Would love to hear your take on the regulations you must adhere to in your state. If, like me, you have none or next to none, do you feel like that should change?
As a fellow Texas homeschooler, I 100% agree with everything you've said. Most homeschoolers I know are fantastic and are doing the best for their kids. But for the very few that aren't . . . those kids deserve better.
I'm in NY, one of the most regulated states and you are 100% right. It's all me sending in paperwork and test scores. But no one checks to see if those things are true. I know of so many people that simply lie on their paperwork and say they're teaching things and spending the hours when they aren't. I do sometimes wish that we could claim our costs on our taxes so that we could do more things. But you're right, there needs to be a system to make sure the regulations are actually being followed that is better than self reporting.
Agree with you 💯. I live in Missouri where we have to document 1,000 hours and keep a portfolio, but no one ever sees it unless there's an educational neglect charge against you. And I've seen the local homeschool facebook groups. We need oversight.
💯% agree with you. There needs to be basic accountability and oversight for homeschoolers. A basic education is a human right for all children, and we need to be catching when children are not getting that basic right. I am in WA state, and our regulations are middle of the road. They are better than nothing, but they are still not very well enforced. I hate to get political, but current events show us just how severe the consequences are of not ensuring all kids learn basic literacy, numeracy, social studies, and critical thinking. Low-educated individuals are simply more vulnerable to being manipulated. This is the consequence we are paying as a society.
Texan here too and I like the freedom we have here but I also think *some* level of accountability would be beneficial too. We are rigorous compared to some of the other homeschoolers we’ve encountered and I think some kids would benefit from their parents being held accountable and ensuring they are actually educating their kids. But like everything it’s not a perfect world and I feel like any oversight from the state would have consequences that would outweigh the benefits 😑
I'm in California homeschool through a charter. It has not been bad at all. The benefits are worth the oversight. We meet with a teacher once a month. The first few years I unschooled never got push back.
In maryland, my county requirements are 7 subjects l (math, science, English, history, art, pe, music and health.) Testing is optional. Quarterly reviews sent in upon request. 5 (before sept 1) thur 18. Grades are optional as in 1st grade 2nd grade. You have to send in annual with the intent to homeschool.
We use to have regulations in Ohio, but this last October they dropped pretty much everything. You dont even need to have a HS diploma as the teacher. This is due to our amish population. We just notify to the school district once a year of who is being schooled and thats it. No birthdays or anything either. Its been a weird adjustment going from like 4 pages of things and testing to half a page now lol.
Yes, yes, yes! We have annual testing starting at age 7 in NC. We don't have actual subject requirements, but the testing is to help keep us on par. And you have to have a certain number of "types" of subjects for graduation (like 4 math courses for high school, but it doesn't have to be specifically algebra, etc). So, very loose regulation -- you have to register your homeschool the year your kid turns 7, and do annual testing until 16 (7-16 are the mandatory years for education). Additionally, the whole point of public education is education for the Common Good. We may choose to educate differently -- that's our choice. But we don't get to stop supporting the common good. Just because we don't drive on a country road, doesn't mean it shouldn't be maintained. Just because our house isn't on fire, doesn't mean the fire department should stop being funded. These are common goods that only work if everyone chips in. The biggest issue is that conservatism has abandoned the belief in the Common Good. From privatizing the mail or utilities, to chipping away at public education - -these are benefits to the whole of society. They don't make shareholders money, and they aren't perfect institutions by far. Public Schools have a ton of issues and can be really not-good places. Yet, they can also be amazing places (my husband and I both are exclusively public schooled and I have a masters and studied at Cambridge and hubs has a PhD from an Ivy League Uni). I also fear the neglect and/or abuse from families that homeschool as a way of keeping kids from the public view. Realistically, these things would be happening even with compulsory education, as we don't have enough foster families, and truancy is pretty low on most police lists. And it hurts my heart to imagine any child being harmed. I think some oversight -- like annual testing in late elementary and middle years, and then subject requirements for a High School diploma (like 3 math, 4 English, or whatever), would be useful. Then people can be as free as they want with subject content, as long as reasonable skills are being imparted (like math and reading skills). Anyway -- love this topic, glad you've brought it up! A little regulation can really benefit us all!
