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| Questions about homeschooling in NY? Here are some answers! |
"We decided homeschooling is the best option for our family, but we don't know where to begin. How do we know what's required to teach? What do we need to send to the school district? Is Kindergarten mandatory? What about testing? Do I need to be a certified teacher? Help!"
Over the life of this blog, I've encountered all these questions, and more, so I thought it was time to address all the questions I've come up against in one post. Hopefully, you'll learn everything you need to begin your homeschooling journey or to streamline the journey you're already on. In either case, good luck! And always feel free to ask any questions I may have missed by commenting down below.
My child will be 6 on December 21st. Should I send my Letter of Intent (LOI) now? (A.K.A., what is the compulsory age of attendance in New York State?)
The compulsory age of attendance in NY is 6, however, the cutoff is December 1st, so if your child turns six after December 1st, then you do not need to send in an LOI or do anything else to alert the school of your choice to homeschool until the following school year. For example, if your child turns 6 on December 21st of 2016, then you would not need to send in your LOI until the 2017-18 school year. If, however, your child turns 6 on or before December 1st, then, yes, you will need to send your LOI to the district for the current or upcoming school year as per the state's regulations, which I'll discuss a little later on.
Is Kindergarten mandatory?
Technically, there is no "grade" that is mandatory. All NY requires is that children be in attendance beginning at the age of 6 until the age of 16. As far as homeschooling is concerned, you are free to decide at what "grade" level your child should work. If you feel your child is too advanced for Kindergarten when you begin schooling, then you are free to begin them at 1st grade or any other grade level you feel is appropriate.
Do I need to de-register my child from their school? The school told me I need to come in to sign some forms before I can take my child out of school, is that true?
Simply put, no. If your child's school insists that there is something you must do - some paperwork to fill out or forms to sign or procedure to follow - before they'll "let" you withdraw your child from school, then be prepared to confront them with the state regulations. If your child is of compulsory attendance age, there is nothing you need to do other than to turn in your Letter of Intent as outlined in the regulations. If you feel your child's school is going to give you a hard time in this area, you may want to have a copy of the state regulations on hand with which to make your point and to make it known that you are familiar with what's required and don't intend to let the school give you the run-around.
We just decided to homeschool our kids, but it's now January, and the school year started in September. Can we still pull our kids out? Or do we need to wait until the end of the school year? I read somewhere that the Letter of Intent is due by July 1st. Is it too late now?
Normally, the Letter of Intent is due by July 1st before the upcoming school year. However, the state regulations make provisions for those who decide to homeschool after the school year has already begun. In that case, your LOI is due within 14 days of when you begin homeschooling in your district. So, you can pull your child from school at any time during the year, and within 14 days from the day you pull them, your LOI is due.
We just moved to the area, and the school year has already begun. Can we still homeschool? Or do we need to enroll our kids in the public school until the next school year?
Just as the state regulations make provisions for those who decide to begin homeschooling after the start of the school year, so it is with those who move to a new school district after the start of the school year. Your LOI will be due within 14 days of when you begin homeschooling in your new district.
Do I need to be a certified teacher in order to homeschool my child? What qualifications do I need?
The only provision NY makes for a person to homeschool is that the person doing the teaching needs to be "qualified". As the parent, there is nobody more qualified to teach your children than you are. You know your child's educational needs better than anyone. And if ever you found yourself thinking you are unable to teach your child something, then you know how to find a way to teach that thing to them, whether it be a tutor, or a video tutorial, or homeschool co-op class. You have what it takes. You know your child's needs. Therefore, you are qualified. Thankfully, the state of NY doesn't require anything more than that in order to teach your child at home.
*Nothing written in this blog post is intended to be construed as legal advice. This is simply the author's understanding of the New York State home education regulations through 6 years of homeschooling her own children in the state.
Hi. You had mentioned on another post that the PASS test was best suited for your family. Test only goes up to eighth grade,though. We value your opinion and wondering what test would you suggest for ninth grade and up? Thanks for your help.
