You glance at the caller ID and the screen shows a call coming from the local school district. Or you check your inbox and there’s an email from from the school district account. Your face gets flush. Your heart starts racing and your brain goes immediately to the worst-case scenario. You filed all the paperwork to […]
Author Archives: Beth Phillips
Why You Shouldn’t Worry About A District’s Attitude Toward Homeschooling
It’s pretty common for someone moving to PA or moving within PA to ask how a school district treats homeschoolers. Another version of this question is, “are there any school districts I should avoid?” I hope I can convince you that this concern is irrelevant and shouldn’t be the basis for your decision to move […]
The Difference Between the Log and the Time Requirement
A common source of confusion about the homeschool law is mingling the log requirement with the time requirement. I get questions all the time about what form is best for the log (calendar, planner, etc) signaling that a parent is confusing it with keeping track of days or hours. The PDE and the HSLDA don’t […]
Early Graduation For Homeschoolers in Pennsylvania
The efficiency and flexibility of homeschooling can allow students to graduate early. This post identifies some factors to consider whether it makes sense.
Can I Legally Homeschool Someone Else’s Child Under PA Law?
It’s perfectly legal under PA homeschool law to include a child from another family in your home education program. This post guide you through the scenarios and help both families file the required paper work.
Should You Provide Proof of An Evaluator’s Qualifications?
It is increasingly common for school superintendents to request an evaluator’s teaching certificate either by contacting the supervisor or the evaluator directly. The Pennsylvania home education law does not give school districts authority to verify an evaluator’s qualifications and supervisors should decline such requests for the reasons I’ll explain below. 1. The request assumes all evaluators […]
The Challenge of Accountability When You Homeschool
One challenge that took me by surprise in the years that I homeschooled was my older son’s need for outside accountability to stay motivated. It took a while for me to recognize because it’s not something a child would understand, know that he needed or be able to articulate. From my point of view, […]
Homeschooling High School in Pennsylvania
Some homeschool parents get spooked about high school due to Pennsylvania’s higher regulations relative to other states but they really shouldn’t. In this post, I’ll explain how even the most relaxed home education program can satisfy the basic graduation requirements of the Pennsylvania homeschool law while still preparing a student for his or her future […]
My Perspective on The Different Models of Education Available in Pennsylvania
My oldest child graduated from the local public high school in 2016. Not many kids can say they experienced just about every imaginable type of school. She attended pre-K at the local Catholic school. She was homeschooled from Kindergarten through 7th grade. She attended a charter school where she studied media arts for 8th and […]
Tips for Selling Used Homeschool Books in Person
This is the third post in a series about how to get value from used homeschool books. In the first post, I told you about my favorite platforms to sell books. In the second post, I shared my best practices for getting the most value and minimizing handling time when selling your used books. In […]