Vicki King

Hello everyone! First a little info about me and the family. DH
and I have been happily married for a little over 10 years now and we
have 4 wonderful children (dd17, dd14, ds9, dd5). I had been a SAHM
until last year when I started substituting in the schools. In January
dd14 started having some serious problems and I had to quit work and
concentrate on her and her well being. I have recently been hired as
the Dance Team Coach at one of the local high schools which is a
couple hours a week. The children and I belong to a local southern
Baptist Church and are very active in the ministries there. My
children have always attended public schools but my ds wants me to
homeschool as he has never been fond of school and this year he was
being bullied. So starting this fall I will teach him. DS(5) will
attend public school for kindergarten and then I will probably pull
her and teach her also. DD(17) graduated this year and will be
attending our community college in the fall and well dd(14) will
return to public school next year and we will see how it goes. If we
have any problems like this past year I will pull her also but she has
been out since January and she really misses it. We are on a very
limited budget with only 1 income but have been finding some really
great resources on the internet. Someone from another group mentioned
unschooling and that really seems like the way to go. I do have some
concerns though. I have to noify the Board of Education with my intent
to do home instruction at least 15 days before beginning and then
annually after that. The home instruction program has to provide
regular, thorough instruction in the studies usually taught in the
public school to children of the same age, incluse English, Math,
science, social studies, art, music, healthy and physical education
and take place on a regular basis during the school year and be of
sufficient duration and I have to provide a portfolio with attendance,
instructional materials, reading materials and examples of the child's
writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials and tests. It is
then reviewed by the superintendent at then end of each semester. I
also have to allow a local school system representative to review the
portfolio, discuss the instructional program and observe instruction
up to 3 times during a school year. How can I still homeschool and
adhere to all these? Any help and/or suggestions anyone can give would
e greatly appreciated!! TIA.

Vicki

Julie

What state are you in?


--- In [email protected], "Vicki King"
<vking713@...> wrote:
>
> Hello everyone! First a little info about me and the family. DH
> and I have been happily married for a little over 10 years now and
we
> have 4 wonderful children (dd17, dd14, ds9, dd5). I had been a SAHM
> until last year when I started substituting in the schools. In
January
> dd14 started having some serious problems and I had to quit work
and
> concentrate on her and her well being. I have recently been hired
as
> the Dance Team Coach at one of the local high schools which is a
> couple hours a week. The children and I belong to a local southern
> Baptist Church and are very active in the ministries there. My
> children have always attended public schools but my ds wants me to
> homeschool as he has never been fond of school and this year he was
> being bullied. So starting this fall I will teach him. DS(5) will
> attend public school for kindergarten and then I will probably pull
> her and teach her also. DD(17) graduated this year and will be
> attending our community college in the fall and well dd(14) will
> return to public school next year and we will see how it goes. If
we
> have any problems like this past year I will pull her also but she
has
> been out since January and she really misses it. We are on a very
> limited budget with only 1 income but have been finding some really
> great resources on the internet. Someone from another group
mentioned
> unschooling and that really seems like the way to go. I do have
some
> concerns though. I have to noify the Board of Education with my
intent
> to do home instruction at least 15 days before beginning and then
> annually after that. The home instruction program has to provide
> regular, thorough instruction in the studies usually taught in the
> public school to children of the same age, incluse English, Math,
> science, social studies, art, music, healthy and physical education
> and take place on a regular basis during the school year and be of
> sufficient duration and I have to provide a portfolio with
attendance,
> instructional materials, reading materials and examples of the
child's
> writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials and tests. It
is
> then reviewed by the superintendent at then end of each semester. I
> also have to allow a local school system representative to review
the
> portfolio, discuss the instructional program and observe
instruction
> up to 3 times during a school year. How can I still homeschool and
> adhere to all these? Any help and/or suggestions anyone can give
would
> e greatly appreciated!! TIA.
>
> Vicki
>

