When People Resist Your Decision to Homeschool, Make ’em Laugh If you’ve made the decision to homeschool your children, more than likely, you’ve met resistance from almost everyone who knows and loves you and your children. I realized early on that the best way to address everyone’s discomfort with homeschooling was to make jokes about it, […]
Two Homeschool Lifesavers, an Announcement and a Freebie!
First the homeschool lifesaving tips because I don’t want you to miss them. These two practices were critical to my sanity and to the flow of our days at home especially when the kids were little. I know you don’t want me to say it, but I’m going to….you’ve heard it before and you’ve resisted….wake […]
How to Organize Your PA Homeschool Forms
Even if you school year-round, there’s something about this time of year that triggers the brain to organize and gear up for “back to school”. If you’re just beginning to homeschool I wanted to share a super simple tip to help you keep track of copies of the forms you file with the school district. […]
Homeschooling in Pennsylvania Under the “Private Tutor” Option
BackgroundThe homeschool law in Pennsylvania gives any parent or legal guardian who has legal custody of a child the right to educate their child at home. The only qualification necessary is earning a high school diploma or its equivalent (GED). One other important restriction is that neither you or any adult living in the home […]
Health Services Requirements under PA Homeschool Law
The Pennsylvania School Code requires homeschooled children to obtain the same health and medical services as their conventionally-schooled counterparts. Unless you claim an exemption to any of the required services (which I will discuss in more detail below), you have a few choices about how and where to obtain health services and maintain health records. […]
How to Prepare A List of Objectives
Since a list of objectives must be filed with the notarized affidavit, I typically prepare it before the affidavit since it can be simple and straightforward. The law simply requires “an outline of proposed education objectives by subject area.” It is important to note two things. 1) Your list of objectives may not be rejected […]
PA Homeschool Evaluation
We’ve already discussed the elements that are required in the portfolio, including a log, samples of the child’s work and standardized test scores in grades 3, 5 and 8. One final requirement is to obtain an evaluation and submit the evaluator’s certification that an appropriate education is occurring for the school year under review no […]
Testing Requirements Under PA Homeschool Law
If your child is in grade 3, 5 or 8, the portfolio must include the results of a standardized achievement test for reading/language arts and math. The list of approved tests (as of the date of publication of this article-please check the PDE website for updates) can be found on the Pennsylvania Department of Education website […]
Samples of Work for the Portfolio
Although Pennsylvania homeschool law no longer requires the supervisor of a home education program to submit a portfolio to the superintendent, a qualified evaluator must still review a portfolio during (or before) an interview with the student in order to certify that “an appropriate education is occurring.” In addition to standardized test scores in grades […]
Keeping a Log
One component of a portfolio is a log. Let’s look at the language of the provision with only the part related to a log in bold: “The portfolio shall consist of a log, made contemporaneously with the instruction, which designates by title the reading materials used, samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks or creative materials used […]