Homeschooling in Texas?????

[Amy+2]

Testing?? Portfolios?? Letter of intent?? Anything have to be turned into the state??

Obviously, or maybe not so obviously, we just found out we will be relocated to Texas!! Need to know what to expect there as far as homeschooling laws, etc.

Also, we will be moving to the Dallas/Ft Worth area...Anyone have any good suggestions on which areas in-and-around there are the best to start house hunting?!? :confused: Any suggestions would be SOOO appreciated!! ;)

[flyingmommy]

We lived in Allen, which is northeast of Dallas in the Plano/Frisco area. It is a beautiful, clean town. Lots of civic pride. And not very big. Just under 100,000 if I am not mistaken. As I understand it, houses are a bit high around there but it's such a nice town! Plano is mostly really nice as well. As a matter of fact, I believe Plano just got voted best town to live in or something a few months ago.

Texas has very lenient homeschooling laws. I don't remember them precisely, but no portfolios or mandatory testing for sure. I can't remember if you are supposed to send in a letter of intent or not.

Good luck!

jeannie

[apheartsong]

You can check the HSLDA website to double-check. http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Texas.pdf

We just moved to TX two years ago. You do not have to file anything. You are expected to teach spelling, reading, grammar, math, and good citizenship from a written curriculum.

I am in South TX, so don't know anything about neighborhoods. My brother's family homeschools in Allen, TX. They love it there.

Allison

[jg_puppy]

Another vote for the Allen, Frisco, McKinney area. I have lived in the DFW area most of my life. I love it here.

Jan

[Kuovonne]

No testing. No portfolio. No letter of intent. No evaluation. No minimum number of days of school. No attendence records. Nada. Zilch.
Just teach 'em.

[Unicorn]

You can check the HSLDA website to double-check. http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Texas.pdf

We just moved to TX two years ago. You do not have to file anything. You are expected to teach spelling, reading, grammar, math, and good citizenship from a written curriculum.

I am in South TX, so don't know anything about neighborhoods. My brother's family homeschools in Allen, TX. They love it there.

Allison

You are expected to teach those subjects, but it does NOT have to be from a written curriculum. Once you move here, you don't have to tell anybody anything, about anything. Homeschooling is considered a private school.

Someone mentioned Plano. I remember Plano as being the drug capitol of TX. I wouldn't live there. Just my .02.

[Ellie]

As far as I can tell, the only *real* requirement for hsing is that you have dc :-) The stuff you're "supposed" to teach you would, anyway, so there's no point in even talking about it.

[Michelle in TX]

Someone mentioned Plano. I remember Plano as being the drug capitol of TX. I wouldn't live there. Just my .02.

Now that's funny! I've lived in Plano for 5 1/2 years and I've never heard of that. I think I heard a story about there being a problem with drugs among the high school students (mostly the affluent ones), but I'm thinking that was in the 1990's.

I think when you pick which town to live in you need to consider the commute for your dh. Our personal preference is for it not to be over 30 minutes. We like Plano and Frisco/Allen/McKinney are also nice. They are all in Collin County.

There is no requirement for a letter of intent. If you pull your child out of a public school, then I think you have to provide some kind of letter.

Happy moving!

[Jami]

If you'll be on the Fort Worth side of things, North Richland Hills and Keller are both great suburbs to be in. There's tons of housing in the North Fort Worth sprawl area, if you don't mind large developments. Or older, more established neighborhoods in Keller, NRH, or Hurst proper. Grapevine also has some really nice neighborhoods. Homeschool groups and classes abound, it's harder to decide what not to do than to find things to do. ;)

Good luck on your relocation.

[choirfarm]

Where you live REALLY depends on where your dh is going to be working. It is a HUGE area with lots of traffic. There are many different great communities in various areas. Can you pinpoint the area where he will work?

Christine

[Robin in DFW]

These are all rapidly growing areas with lots of new home-building going on. Home prices tend to be very affordable in the North Fort Worth area, a little pricier in Keller and even more so in Colleyville.

The traffic is very heavy due to the influx of people over the past few years. We have lived in the area for 8 years now. I would have to say the worst thing is the traffic. When we moved here, my husband worked about 15 minutes from our home, then the company packed up and moved to Michigan. He found another job, but now has to commute to Dallas. His drive is usually around an hour, sometimes more.

There is a lot of shopping with more being built all the time. There are homeschooling groups, co-ops/classes and athletic programs. We strictly homeschool at home, so I have never really checked into the classes. One homeschool group/PE class we tried had some potty-mouthed bullies in it, so we left. We haven't tried another, and my kids haven't wanted to. My daughter participates in a high school soccer program, but we go to Dallas for that.

So, depending on what you're used to, traffic and such may not be an issue. Like I said, housing prices are affordable in North Fort Worth and get more expensive as you head east.

hth,
Robin

P.S. The weather is usually pretty nice, too...today we are going to have sunshine and a high around 75...

[Amy+2]

Ladies, thank you so much for the all the info so far!!! YEA! No major rules to follow! Sounds great to me!!

My husband will be working for DuPont at the Arlington GM plant. I guess I should have mentioned that in the first post!:tongue_smilie:

Allen looks LOVELY, but too far of a drive...dog-gone it!

I am off to search the other areas now.;)

[attachedto4]

If you'll be on the Fort Worth side of things, North Richland Hills and Keller are both great suburbs to be in. There's tons of housing in the North Fort Worth sprawl area, if you don't mind large developments. Or older, more established neighborhoods in Keller, NRH, or Hurst proper. Grapevine also has some really nice neighborhoods. Homeschool groups and classes abound, it's harder to decide what not to do than to find things to do. ;)

Good luck on your relocation.

