What are the Laws in MY State?

What are the Laws in MY State?

“HSLDA” stands for “Home School Legal Defense Association.”

If you were to type, “Homeschool Laws” in a Google search, theirs would be the first website listed!  However, to save you a step, here is the link to their “My State” page:  http://www.hslda.org/hs/default.asp

This page has a clickable map of the United States.  Simply find your state and click it.  HSLDA’s website will bring up your states page which includes information on homeschooling laws, legislation, organizations, member resources (for paying members), cases and news tailored specifically for your state!

Understanding the laws of your state surrounding homeschooling is a vital place to start understanding your responsibilities as a homeschooler.

For example, in the state of South Carolina, there are three (3) options for homeschooling.  Two (2) which require state testing, and one (1) which may or may not require state testing, depending on the association you affiliate with.  Affiliation with a homeschool association is mandatory if you choose either the second or third options.

Other details, such as who is the primary educator, the number of days in the school year, and subjects which must be taught, are also mandated, regardless of which option you choose

However, just across the border, in the state of North Carolina, there does not appear to be any membership requirements nor do they require specific subjects to be taught but annual testing is a requirement. 

Sorting out and understanding all these requirements can be distressing.  Trying to meet all of the requirements left me feeling like my first year homeschooling was nothing short of a disaster.  I was flying by the seat of my pants that year!  Everybody was talking about how easy it is, you do things at your own pace, you don’t have to do school the way school does school and so on and so forth.  Nobody said, “But have a plan, here’s how to make it.”  So, being the rather simple and naive creature that I am, I did not create a plan; not that I would have known how to.  That year, I went to the book store and purchased workbooks for each subject of study; very basic!  My daughter also used the internet as a resource and kept an irregular journal.  Embarrassing but true.

Not feeling confident about our first year but not willing to give up after only one go (especially since I knew I was the problem), we ventured into the second year.  That year I purchased her math and science books at the book store.  I was particularly excited about her science as it covered more topics that she was interested in and also provided experiments to be done for additional learning experience.  I also planned two books for her to read and write reports about.

Both of those years, though, little to no planning went into the lessons.

I am thrilled about this year!  I spent the end of the last school year and all of the summer researching curriculums, and planning out the school year, day for day!  (Ironically, what seems to be stressing me out this year is when she does not complete an assignment by the day I have allotted for it to be completed.) I spent much of that time searching for curriculums in specific subjects for her grade, talked with other homeschooling parents to find out what curriculum they used for these subjects, asked questions about how the curriculum taught its subject, etc…… We ended up with a custom curriculum that both my daughter and I are excited about.  She is more encouraged to do the work as well.  It seems there is a direct correlation to my organization and preparedness and her desire to do the work and do it well; a hypothesis.  I anticipate that next year will be even better than this year!

I will discuss (and provide links to) the websites I have used to find our curriculum for this year in next weeks blog.  I would love to hear from other homeschooling parents what subjects you are teaching and what curriculum you are using.  Please be sure to include, in your comment, the web address so I can share it next week!

*Also, I have recently been exposed to a technique called “Unschooling,” which, because of the nature of it, can be a bit challenging to explain or even understand!  If this is a technique you are using or have used or know of someone having used, please comment about it, specifically in relation to “curriculum.” Please also include where we might turn for information if someone might be interested in, or at least intrigued by, this type of homeschooling. 

Here is HSLDA link one more time:   http://www.hslda.org/hs/default.asp