I am wanting to pull my daughter out of public school and homeschool her. She is in the 5th grade. Do I just pull her out and get books and get started, or do I have to purchase a curriculum and go through a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo to prove my good intentions? Thanks for any help. Carol

-- carol (chamberscarol@hotmail.com), December 02, 2001

Answers

Every state has it's own laws for homeschoolers. I would call the State Board of Education and ask to speak to someone about it. They will be able to answer any questions that you might have. I live in Ok, and there are very few laws governing homeschoolers. The phone number for the State Board will be in the blue pages of your phone book.

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), December 02, 2001.

You will have to find out what your State requirements are. In NC you just have to send a letter of intent to the appropriate people and have your child take the annual test.

Find out if there is a homeschooling organization in your State and contact them - they will be able to tell you everything you need to know.

-- Anita in NC (anitaholton@mindspring.com), December 02, 2001.

There is usually someone in charge of home schooling in every district. I'd call the administration for your district and ask there. Good Luck!

-- DW (djwallace@tosc.net), December 02, 2001.

In order to avoid the homeschooling guide lines for Maryland we use the calvert school,they offer a homeschooling program in which you buy the program and get teacher help,your child will have a transcript from their school.The web page is www.calvertschool.org if you need help let me know.

-- renee o'neill (oneillsr@home.com), December 02, 2001.

I'm not recommending this but I wonder.. if you pulled her out saying she's changing schools, how would they know if she's being homeschooled or not? I've never seen a public school follow up after a student leaves.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), December 02, 2001.

You can contact homeschooling organizations in your state, they can give you alot of leads for info. Do a search with MO homeschool--I did it with my state and got alot. Also try http://www.home- school.com Go to Homeschool Organizations and click on your state. They will list some of the major groups that can guide you. If you have aol, they also have a great homeschool area, just do a homeschool search on their engine. Your school district office may also give you a couple of names from your area of people who homeschool, and they'll be able to answer your questions based on their own experiences. Have fun with your journey!

-- Dawn (olsoncln@ecenet.com), December 02, 2001.

Either find your state's homeschooling organizations or contact Home School Legal Defense Association for your state's laws. I WOULD NOT go to your school district office or any other government office because you cannot count on getting accurate answers. Here in California the State Dept. of Education routinely tells people that homeschooling is *against the law*. They're kinda ticked about losing all that daily attendance money, y'see.

-- gita (gschmitz@directcon.net), December 02, 2001.

I pulled my daughter out of school 4 years and have not regretted it since. Each state has different laws on what is "legal". I suggest contacting local homeschoolers before notifying the school. Also it is important as a parent and child to have local contact with other families.

-- Michele (michelel_m@hotmail.com), December 03, 2001.

Carol, Missouri Laws for Homeschooling

Compulsory Attendance Ages: "between the ages of 7 and 16 years." Missouri Annotated Statutes §167.031.

Required Days of Instruction: 1,000 hours of instruction. At least 600 hours must be in the five Required Subjects: At least 400 hours of the 600 must occur at "the regular home school location." Mo. Ann. Stat. §167.031.2(2)(b).

Required Subjects: Reading, math, social studies, language arts, and science. Mo. Ann. Stat. §167.031.2(2)(b).

Home School Statute: Mo. Ann. Stat. §167.031(2). Home schools must meet the following additional requirements:

