New from Rhode Island--questions
epicsconartist
Hi, I am new to the group and am considering unschooling my child starting next year when he will be a freshman in high school. My question is--how does one meet the parameters of your state's requirements for homeschooling when you are unschooling? My state requires that the student be instructed in specific subjects and I assume they will want to see some sort of portfolio of work to demonstrate he is learning in these subjects. Can anyone share how they deal with the school system with regard to meeting state requirements? Anyone here from RI??
Thanks,
Mary
Thanks,
Mary
plaidpanties666
"epicsconartist" <starsurfer@...> wrote:
Not necessarily!
If you're still in the thinking stage you've time to do a bit of research and find out what people Really do in your area. Laws and procedures can vary a good bit, so it's important to know the local policies And what other homeschoolers do to exploit the loopholes!
There are some unschooling groups listed here:
http://sandradodd.com/world#us
Here's a short run-down of dos and don'ts in RI:
http://www.rihomeschool.com/content1298
and a more comprehensive set of links here:
http://www.homeschoolinginrhodeisland.com/
As a general rule of thumb, no matter where you live, you want to give the Powers That Be the absolute Least amount of information you legally can. This is for your family's protection. Don't set yourself up so some busybody who thinks all children should be in school can harass you! It happens! Be sure to talk to other homeschoolers before you approach anyone who works for the local school district.
I'll also add that for unschoolers, a useful source of information can sometimes be radical christian homeschoolers, as they're the most likely to want the state to stay out of their business.
As a general note, when I was still doing the reporting for Ray (counting down the days until he's 18) I used the previous six months to generate his "learning plan" rather than trying to guess the future. So I could list the resources he had actually used and the goals he had actually met And I didn't have to worry about a big interest fading over the next couple months or a new one popping up - he could live his life and all I needed to do was describe it in terms of learning. It was a Great way to take the pressure off all of us.
---Meredith
>My state requires that the student be instructed in specific subjects and I assume they will want to see some sort of portfolio of work to demonstrate he is learning in these subjects.*********************
Not necessarily!
If you're still in the thinking stage you've time to do a bit of research and find out what people Really do in your area. Laws and procedures can vary a good bit, so it's important to know the local policies And what other homeschoolers do to exploit the loopholes!
There are some unschooling groups listed here:
http://sandradodd.com/world#us
Here's a short run-down of dos and don'ts in RI:
http://www.rihomeschool.com/content1298
and a more comprehensive set of links here:
http://www.homeschoolinginrhodeisland.com/
As a general rule of thumb, no matter where you live, you want to give the Powers That Be the absolute Least amount of information you legally can. This is for your family's protection. Don't set yourself up so some busybody who thinks all children should be in school can harass you! It happens! Be sure to talk to other homeschoolers before you approach anyone who works for the local school district.
I'll also add that for unschoolers, a useful source of information can sometimes be radical christian homeschoolers, as they're the most likely to want the state to stay out of their business.
As a general note, when I was still doing the reporting for Ray (counting down the days until he's 18) I used the previous six months to generate his "learning plan" rather than trying to guess the future. So I could list the resources he had actually used and the goals he had actually met And I didn't have to worry about a big interest fading over the next couple months or a new one popping up - he could live his life and all I needed to do was describe it in terms of learning. It was a Great way to take the pressure off all of us.
---Meredith