ReplyDeleteMy personal next best would be the CAT test. I know many other families choose this as well. You can order either the paper version, or they also have an online version. It's timed, which I don't like, but I believe pretty much every other test apart from the PASS is timed. I think it's an overall good option. Thanks for the question. Good luck!
DeleteThanks and God bless :)
DeleteHi my daughter is in 8th grade and i want to homeschool her next year for 9th grade.I found an accredited online option called keystone that i could pay for.I waa wondering if you know if i would still be able to send her back to highschool for 10th grade if i choose keystone.My plan is to move to a better district.
ReplyDeleteYes, you will be able to send her to highschool for 10th grade. You'll simply register her as a new student, according to whatever requirements the new school has. Some schools - not all - require a report card or transcript. If that's the case with your new school, you should just need to tell them that she homeschooled the previous year. They will then most likely have her take a placement test to assess whether or not she's on track with their 10th grade program. If there's any subject in which they feel she's not up to par, they will suggest options for getting her up to speed, but they should not hold her back.
Deletehello
ReplyDeleteI am considering homeschooling my daughter starting next September 2017. I am nervous about it. She will be entering 6th grade, and if i homeschool it would be for grades 6-8 only. How do you know what curriculum to use? worried I would not have her prepared for high school. help! lol
First, set your worries aside! I was terrified that I would fail my kids. This year, we sent my oldest to a private school for 9th grade, and I found out that even though I was sure I hadn't done enough or done well enough to prepare him, he has held his own academically. You can do this! As far as curriculum, I did a lot of research to figure out what I thought would work best for my kids. Google. Facebook homeschool groups. Asking friends who also homeschool. Eventually, I narrowed it down to what seemed right for us, and just bought it. Some of it worked. Some of it didn't. The beauty of homeschool is that if you feel something isn't working, you can make a change at any point throughout the school year. To help give you jumping off point, here is a link to the blog post I made about the curriculum we chose for my oldest when he was in 6th grade: http://foursquarepegs.blogspot.com/2014/09/great-curriculum-adventure-ii.html. Good luck!
DeleteMy apologies, but I gave you the wrong link to our curriculum choices, although there are one or two 6th grade items in the one I gave you, the correct link is this: http://foursquarepegs.blogspot.com/2013/07/great-curriculum-adventure.html.
Deletethank you for your reply. I guess my worries is more with math. she's currently doing common core, so I am wondering if i did something different for grades 6-8, what would happen for high school.. but i now understand how curriculum is very individualized decision
DeleteI honestly don't think it would have too much effect on her. It would take some getting used to on her part, but if she is doing well in whatever you choose to use, she should be fine. There are, however, some common core options out there if you're concerned about that and want to keep her up to speed on that whole aspect of math.
Deletethank you!!
DeleteI am going nuts trying to figure out everything in regards to the annual assessment for my 6 year old. Should she take an achievement test? And which is the best for her age? How to go about ordering it and if it can be taken at home in NYS? Also information on if I wanted to go the written narrative route and what that consist of?
ReplyDeleteThere is no legal reason for your 6 year old to take a test. Testing in NY is not required until 4th grade. However, if you WANT to do a test, you certainly could. Testing can be done at home, yes, as long as your district doesn't object. You would probably want to use the CAT test, as it doesn't have an age limit. You can find more information in my post here: http://foursquarepegs.blogspot.com/2013/06/annual-assessments-new-york-state.html and you can find an example of a written assessment here: http://homeschoolinginnewyorkcity.blogspot.com/2005/08/sample-annual-assessment.html
DeleteHi Marisa. Thanks for your amazing materials and samples. My daughter is finishing her junior year and will complete high school next year. She will be new to NY homeschooling as she will not be in a traditional school beginning Jan 2018. I know I am joining this conversation late but just came across your blog. I have reviewed all the sample forms and processes for meeting state requirements. However I have a question which you may or may not be able to help me with. My daughter is 17 and therefore past compulsory age for HS attendance. But I want her to graduate from HS in NY. Is there anything different I need to do for her throughout the compliance process that you know of? Also, are there any support groups, science labs, etc in the Albany area that are geared toward HS home school students? Finally, our daughter has some learning differences that need to be assessed. Do you know if diagnosed learning challenges are addressed in the NY home schooling regulations? I really appreciate any feed back you might be able to give.