Yes!!! Common Good! I wish more people realized the benefit to us all by helping the few who need it. So many people are preoccupied with someone else getting something "free" or a leg up that they didn't have that it blinds them to the universal benefit of it.
My fear is that state oversight will mean testing and I don’t like standardized test. I don’t think these test are beneficial to kids. I don’t mind listing our curriculum and showing some of her work in a portfolio. I just don’t want testing or anyone saying we need to do 6 hours a day of school. Vouchers IDK how I feel about that. Money would be great to pay for all the things but stings are worrisome if it goes too far. When we moved to Texas the schools thought my kids were gifted and I love my kids but they are typical. 😂😅
@ my daughter has anxiety so I don’t think she would test well and I don’t think the state would accommodate her difficulties because she is topical in most ways.
That does seem to be a common issue, because children don't need widespread accommodation clearly they need none😒 I don't know how well my girls would handle standardized testing, simply the idea of it is stressful. Expecting children to perform their best in rare and high stakes circumstances is wild.
I agree with the testing. Avoiding testing is one of my more appreciated aspects of HS, it is valuable to me to move at my kids’ pace. I have one kid that can’t do math like their peers but out reads them, and another kid that’s the inverse of that 🤷♀️ I just feel that once the govt gets their foot in the door, any regulations would just gradually increase over time
I’m in Washington and while we have regulations it’s never checked in on and I get no funding. The testing isn’t bad because I meet the requirements to issue the test myself so that eases the stress portion. Also test skills can be beneficial in the long run
I'm in Australia, and each of our states has different requirements. I'm in Victoria, and it's the best set up of balance in my opinion. We are required to submit a learning plan with registration ONCE per child, not yearly, you just notify if you're going to continue. They're a one page piece that basically demonstrate you've considered your child's education across 8 key learning areas. There's no dictation as to how this is delivered, provided you can identify learning if you unschool/life school/school-at-home. No one has ever been rejected from home educating, only ever requests for further information. They then 'review' something like 10% per year, and the parent can choose which child to review. It can be done by phone or email. And no one has ever failed a review, either. There's obviously a gap for well being investigations, but then kids fly under at mainstream school, too. I unfortunately was abused as a school, and even through duty of care and teacher reporting, the system still failed to come through.
I'm in South Carolina. I was intimidated when we switched to homeschooling. We have 3 options, and I chose option 3. We have to take attendance and teach reading, writing, social studies, science, and math, and literature and composition in 9-12. We have to fill out a letter of intent every year and register under a homeschool association. We get to choose how we teach those subjects, and there are no requirements for standardized testing. We do have to keep number grades after 6th grade and save examples of our work, but we just started in April, so I'm keeping everything. There are details on what is genetally expected to be taught in each subject by grade, but I'm under the impression the order and grade level it's taught aren't super important. We joined lots of groups to socialize and do some form of socialization about 3-4 days a week with our charter school, homeschool, public school friends, or a mixture.
I'm in Wisconsin and we have limited regulations here. We need to let the state know we are homeschooling, cover the normal subjects, and have 800+ hours. We are a school of choice state and use a charter school, so I do the teaching on our own schedule and just email copies of their work. There is state testing here, but its optional.
