Homeschooling Requires Preparation and Notification

Public and private school teachers are preparing classrooms, selecting curriculum and writing lesson plans. Students are buying items on the selected supply list, backpacks and back to school clothes. What about home educators? Are there things they need to do to get ready for school? Do homeschool students need to be registered with their local school system?

The East Haddam Board of Education office referrs homeschoolers to this link for the district home school policy.

In summary, parents must file a Letter of Intent to Home School within 10 days of the start of the home education program. The letter of intent is effective for one calendar year. Once the letter is filed, the parent “acknowledges full responsibility for the education of their child in accordance with the requirements of state law.”  

Each state has different laws to be followed, adopted by the legislature. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association website, Connecticut does not have specific statutes of law regarding homeschooling. However, the Department of Education has written a guideline of procedures, which are the procedures followed and adopted by the East Haddam school district.

While aware of and maintaining compliance with the law, most home school parents are primarily concerned with providing an education equivalent to what would be achieved by attending private and public schools. Although there is more flexibility in how the material is taught, core subjects include those taught globally: reading, writing, spelling, math, science and history.

Choosing and purchasing curriculum is one of the most challenging aspects of back to school preparation for many families.  New textbooks for each grade level can cost as much as $1,000 for a set. Ebay and Homeschool Classified are two sites that many use to purchase used books at a discount.

Homeschool students are assigned projects and homework, just like traditional school students. Local parents depend upon the Rathburn Library homework help center as a resource.

According to the local district policy, “participation in the National Honor Society, extra-curricular activities such as band, interscholastic and intra-scholastic athletic teams, field trips, and foreign language instruction” is not available to homeschoolers.  

Extra effort must be made to find alternatives for the students. The advantage that homeschoolers have is that schedules can be flexible, thereby able to take advantage of daytime courses and activities, that peers in public and private schools cannot.

Many students take advantage of courses offered (high school) at colleges such as Middlesex Community College and join organizations such as the .

Sports are important to homeschool students and many express gratitude for the availability of community sports. Some join classes at the Northern Middlesex YMCA or a team such as the swim team. Although immunizations are not required for school, physicals are required to play on many sports teams, therefore annual physicals should be scheduled for homeschool students.

Homeschool parents are busy at this time of the year, making calls and penciling field trips into the calendar. Most museums give free entrance to parent-teachers and discounted tickets to the students.

East Haddam and Haddam offer a plethora of unique options throughout the year. Destinations for this year could include unique local educational sites like the East Haddam  and  (after doing a unit study on Sherlock Holmes, for example) and taking in a show or two at the

After investigating, it appears that there are three major differences found between preparing for home education versus public/private education: backpacks, the yellow bus and food.  Below are some comments from home school parents and students.

• “We don’t bother with backpacks! They can carry their books room to room!”
• “I don’t set my alarm for 6 a.m. Mine is set for 8 a.m. I have to get dressed and be at the table, ready to start lessons at 8:30 a.m. I don’t even hear the bus go by.”
• “Lunchables and such are not on our shopping list. The kids take turns cooking lunch for all of us, as part of their life skills class”
• What about back to school shopping? “Yes, we still shop at this time of the year” one mom told me. “This is when the sales happen. Pencils for a dime, notebooks for 15 cents! The kids still want to get the latest styles and fashions, just like all their friends. Yes, we still do the shopping.”