her learning will be created accordingly. [Child’s name]'s education is to be holistic as well since learning often occurs in the context of normal life experiences. His/her school year will extend 365 days a year for this reason.

The curriculum is a statement of things [child's name] has learned and, based on that, of things s/he will continue learning throughout the year. Topics have a tendency to mix together and activities and discussions during the year will reflect a wider picture than what can be expressed in a list of isolated subjects previously mentioned.

Of course, if you are following a boxed or self-made curriculum for your child, you can simply outline what you plan to cover for the year, while still allowing for some level of flexibility in your plan. If you do not want to write an outline, you can create a photocopy of the table of contents from the curriculum instead.

Length of the homeschool year: Cities and towns are obligated to operate the public schools for a minimum of 180 days. However, it does not go so far as to state that the length of a homeschool's year MUST be the same as a public school year. However, you must ensure that your homeschool year will meet or beat 180 days.

Many homeschool families choose to write that their homeschool year extends 365 days a year, which means that it easily exceeds the minimum 180 days of a public school because of the life lessons that are often taught. In any case, you should make a note that the length of your homeschool year will be somewhere between 180 days and 365 days a year.

Hours of instruction per subject:
Parents may want to calculate the hours of instruction based on the way in which they homeschool, which does not have to be an exact replicate of what the public school's offering, however it should equal it in how thorough and effective it is.

You should keep in mind that the definition of instruction is a loose one and includes such activities as independent study, field trips, computer-aided learning, and presentations by people that are not teachers. Also, it helps for you to know that following a schedule is not an important consideration in a home school where the use of time is different.

Some parents choose to write that they will meet or exceed the 900 (elementary) or 990 (secondary) minimum hours of teaching. If your local school officials insist on your adding more detail than this, you will want to submit an estimate of hours per subject per year. But when you do this you will want to preface it by including a statement such as “Because of the flexible nature of homeschooling, the following is just an estimate of the hours of instruction spent per subject”

If you are interested in knowing how the public schools allocate their time, schools have curriculum guides that define how much time will be spent on each subject per week. These guides should be made available to you upon request. Schools are not authorized to go so far as to ask for an hourly or daily schedule.

If the school official is insisting on an hourly daily or weekly schedule, you will want to accompany the above with this quote, which was conducted by from Brunelle: “While following a schedule may be an important consideration in a public school where preexisting schedules need to be maintained and coordinated, the perception and use of time in a home school are different. The plaintiffs can observe and accommodate variations (from child to child, subject to subject, day to day) in the learning process and teach through a process that paces each student.”

Guideline 2: 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.

In order for parents to comply with this standard they can include one of the following in their education plan:

• I am of competent ability and good morals for teaching my child.

• Summarize your educational credentials, certifications etc.

• Schools are not authorized to ask for the qualifications of everyone who will be teaching your child such as speakers etc.

Guideline 3: 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.

In order for you to be able to follow this guideline properly: You can write in your educational plan, that you will be using a variety of materials and resources, whereas you will be providing a list to be made available to the school department upon request.

Or, you can list the books and other resources that you will ensure that they will have available to them. If you are using a pre-set curriculum, then you can list the books and resources you will be following from that. If your school insists on getting more detail, photocopying the table of contents of a couple of key books will probably be good enough.

If after trying one or more of the above suggestions, you find that a school official insists on actually seeing the books and materials, you could point out that your plan includes making use of such intangible resources, and that the internet and the public library are accessible to anyone, where you can find the information easily.

It is all really about how best to define access in this context. You need to remember that approval can only be conditioned on requirements that are absolutely necessary to the State interest in making sure that all of the children will be educated properly.

Since most of the schools feel that a list of resources meets their need for access to teaching materials, and since some of them are happy with far less than that, it would be very hard difficult to argue that physical access is needed.

Some of these resources that you can use are:
• Encyclopedias
• Dictionaries
• Atlases
• reference books and materials (such as textbooks, field guides, timelines,
globes, maps, etc.)
• newspapers
• Magazines
• Library loan books, tapes, magazines, etc.
• educational games
• educational computer software and on-line services
• calculating and measuring tools and utensils
• arts & crafts supplies
• writing supplies
• musical instruments
• audio-visual equipment and materials
• religious materials
• science lab equipment
• sports equipment
• community resources (such as museums, theatres, sports programs,
• private lessons, volunteer opportunities)


Guideline 4: 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.

Some families prefer to use different methods of assessment for different children.
Once you have submitted a plan that includes information that is outlined by the guidelines, you can rest assured that you have already fulfilled your responsibility to homeschool.

