Getting Ready to Homeschool
Okay, you've decided to home school your children, so where do you begin. Gee, if I could only bottle that answer, I'd be wealthy. But that is another story...let's get started on your journey.
Legal Information
First, let's take care of the legalities of home schooling. Start by reading our pages on how to homeschool legally .
Contacting the School District
You're now familiar with the law and what is required of you as the parent of a homeschooled child. Let's get down to contacting the local school district.
You are required to notify the school board in writing that you indend to (intent) home school your child or children. You have 30 days from the day you begin your program to file that letter with the district. Some districts encourage you to bring a copy of our letter of intent to the school when you withdraw your child. Print out the sample letter of intent, and follow the directions on that page...and don't forget to come back here. If you are in posession of the paper from the school board, you will see that they would like some additional information.
PLEASE DO NOT GIVE THEM ANYTHING MORE THAN WHAT IS REQUIRED BY THE LAW. THAT IS NAME OF CHILD, ADDRESS OF CHILD, DATE OF BIRTH OF CHILD AND YOUR SIGNATURE.
What can the harm be you might ask? Like with any other governmental institution, school boards like to keep records. They would like more information to be reported to the Department of Education. Let's not be tempted to give it to them. Not even a grade level, if you do that, then we might someday be forced to keep a grade level or other information. DOE does keep information on homeschoolers in Florida, such as race of children homeschooling, number of male or female children being homeschooled. Please don't be tempted to give up our homeschooling rights.
You can call the Palm Beach School District at 561-434-8052 (other school districts) and ask them to send you the homeschooling packet. There are many of us out here who are anxious to help. For homeschooling advice you can email us here at Turtletraks or call us at the Homeschool Hotline at 561-493-3689.
If you are not in Palm Beach County, but are in the State of Florida, go to the support group area and contact the state support group or local support group that will support your needs. I will do my best to clearly mark the inclusive groups and the exclusive groups as well as offer information on 600 schools.
What to do next?
You are now a legal homeschooling family, but what do you do now??? Oh, yeah, curricula. The kids have to have textbooks. Let's put on the brakes here for a few minutes, while I attempt to help you by sharing some information before you make some expensive mistakes.
Home schooling is not trying to recreate school at home. Homeschooling is lifestyle of teaching your children at home. All children do not learn at the same pace, that's why some children struggle in the public schools and are eventually doomed to fail. Start by learning about your child and how your child learns (learning styles). If your child has never been to school, then you are very aware of how your child learns up to this point in his or her life. Some are visual learner (having to see every part of a situation), some are hands-on learner (these are the kids who never keep their hands in their pockets. Must touch everything!) Knowing how your child learns will help you choose the best learning materials for your child.
You've come back, let's discuss teaching to their interests. This is fairly easy to figure out, especially when you are taking a child who has been in school out. When the child is out of the house and you are alone for a few minutes, go into the child's room, sit on the bed and look around. (yeah, they do need to clean it up a bit) What do you see? Don't go through the draws, as you would be doing an inspection, but look at the bookshelves. What are they reading? Posters? What type of music or hobbies does it represent. Is there a pet in an enclosure? Sports equipment in the closet? Get the picture of the child and what is of interest to the child.
You now have a place to start building your curriculum.
If you have any questions at any time just click on the turtle below and send us an email or call the homeschooling hotline at 561-493-3679
