What is required of a parent who homeschools their child?

Question

How open is the curriculum? Who monitors what the parent/parents teache and how often are the parents monitored? What paperwork do the parents have to keep? How many hours should the parents expect to spend each day towards homeschooling? I'm currently in a Graduate elementary ed. class, and I'm reading a book where a child is being homeschooled. I am curious as to the process the parents and child have to go through.

Answer 1

Curriculum choices are abundant.

Parents should not be monitored. Adults don't need that unless they have committed a crime. Homeschoolers are not criminals.

What is paperwork? I keep my student's work.

Hours spent will depend on the need of each child and also on the learning capacity of each. Some homeschoolers get their work done in 2 hours. We choose to study for 4 to 6 hours depending on the age of the child and the difficulty of the material.

The process I went through included TWELVE years of preparation. It took me 12 years!!! 12 years to be ready to homeschool my child. I studied kindegarten through high-school ---- I learned all of the material and received very good grades. My knowledge base is filled with the information that any K-12 student needs to learn.

Every State has different laws. You can check into them at
www.HSLDA.org

Be sure to read everything you can at
www.NHERI.org
Dr. Brian Ray is a very knowledgable and has done an abundance of research in all areas of homeschooling. He also speaks to government committees around the world concerning the necessity of home-schools. He is often called as an expert witness in home-school cases that have gone to court.

Answer 2

Homeschooling is very much a lifestyle, not just something you do for certain times a week. Every parent home with their child during the early years is really homeschooling their child. As the child grows, you progress from one step to another. This is one advantage of homeschooling from the start--it doesn't have to be a big jolt to the system. Where you live may affect just what you do, though. Some places require you to do so many hours per day or year or that you cover certain subjects. It would be good to check up on these. Other than that, because you are the principal and teacher, you get to decide the hours and the approach. What is typical where I live is for homeschooled students to have mornings set aside for more formal work and afternoons for other learning, like lessons, field trips, arts and crafts, just plain playing, things like that. Typically, kids aged K-1 don't do more than an hour of formal work per day. In grade 2, you might have 1-2 hours of formal work. Grades 3-6, 2-3 hours. Grades 7-9, usually at least 3 solid hours. Grades 10-12, 4-6 hours. But, the older they get, the more independent they can work, so you aren't sitting there with your child for 4 hours a day. Some people start formal things as early as preschool. Others wait until required by law. You get to choose. And the beauty of homeschooling is that you can structure your day in a way that will work for you. You are not regulated by the school daily schedule and can get started at 7am, if you wish, and be done by 10, depending on the age of your child, of course. Since you are a piano teacher, I'd suggest looking into getting to know your local homeschooling community better. You may be able to have a career simply out of teaching homeschooled students, which will also give you the most flexibility. What we do: We have formal work M-F, although sometimes I'll do some very little things on the weekends. Our formal work time is usually from about 8:30-11:30. Afternoons are a great time to set aside 15 minutes for everybody to do some cleaning up in the house, sit back and relax, and have some fun.

Answer 3

It completely depends on where you live.

Where I live, we have to register as homeschoolers. We have to cover Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and it is expected that phys.ed., art, music and health will be touched upon at some time. We get to decide how we'll cover it all. We visit with a school-appointed teacher twice a year. We are required to keep a portfolio of work done and provide summaries of learning. There are no expectations placed on the number of hours spent. It typically works out though that a grade 1 child may spend about an hour a day on academic-type work and the hours gradually grow as the child grows. Grades 4-6 are usually about 3 hours a day--that doesn't necessarily include any free reading done. A junior high child can expect to work 3-4 hours a day and a high school student 4-6 hours a day if going for a diploma. None of this includes things like art, music, phys.ed., field trips, etc.

Answer 4

As a graduate of homeschooling (4th grade through high school), it really depends on the state and what the child wishes to accomplish.

It is my belief that homeschooling should be treated seriously and a parent must be willing to commit to educating their child fully. This will require prep time (like a normal teacher) and teaching time. Both my parents were former teachers, so they had experience and education. I saw other kids being homeschooled that were more self-taught than home-taught. The child must recognize that their education will be more academic focused, not social focused. The parent must realize this isn't going to be fun and games time.

