Homeschooling Journey

Part Six

What I am focusing on are the rules for my state (Georgia). If you are in a different state and need info for your area, a good resource is "The Homeschool Legal Defense Association". The website is: http://www.hslda.org.

There is a myriad of info on this particular website, especially legislation regarding homeschooling/ Homeschoolers. On the right hand side of the webpage, you will see a U.S. map. You simply click on your state and it will bring up the state info you need.

In my state, I must file an "Intent To Homeschool" form every year, by September 30th. This basically tells my local board of education that I will be homeschooling my child. I give our address, student's name and age, grade level (I base his grade level on his age, because he is on different levels academically. I go by the guidelines the local ps would use if he were in school), and the beginning and ending dates of our school year. Of course, I must sign and date the form before mailing it in. For my own peace of mind, I make copies of every paper I file with the local board of education (in case there is ever a question of my sending in the proper documentation).

We are required to have the equivalent of 180 days of class, with 4 and 1/2 hours of instruction per day. Subjects we must cover are reading, language arts (spelling, handwriting, grammar), math, social studies (history and geography), and science.

At the end of each month, I am required to send in our attendance report for that month. I indicate on this form how many days of instruction we have had for this particular month, noting missed days as either holidays, field trips, sick days, etc. For instance, we have planned a late vacation this year for September. The week we will be on vacation will be listed as such on our attendance form for that month. Again, on these attendance forms I list the name of the student, address, dates of attending school, and total number of days attended at the end of the month, signing and dating the form (making copies for my records) prior to mailing.

Although we school year round, I do not list this on my correspondence with the board of education. I simply list our ending date as the date when we reach the required 180 days of class room instruction (usually a few days over the requirement).

I am also required to write a year end summary of what we covered during our 180 days of instruction. I do not have to file this with local school system. This is supposed to be for my own records.

I am required to have my child tested every three years (beginning at the end of the third grade) and retain those test results.

It builds quite a "paper trail", but I guess I should be grateful the requirements are not more stringent for my location. I know of some states that require a great deal more of parent/teachers. Being held accountable (to a certain extent) can be good. I guess it depends on your perspective. Once I get through the actual process of getting everything down on paper, I guess it is a signal that we are "off to the races" for another year of learning.