Legally Homeschooling by Gillian Estes

By Gillian Estes
I'd like to share with you the legal options for homeschooling in California/Sonoma County. Children between the ages of 6 and 18 are required, by California's compulsory attendance, to be enrolled in a public, full-time day school, unless they are exempt. Thankfully, there are several options for exemption in our state!

The first, and perhaps easiest, route is to homeschool through a home-study program or charter school. Most districts in Sonoma County offer home-study options, and there are a couple of charter schools specifically targeted at homeschoolers--Orchard View in Sebastopol, and Pathways, in Santa Rosa. Charter schools and/or home-study are great options for families just starting out, or those who simply want a little extra support. When enrolled in any of these programs, you work directly with a fully credentialed teacher to lay out your plans, and you can contact them any time with questions. Many of these programs provide educational materials, and optional, supplemental on-campus classes. Pathways offers a small annual stipend for educational supplies or outside classes. Generally once or twice a month, you meet with your supervising teacher to turn in work samples, and discuss what your upcoming plans are. Starting in second grade, you will be asked to participate in standardized testing, which is necessary for school funding, although people have and do opt out. Overall, this is a good, solid option for families who would like their kids to have some classroom experience, those looking for assistance with planning and implementation, or help with certain subjects like math and science, and those who want their kids to get regular high school diplomas.

Similar to this is the online school. These schools offer grading services, along with record keeping, student support, and more. For some online schools, you will buy all your own materials, usually directly from the school. Others offer the materials as part of an overall package deal, and some offer free supplies with enrollment. Some popular options in this category are Oak Meadow, K12, Calvert, and California Virtual Academy, though there are many more choices out there! Some online schools are accredited, others are not, so if a high school diploma is important to you, do your research first!

A second legal option is to file a Private School Affidavit. This is a pretty simple and straightforward option; between October 1st and 15th of each year, you fill out one online form with the California Department of Education, essentially registering your private school with the state. While state educational codes do require certain subjects to be taught to all students between the ages of 6 and 18, how you approach these subjects is then entirely up to you. You do have to keep some paperwork on hand--a copy of your affidavit, a list of courses offered, attendance sheets which can can as simple or complex as you make them, and a listing of all "staff" involved in teaching (usually just the parents). HSC's website lays out these particular requirements very clearly, and offers line-by-line instructions for the affidavit, so I highly recommend visiting their website. Some parents have expressed concern with the gap time between the typical school year beginning, and the filing date for the affidavit. However, there is no issue of truancy, as this is simply a registration of your school, not permission to create or operate it. Since no private school, no matter what size they are, can register until October 15th, if there were truancy issues, then every private school statewide would be truant. Overall, this is the option with the most flexibility and is very popular among homeschoolers for that reason--you decide what you are teaching, as well as when and how. Naturally, you do not have to participate in any standardized testing unless you want to!

Parents with a valid teaching credential may wish to look into the third legal option: tutoring. You can also hire a credentialed tutor for your child or children. This option comes with the most requirements to be met, among them hours of instruction each day, 175 days per year. Instruction must be given in English, and cover all subjects as outlined in the California State Content Standards. Most people do not choose to go this route, as it is the most restrictive and disallows possibilities such as concurrent enrollment at the JC or other community colleges.

I hope this overview helps you understand that homeschooling is perfectly legal in California, and that there is more than one way to approach it. Check out HSC's website for more details! http://www.hsc.org/home-page.html

The Beginning....

     Hi! I am Anne Stevens. Mom to 4 kids. I've been homeschooling my children since 2008. I decided to volunteer to do the newsletter because I've never read one or contributed to one. I believe this format will be easy for everyone to use. I look forward to everyone joining me in writing articles, submitting photos, and joining contests. This site will be public so anyone will be able to view it. We hope to spread the awesomeness of homeschooling to everyone! With your help, our family and friends will learn more about the wonderful world of homeschooling.
     I will be the main author. That means I will try to write one article a week. I will be inviting two to three other families to contribute each week as well. I will send you an invitation on Sunday. You'll need to make a Google account, or use the one you have to sign on. Then you will write your post, add pictures and publish your post by Friday. If there are any concerns about how to publish a post I will help you over the phone. I am so excited to get to know all of you! Have a great summer and I hope to hear from you soon!