Dittoing this. We prefer the Fort Worth side of DFW. North Fort Worth, Keller, Southlake, are all great. Southlake is expensive though.

Lot of hsing support here and there are no testing requirements, you are a private school and don't have to report anything to anyone.

The Fort Worth Zoo, NRH20 (North Richland Hills water park), and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History are all wonderful places to have memberships at, lots of learning opportunities at the zoo and science museum. It gets so hot here in the summer that the waterpark is just something to do outdoors in the summer.

[TXSusan]

Amy,

I have lived in Arlington for over 20 years, it's a great place to live. The area near the GM plant is not so good, but there are great established areas throughtout north and central Arlington, and newer developments in south Arlington. Other good area to look would include Mansfield(south of Arlington) and Hurst/Euless/Bedford(north of Arlington). I know that there are lots of opportunities for homeschoolers in Arlington and Mansfield. Texas is a great place to homeschool your kids.

Susan

[mommahawk]

We lived in Mansfield for a couple of years and it was a 15 minute jaunt up to I-20 and all the shopping in Arlington. I-287 in Mansfield has a super Target, Walmart and a lot of eateries. My husband taught in the Mansfield school district and it was one of the fastest growing school districts in all of Texas. They opened up something like 8 schools the second year we were there. But what I liked about Mansfield is you didn't feel so congested with all the horrible DFW traffic because you were out a bit from all that. But I guess not far enough out for us, since we got fed up and decided to move back to small town Oklahoma! :)

[Amy loves Bud]

Homeschoooling here is very easy, as the others have said.

Grand Prairie has a good coop from what I understand (my cousin is involved).

Arlington is where the big book fair is every year. Also Six Flags over Texas and the Texas Rangers Stadium.

My brother lives in Grapevine and it's really a lovely town.

Welcome to Texas! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QltlctqfY4E)

[3Rivers]

Texas is very homeschool friendly. Except for a brief stint in CA, I've lived in Texas my whole life.
I agree with other posters--where your DH is working will determine where you want to look for housing. Let us know that, and we can point you to some nice places. There are many choices, and homeschooling is thriving all over DFW. PM me if you want a link to a yahoo group for DFW homeschoolers.

Jamie

[3Rivers]

I just saw the update about your DH's job. I agree with poster who mentioned Grand Prairie. Affordable and a thriving group there. A lot happening in Arlington too. I live north of Dallas so I only hear of stuff that is happening in that area. We are in Denton and my DH has commuted to Arlington for a while before. He didn't complain. He just took a different route. No big deal, but obviously closer is better. I *think* Tarrant County is overall cheaper to live than Dallas County. NOt sure where Grand Prairie falls in that, but I know it's affordable.
Do let me know if you want that link and you can start finding out all the stuff that's happening around here.
Welcome to Texas, y'all!

Jamie

[jensway]

You will love Texas homeschool requirements--as others have said there are NONE! I'm in the Frisco area, sounds like not that far from Jamie. I've lived in Texas all but about 1 yr. of my life. Many co-ops for homeschoolers. Have always homeschooled my son. He receives speech therapy from the public school, so if any of your kids have a special need PM me and I will be glad to help direct you on how to get started with that.

And just in case someone hasn't told you already summers in Texas are hot! Welcome to Texas!

[Pamela H in Texas]

Where you live REALLY depends on where your dh is going to be working. It is a HUGE area with lots of traffic. There are many different great communities in various areas. Can you pinpoint the area where he will work?

Yep...and the other thing I'd consider is price range. I would have a difficult time finding housing in most of the mentioned locations due to price alone. I live in a small-ish town barely considered part of the metroplex (mentioned at least once a week on the weather though :) ). Prices out here are much more friendly :)

ETA: I saw your location. Arlington is almost an hour away though. I'm sure there are some nice towns closer though that will fit what you need :)

[Carmen_and_Company]

When we moved to Texas back in 2002, we did not report to any "authority". I read the Texas Hs'ing law and made sure we hit on all the requirements, which isn't hard at all--even for unschoolers.

No testing
No Portfolios
No specific curricula--pretty much the good old 3 R's, plus citizenship
No reviews
No notification requirements

N. O.T.H.I.N.G


I'm back in Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes and requirements--lol.


Annual Intent to HS notification to district
Quarterly reporting--exempt--I have a college degree
Annual testing-- exempt--I'm supervised by my sister,a licensed teacher, and my uncle, a licensed high school principal
Course of study & methodology outlines
Specific subject areas to cover each year
Must keep completed work just in case of "random" review
Must keep list of materials used/using just in case of "random" review

[Caroline4kids]

I'm back in Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes and requirements--lol.


Annual Intent to HS notification to district
Quarterly reporting--exempt--I have a college degree
Annual testing-- exempt--I'm supervised by my sister,a licensed teacher, and my uncle, a licensed high school principal
Course of study & methodology outlines
Specific subject areas to cover each year
Must keep completed work just in case of "random" review
Must keep list of materials used/using just in case of "random" review



Blech, blech, blech.... I am in AL right now for the military, but we own a farm in MN. So if my husband has a teaching degree and he is the "head teacher" I can be exempt from testing and quarterly reporting? Yuck. Here in AL we have to have a cover school, but I have an unschooling-type cover that requires nothing. I so do not look forward to going back to MN for homeschooling.

If you own a house in TX can you claim that as your home state? We may move to El Paso briefly for the military and I'm trying to find a way to keep the govt. out of things.

Pray the UN Rights of the Child doesn't come to pass here. We all will be up a creek no matter where we live here.