If a child wants to go on to college, the parents must be able to prove concretely that the child recieved the required course work. This means transcripts and academic work to back up the transcripts. My mother had boxes and boxes of my work as she actually handwrote my transcripts (I don't recommend that; use a word processor). None of the colleges I attended had a problem accepting a homeschooled student because I tested the same as others and proved myself through my work.

The monitoring varies. My parents were not monitored, but they were in the early years of it and we had to be worried about being considered truant. We couldn't play outside during the day. My classroom day was from 7:30am to 4:00pm with one hour for lunch and bathroom breaks.

As my parents were teachers, they knew what should be taught. There is numerous colleges and educational publishers that provide materials to homeschooling parents. Through high school, I had videos for some of the more technical classes such as chemistry, physics, algebra, geometry, history, government, foreign languages, etc.

What did this do for me? More individualized attention in subjects I wasn't good at (i.e. math). I am now pursueing my master's degree in a liberal arts college and finished my bachelor's degree with a 3.33 GPA.

Are there dangers to homeschooling? Yes. Parents who are not educated sufficiently for the subjects they are teaching. A parent must know what they are teaching if they are instructing their children. Children must realize the need to be like a normal student. This means doing the work and homework and working hard at their schooling. Another concern is the social aspect. Some of my friends were more socially oriented and their parents focused on that. The academic portion was a couple hours and the social took up the entire day. Please! What did they learn - not much.

When people find out I was homeschooled, they always ask "will you homeschool your kids?" My answer is "not unless I have to". I may be educated, but I do not have the temperment or desire to teach elementary through high school. Know your limitations before you committ to such an important thing as educating your children. You desires to influence your kids without the proper tools will hurt them severely. There are also concerns over child abuse (we have all heard them in the news). If your desire to educate your children is because you want them close by or feel you are the only one that can teach them properly, there might be other reasons why you chose to do this and it has nothing to do with education.

That's my twenty-five cents on homeschooling.

Answer 5

It depends on which state you're in.

Below is brief summary of the homeschooling law in Oklahoma.
Compulsory School Age "over age of five (5) years and under the age of eighteen (18) years"

Operate a home school as an “other means of education” expressed in the state constitution

Attendance: 180 Days

Subjects: Reading, writing, math, science, citizenship, U.S. constitution, health, safety, physical education, conservation

Qualifications: None

Notice: None

Recordkeeping: None

Testing: None

Oklahomans are free to use whatever curriculum they want. We spent approxiately five hours per day homeschooling.

Answer 6

the local school board monitors it and i think they charge for that service and its monthly or something like that, you keep every thing the child does, the lady across the street from me in Indiana had been a school teacher and she had 5 kids she taught and she only spent about 3 solid hours, but she also made sure they watched educational television, such as science channel and history channel, and sesame street for the youngest, and each older child helped the younger ones as well . she said so much of the school day is wasted getting the kids settled down to listen, you may be able to handle it through elementry school but after that the science and math requirements are pretty stiff. she also belonged to a group of home schoolers and they got the whole bunch together monthly to go to the zoo, or museams, so they got the large group exposure as well and they were very active in church so the kids got a lot of exposure to other people and other children. In fact I occassionally taught them art projects.

Answer 7

This differs state to state.

Most states have rules but little or no monitoring.

There are many companies nowdays that produce curricula for home schoolers, with year-by-year materials of all kinds.

Many of the home-schooling families I know participate in HomeSchool groups where all the kids get together periodically for "sports days" or other social interactive events that help the kids get some of the social education that they miss by homeschooling.

States also differ slightly in how they allow for the awarding of HighSchool diplomas to home schooled children. I think most states require passing of a GED examine.