From here you can either hand deliver your plan to the school and ask for a receipt, or mail it certified mail, by requesting a return receipt. It is not unheard of for schools to lose your paperwork, so it's good to have a copy of what you have sent to them, as well as the proof that you have submitted it.

Depending on what town you live in, you may or may not hear anything from your school once you've submitted your plan. If it is important to you to receive approval in writing, you can include a sentence such as, “I would appreciate a letter of approval from you” in your cover letter.

This type of proof of homeschooling can be used to get special discounts at various stores and museums, as well as student discounts for use of the MBTA.

If the home school proposal is rejected for some reason, the superintendent or the school committee must provide you with details of the reasons for the decision. The parents must then be given an opportunity to correct or change their proposal as a means of fixing its inadequacies.

However, if the parents start the education of their children at home in spite of the school committee's refusal to approve their proposal, the burden of proof under the laws, moves to the school committee as a way to show that the instruction that was outlined in the home school proposal fails to meet with the standards of the public schools in the same town.

Basically, if the school sees a problem with your plan, they are obligated to give you the opportunity to fix it. If, having submitted a plan, you commence homeschooling without approval, the school will then assume that the burden to show that your plan does not meet their standards of that in the public schools.

In the unlikely event that the school wants to take you to court over the matter, the huge costs that are incurred for them to do it along with the fact that they would have to bear the burden of proof to show your plan is not adequate would most likely be a detriment to them, especially given the chance that a judge would recommend an quick and easy resolution to the situation.

Sample Home School Education Plan

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.

We will meet or exceed the 180 days, 900/990 hours of instruction required yearly in the public schools system.

We are of competent ability and good morals etc.

We will be using a variety of different materials and resources, a list of which will be made available to the TOWN school department upon request.

An annual progress report/dated work sample/standardized test results will be submitted upon request as well.

Sincerely,

Preparing Home Schooling Proposal

5 steps to making sure your school district will approve your proposal to home school your child.

When it comes to the homeschooling of your children, there are quite a few factors that play into not just what you will do about it, but also how you will make sure that you are approved to do it. Like everything else, this is a process. Many people have questions that they need to answer about homeschooling. As the parent/teacher of your child, you must do the following to get started with homeschooling:

• Develop your homeschool education plan following homeschool education guidelines for approval by both the school board or state court, as well as meeting your ability to teach. Here's an example of a homeschool education plan proposal.

• Schedule a meeting with the school board or state education officials so that they can offer you any help with tutors etc. that are approved. You will also be presenting your proposal at this meeting.

• Get information about and register for evaluations with your school board or state to ensure that your child is meeting with the approved standards in your area.

• Get yourself certified to teach your child

• Create a homeschooling proposal for what you are planning to teach your child and how you plan to go about it.

NEXT

Getting Your Homeschooling Plan Approved by the School Board

Home School Education Plan Guidelines

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

In many states, there is no statute that specifically governs homeschooling. However, many of them have upheld the compulsory attendance statute which states that every child between the minimum and maximum ages that have been established for school attendance by the board of education is obligated to attend a public day school in their town, or some other day school that is approved by the school committee.

However, it also states that such attendance shall not be required of a child who is being otherwise taught in a manner that is approved in advance by the superintendent or the school committee.

Ages for School Attendance

The minimum age that has been established for compulsory school attendance is six, whereas the maximum age is 16. Each child must attend school beginning in September of the calendar year once he or she reaches the age of six.

Approval of homeschooling plans

The court has decided that while parents have a basic right in directing the education of their children, however; this kind of right is not really absolute but has to be reconciled with the substantial State interest in the education of its smallest citizens.

It is therefore necessary that the school committee seek to enforce, through the approval process under, certain reasonable educational requirements be similar to those required for public and private schools.

NEXT

Some recommendations on how to actually put together a home school proposal and get it approved.

Getting Started With Home Schooling

4 courses of action to take as soon as possible to make sure you have the current information for home schooling in your state.

If you have considered all of the previously mentioned reasons mentioned , 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.

• 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.

• Locate your local support group for parents of home schooled kids. These groups will help you to get good tips from other parents and is a great place to find like minded people to share your troubles etc.

• Know the laws in your state about homeschooling. If you have questions, arrange for an evaluation with your local school board so that you can verify that your child is approved for homeschooling. They will also check for a proposal from you about homeschooling your child

• Get any magazines, books and/or other supplies that you will need in order for you to have steady resources on hand to offer tips etc.