A home school is defined as a school that: "has as its primary purpose the provision of private or religious- based instruction; enrolls pupils between the ages of seven and sixteen years, of which no more than four are unrelated" (no limit on number of related students); and does not charge or receive tuition, fees or other remuneration. §167.031.2(1)(a)-(c). Home schools must maintain the following records (there is no requirement to submit them): a plan book, diary, or other record indicating subjects taught and activities engaged in; and "a portfolio of samples of child's academic work"; and "a record of evaluations of the child's academic progress or "other written, credible evidence equivalent to subparagraphs a) b) and c)." §167.031.2(2)(a). This means parents have the option to follow: a) b) and c) or they can choose to follow only d) which permits more flexibility. "For the purpose of minimizing unnecessary investigations" parents "may provide to the recorder of deeds of the county where the child legally resides, a signed, written declaration of enrollment stating their intent" to home school within thirty days after establishment of the home school and on Sept. 1 each year thereafter. §167.042. However, home schools are not required to notify anyone. "Nothing in this section shall require a...home school to include in its curriculum any concept, topic, or practice in conflict with the school's religious doctrines..." §167.031.3. "The production by a parent of a daily log showing that a home school has a course of instruction which satisfies the requirements of this section (See I and 2 above) shall be a defense to any prosecution under this section and to any charge or action for educational neglect." §167.031(5). This statute was passed as a result of the federal court decision Ellis V. O'Hara, 612 F.Supp. 379 (D.C. Mo. 1985). The former law required home instruction to be "at least substantially equivalent" to instruction in the public schools. The court held: "This statute represents a prime example of legislation which yields an unacceptable amount of discretion to officials charged with enforcement. The statute, therefore, does not comply with due process requirements, and is unconstitutionally vague." Ellis at 381. The court applied "stringent scrutiny" because this case involved "the constitutional right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children and inculcate religious and educational values in their offspring." Id.

Copyright 1998, HSLDA, all rights reserved. For more information about HSLDA click on our link on the Missouri map.

-- CJ (cjtinkle@getgoin.net), December 03, 2001.

Being part of the Military I had to pick a full curriculum acceptable. I used CALVERT out of Maryland which was a wonderful correspondence course. Both my girls are in College now, but I homeschooled their entire 12 years before. They are well adjusted to Univesities of 30thousand so don't let anyone tell you they will never do make it in the "real world". Now back to curriculum. I once lived in Iowa which doesn't allow homeschooling unless it is a curriculum that has an advisory teacher and all that stuff, or you are a certified teacher. They wouldn't accept ABeka at that time (probably because it has to be accepted to all 50 states). I suggest for the first year you get a full accredited curriculum with day to day lesson plans like Calvert. Calvert will also teach you to teach and the child to learn without a teacher.

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), December 03, 2001.

Wow! I got a lot of good information out of our State Board of education. I am sorry that some of you had trouble with yours. Maybe they are not all trying to help you. I hadn't even thought of that. Sorry if I led you astray! I called our offices by the capital the other day to ask about getting my sons a highschool diploma and he told me all of the ways that I could go about doing that free of charge! I told him that I had homeschooled the kids for most of their entire education. He was a really helpful man! Wish that you all had this guy in all of your state offices. Maybe you do need to be careful of the government offices. If you live in OK I am here to tell you that they were really really nice. We have a huge homeschooling population though.

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), December 03, 2001.

Don't check with governmental groups but check with homeschoolers in your area first.

Christmas vacation is a good time to pull her out!!!

We homeschooled our last daughter for the last two years and our son basically from the third grade on although he did spend some time in a small private Christian school....I don't regret any minute we spent homeschooling and looking back now I wish that NONE of our four kids had ever been enrolled in a public school...

I continue to cover boards of education through my job as a newspaper reporter (21 years) and the public school situation just seems to get worse and worse....

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), December 03, 2001.

join the yahoo group From: MOHomeschool@yahoogroups.com they have a lot of info.

-- jamie (jamie@nowhere.com), December 03, 2001.

Carol, As a teacher in MO. I know that their are MO Standards for homeschooling basically those cited above and even though I'm a teacher I believe that if you are a dedicated home school teacher your child will be more knowledgeable in the things that need to be learned and less exposed to the things that you as a parent would rather they wern't exposed to. I'm not saying isolation but it is just easier to have your child associate with those who have the same values as your family does and not have to deal those things that you would rather not be exposed to. I know children need to know about what goes on in the world as we can't keep them "down on the farm" forever, but if they have a strong foundation in right from wrong they will be more apt to not get sucked into the other stuff.

As I know it the school districts do not check into what goes on in homeschooling they are there for help but they don't check-up unless someone come to the district with a complaint. Trust me no one ever complains unless your child would be running the streets causing trouble and maybe not even then. Homeschooling in MO is a layed back thing that nobody really cares much about, save the parent that is doing it. I don't agrees with their thoughts but it just happens to be the way it is. I feel that at the end of each school year a test or something should be given to the child to see if they are up to grade level and it makes the home school teacher accountable for their student and the student accountable to the learning process. Since their isn't anything then you will need to hold yourself accountable, I know you will as most homesteders home school for the good of their children, it will be an experience you'll never forget.

