• Archives

  • Categories

  • Recent Posts

  •  

  • Getting Your Homeschooling Approved By The State

    Posted May 15th, 2008 by
    Categories: law-degree

    While most parents would choose public school education for their children, some are choosing the road less taken - homeschooling.. Home schooling, prevalent prior the inception of formalized school systems, is making a return to the mainstream because some parents either do not approve of the curriculum of school systems or are even against the idea of formalized school systems, or find themselves holding greater capacity to educate their children in the best possible manner.

    You may be interested in homeschooling your child, and you have your own reasons for doing it. Like picking a school for your child, making the decision to home school requires a lot of consideration. For many reasons, certain guidelines are set by the state or local education offices before you can actually home school your children. Majority of states in the United States would require a legal minimum of state notification of your intention to home school your child. In a rare few (including Texas, Alaska, Missouri, Illinois, and Oklahoma, among others), you may go on ahead with home schooling your child without informing the state.

    Later on, during the period when your child is already being home schooled, some states may require for you to submit to them evaluation scores, attendance records (states may require a minimum number of ’school’ days for home school too) and even test scores.

    It is important for you to find out the different requirements for homeschooling in your state or country. It will help you make sure that once you home school your child, your child’s education is actually being recognized by the state. Without state approval, your home schooling may not be regarded, which may increase the difficulty for your child to move on to a university or college.

    The state may be able to provide you with various forms and guidebooks for you to home school your children. Homeschooled children are required a marginal number of steps that regular applicants are not required to take in order to qualify for their chosen university. Moreover, by visiting your local education authority, you will also get to find out the various state and local government scholarships for which your child may or may not be able to qualify just because they are homeschooled.

    Make a visit to your state or local government education office in order to make an educated decision, and in order to get the approval you would need to push through with home schooling your child.

    Joshua Poyoh is the creator of homeschoolingreport.com He writes and researches into the area of the Home Schooling Requirements And State Law

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

    Home School Resources - 5 Tips for Dealing with Homeschooling Statutes and Regulations

    Posted April 30th, 2008 by
    Categories: law-degree

    The legal ramifications of choosing to homeschool your child is heavily dependent upon which state you live in and how state and local authorities interpret the laws of compulsory attendance, private education and homeschooling. State officials may require some or all of the following: registration, a notice of intent to homeschool, regular progress evaluations, or advance approval prior to beginning to homeschool your child. State statute interpretation and enforcement often take a back seat the the statutes themselves.

    Here are five tips to keep the homeschooling legal worries to a minimum and allow you to concentrate on your child’s education:

    1. Be aware of your state’s statutes on homeschooling. Keep current copies of all applicable statutes in a safe place in your home for easy reference. Communicate with other parents who homeschool their children on a regular basis. Sign up with a state homeschooling organization that watches the regulations affecting homeschoolers and attend meetings as often as possible.

    2. Find out what difficulties exist with statute interpretations in your state. Contact other homeschooling parent who have dealt with these problems successfully. Make a plan with all available options to cope with known issues should you be confronted with them. Don’t wait until you have a problem before beginning to work on the solution.

    3. Don’t assume that explanations of homeschooling legal issues are correct. Always investigate any possible concerns for yourself. Homeschooling laws are complex and definitive statements may leave out important information you should know.

    4. Don’t allow concerns over legal issues keep you from the important business of educating your child. Most homeschooling parents only object to state requirements for documentation and testing because they interfere with the learning experience for their child. As long as you are meeting your state’s legal requirements, you shouldn’t have to change your approach to homeschooling for your child.

    5. Be expressive about your homeschooling. Making homeschoolers visible in your community helps make homeschooling more acceptable to and supported by the public. As more parents choose to homeschool their children, communities nationwide may accept homeschooling as a fun, exciting and effective alternative to traditional public or private institutional style education.

    Rebecca Welch is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Home-School-Resources.blogspot.com. She provides researched information on home school resources.

    Tags: , , , , , , , ,

    An Introduction to Homeschooling Laws

    Posted April 6th, 2008 by
    Categories: law-degree

    Numerous parents, for several different reasons, make the decision to homeschool their children. Homeschooling allows for a particular educational experience intended to fit your child’s specific needs and, in numerous cases, goes above and beyond what can be achieved in a public or private school system. If you make the decision to homeschool your family, it is important that you do so legally, and recognize the laws in your area. It is absolutely crucial that you do this, because if you fail to meet statutory standards when homeschooling your children you will inadvertently rob your children of postsecondary educational opportunities.

    Homeschooling laws vary from situation to situation, so you have to look up the precise laws in your home state. The foundation of state laws on homeschooling is the result of truancy laws that order children to be present in a day-school. The fundamental idea is that these laws prevail to tell apart a homeschooled child from a child that is merely not going to school, which is of course against the law. Ordinarily, states will require that you submit a “notice of intent” to homeschool your children before the upcoming academic year. The state will then respond with the proper paperwork for you to fill out.

    Besides familiarizing yourself with the particular laws of your state you should also consult a homeschooling organization for advice. In various cases parents will be dealing with school officials who want to dishearten them from homeschooling, and in these situations it is important that you understand your rights. In the state of New York, for instance, parents are not required to meet with school officials. School officials may request a meeting with the parents in order to consult on homeschooling, but the state may not revoke the right to homeschool if the parents refuse this meeting.

    It is also required that your child take standardized tests. This is so the state can legally allocate your child to a given grade level. The laws vary from state to state but in most cases you will have a certain amount of leeway in non-standardized tests. New York allows for non-standard tests every alternate year between grades 4 and 8, for example.

    Though it may seem intimidating at first, homeschooling your children legally is, in the end, not that complex. You just have to make certain that you follow every step, and don’t neglect any paperwork. While several state restrictions or protocol may seem unnecessary or cumbersome, in the long run you’ll save yourself a ton of headaches if you fill everything in properly and on time.

    The first thing you can do when you start to homeschool your children is to consult different homeschooling parents and advocacy groups. Looking up legal vernacular online can be confusing, but any homeschooling group will supply you solid, plain-English advice on how to properly and legally set up homeschooling for your children. Remember: it’s impossible to overestimate the importance of studying your state laws in regards to homeschooling - if you overlook or disregard any of them, you could lose your right to homeschool altogether.

    Homeschooling Info For You is designed to be a supplemental resource guide for parents who have made the decision to homeschool their children. For more information, please visit http://homeschoolinginfoforyou.com

    Tags: , , , , , ,

    Close
    E-mail It