Most people are unaware that kindergarten is not mandatory in Georgia. Recently I contacted the Georgia Board of Education, and they told me that many homeschool families file a Declaration of Intent to homeschool for their kindergartener, and they turn it into their local school district. This is not necessary.
According to “Code 20-2-690.1 Compulsory Attendance: a) Every parent, guardian, or other person residing within this state having control or charge of any child or children between their sixth and sixteenth birthdays shall enroll and send such child or children to a public school, a private school, or a home study program that meets the requirements for a public school, a private school, or a home study program…”
If you intend to homeschool, you need to file a Declaration of Intent to your local school district and turn in attendance forms each month after your child has turned six years old and before Sept. 1 of that year.
The exception is if your child has already been enrolled in public school before his or her seventh birthday for 20 days or more. “Georgia Code 20-2-150: (c) All children enrolled for 20 school days or more in the public schools of this state prior to their seventh birthday shall become subject to all of the provisions of this article, the provisions of Code Sections 20-2-690 through 20-2-701, and the rules and regulations of the State Board of Education relating to compulsory school attendance even though they have not attained seven years of age.”
So if your child has attended kindergarten, and you wish to homeschool him or her mid-year, then you would need to file a Declaration of Intent with your local school district. It will need to be filed “within 30 days after the establishment of a home study program.”
If it’s not already obvious, I am now a proud parent of a kindergartner. Since we homeschool, it is not marked by an excited and nervous “first day of school” occasion. It is subtler than that. My husband and I can clearly see that our son is ready for a higher level of learning. Even though it’s June, I decided that we’d consider this the beginning of the year.
Our daily life isn’t changing much, however. Just like in “preschool” our son is playing, going places, reading and discovering. I have only added one element to our “kindergarten” so far, and that’s a reading program.
I’m using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It has been recommended by other homeschoolers, and I found it for less than $10 on Amazon. For that price I thought I would give it a try, and if it didn’t work, I’d try something else. But so far, my son likes it and is doing well.
The best part of this reading program is that it only takes 20 minutes a day. Since I have a 22-month-old, it was important to find something that wasn’t too time consuming. We do it as soon as my youngest goes down for his nap. But I’ll save my comprehensive review of this program for after we finish it.
Besides this, I’m consulting my favorite resource: The World Book Typical Course of Study. (You can find the kindergarten typical course of study at http://www.worldbook.com/typical-course-of-study-kindergarten-curriculum-guide.html.) I’m letting that list be my guide as I peruse the library shelves or find inexpensive activities at the store or on the web.
In addition, I’m going to be looking for a simple math curriculum. He has shown more interest in counting to 100 and learning about money, so that should be fun. I will also make a point to build a lesson around each holiday each year. This will jump start him on some lessons in history and our country’s customs.
Most importantly, I will let him guide me as to what he wants to learn. Kindergarten is going to be a fun year!
Shelli Bond Pabis is a Winder resident and columnist for the Barrow Journal. You can reach her at writetospabis@gmail.com.