c. blanton

Hi Vicki

Nice to meet you. I am sorry, that you have to follow these strict guidelines. Where do you life? Here in Florida, it is much easier, thank God.
Have you thought about doing an eclectic style of homeschooling, in order to be able to follow the guidelines you have posted? That would mean, you do some workbook ( I know everyone is shivering in disgust at me now), the once that the children enjoy - for example my daughter loves to write out information on a variety of animals that she comes across, and absolutely loves at times to go through a Spanish workbook, that I have readily available, and sometimes math, but the point is, that she chooses to use them as she pleases, reads as she likes (and I keep a log of what she reads, for our portfolio), also I keep track of the time she spends on the computer on an educational site, such as an architectural site she just discovered.
For other things, such as outdoor experiences, I take pictures, and write some comments to it and add that to our map. The problem is though, that it really depends on the people that do the inspections how this is going to work best for you. Are they open to unschoolers, or are they narrow minded people, that do not even like the strict -by -the -book homeschoolers?
You could also look into so -called umbrella schools. Try to find one, that keeps records for unschoolers, they should know more about how to handle officials in the state you life in. But they do charge a fee for their services, at least I have not heard of a free one yet. If anyone out there knows one, I would love to pass this information along to any of my clients.
Hope this helped a little.
You, and your family are in my prayers.

Have a blessed day.


Rev. Claudia H. Blanton
Homeschool Coach/Life Coach/ EFT-Practioner


Vicki King <vking713@...> wrote:
Hello everyone! First a little info about me and the family. DH
and I have been happily married for a little over 10 years now and we
have 4 wonderful children (dd17, dd14, ds9, dd5). I had been a SAHM
until last year when I started substituting in the schools. In January
dd14 started having some serious problems and I had to quit work and
concentrate on her and her well being. I have recently been hired as
the Dance Team Coach at one of the local high schools which is a
couple hours a week. The children and I belong to a local southern
Baptist Church and are very active in the ministries there. My
children have always attended public schools but my ds wants me to
homeschool as he has never been fond of school and this year he was
being bullied. So starting this fall I will teach him. DS(5) will
attend public school for kindergarten and then I will probably pull
her and teach her also. DD(17) graduated this year and will be
attending our community college in the fall and well dd(14) will
return to public school next year and we will see how it goes. If we
have any problems like this past year I will pull her also but she has
been out since January and she really misses it. We are on a very
limited budget with only 1 income but have been finding some really
great resources on the internet. Someone from another group mentioned
unschooling and that really seems like the way to go. I do have some
concerns though. I have to noify the Board of Education with my intent
to do home instruction at least 15 days before beginning and then
annually after that. The home instruction program has to provide
regular, thorough instruction in the studies usually taught in the
public school to children of the same age, incluse English, Math,
science, social studies, art, music, healthy and physical education
and take place on a regular basis during the school year and be of
sufficient duration and I have to provide a portfolio with attendance,
instructional materials, reading materials and examples of the child's
writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials and tests. It is
then reviewed by the superintendent at then end of each semester. I
also have to allow a local school system representative to review the
portfolio, discuss the instructional program and observe instruction
up to 3 times during a school year. How can I still homeschool and
adhere to all these? Any help and/or suggestions anyone can give would
e greatly appreciated!! TIA.

Vicki






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Vicki King

I am in Maryland and this is a summary of what is expected for home
instruction:

Summary
Below is brief summary of the homeschooling law in Maryland. For a
detailed analysis of homeschooling in Maryland, see:

Maryland—A Legal Analysis
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Compulsory School Age
"5 years old or older and under 16" with one-year exemption available
for 5 year-olds

