Homeschooling as an Educational Option

Most people know that I homeschool, so I get a lot of comments and questions.  Homeschooling is not for everyone. However, more and more, I hear of people looking for educational options. There is a lot of misinformation out there.  So, I thought it would be good time to set the record straight. Everyone has their own reasons for why they homeschool and every child’s experience will be different.

For starters, you are legally allowed to homeschool in New York. You can start at any time. Even if you have begun the school year in a school, you can choose to continue the year at home. You need to send a letter of intent to the school district you reside in. It does not have to be a long letter; it can be as short as: “We are sending this letter as required of Section 100.10 of the Regulations of New York State Commissioner of Education. We intend to homeschool our daughter/son (their name) who will be entering Grade ___ , for the (current year) school year.”

Once you have sent the letter you must put together an Individualized Home Instruction Plan (or IHIP as we call it). This tells the district what you will be teaching your child. The district cannot require you to buy a certain curriculum.  There are curriculums you can purchase, if you choose to, or you can put together your own. There are also websites that tell you what is generally taught at each grade level that you can use for your IHIP (World Book has a really current list). The subjects you must include are Math, Science, Language Arts, Foreign Language, Social Studies, Health, Music, Gym and Art. The IHIP is also where you list the text books and other materials you will be using. Textbooks, new and used, are available online on sites such as Amazon also the Library has a great selection of books that you can borrow on most subjects. Once you submit the IHIP the school district needs to approve it for you to go forward. On the IHIP, you do not have to be specific about when you are doing each topic.  Rather, it outlines the topics that you are going to cover ,for each subject, during the course of the school year. Some people follow the textbook in order.  Some will break it up depending on the season or what goes with other subjects. It is completely up to you and something that evolves as you get into it. On the IHIP, you also have to put down the end dates of your quarters. Toward the end of each quarter you must complete a quarterly report. This is when you tell the school what you have done in that time period. You do not have list specific dates you did the work, just from this date to this date we did this. This is typically listed by subject with details about books read, chapters in textbooks completed, trips taken, and classes at places such as science centers, libraries and museums. There are a lot of educational places and opportunities out there.  Once you start looking and thinking that everything is a lesson, the world opens up endless possibilities.  You have to complete 80% of the planned worked and have had “The substantial equivalent of 180 days of instruction shall be provided each school year. The cumulative hours of instruction for grades 1 through 6 shall be 900 hours per year. The cumulative hours of instruction for grades 7 through 12 shall be 990 hours per year.” (New York State Department of Education website) Since everything is a lesson these hours are easily obtainable.

The biggest question people have concerns socialization.  There are many opportunities for your children to be social. It depends on how much effort you put into it. I saw a video done by a young man that had been homeschooled and his opinion was that being homeschooled actually makes you more social. You are not forced into relationships, but rather have to go up to complete strangers at a gathering or playground and initiate the conversation. He felt this helped him a great deal in life. Based on my experience, I agree with his opinion. Some homeschoolers do a co-op with other homeschool families.  As long as the parents or legal guardians are doing 51% of the teaching you can share the experience.  Each family will take what they are good at and do a group lesson for the kids. You can take part in activities set up by other families or set up your own activities. There are many homeschool groups on Long Island.  Some are formal, others are not.

You do not legally have to complete the school work during the day hours. The state prefers you to, but legally you do not have to. You make your own schedule.  It is what works for your family.  It is designed to take the rush and stress out of school and instead create an environment where all learning is encouraged, so the child can learn at their pace and have time to further discover the things they really enjoy. For example, if your child likes horses you can put whole lessons that cover biology, health, and reading, all on that topic.  Then you can visit a ranch and have lessons on how to properly care for a horse. This way the child gets a full education on horses. The most important thing to remember is…it is what you make it. Let learning become fun again, you will be surprised what you learn alongside your child.

For more information you can visit the New York Department of Education website at http://www.p12.nysed.gov/part100/pages/10010.html