How can I find out what requirements Oregon has for unschooling?
unschoolingwithpassion
I live in Oregon and I want to start unschooling my 8-year-old son. Who do I need to contact or where can I search to find out what the requirements are for unschooling in Oregon? I tried to search things in Google, but I did not find anything. Are the requirements the same as for homeschooling or are they different? Should I contact the person who is in charge of homeschooling at the Education Service District office in my city? I have no idea what I need to do to be able to legally unschool my son.
Do unschooled children need to keep track of the things they are learning each day by writing it down so that they can show someone that they learned things each day?
Do unschooled children need to take tests at the end of every year or at the end of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 the way home schooled children do?
What are all the things unschooled children need to do?
I would appreciate anyone's help.
UnschoolingWithPassion
Do unschooled children need to keep track of the things they are learning each day by writing it down so that they can show someone that they learned things each day?
Do unschooled children need to take tests at the end of every year or at the end of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 the way home schooled children do?
What are all the things unschooled children need to do?
I would appreciate anyone's help.
UnschoolingWithPassion
Faith Void
I am not in OR (yet) but unschooling is legally the same as homeschooling.
To follow the letter of the lawn any state you would sign up and follow the
same rules as any homeschooler would. The difference is in how we live and
relate to our children. There are several web groups for OR unschooling
families, perhaps one of those would be more helpful with the letter of the
laws.
Do you have questions about how you can can follow requirements and still
unschool/respect your children? That we can help you with here.
Faith
On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 9:40 PM, unschoolingwithpassion
<jolleanc@...>wrote:
www.bearthmama.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
To follow the letter of the lawn any state you would sign up and follow the
same rules as any homeschooler would. The difference is in how we live and
relate to our children. There are several web groups for OR unschooling
families, perhaps one of those would be more helpful with the letter of the
laws.
Do you have questions about how you can can follow requirements and still
unschool/respect your children? That we can help you with here.
Faith
On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 9:40 PM, unschoolingwithpassion
<jolleanc@...>wrote:
>--
>
> I live in Oregon and I want to start unschooling my 8-year-old son. Who do
> I need to contact or where can I search to find out what the requirements
> are for unschooling in Oregon? I tried to search things in Google, but I did
> not find anything. Are the requirements the same as for homeschooling or are
> they different? Should I contact the person who is in charge of
> homeschooling at the Education Service District office in my city? I have no
> idea what I need to do to be able to legally unschool my son.
>
> Do unschooled children need to keep track of the things they are learning
> each day by writing it down so that they can show someone that they learned
> things each day?
>
> Do unschooled children need to take tests at the end of every year or at
> the end of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 the way home schooled children do?
>
> What are all the things unschooled children need to do?
>
> I would appreciate anyone's help.
>
> UnschoolingWithPassion
>
>
>
www.bearthmama.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
plaidpanties666
Here's a link to get you started looking for unschooling groups local to you:
http://sandradodd.com/world
Since unschooling is technically a kind of homeschooling, don't neglect local home-ed groups as sources of information - just be sure to double-check everything you "hear" wrt the legalities. Check it against the law itself, by preference.
When talking to people in general - educators, but also friends and family - it can be a good idea to *avoid* the word "unschooling". Sounds like a funny piece of advice on an unschooling list, doesn't it? But much as you might want to "share the joy" until you have a few years of experience and are feeling really "solid" as an unschooler, you'll likely find that talking about unschooling sets you up for conversations you'd rather not have. There are a lot of negative stereotypes about unschooling, and just staring out isn't a good time to face those head on. A big part of unschooling involves setting kids up to succeed on their own terms - be sure to set Yourself up to succeed too ;)
Initially, its better to say "homeschooling" and "for now" and "we can always put him in school if this doesn't work". After all, all those things are true, even if not in the way other people will "hear" them.
---Meredith (Mo 9, Ray 16)
http://sandradodd.com/world
Since unschooling is technically a kind of homeschooling, don't neglect local home-ed groups as sources of information - just be sure to double-check everything you "hear" wrt the legalities. Check it against the law itself, by preference.