Blessings, Sally

-- (mallardhen67@hotmail.com), December 03, 2001.

Carol, All states are different. In TN you have to either register with the school board(not a good idea) or with a n umbrella school. There are several in TN . you do not have to register with one in your state. We are still registered with Daniel 1 Academy in TN even tho we are now in KY which doesn't require anykind of registration. I just find it more convenient for them to keep the records since I'm not a very organized person. Whatever you do don't listen to Dave!! Telling them she is just changing schools is stupid and very risky!! first they will ask you where to send her records. What will you tell them?? Problems are rare but IF you should have a problem you want to be doing this legally. It really isn't that complicated. I agree with Gita DO NOT go to ANY public school official!!! Bad people! First Before ANYTHING else call Home School Legal Defense Association @ 540- 338-5600. They will give you all the info you need about your state and give you names & numbers of people to contact. Good luck!! You won't regret it. We are in our 5th year of homeschooling.

-- Lou Ann in KY (homes_cool@msn.com), December 03, 2001.

Lou Ann, calm down. I didn't tell her to do anything. Read what I said a little closer. I started my question with "I'm not recommending this but I wonder." I asked a theoretical question because I've moved twice since my children have been in public schools and never did either school follow up or ask where to send records to. I had to request them to send records, one time twice and it still took months. The other time they gave me the records when we left. So anyway, I was just asking a question. I'm sure some have done that to lessen hassles with unreasonable districts. My experience with public schools have been that they really don't know nor do they care if a child within their district is enrolled in their school.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), December 03, 2001.

Go to Kaleidoscapes.com and ask any question on home education. They have quite an extensive FAQ section, and many helpful people working at home education in many ways, from shoe-string budget to extensive purchased programs. In many states you must file an "intent to homeschool" letter with the school department before pulling your child from school. Doing your "homework" about home education will save a lot of worry and headaches before approaching school officials. Take heart, there are many who have pulled kids in the middle of a school year, and have had very postive results. Again, I wholeheartedly recommend talking with home educating families for advice before approaching school officials. We have homeschooled in Mass. and Maine for a total of 5 years with grades 1,2,4,5 and high school. Good luck, if there's anything I can help with, drop me an e- mail directly.

-- Sandie in Maine (peqbear@maine.rr.com), December 03, 2001.

i agree with pull her out and don't mention what you are doing. play dumb if someone asks. there are other methods/curriculum. Oakmeadow school has many options, including do it yourself or graded and enrolled. We do "life schooling" (unschooling) in Wisconsin and I never looked into our regulations. Geez, now I'll probably get in trouble.

Check out "home education magazine" and "unschooling.com" on the web to get more ideas about what you want to do. I do not believe children learn best by being told what they need to know, when and how. I hated most of the time I spent in school, and I LOVE learning and studying. I have never used half of what was forced down me and didn't care for it. Please consider giving your child a gift of growing into who she is, not who society and the school district says she needs to be....follow her dreams, inspirations and loves, and you two will grow closer, and she will be so much wiser for it!

-- marcee (thathope@mwt.net), December 06, 2001.

This is not answer. I need help. Please, my son is 17 years old,and we have just been pulled back into juvenile court, for truancy. He just simply hates school, he is not learning anything at this rate, i am a college graduate,i know i can teach him more than he is learning now. Am I allowed to pull my son out of school, even though the judge says he has to have a diploma before he will release him. My son wants to go in the military. Especially since this is the middle of the year, is there an umbrella school, that i can enroll him in, or do I need to get me a lawyer or what?? Please help.

-- patricia k gregg (greggk@planetc.com), January 23, 2002.

Can he pass the GED or your state's high school equivalency exam instead? Will the judge take that in lieu of a diploma? I took our high school equivalency exam just for fun at high school, and found it was 7th grade level (the reading level of Reader's Digest, by the way). A person sitting next to me was taking it for the 3rd time! Sad.

Patricia, even if your son does get his diploma, that does not mean he will get into the military as they all look at police records as well as school records. In a recession, even though there is a war going on, the military is a very attractive employer right now and they can afford to be very choosy.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 23, 2002.