Answer 8

Just speaking for me, I researched curricula online and bought one that I thought was appropriate and reasonably priced. I had to go to the board of education office and fill out a form letting them know I was homeshcooling, and submit a sample of the curriculum. I taught my daughter for 7th and 8th grade. She is now back in public school for high school. During the homeschooling, I was never monitored or required to submit anything to anyone. We worked on a schedule we set ourselves, of about 4 hours a day, for the entire time public school was in session.

Answer 9

Each state is different in Indiana there is no monitoring just as long as u keep record of the number of days taught. In indiana home school has to go the same amount of time public school goes,which is 180 days.Plus you must register your school with the state and get a home school ID number.and provide this to local public school system.

Answer 10

In our state, we are free to design our own curriculum, buy a curriculum, or have no curriculum. We use that method - unschooling. We have no time set aside for learning anything, nothing set that they have to learn. Unschooling means the children are directing their education in areas that interest them.

Now, as a parent, my obligation is to make sure the child has basic skills so they can direct their education and has info enough about the world to choose areas of interest. So, essentially, every waking minute 365 days a year, I am on and schooling. Drive down the street and point out words on a sign, make pancakes and show the fractions used in measuring, revel in a rainbow and then pull out books on what they are, etc.

When my sons were little, it was hours a day of reading books - sometimes the same book over and over. It was hours of walks exploring and discussing, hours poring over exhibits in the zoo and museums, gatherings with friends to do science experiments, and the purchase of every book and manipulable and decent toy i could lay my hands on.

When our oldest was 3, he asked for a book of myths by Marcia Williams. Since then, he's been aflight with a passion for history, the history of warfare, comparative religions, drama, and writing. We read him The Odyssey nightly for 18 months, and at 5 he said, with great passion, 'Oh mom, this is how Oddysseus felt when he landed on the beach at Ithaca."

He has read more books on history, more Viking sagas, more military history, than any adult I know. His knowledge, as a 13 year old, is breathtaking. His passion blows us over.

Both our sons learned to read through whole language theory, one at 6 and the other at 8. Both knew their phonics by 2, but there's so much more. The one who learned to read at 8 is now 9 and reads fluently at a 7th grade level. The oldest can read anything.

The both love(d) designing games, and would spend hours a day writing and figuring and drawing - without anyone telling them to practice it. We played chutes and ladders and monopoly and yahtzee to help teach math, we play 'settlers of cataan' and 'carcassone' and other games now that teach strategy and the big picture about social development, trade, governance.

The kids also have lots of chores and are learning how to run a house.

This coming week, we will have Monday free except for oldest's violin lesson, Tuesday they attend a drama workshop from 9 - 12, then from 1 - 4, another theater company they're in begins rehearsals for their latest play. (Oldest son was Long John Silver in the last.) Tuesday evening, the oldest will go to chess club, and the youngest has started going. Weds, free day. Thursday, the drama and the rehearsal things again, plus Tae Kwon Do in the evening (Monday evening, too.)
Friday, TAP, a group for teen homeschoolers is meeting in a park for 4 hours - younger siblings are there and play, too. Sometimes, they meet at a coffee shop, or go to a museum, or bike ride, have a party, etc.
Friday evening, violin lesson for the other son. This particular week in question, on Saturday, we take off for Williamsburg - homeschool pricing for touring the town, plus discounts at a waterpark resort where dozens of homeschool families from our area will also be staying. Monday, we take off for Biltmore Estates for a two day field trip exploring that historical property. (Missing violin and one rehearsal.) The 8 hour drive home will undoubtedly be a time the boys devour several books, which we will discuss, interspersed with heated political debate, which our youngest doesn't care for much yet. He has written a collection of anti-war songs, however, and designed the album cover!

The following weekend, we're going to a mountaintop resort where the kids have structured activities and the moms frolic. Then, we have discount tickets to the rennaissance faire, an air circus, a medeival times performance, and, from oct - march, 7 performances of world-class troupes like the Moscow Ballet and Pilobulous. Also, we have discount tickets to theatre performances, including workshops with the actors pre-show.

On our free days, we are reading, playing games, gardening, building things, our oldest is into yahoo answers right now, taking care of our puppy, cooking, living.

That's the process we go through - living. With earnest intentionality.