Hi, I'm new here and I'm wondering if there is anyone from Louisiana that can help me out. I'm trying to figure out the law here and what I need to do to homeschooling my 7 yr old. He's currently in a magnet school in 1st grade and as of now he is going to finish out the year but I'm thinking about withdrawling him before the year is up. I keep going back and forth on that.... Any help would be great.. thanks
Hi Cara, I'm from Texas. Click on this link to obtain a copy of LA law requirements.http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=LA
Hi Cara, Welcome. The best thing I ever did for my youngest two daughters was take them out of public school. They are doing so much better at home. We are in NC. Glad you joined us. Beth
Thanks for the welcome. I did read the laws for Louisiana, and I think I'm going to go with the private school option, and I'm going to call today for more clarification to make sure I do it right. I'm not against standardized tests but I don't want him to have to take it across the street at a school he doesn't know, with teachers / kids he doesn't know and who don't know him, which is what it says I would have to do on the school board website for our Parish if we did the home study option. If we are going to test, I would prefer to pay for private testing vs the above. So I'm trying to navigate the legal aspects and I'm considering pulling him before the school year is out. He is miserable at school, and I hate the fight every morning and forcing him to go someplace he's obviously not happy at. But there is only 7 weeks left of school.
me too Hi! I am in LA too. We moved here last March. This will be my first year doing hs officially in LA. Our house in KY just sold in December, so we still registered up there. I too, am still unclear on all the laws here. What part of LA are you? Welcome! Tara
Here is a site that has information on Homeschool Associations for LA.http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/regional/Louisiana.htm Hope this helps!
The website homemom provided is a good one. The CHEF website link on there has great information. I homeschool under the private school option. It is very simple. You just send a letter to the school board once a year to let them know you are homeschooling. They have sample letters of what to include on the web page. If your child attended school previously you have to send a letter to them as well. They also have a sample of that on the website. You have to click on resource store and there is a packet you can view.
Thanks! He's offically withdrawn from school as of today. We are still trying to figure out which option to use, I think we are going to go with the private school option. I'm going to be mailing my letter in at the first of next week.
I'm in LA too Hi there. I have been homeschooling my son since last year and he's in 10th grade this year. I'm planning to pull my daughter before she goes to 4th grade next year. I did the Home study program these two years but next year since i'll have both I am planning to do the private school letter. It's easier. Is anyone near Donaldsonville, or around that area? Karen
Welcome! We're in the Alexandria area. We moved here last fall from TX and I refused to put my kids in the public schools here. I did the paperwork for the home study option this year, but I will send in the letter for private school option if we're still here next year.
We are in NC LA. If you choose the homestudy option, you are still not required to do a standardized test. You can send in a portfolio or have a certified teacher review your year's work and send a letter that your child has met expectations. We did homestudy as well and most people choose the standardized test simply because it is easier. If you join a homeschool group in your area, that group will probably organize an end of year test. This is what our group did. So our testing was done with kids our kids knew and was given by all the parents that our kids knew. We are not required to use the same state tests or to test at the school. The advantage of the homestudy option over the private school is that your child will only qualify for TOPS if they have been doing homestudy WITH testing in their last four years of schooling (9th-12th grade). TOPS is Louisiana's scholarship program. I am not sure on all the details of TOPS as my children aren't old enough for it yet. But from what I was told, if your child qualifies for TOPS, tuition to any state college is waived. If you join an organization like CHEF, they will also encourage you to do the homestudy option. Their reasoning is that it gives all homeschoolers more crediability based on the reasoning if you are schooling your kids what do you have to hide by not testing. Since the testing is reported to state (by you and not the testing source), it gives better statistics as to what is really going on in the homeschool population. As I said, we did the homestudy option the first 2 years of homeschooling. This year, I signed up for private homeschool instead just because it was easier on me to do so. I lost most of the paperwork and just sent in the quick note. We still intended to do the testing, simply because I wanted to know where the kids stood at the end of the year, what they really learned and what did we miss. I hope that helps clear up a few things for you. If you have any further questions, you can PM me if you like
Thanks for all the help, we went with the private school option and after joining a few groups it seems like most everyone went / goes with that option. I'm still going to test just so I can see where he is at for me and I'm still going to keep a portfolio again for us / me. Also to show that we are doing work and he is progressing.
