One of the first things that confused me when I began to research the idea of homeschooling, was how to make sure to do it legally. What paperwork did we need to fill out? What records did we need to keep? What did the state require of us? I had a lot of those kinds of questions.
I learned that there are actually different answers to these questions depending on how your family chooses to homeschool. And I don’t mean teaching methods, or educational philosophy – the powers that be don’t actually seem to care so much about that, or maybe they aren’t allowed to care. No, what I mean is, do you homeschool independently, or through a charter school, or maybe a public or private home study program? I had no idea before I started reading how many options there were availble to homeschool families in California.
Independent Homeschooling.
If you want to go it alone, without using a program guided by another type of school, you are allowed in the state of California to basically file paperwork to become your own private school. You then enroll your children in your very private school, and there you are.
As your own private school you choose your own curriculum, and make your own decisions about what you want to teach, etc. When you go this route, you have a lot of freedom, but you are also on your own as far as paying for your supplies and teaching materials goes.
Private Home Study Programs
There are some private schools that offer home study programs. You pay a tuition, like you would at any private school, and they provide a combination of services and supplies. Different programs provide different things, so it’s hard to generalize much. Some give families a lot of freedom, and other offer more structure to the teaching. Most offer an advisor that you keep in touch with, and use a selected curriculum.
Public Home Study Programs and Charter Schools
Some public school districts offer home study programs for some or all grade levels. These also can provide an advisor and at least a recommended curriculum, and also vary on how much freedom they provide to vary from their plan. Because they are still public schools, they participate in the standardized testing that other public schools do, but legally parents can opt out of this if they are strongly against it.
This is the type of program our family is using. Our advisor is wonderful, and offers me so many ideas that I wouldn’t come up with on my own about how to teach various topics. She finds us wonderful materials to use, and we have very little out of pocket expense. Actually, we could spend nothing if we wanted to, but I still find books, and games on my own that I’d like to have. Our schools also offers workshops and field trips for the kids.
Charter schools are also public schools, but they have a specific educational philosophy that may differ from traditional public schools. You would need to research the ones in your area to see if they have a system that you like. There are charter schools that are homechool charters, and ones that have regular classrooms. Like other public schools, there is no cost or other requirements to attend. However, popular charter schools may have a waiting list or lottery system to get in.