Is Home Schooling Right For You?

8 things you must consider before you even think of getting started home schooling your child.

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.

When making the homeschool decision, you must first consider these things:

1. Time commitment. Homeschooling has a tendency to take up a lot of time in your day. It involves more than just sitting down with books for a couple of hours. There are experiments and projects that have to be done, lessons to prepare, papers to grade, field trips, park days, music lessons, and the list just keeps on going. You can go online and search for some sample schedules that will help to give you an idea of a typical day.

2. Personal sacrifice. The homeschooling parent has very little personal time or time alone and away from their children. If a lot of care is not taken to set aside time for yourself, it is easy for the parent to feel overwhelmed. Basically, the parent and child are together 24 hours a day and this can get frustrating on both sides.

3. Financial Problems. Homeschooling can be accomplished with very little cost to you; however, it usually requires that the teaching parent will not be working out of the home. Some sacrifices will need to be made if the family is used to two incomes. Of course, if you are a single parent, this could pose an even bigger problem.

4. Time for socialization. More attention will need to be given to getting your children together with his/her peers. The best part of homeschooling is being able to have more control of the social contacts your child makes. However, the downside is that you must prepare your child yourself on how to socialize with other kids. Homeschooling has a tendency to make your child feel isolated.

5. Household Organization. Housework and laundry and other house work will still have to be done, but it probably won't get done first thing in the morning. If you are a neat freak, you might be in for a big surprise. Not only does housework need to be let go at times, but homeschooling creates messes and clutter on its own. You will have to get organized so that you can keep your home together.

6. Parental Agreement. It is important that both parents agree to homeschooling. It is very difficult for this to work if one of the parents is against it. If your spouse is against it at this time, try doing more research and talking to more people so that you can be absolutely certain it is something that both of you can agree upon. Otherwise, the chances for success are much smaller.

7. Your child's willingness. A willing student is crucial to the success of homeschooling. Ultimately, the decision is the parents to make, but if your child is dead against it, you might have a very difficult time in teaching them. The fact of the matter is that an unwilling child can sabotage his/her own school efforts.

8. Know that it works one year at a time. It isn't a lifetime commitment and doesn’t have to become one. If you find that homeschooling just isn’t worth it, you can choose to go the regular route.

There is a lot more to homeschooling than to just do it. As a parent, you must know that your child’s education is the most important factor in his/her future. You need to be thoroughly prepared for all of the time and commitment that is involved. If you are thinking of choosing homeschooling for your child (ren), this guide will help to make it a successful transition. So let’s get started.

Home School Secrets Revealed

You Don't Have To Be A PHD (or Even A College Graduate) To Teach Your Chind in Home School!

Public school is not the only option!

You may want to make sure your child is getting the personal attention he or she needs. That your child learns the values and morals that you hold sacred. That the information making it to your child holds to certain standards.

Home schooling is a great option if you want to have a larger role in your kids' learning. And while the idea may seem easy at first, there's a lot of work to be done before school officials will acknowledge that your child is getting the proper education at home. There's paperwork to be filled out, curriculum's to decide, and school committee's to convince. But this should NOT discourage you.

Here are just some of the secrets of successful home schooling that you will uncover on this site:

• Five things you must consider before you even think of getting started home schooling your child.
  
• Three factors every school board committee will look at when approving your homeschool plan proposal.
  
• Five steps to making sure your school district will approve your proposal to home school your child.
• The sample education plan that should get approval from your school officials without any problems.
• Find out what the courts will expect from you as a teacher.

COMING SOON! * COMING SOON! * COMING SOON! * COMING SOON!

• The secret to picking subject areas that any school committee will have to approve.
• Three steps to proving to school officials you are qualified to teach your child (whether you have a degree or not).
• Twenty types of resources you can use submit as legitimate teaching materials.
• Four options you have to prove to school officials that your child is learning.
• The sample education plan that should get approval from your school officials without any problems.
• Eight rules for choosing teaching materials that suit your needs as well as your child's.
• Ten steps to creating a successful lesson plan every time.
• Two sample lesson plans for you to analyze and learn from.
• The secret to setting goals to make sure you reach your yearlong curriculum needs.
• The trick to realistically planning math curriculums.
• Tips for drawing up dynamite lesson plans in grammar, spelling, vocabulary, reading, writing, and more.
• Three reasons to confirm home schooling your special-needs child is a good idea.
• Five tips to remember when home schooling your special-needs child.
• 14 essential resources to seek out form more information.