Oklahoma here and we have ZERO regulations or requirements. Which is a nice freedom but we also have ZERO access to sports or other extracurriculars (even if we were to pay the fees associated with the activities). I don't mind testing if I'm getting something in exchange (like access to public school extracurricular activities). The tests measure growth and yeah if you have years of tests showing no growth that is indicating a problem and should be checked in on addressed. I think at a minimum we should need to tell the state that a child is homeschooling. One thing that we are seeing here is one side of politics wanting homeschool families to "police themselves because abusive parents are isolating their children from safe adults" the problem with that is that abusive parents also isolate from other homeschool families, so we also wouldn't see these children. Also the last I checked our DHS system has a multiple years long backlog 🤦🏼♀️
@rocior3484 not yet 😕 hopefully they can get it passed this year 🤞🏻 right now we have to have our own (the options are limited) sports, 4H, etc. There are some extremely rural schools that will allow homeschool students (if they didn't they would not have the numbers to field a team) but those are few and far between.
I have 3 2e kids and a special needs baby. Once the state vouchers open for every student in Arkansas I'm going to pull my kids to homeschool. Sure I could get cheap or free curriculum, but in that case I might as well keep them in school since we live in the richest county in the state. We make just above poverty and ALL extra money gets used up by all the baby's special equipment, so you better believe I'll take whatever money I can get for homeschooling. My kids consistently score at least two grade levels above their grade on the state testing despite constantly getting sent home because they're acting up in school. They act up because they are bored. Having said that Arkansas requires math, reading, science and social studies plus the yearly intent to homeschool letter. I think if you receive vouchers you need to do state testing, but I'm not worried about that since they already do so well. I think the requirements are fair. They make sure kids learn at least bare minimum, but they aren't breathing down your neck.
I live in Illinois and we don't have any regulations other than teaching required subjects. My son is well above grade level on most things. The public school system taught me long ago that they can't be trusted. I didn't have a good childhood; being in public school didn't help me. I agree with trying to protect children but from what I've experienced, they fail way more kids than they help. There are always strings attached to everything the government wants to do. I love that they aren't involved in our homeschool and want it kept that way.
Absolutely fair feedback. The school system does fail many kids, especially academically. I also don't want government interference in our homeschool. I just keep coming back to having another pair of eyes on some kids could be the saving grace. Does Illinois require any registration or notification?
@MakingEverydayMagic No, we don't have to deal with them at all. I understand where you're coming from. I want kids protected too but sadly, most abuse is easily hidden. I don't think homeschool regulations will help the majority.
@catherinemcbride9228 Absolutely people with nefarious purposes will always find a way. I do think that some regulations would make it harder. I'm not even talking about all-out abuse as much as parents just failing their kids' education, even with the best of intention. This homeschool life just isn't for everyone.
The more I research history I think my ancestors with an 8th grade education probably had a better understanding of orthography abd arithmetic than kids in public abd private schools of today.
Follow up question: how would you feel if school didn't do the testing. What if we had testing optional and as a separate entity so that public, private, and homeschool kids would have a 3rd party that doesn't care about the results perform the testing? I feel like lots of the issues we see are adult and ego and greedy issues. Not even education.
Follow up comment: I completely agree. Education if we put it back under department of health we might actually get healthcare addressed but these ant vax people scare me.
I honestly think that if testing were simply treated as a measurement tool, random and low stress, it would be totally different. Standardized testing in Texas consumes so much time, energy, and stress. It's just not done in a helpful way.
@AstronomicalLearners yes! It's a tool to measure. I do agree that Texas has weaponized it to be a form of punishment. Measurement is one thing, consequences are another.
Would love to hear your take on the regulations you must adhere to in your state. If, like me, you have none or next to none, do you feel like that should change?
As a fellow Texas homeschooler, I 100% agree with everything you've said. Most homeschoolers I know are fantastic and are doing the best for their kids. But for the very few that aren't . . . those kids deserve better.
❤️❤️❤️
I'm in NY, one of the most regulated states and you are 100% right. It's all me sending in paperwork and test scores. But no one checks to see if those things are true. I know of so many people that simply lie on their paperwork and say they're teaching things and spending the hours when they aren't. I do sometimes wish that we could claim our costs on our taxes so that we could do more things. But you're right, there needs to be a system to make sure the regulations are actually being followed that is better than self reporting.
