All this talk about everyones attendance laws and such it got me thinking what subjects are you required to teach? In Wyoming you are required to show a "sequentially progressive curriculum that includes, reading writing math civics history literature science But the school board doesn't have the right to reject.
By law here in VA, we are only req'd to show adequate progress in math and lang arts. The school system cannot reject what we submit either (although some try and then HSLDA has to remind them of the LAW). It's kind of a running joke because obviously we teach our kids more than math and lang arts but most of us just turn in the minimum (why give them more)....one school dist in the area, sent out a letter to someone on our local board about how they would document that they were just providing math and lang arts instruction. It was funny....and I'm sure a form letter. Do they really think that HS'ers are JUST doing the minimum Rhonda C.
I'm in Texas and so we don't even have to turn anything in or anything like that, but the letter of the law states that we should provide instruction in five subjects: math grammar spelling reading good citizenship No attendence requirement or notice needed, and in my experience they don't even "check" to see if you're covering these subjects. I suppose if there were a problem they COULD, but they don't generally.
Everything that has ever been conceived in the minds of men. . .I'm pretty sure under water basket weaving is in the fine print somewhere!
1. math 2. science 3. health 4. geography, history of the US and Ohio, government 5. phys ed 6. fines arts (inc. music) 7. first aid, safety, and fire prevention
Our core subjects that are required are Math, Reading, Language arts (yes, separate from reading), Social Studies, and Science.
Every year: patriotism and citizenship, substance abuse, traffic safety, fire safety Grades 1-6:arithmetic, reading, spelling, writing, English, geography, U.S. history, science, health, music, visual arts, and physical education; U.S. and New York history and constitutions; (only once in grades 1-8). And for high school: English, social studies--including American history, participation in government, and economics, math, science, art or music, health, physical education, and electives I guess underwater basket weaving isn't on there. :roll:
WOW! I think I will sit here a moment and be thankful for my state and it's minimal demands. Our state does list recommended courses studied, but it is merely a guideline (I guess for those wanting to parallel the ps system-in case their dc needs to return to it one day). For those of you who must fulfull a prescribed list--what do you show them?
LOL You get creative. For example (because technically each subject should be listed on your IHIP) For patriotism last year I put down the trip we took to West Point on Memorial Day Weekend (or was it labor day. . .I can't remember now.) to see the 4th of July. One year we wrote letters to soldiers for patriotism. For English, writing, spelling and reading requirements, I list one curriculum but under each heading. So my IHIP reads: English (actually I count this as literature and list all the read aloud books), writing--Sonlight 2, spelling--Sonlight 2, reading--songlight 2 and leave it at that bc that covers all those aspects. For New York History. . .I actually have a rotating schedule where one year I do field trips of famous landmarks in NYC, two years I study NYS History, one year I do the constitution, and one year I do famous people, places and things in NYS history. I just teach it once per week but I have it arranged so that by the time my kids finish 8th grade, they'll have rotated through each subject once. (They really like studying it this way. ;-)) For other things like health, visual arts, p.e. and music--I count ballet in both music and p.e., soccer is p.e., we visit the Met a few times per year plus I count all those countless drawings that they do. I also wrote about family swimming. ;-) The trick, IMO, is when you decide to completely switch gears mid-year and do something else. This year wasn't so bad because we far exceeded what I wrote we would do. . .so I didn't even bother sending in a revised IHIP, but a couple of times, we haven't been able to do what we said we would and find ourselves submitting revisions mid-year. LOL In additions to the quarterlies, and annual assessment and letter of intent. . .and the kitchen sink.
I find it interesting that, while U.S. and state history is required, WORLD history has yet to be listed.
Jackie--wow! You're right. Sneaky-thanks for the explanation. Follow-up question: Is all that a real pain to keep up with, or do you just get into a system and it becomes no big deal?
Jackie--somewhere in the fine print of something unofficial that my district sends me, World History is listed under social studies and/or electives in high school. But legally, if I don't list it, I'm still okay. America does tend to be a very egocentric country! LOL re: follow up ?--LOL It's only a pain when I read about all of you who have easy laws! Just kidding. . . I do not find the paperwork particularly difficult to keep up with. However, I school year round specifically so that I only have to turn something in every 12 weeks rather than every 9. I use a whole packaged curriculum (where personally I would be more inclined to be more eclectic) so it's easier to turn in an IHIP (I just copy the catalog!) ;-) But of all my friends, I'm the only one that I know that's able to keep up with the paperwork in a timely manner. All of my other friends turn in stuff late. . .and in some cases several months late. I strongly suspect it's from teaching. I just have adapted daily record keeping to not be burdensome and to yield the information that I need. What is a pain is the annual assessment bc what they make you do is somewhat dependent on the person in the district you're dealing with. (That's a whole other long explanation.)
We don't have any requirements. The confirmation letter we got from the minister of education stating they received our intent to homeschool form had a link to our government/education website if we're interested in the public school curriculum, but that's it.
Our five core classes include Social Studies, but what that means is totally up to us. We could do 12 years of civics or 12 years of US history or 12 years of geography and no one would care. Of course, most parents find their own balance between all the aspects of Social Studies.
Our requirements are pretty vague. By law, parents/guardians are required to provide "comparable instruction" in "subjects commonly and usually taught in public schools" "during a period in each year equal to that in which the public schools are in session." In a FAQ section of a homeschool handbook available from the state it farther explains: Is there a requirement to conduct home school instruction on the exact same days the public schools are open? No. A parent or guardian has the responsibility of setting hours of instruction per day and deciding what days of the week instruction occurs. Since home school instruction must be “comparable” to public school instruction, parents should be aware of the instructional time requirements for public schools: Kindergarten, four hundred fifty (450) hours per year; Grades one through three (1-3), eight hundred ten (810) hours per year; Grades four through eight (4-8), nine hundred (900) hours per year; and Grades nine through twelve (9-12), nine hundred ninety (990) hours per year. What subjects must parents or guardians include in their child’s education in order to be in compliance with the requirement to “comparably instruct” their child? The State Board of Education’s Administrative Rules list core instructional requirements for public schools: Language Arts and Communication Mathematics Science Social Studies And a variety of other subjects such as fine arts, health, and physical education. We have no reporting at all.
That pretty much sums up Colorado as well (maybe including geography and state history somewhere) but we don't turn anthing in, get approvals, or have to teach these subjects according to the PS timeline.
Hi We are to instruct for 875 hours per year in the subjects of reading, language arts, math, science, health and social studies. We are suppose to have a sequentially progressive curriculum. We are not required to submit any of this. We only have to fill out a homeschooling form every year that we are in compliance with the law. It is suggested that we keep a log/record of our hours and curric. just in case we would ever need it, but no one checks on it. One part of my state's law that annoys me is the part where they say that we're not allowed to count an instructional program provided to more than one family unit. I have a hard time interpreting that one. I know our hsing co-op classes do NOT count. Those are only suppose to be used as enrichment. Do you think that part of the law means that I can't count classes/programs that my son might take at a museum or a library? I think it means that I am unable to count that.
I wouldn't know how to take that one, WIMom. Seems silly. For us, of the 600 hours that have to be spent on core subjects, 400 have to happen at home (the "regular school location"). Technically, that means that if the boys spend the week at Granny's because I'm working, those lessons don't count toward the 400 hours. But that still leaved me with 600 hours (the other 200 required for Core subjects and the 400 other hours that are used for electives and such) that can be taken anywhere, including co-ops and community classes.