ReplyDeleteHi! You're very welcome. I don't believe you need to do anything extra (or less) to be compliant, even with her being past compulsory age. Don't quote me, but I think since she is technically no longer required to attend school, then if the school takes issue with your reporting or anything else, there's not much they can do about it. Since I am quite far from Albany, I can't help you much there, other than to say that if you're on Facebook, there are several homeschool groups you could join. There is one specific to homeschooling in NY that is good. https://www.facebook.com/groups/newyorkstatehomeschoolers/. As far as learning challenge, from what I understand, the school has to work with you to set up an IEP, but that would require having her attend the school for those services only. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. Good luck!
DeleteHi Marisa! I am wondering what you know about early graduation in New York state through homeschooling? Would a student under compulsory age who has fulfilled the required courses be considered "graduated" and able to receive the letter of substantial equivalency?
ReplyDeleteI haven't come across this issue myself, but I believe it would be the same as it is for public schools, which is that NY State doesn't have a policy regarding early graduation. It's left up to the local board of education to decide whether and if a student has met the requirements and is able to graduate early. Here is a link I found: http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Resources/Policy/By_State/Show_Policy.aspx?StateID=37. Good luck!
DeleteI've found out that according to sectino 3205 (2)(a), "A minor who has completed a four-year high school course of study shall not be subject to the provisions of part one of this article in respect to required attendance upon instruction."
DeleteSo under this, I believe that completing the required courses of subdivision (e) of section 100.10 counts as a "four-year high school course of study," so that's what I'll be doing. Otherwise, I've also learned that you can stop reporting after the year you turn 16 (or 17 in NYC and certain other districts).
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/lawsregs/3205.html
Hi Marisa, I'm from the Bronx and planning on homeschooling my daughter if the school I wanted to transfer her to doesn't have any space for her. I've been doing a lot of research, trying to read up on things I need to do, basically a lot of the questions people have been asking I am right there with them. Worry as well like you had mention failing my child but you did make a great point on knowing your kids best. What concerns me is not knowing what she should be doing for this month of January? Being up to date with how she was doing in school. May you help me with this please. Also, I read that for high school they don't get credit for it, they have to take the GED and won't get a High School Diploma, is this true? My daughter is in 7th grade and if I start homeschooling her like the quarter for January is coming to an end would I need to take the January assessment test? I'm worry she would fail as she was having difficulty in her Catholic school she had transfer over to in late October(personal issue accure). Thank you so much for all your help in advance. You are AMAZING and I am so thankful to have came across this page. Super helpful. God Bless you and your family.
ReplyDeleteHi! Glad you found my info helpful. Hopefully I can answer your question well enough. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by what you should be doing for January. As far as pulling your daughter out this month? You'd need to submit your Letter of Intent to your district - it's a little different in the city, so I think there's a specific place you need to send it to. At any rate, you can take her out any day and begin homeschooling. Within 2 weeks, you should get a response from the school/board requesting your IHIP, which you should as soon as you can and include the dates you'll submit your quarterly reports. You would not need to submit a report for any of the time she was in the public school system. So you could make your dates something like March 1st and July 1st, since the first 2 quarters of the school year are technically past. You can request a current transcript from the school to see what her current grades are to help you decide what level you want to begin homeschooling her at. You have the freedom to decide. For example, if you feel she needs to go back to 6th grade math, but could move on to 8th grade English, then you are within your rights to teach her at those levels. As far as the assessment test - do you mean the school gives a test at the end of the January quarter? If you're pulling her out, you do not need to have her take that test. Technically, in NY, you have the right to refuse your child taking any assessment tests, even if they're in the public school (accept for the homeschooling end of year tests). Let me know if you still have questions, or if I didn't answer your current questions correctly. Thanks! And good luck.
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