When talking to people in general - educators, but also friends and family - it can be a good idea to *avoid* the word "unschooling". Sounds like a funny piece of advice on an unschooling list, doesn't it? But much as you might want to "share the joy" until you have a few years of experience and are feeling really "solid" as an unschooler, you'll likely find that talking about unschooling sets you up for conversations you'd rather not have. There are a lot of negative stereotypes about unschooling, and just staring out isn't a good time to face those head on. A big part of unschooling involves setting kids up to succeed on their own terms - be sure to set Yourself up to succeed too ;)
Initially, its better to say "homeschooling" and "for now" and "we can always put him in school if this doesn't work". After all, all those things are true, even if not in the way other people will "hear" them.
---Meredith (Mo 9, Ray 16)
lylaw
I live in oregon, feel free to contact me offlist if you want some resources. but in brief, yes, unschooling is just a form of home schooling, you don't need to identify your style of home schooling. I would not recommending contacting ESD - educate yourself - this site has good info on the laws in different states and also support group and local resource pages:
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/regional/OregonSupport.htm
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/laws/blOR.htm
unschoolers need to take tests the same way home schoolers do, IF they are registered with the district, yes. however, no testing is done for a child who's been home schooled or unschooled for less than 18 months, so that might inform the "grade" at which you register your child. if 8 is usually 3rd grade, depending on the date of his birth, you could perhaps choose 2nd grade, if by third grade he won't have been home schooling for 18 months, and then there won't be testing until "fifth" grade, so for 4 years. or if his birthday would make it so he would test in third grade if you put him in second, then maybe choose third, so he will still have 2.5-3 years before a test.
there is no requirement for keeping track or showing anyone what you do in your version of homeschooling.
lyla
From: unschoolingwithpassion
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 6:40 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] How can I find out what requirements Oregon has for unschooling?
I live in Oregon and I want to start unschooling my 8-year-old son. Who do I need to contact or where can I search to find out what the requirements are for unschooling in Oregon? I tried to search things in Google, but I did not find anything. Are the requirements the same as for homeschooling or are they different? Should I contact the person who is in charge of homeschooling at the Education Service District office in my city? I have no idea what I need to do to be able to legally unschool my son.
Do unschooled children need to keep track of the things they are learning each day by writing it down so that they can show someone that they learned things each day?
Do unschooled children need to take tests at the end of every year or at the end of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 the way home schooled children do?
What are all the things unschooled children need to do?
I would appreciate anyone's help.
UnschoolingWithPassion
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/regional/OregonSupport.htm
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/laws/blOR.htm
unschoolers need to take tests the same way home schoolers do, IF they are registered with the district, yes. however, no testing is done for a child who's been home schooled or unschooled for less than 18 months, so that might inform the "grade" at which you register your child. if 8 is usually 3rd grade, depending on the date of his birth, you could perhaps choose 2nd grade, if by third grade he won't have been home schooling for 18 months, and then there won't be testing until "fifth" grade, so for 4 years. or if his birthday would make it so he would test in third grade if you put him in second, then maybe choose third, so he will still have 2.5-3 years before a test.
there is no requirement for keeping track or showing anyone what you do in your version of homeschooling.
lyla
From: unschoolingwithpassion
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 6:40 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] How can I find out what requirements Oregon has for unschooling?
I live in Oregon and I want to start unschooling my 8-year-old son. Who do I need to contact or where can I search to find out what the requirements are for unschooling in Oregon? I tried to search things in Google, but I did not find anything. Are the requirements the same as for homeschooling or are they different? Should I contact the person who is in charge of homeschooling at the Education Service District office in my city? I have no idea what I need to do to be able to legally unschool my son.
Do unschooled children need to keep track of the things they are learning each day by writing it down so that they can show someone that they learned things each day?
Do unschooled children need to take tests at the end of every year or at the end of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 the way home schooled children do?
What are all the things unschooled children need to do?
I would appreciate anyone's help.
UnschoolingWithPassion
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Heidi McNulty
Also, try these 2 links:
OHEN (Oregon Home Educators Network) has an excellent section on
homeschooling law in Oregon
info@... will get you to the person who can put you on the email list.
ORSIG (not sure what that stands for) is a general topic yahoo grp for
homeschoolers all over Oregon. Anything from activity announcements to
appliance questions come up.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orsig/
HTH,
Heidi
OHEN (Oregon Home Educators Network) has an excellent section on
homeschooling law in Oregon
info@... will get you to the person who can put you on the email list.
ORSIG (not sure what that stands for) is a general topic yahoo grp for
homeschoolers all over Oregon. Anything from activity announcements to
appliance questions come up.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orsig/
HTH,
Heidi