PA Homeschooling Advice

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

For those of you who homeschool in Pennsylvania-

How difficult is it to follow the regulations? I ask because we are a military family considering being assigned to a base in PA, we would only be there for apx. 1 year. To try to reorganize our entire educational plan for such a short time would be a rather large burden.

Thanks in advance for the help and advice!

[Sue G in PA]

while it is a pain in the you-know-what, it's not that horrible. Take some time to read the homeschool law for PA to familiarize yourself with it. Then, you must file a notarized affidavit w/ your school district, hand in a copy of your goals objectives for the year for each student age 9 and older. I'm not sure how it works for students just entering the school district, but PA doesn't require you to register students before age 9 (3rd grade) UNLESS they have attended a formal 1st grade program in the past. Then you must continue to register them either for hs or public/private. If you would like a copy of the goals/objectives, let me know b/c I can certainly email you a sample (if I can find mine...we switched computers!). You must keep a portfolio of student work samples to be evaluted by an evaluator by June 30 at the end of the school year and turn in this evaluator's report to the school district. You don't have to show your portfolio to the sch. dist...just the evaluator's signed report. Oh, you must a child in 3rd, 5th and 8th grade tested (some standardized test).

A few tips: Your school district might ask you to turn in paperwork NOT required by PA law (ours did!), that's why I say familiarize yourself w/ the laws. For example, your notorized affidavit is sufficient evidence that you 1. have a high school diploma...you DO NOT need to furnish a copy to the district, 2. your children are receiving ongoing medical care including immunizations (you do NOT need to furnish copies of medical records). My district has paperword that is different from the state's requirements. I'd recommend getting/finding some generic paperwork/affidavit, etc. I can't remember where I got mine (online somewhere). If I find it, I'll let you know.

Basically, it's not HARD, it's just a pain. I absolutely can't stand being THIS accountable to the state, following THEIR guidelines for subjects I must teach each year, etc. So glad I'm not in CA, but if I had the opportunity to move...I'd move to a state w/ less "nose in my business" if you KWIM. Hope you get more responses, but I do HTH a bit!

[Anne/Ankara]

This is our 8th year of homeschooling in PA, and I've not had any problems following the law. (Also, if your kids are younger than 3rd grade, there are zero regulations). That said, you do need to keep a portfolio, daily log, and standardized tests in grades 3,5,8. At the end of the year, you have an evaluator look over your work and write a report.

There is a website, PA Homeschoolers, that has lots of information (about the law, testing, message board, local homeschool groups, information and activitites). If your kids are high school age, they offer great online AP classes too.

Let us know if you have specific questions, and welcome to the Keystone State!

http://www.pahomeschoolers.com/