Maryland Legal Home Schooling Options: 1 2

Option: 1
Option: 2
Legal Option:
Operate a home school
Provide home instruction under the supervision of a church
institution or school that complies with regulations
Attendance:
Must be of "sufficient duration to implement the instructional program"
As prescribed by the supervising program
Subjects:
Must provide "regular, thorough instruction" in the same subjects as
the public schools including English, math, science, social studies,
art, music, health, and physical education
As prescribed by the supervising program
Qualifications:
None
None
Notice:
File a one-time notice of intent with the local superintendent at
least 15 days before the start of home school. Verify to
superintendent annually thereafter whether home school program willl
continue or not, and notify if status changes.
File a one-time notice of intent with the local superintendent at
least 15 days before the start of home school. Verify continuation to
supervising program annually and notify of any status change
Recordkeeping:
Maintain a portfolio of "relevant materials," reviewable by the local
superintendent up to 3 times per year
As prescribed by the supervising program
Testing:
None
As prescribed by the supervising program

© 2007, HSLDA

Jen Anderson

Vicki,

I'm in Maryland too, near Baltimore.

You do need to fill out the forms each year letting the county know you're hsing your kids, but you only need to provide all that other stuff if you are reviewed by the county. You can go with an umbrella and not go through all that. If you're interested I can give you with the name of a couple very unschooling friendly groups to do your reviews through.

Jen

Vicki King <vking713@...> wrote:
I am in Maryland and this is a summary of what is expected for home
instruction:

Summary
Below is brief summary of the homeschooling law in Maryland. For a
detailed analysis of homeschooling in Maryland, see:

Maryland—A Legal Analysis
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Compulsory School Age
"5 years old or older and under 16" with one-year exemption available
for 5 year-olds

Maryland Legal Home Schooling Options: 1 2

Option: 1
Option: 2
Legal Option:
Operate a home school
Provide home instruction under the supervision of a church
institution or school that complies with regulations
Attendance:
Must be of "sufficient duration to implement the instructional program"
As prescribed by the supervising program
Subjects:
Must provide "regular, thorough instruction" in the same subjects as
the public schools including English, math, science, social studies,
art, music, health, and physical education
As prescribed by the supervising program
Qualifications:
None
None
Notice:
File a one-time notice of intent with the local superintendent at
least 15 days before the start of home school. Verify to
superintendent annually thereafter whether home school program willl
continue or not, and notify if status changes.
File a one-time notice of intent with the local superintendent at
least 15 days before the start of home school. Verify continuation to
supervising program annually and notify of any status change
Recordkeeping:
Maintain a portfolio of "relevant materials," reviewable by the local
superintendent up to 3 times per year
As prescribed by the supervising program
Testing:
None
As prescribed by the supervising program

© 2007, HSLDA






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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

amydoggett04

Hi Vicki!
I live in MD, too! (Catonsville--near Baltimore) We are radical
unschoolers and it is EASY to follow the law! I do belong to an
umbrella group b/c they only require us to fill out a one-page form
where we have to list what resources we use for each "subject" and
what activities/experiences our kids take part in that fit into
each "subject." That's it. No examples of work or anything. And
we just fill out this form once a year and someone from the umbrella
looks it over and signs off on it. Totally simple.

If you go with county reviews you need to show "evidence of
instruction" in all the subjects and they just want to see a few
examples (maybe 2 or 3) of work in each subject. That's it. You do
not have to track attendance or keep grades. Those are "suggested,"
but not required. When it says "reviewed by Superintendent," it
just means the forms are given to him/her. You are reviewed by
a "Superintendent's designee" twice a year--fall and spring.

Umbrella groups--the 2 big ones I'm familiar with in MD, anyway--are
more familiar w/unschooling and seem "friendlier" to deal with, but
unschoolers go w/county reviews, also with no problems.

I went with the umbrella I chose b/c the director unschooled both
her kids through high school and she is really nice and totally gets
unschooling and I felt more comfortable than going w/the county.

Please email me off-list if you'd like to talk more about it! I
remember when I first read the law, I felt really intimidated. But
it's not as stringent as it sounds. I'd be happy to answer any
questions you have!

Amy (makdoggett@...)
Katie 6, Ryan 5