The idea of regulation seems scarier than in practice according to most.
Agree with you 💯. I live in Missouri where we have to document 1,000 hours and keep a portfolio, but no one ever sees it unless there's an educational neglect charge against you. And I've seen the local homeschool facebook groups. We need oversight.
Yeah we do!!
💯% agree with you. There needs to be basic accountability and oversight for homeschoolers. A basic education is a human right for all children, and we need to be catching when children are not getting that basic right. I am in WA state, and our regulations are middle of the road. They are better than nothing, but they are still not very well enforced.
I hate to get political, but current events show us just how severe the consequences are of not ensuring all kids learn basic literacy, numeracy, social studies, and critical thinking. Low-educated individuals are simply more vulnerable to being manipulated. This is the consequence we are paying as a society.
💯 💯💯💯💯 Couldn't agree more!
Texan here too and I like the freedom we have here but I also think *some* level of accountability would be beneficial too. We are rigorous compared to some of the other homeschoolers we’ve encountered and I think some kids would benefit from their parents being held accountable and ensuring they are actually educating their kids. But like everything it’s not a perfect world and I feel like any oversight from the state would have consequences that would outweigh the benefits 😑
There is no perfect answer.
I'm in California homeschool through a charter. It has not been bad at all. The benefits are worth the oversight. We meet with a teacher once a month. The first few years I unschooled never got push back.
Nice!!
In maryland, my county requirements are 7 subjects l (math, science, English, history, art, pe, music and health.) Testing is optional. Quarterly reviews sent in upon request. 5 (before sept 1) thur 18. Grades are optional as in 1st grade 2nd grade. You have to send in annual with the intent to homeschool.
The number of required subjects seems high. Doesn't sound hard to comply with.
Agree 100%.
♥️
We use to have regulations in Ohio, but this last October they dropped pretty much everything. You dont even need to have a HS diploma as the teacher. This is due to our amish population. We just notify to the school district once a year of who is being schooled and thats it. No birthdays or anything either. Its been a weird adjustment going from like 4 pages of things and testing to half a page now lol.
That's still at least some notification 🤷♀️ wild to me that they moved in the other direction
Could not agree with you more!
❤️
Yes, yes, yes! We have annual testing starting at age 7 in NC. We don't have actual subject requirements, but the testing is to help keep us on par. And you have to have a certain number of "types" of subjects for graduation (like 4 math courses for high school, but it doesn't have to be specifically algebra, etc). So, very loose regulation -- you have to register your homeschool the year your kid turns 7, and do annual testing until 16 (7-16 are the mandatory years for education).
Additionally, the whole point of public education is education for the Common Good. We may choose to educate differently -- that's our choice. But we don't get to stop supporting the common good. Just because we don't drive on a country road, doesn't mean it shouldn't be maintained. Just because our house isn't on fire, doesn't mean the fire department should stop being funded. These are common goods that only work if everyone chips in.
The biggest issue is that conservatism has abandoned the belief in the Common Good. From privatizing the mail or utilities, to chipping away at public education - -these are benefits to the whole of society. They don't make shareholders money, and they aren't perfect institutions by far. Public Schools have a ton of issues and can be really not-good places. Yet, they can also be amazing places (my husband and I both are exclusively public schooled and I have a masters and studied at Cambridge and hubs has a PhD from an Ivy League Uni).
I also fear the neglect and/or abuse from families that homeschool as a way of keeping kids from the public view. Realistically, these things would be happening even with compulsory education, as we don't have enough foster families, and truancy is pretty low on most police lists. And it hurts my heart to imagine any child being harmed. I think some oversight -- like annual testing in late elementary and middle years, and then subject requirements for a High School diploma (like 3 math, 4 English, or whatever), would be useful. Then people can be as free as they want with subject content, as long as reasonable skills are being imparted (like math and reading skills).
