PITFALLS TO AVOID WHEN HOMESCHOOLING

By: Jen Fauls-Leaver

New groups of homeschooling families are being welcomed each day. Many families are feeling they are not ready to have their children return to in-person schooling and instead are choosing to homeschool, because of COVID-19. I know that reading and comprehending all parts of the homeschooling State regulations and their specific district policies around homeschooling is overwhelming and can be a bit scary for families. Homeschooling families need to remember two things:

WELCOME TO HOMESCHOOLING!

MEET YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND –

THE HOME SCHOOL REGULATIONS AND DISTRICT POLICIES!

You must make time to read them and re-read them to know your job description, your requirements, and the freedoms available as a homeschool family.

Knowledge is Power It is essential that you know and avoid key barriers to effective homeschooling. These common barriers are:  

• Truancy
• Compliance, and
• Progress monitoring.

Know your State regulations and your local school district policies. If you need legal advice please seek homeschooling legal counsel or contact the Homeschool Legal Defense Association.

Let’s go over the process to avoid these pitfalls. I will use Pennsylvania as an example:

TRUANCY

Many families are starting to homeschool in November or mid-year and this comes with challenges. In some States a major challenge for homeschooling families is truancy. Even if you start homeschooling in the beginning of the school year truancy can be an issue. The last thing anyone wants is to have a truancy officer at your door. Many new homeschool clients ask me what is the deadline to start homeschooling. They are very surprised to learn there is no deadline. You can start homeschooling at any point in the school year.

You do need to follow a few ground rules that are not always clearly defined.

• Always contact the school district prior to withdrawing your child from public school and know the school district’s policies, process, and where to turn in your homeschooling paperwork.
• For all homeschooling families, it is best to withdrawal your child from the district the SAME day you file to begin homeschooling. You don’t want any interruption in school attendance.
  • When you withdraw your child from the school district, ask the school district for a copy of your child’s attendance record.
  • Under the Pennsylvania Homeschool Regulations you are required to teach 180 days or 900 hours at the elementary level or 990 hours at the secondary level.
  • You will take the days your child attended the district and subtract that number from 180 days. The difference is equal to how many days you must document in homeschooling.
• It is important to keep in mind that the homeschool calendar year is not the same as a public or private school calendar.
  • The homeschool calendar is July 1 through June 30^th.
• Remember that you do not register to homeschool you FILE a notarized Affidavit with the local school district notifying them of your intent to homeschool.
  • At the beginning of any new school year, you must have your child attend public school until you decide to file as a homeschooler. You must file prior to 3 unexcused absences or you are at risk for truancy.
  • You have the freedom file any time of the year before you begin homeschooling. In subsequent years, you must file by August 1.
• If you are already a homeschooler and decide to continue homeschooling, going forward, you must file by August 1^st.
  • Some families file for the upcoming school year when they turn in the required End of Year Evaluation and begin counting days for the new school year on July 1^st. This is 100% acceptable.
• If your child has an IEP, you will need, to have a Special Education Approval completed prior to turning in your paperwork. If your child has a gifted IEP you are excluded from this piece.  The districts will not let you start homeschooling until they have this piece because your special needs child is protected under IDEA.
• Finally! Place all these documents in a safe place or a fire safe box so you have them on hand if you are ever questioned for truancy.

With COVID-19 and the increase of homeschoolers, many districts have new policies in place. You must read your homeschool regulations/and policies and have all your paperwork completed and ready.

COMPLIANCE

When it comes to homeschooling compliance, State regulations and the local school district policy are key components and are easy pitfall. The Educational Supervisor (which is usually the parent) is complying with and maintaining the required homeschooling documentation. This is to comply with the State’s regulations and the school district’s policies required for each day of schooling. Homeschool Evaluators, like myself, find the following issues:

• The first compliance issue regularly seen is the lack of filing a notarized affidavit.
  • The notarized affidavit is a legal document in which the parent is attesting to as the homeschooling supervisor. Each item is clearly defined.
  • Often districts will try to overreach for more information regarding medical, dental, or immunizations.
    • If they are overreaching, you can respond via certified letter with a copy of the Homeschooling Regulations, highlighting the noted sections of the law.
  • It is always suggested to not respond to a district unless you receive a certified letter.
• The required End of Year Evaluation (progress monitoring data) is often another compliance issue.
  • First you must complete your 180 days of instruction prior to your Evaluation.
  • Often families think when the public school is finished that homeschooling has ended too. Well, that isn’t the case! You must remember that the homeschool year runs from July 1 through June 30^th.
  • In homeschooling, you must complete your educational program prior to the End of Year Evaluation because the Homeschool Evaluator is attesting to the educational progress of the child.
• As a Home school Evaluator I often see the lack of completing Standardized Testing for the End of Year Evaluations.
  • Standardized Testing is required only for grades 3, 5, and 8. I firmly believe that a child’s worth is not found in a single test result, however this is a requirement of the homeschool regulations in certain States.
    • You are attesting to the completion of the homeschooling for that year via the affidavit.
    • The good news is you do not need to test your child on grade level. This is WONDERFUL for our special needs and gifted children! Many States provide a list of all the approved standardized tests.
    • I personally recommend having your child take an online California Achievement Test purchased through Academic Excellence. I use the un-timed online version with my daughter. I don’t put any pressure on her because it is just a check-mark for State compliance.
      • I like the online version because once you are finished you click send and results come back within a few hours.
      • The good news is that the only person to review the results is your evaluator.

