Some changes have been made to the homeschooling law in Georgia, and they will go into affect in the 2012-2013 school year.
There are two major changes that homeschoolers need to be aware of. The first is that they will no longer turn in their paperwork to their local school districts. Now they will report directly to the Department of Education.
The second major change is that homeschoolers will only be required to turn in attendance forms once a year to the Department of Education. Currently homeschoolers have to turn in a monthly attendance form to their local school district. This change will no doubt come as a relief to many homeschooling parents.
I called the Department of Education and a spokesperson told me that they hope to have all the instructions and forms on their website by mid-June.
They will try to make the process as easy as possible, and the forms will be available on their website to submit electronically.
There will be other options for turning in the forms as well.
I’ll wager that the DOE will make the process easy because it’s in their best interest to do so. In the 2010/2011 school year, there were 107,509 homeschooled students in Georgia, and that number may increase in coming years. This coming fall, my eldest son will be added to that number for the first time.
The spokesperson said they would also find a way to help students who require proof of attendance to apply for a driver’s license at age 16 so that they won’t have to wait until the end of the school year to do so.
With these changes in mind, the following are the requirements that parents or guardians must follow in order to homeschool in Georgia:
•Parents or guardians of homeschoolers are required to submit a declaration of intent to homeschool within 30 days of establishing such a program and thereafter by September 1 each year. Compulsory attendance is for children between the ages of six and sixteen, but any child under seven who has been enrolled in public school for 20 days or more will need to submit a declaration of intent to homeschool.
•The declaration needs to list the names and ages of the students, the address of the home study program, and a statement of the 12-month period that is to be considered the school year.
•Parents or guardians may teach only their own children, and they must possess at least a high school diploma or GED, but they can employ a tutor who holds a high school diploma or GED.
•The law states, “The home study program shall provide a basic academic educational program which includes, but is not limited to, reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science.”
•The home study program must provide instruction each 12 months to the students equivalent to 180 school days with each day consisting of at least 4.5 hours unless the child is physically unable to comply.
•Attendance records must be kept and submitted annually to the Department of Education.
•The law states, “Students in home study programs shall be subject to an appropriate nationally standardized testing program administered in consultation with a person trained in the administration and interpretation of norm reference tests…” beginning at the end of the third grade and every three years after that. The spokesperson at the DOE recommended that parents use a nationally recognized test. Homeschoolers can find a list of such tests here: http://www.ghea.org/pages/testing/standardizedTests.php. Note that a parent can administer the test after consulting with someone at the test’s publisher, or they could ask a local teacher to administer the test. The results of the tests do not need to be shared with anyone, and parents need only retain them for their own records.
•Finally, the home study program instructor needs to write an annual progress assessment report which will include her assessment of the student’s academic progress in each of the subject areas listed above, and parents need to retain these reports for at least three years.
The spokesperson also stated that the exams and annual progress report are important for homeschooled students because they may be needed in case that student ever needs to enroll in public school (though several homeschoolers have told me public schools have not required these items upon enrollment of their homeschooled child), or they may be used as part of a portfolio for applying to college. He said that homeschooled students who are considering college should look at the requirements of the colleges they will be applying to and consider those requirements as they proceed in their course of study for high school.
Shelli Bond Pabis is a Winder resident and columnist for the Barrow Journal. You can visit her blog at www.mamaofletters.com or email her at writetospabis@gmail.com.
Homeschooling is an important tool, especially for the square peg children of the world. I strongly encourage parents to consider it.
A high school counselor advised me that colleges are willing to admit homeschooled students who have good scores on tests such as the ACT and SAT, but parents should build a transcript which reflects current curriculum standards, too. That proved to be excellent advice, so I will pass it along.
Many homeschooled young adults I know have gone on to college and maintained a 4.0 GPA because they learned self direction, discipline and responsibility in a safe, loving, home-school environment.
I realize that isn't the only reason to home-school. Many parents decide to homeschool because they want to keep their children away from the bad influences there. Drugs, no respect at all for authority, promiscuity, and defiance of rules, all taught by parents like you.
Here is my experience with a home school student. They have a horse boarded at a stables. Mom and the two home school girls come out to the barn. Mom sits around doing the school work that needs to be turned in while the girls go play with the horse.
Girls aren't learning any thing. Mom is getting a "refresher" course.
When asked, mom said, doesn't matter.. they are suppose to get married and hubby take care of them. She also had chosen a home school program out of Florida because it was "easier".
Called the BOE and asked and the funny thing, they "knew" about her but because she was doing the home school program out of Florida, they had no oversight and as long as she submitted the required documents, she was free to do as she please!
This is the problem with home schooling. Some parents use home schooling for what it was intended, some don't.
My niece-in-law serves on the homeschool board for their district. Their board oversees the homeschooling programs to ensure that parents are utilizing the programs for its intended purpose. Yes, they have a mother like the one "not a fan" described. They took steps to have her and her children removed from the homeschool program so that her children had to return to public school where there was stronger legal oversight.
What a lot of folks don't realize is that many homeschoolers organize disrict programs like the one in S.C. so their children go on field trips with other homeschooled children and participate in other group activities similar in nature to the public and private schools. They just don't have the emphasis on sports that has overtaken many of our public school programs. They participate in community rec teams, Scouts, and other programs.
Not every parent is cut out to be a homeschooling parent just as not every parent is cut out to be a parent. Congratulations to those who have the opportunity to dedicate themselves to educating their children at home. My great-nieces and nephews are learning to be disciplined, focused students capitalizing on their strengths to excel.