Anyway -- love this topic, glad you've brought it up! A little regulation can really benefit us all!
Yes!!! Common Good! I wish more people realized the benefit to us all by helping the few who need it. So many people are preoccupied with someone else getting something "free" or a leg up that they didn't have that it blinds them to the universal benefit of it.
My fear is that state oversight will mean testing and I don’t like standardized test. I don’t think these test are beneficial to kids. I don’t mind listing our curriculum and showing some of her work in a portfolio. I just don’t want testing or anyone saying we need to do 6 hours a day of school. Vouchers IDK how I feel about that. Money would be great to pay for all the things but stings are worrisome if it goes too far.
When we moved to Texas the schools thought my kids were gifted and I love my kids but they are typical. 😂😅
I agree about testing. I just trust that my kids would be on above par. 🤷♀️
@ my daughter has anxiety so I don’t think she would test well and I don’t think the state would accommodate her difficulties because she is topical in most ways.
That does seem to be a common issue, because children don't need widespread accommodation clearly they need none😒 I don't know how well my girls would handle standardized testing, simply the idea of it is stressful. Expecting children to perform their best in rare and high stakes circumstances is wild.
I agree with the testing. Avoiding testing is one of my more appreciated aspects of HS, it is valuable to me to move at my kids’ pace. I have one kid that can’t do math like their peers but out reads them, and another kid that’s the inverse of that 🤷♀️ I just feel that once the govt gets their foot in the door, any regulations would just gradually increase over time
I’m in Washington and while we have regulations it’s never checked in on and I get no funding. The testing isn’t bad because I meet the requirements to issue the test myself so that eases the stress portion. Also test skills can be beneficial in the long run
💯 agree with you
❤️
I'm in Australia, and each of our states has different requirements. I'm in Victoria, and it's the best set up of balance in my opinion. We are required to submit a learning plan with registration ONCE per child, not yearly, you just notify if you're going to continue. They're a one page piece that basically demonstrate you've considered your child's education across 8 key learning areas. There's no dictation as to how this is delivered, provided you can identify learning if you unschool/life school/school-at-home. No one has ever been rejected from home educating, only ever requests for further information.
They then 'review' something like 10% per year, and the parent can choose which child to review. It can be done by phone or email. And no one has ever failed a review, either.
There's obviously a gap for well being investigations, but then kids fly under at mainstream school, too. I unfortunately was abused as a school, and even through duty of care and teacher reporting, the system still failed to come through.
That does sound like a great mix of balance and freedom!
I'm in South Carolina. I was intimidated when we switched to homeschooling. We have 3 options, and I chose option 3. We have to take attendance and teach reading, writing, social studies, science, and math, and literature and composition in 9-12. We have to fill out a letter of intent every year and register under a homeschool association. We get to choose how we teach those subjects, and there are no requirements for standardized testing. We do have to keep number grades after 6th grade and save examples of our work, but we just started in April, so I'm keeping everything. There are details on what is genetally expected to be taught in each subject by grade, but I'm under the impression the order and grade level it's taught aren't super important.
We joined lots of groups to socialize and do some form of socialization about 3-4 days a week with our charter school, homeschool, public school friends, or a mixture.
Good to know!! Thanks for sharing.
I'm in Wisconsin and we have limited regulations here. We need to let the state know we are homeschooling, cover the normal subjects, and have 800+ hours. We are a school of choice state and use a charter school, so I do the teaching on our own schedule and just email copies of their work. There is state testing here, but its optional.
That sounds like a good amount of regulation.
Oklahoma here and we have ZERO regulations or requirements. Which is a nice freedom but we also have ZERO access to sports or other extracurriculars (even if we were to pay the fees associated with the activities). I don't mind testing if I'm getting something in exchange (like access to public school extracurricular activities). The tests measure growth and yeah if you have years of tests showing no growth that is indicating a problem and should be checked in on addressed.