I would advise if you are a home school family who is planning to return to a district for 2020-2021 to have your child take the grade level assessment. You might be asking why, well the district has the right to place your child in the grade they feel appropriate. By having this test on grade-level it may help if there is a conflict with grade level placement.

PROGRESS MONITORING

This moves us on to our third most frequent pitfall - Progress Monitoring. Earlier we talked about requirements for children who have an IEP and need a Special Education Approval. This does not mean the district will provide you services, even though you are a tax payer. The providing of related services is at the discretion of each individual district, when it comes to homeschooling. The Educational Supervisor (usually mom) is responsible to monitor IEP academic goals. If your child has Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech and Language, or other Related Services you will need to address these goals also.

• When working with a homeschooling consultant make sure they are knowledgeable enough to be able to work with you to first address what type of homeschooling instructor style best supports your child’s learning style and needs, and then jointly decide the proper progress monitor tools and curriculum to use to meet your child’s need and learning style.
• When looking for progress monitoring assessments your first step is to try to find what is already available.
  • TeachersPayTeachers.com is a great resource
• It is important to progress monitor at least 4x during the year
  • Progress monitoring monthly is highly preferred but this is not specifically stated in our Educational Objectives.
  • This data is important because if you are not seeing improvement or positive changes it might be time for:
    • A change in instructional approach,
    • A change in your curriculum,
    • A change in routine,
    • An evaluation to identify why your child is not accessing their education.
  • You might be asking yourself why do I need to progress monitor and who will know if I do it or not. As the Educational Supervisor you must attest to following the outline of proposed objectives in your affidavit and that includes progress monitoring those goals.

For those home schooling who will return to the district in 2020-2021 this is such an awesome time because you just taught your child.  You have firsthand experience and can accurately state your child’s best learning strategies, needs, strengths, effective specially designed instruction (accommodations and modifications), and the type of instructional approach that allows them to make progress commensurate with their abilities. I suggest you make a journal of the above and keep track of your child’s learning so that when the time comes to have that IEP revised at the district, you will have a list ready for your Parent Letter of Concerns to the IEP and an outline of the IEP agenda.

Complying and meeting the End of Year Evaluation can feel overwhelming, especially your first time.  My goal today was to provide suggestions to help you avoid the main pitfalls in homeschooling. The most important piece to protecting your homeschool freedoms is knowing and understanding your State regulations and your school district policies!

Click here for a sample End of Year Evaluation Form to assist you in preparing to comply with your State regulations.

_________________________________________________________

Learn more at the NSEAI Homeschool Page. 

Click Here Now

_________________________________________________________

 About The Author:

Little Tree Homeschool Center and Jen Fauls-Leaver

Follow at Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/littletreehomeschoolcenter/

Jen is a NSEAI national home schooling expert and consultant. Jen is the founder of the Little Tree Homeschool Center. She has been providing encouragement and guidance nationally for homeschool families for years. Her background is in education and homeschooling. and she provides a unique understanding that enhances parent confidence within a homeschool family.

Her background is in education and homeschooling.

• She graduated with a Master Degree in Education, with Distinction, from Cabrini College
• She has a Bachelors of Science in Education, Magna Cum Laude and is a Golden Key National Honor Society Member, from Temple University.
• She was selected to be the Temple University’s College of Education Student Speaker at the graduation.
• She is triple PA state certified Educator in the areas of Early Childhood, Elementary Education, and Special Education.
• She is an active leader in various special education and home schooling groups.
• She has 20 plus years of teaching experience in homeschooling, private and public schools.
• She has been featured in several articles in regional Journals on Homeschooling.
• She was a 2005 winner of the Who’s Who of American Teachers.

Jen believes that “It takes a village to raise a child" and the Little Tree Homeschool Center provides that branch and connection homeschool families need to community and accurate and research based information. You can contact Jen who customizes her professional services with each of her clients based on their unique needs in their homeschool journey at:  [email protected].

Her Services Include:

• End of Year Evaluations for Homeschool Students
• Facilitates Special Education Approvals for Homeschool Students
• Provides Homeschool Parent Coaching
• Special Education Advocating for Public School and Homeschool Students
• Analyzes IEP Progress Monitoring for Homeschool Students
• Private Speaking Engagements on Homeschool Training

Jen has personally have taken classes through NSEAI. She stated, "I have enriched my own educational skills through there highly experienced leaders in Special Education. NSEAI offers trainings and classes designed for parents, homeschool families, special education and regular education teachers, education advocates, and paraprofessionals. Please click on this link to start your personal training with NSEAI."