I think at a minimum we should need to tell the state that a child is homeschooling.
One thing that we are seeing here is one side of politics wanting homeschool families to "police themselves because abusive parents are isolating their children from safe adults" the problem with that is that abusive parents also isolate from other homeschool families, so we also wouldn't see these children. Also the last I checked our DHS system has a multiple years long backlog 🤦🏼♀️
Yes. All of this.
I thought Oklahoma had passed a law to open up sports and extracurriculars to homeschoolers.
@rocior3484 technically Texas had a law that allows it, however, each district can decide to allow or not, most districts still don't allow it.
@rocior3484 not yet 😕 hopefully they can get it passed this year 🤞🏻 right now we have to have our own (the options are limited) sports, 4H, etc.
There are some extremely rural schools that will allow homeschool students (if they didn't they would not have the numbers to field a team) but those are few and far between.
@@Erica-uz8cn Interesting. For a while I kept hearing about the Tim Tebow law that was being pushed in Oklahoma. I thought it had passed.
I have 3 2e kids and a special needs baby. Once the state vouchers open for every student in Arkansas I'm going to pull my kids to homeschool. Sure I could get cheap or free curriculum, but in that case I might as well keep them in school since we live in the richest county in the state. We make just above poverty and ALL extra money gets used up by all the baby's special equipment, so you better believe I'll take whatever money I can get for homeschooling. My kids consistently score at least two grade levels above their grade on the state testing despite constantly getting sent home because they're acting up in school. They act up because they are bored.
Having said that Arkansas requires math, reading, science and social studies plus the yearly intent to homeschool letter. I think if you receive vouchers you need to do state testing, but I'm not worried about that since they already do so well. I think the requirements are fair. They make sure kids learn at least bare minimum, but they aren't breathing down your neck.
I just feel like someone, somewhere should be making an effort to check in on kids and their education.
I live in Illinois and we don't have any regulations other than teaching required subjects. My son is well above grade level on most things. The public school system taught me long ago that they can't be trusted. I didn't have a good childhood; being in public school didn't help me. I agree with trying to protect children but from what I've experienced, they fail way more kids than they help. There are always strings attached to everything the government wants to do. I love that they aren't involved in our homeschool and want it kept that way.
Absolutely fair feedback. The school system does fail many kids, especially academically. I also don't want government interference in our homeschool. I just keep coming back to having another pair of eyes on some kids could be the saving grace. Does Illinois require any registration or notification?
@MakingEverydayMagic No, we don't have to deal with them at all. I understand where you're coming from. I want kids protected too but sadly, most abuse is easily hidden. I don't think homeschool regulations will help the majority.
@catherinemcbride9228 Absolutely people with nefarious purposes will always find a way. I do think that some regulations would make it harder. I'm not even talking about all-out abuse as much as parents just failing their kids' education, even with the best of intention. This homeschool life just isn't for everyone.
The more I research history I think my ancestors with an 8th grade education probably had a better understanding of orthography abd arithmetic than kids in public abd private schools of today.
Follow up question: how would you feel if school didn't do the testing. What if we had testing optional and as a separate entity so that public, private, and homeschool kids would have a 3rd party that doesn't care about the results perform the testing? I feel like lots of the issues we see are adult and ego and greedy issues. Not even education.
Follow up comment: I completely agree. Education if we put it back under department of health we might actually get healthcare addressed but these ant vax people scare me.
I honestly think that if testing were simply treated as a measurement tool, random and low stress, it would be totally different. Standardized testing in Texas consumes so much time, energy, and stress. It's just not done in a helpful way.
@@MakingEverydayMagic I completely agree. I wish people realized it's a tool and the student is a more important measurement of success
@AstronomicalLearners yes! It's a tool to measure. I do agree that Texas has weaponized it to be a form of punishment. Measurement is one thing, consequences are another.