Homeschooling and Truancy

I know DOZENS of families in MN that homeschool. Homeschooled Minnesota children are NOT considered truants. I will try to get some info for you about it, if someone from Mamapedia doesn't beat me to it.

From: http://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/homeschooling_in_...
"Minnesota Homeschool Laws

The state of Minnesota requires compulsory school attendance of children between the ages 6 and 17. Minnesota does not have any particular requirements as to days of study per school year, but they do recommend that homeschoolers cover the following subjects of study: reading, writing, literature, fine arts, math, science, history, geography, government, health, and physical education. It also does not have any mandated teacher requirements or standardized test requirements. According to Minnesota law, "Children not enrolled in an accredited program or public school must be assessed using a nationally norm-referenced standardized achievement examination."

Minnesota's requirements for a home instructor include at least one of the following. Home instructors must either:
•Hold a state approved teacher's license OR
•Be directly supervised by a licensed teacher OR
•Successfully complete a teacher competency exam OR
•Provide instruction in an accredited school OR
•Have a baccalaureate degree OR
•Have their child annually assessed according to state guidelines

Homeschooling parents must also provide the name, date of birth, and address of each child homeschooled to their local school superintendent annually. This report must also include a calendar of proposed instruction for each child."

You might also check: "Home School Legal Defense Association" http://www.hslda.org/about/

http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Minnesota.pdf

Hi Kristi,
I highly recommend going to this site: http://www.mache.org/
They are the experts for your state. They will have the laws explained, the various questions you might have answered. Click on the beginning homeschooling link, and go from there. There is also a Legal tab at the top that will help you. And, they have a listing of support groups in your state, and you may find one near you that will help with your questions and struggles as you begin homeschooling. It is perfectly legal to homeschool in all 50 states. We have been doing it for 14 years in 3 states and one foreign country. You just have to figure out the laws for your particular state and go from there. Most school officials are completely ignorant about the laws, so don't rely on them for accurate information. I don't think most of them mean any harm, they just have no clue. I also want to encourage you to join HSLDA before you start homeschooling. HSLDA stands for Home School Legal Defense Association. Joining them insures that you have paid for legal counsel and representation should you be faced with a trial for any homeschooling-related incident. They are the national experts on homeschooling laws, and were instrumental in making homeschooling legal in all 50 states. The fee is nominal, and then you have no more fees for any legal counsel you receive from them. So worth it! We've been members for 14 years, and I love that assurance that if someone shows up on my front porch, I just have to call them and they handle it from there 24/7. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have that I missed. I'm happy to correspond with your privately.

It is the legal right of the parent to choose the venue and method of education whether it be private, public, or home school.

In Minnesota, homeschooling is not technically truant. You are only considered truant if you fail to report (to your school district/superintendent) your child as a homeschooler by compulsory age (which is age 6) by October 1st of the current school year.

You can find the forms to enroll as a homeschooler at www.mache.org. MACHE recommends that you do not use any forms provided by the public school district as they require you to provide way more information than the state reqiures which can open you up to being "required" by your local district to do more than the law actually requires.

Kudos for having answers right away, but to better answer these sorts of questions in the future, I highly recommend you become a member of MACHE and HSLDA if you intend to homeschool. Not only are these organizations great for support, they will keep you well educated on your rights as a parent who chooses to homeschool versus any other educational option.

Remember, your child is only truant if you are neglecting their education...not if your child isn't sitting in a bricks and mortar building all day...technically learning. Learning consists of more than being in a building full of children.

Here in Minnesota, when you let your children play in the backyard or take breaks for a snack or attend class at a park for physical education, go to a museum for art or science class, study at the public library, attend a co-op meeting at a fellow homeschooler's house, or visit the zoo for a field trip during the homeschooling day .....they are not at home studying books, but they are not truant either.

Homeschoolers are legally able to educate their children using any method, resource, or materials, and that means school can take place anywhere and at any time during the day. If on the rare occasion you get stopped or questioned during "school hours" that is when groups like HSLDA (legal experts who advocate for families when issues like this arise) come in handy. You should not get stopped or questioned...but it does happen on rare occasion. Usually a neighbor who is annoyed by seeing or hearing children playing in the yard during the day or a relative who disapproves of your choice who is meddeling. If you are a member of HSLDA, they will assign an attorney free of charge to handle your case. See: www.hslda.org and www.mache.org

To prevent misunderstandings or trouble for yourself, get organized now, before you start schooling and get a system in place for record keeping. Make sure your curriculum is comparable to state standards, and be sure to test annually. If you do these things you should be fine.

You mention that you are going to use the homeschool program sponsored by the public school in your area. You should know that technically speaking you will be considered a charter school within your school district and therefore will be subject to the same rules and expectations of any other public schooler in your area. In short, you won't really be a "homeschooler" but your child will be considered and expected to fulfill the same requirements as a public school student who happens to be working from home. All other homeschoolers are viewed in the same way as private schools under state law, and are therefore free to choose curriculum etc. as they see fit.

With that said, I wouldn't worry too much about truancy or record keeping as these programs (are you using K12 or Virtual Academy) will handle all of the record keeping and testing for you. They will also choose your entire curriculum for you as well. I believe your attendance is logged everyday when you sign on for class and there are some teacher-led classes online that have scheduled times.

Many homeschoolers like the ease of homeschooling this way, but you should know many others do not like not having much say or options in the choice of curriculum, schedule or pace of their child's school day or overall education in the case of very gifted and academically advanced or in some cases learning disabled students. These programs are very rigid and there is very little room for making adjustments if your child is having academic challenges or if they want to advance. This is something to keep in mind before you buy-in to this sort of homeschooling program.

By and large, Minnesota is a friendly state for those interested in homeschooling. There are many options and that's a great thing for those who go this route because traditional school didn't work for their child.

If this is why you're choosing to homeschool versus traditional school, I strongly suggest looking into a curriculum that you can tweak and adjust as needed (you can slow down or accelerate for fast learners as needed) versus going with the programs through the district.

I have not used one of the online programs, but I have three friends who have and it didn't go well for them. They all used these programs for reasons ranging from their child having learning difficulties to the fact that their spouse was temporarily unemployed and the program and all the materials were free. They all opted to leave for the same reason...it was too rigid causing alot of stress trying to accommodate the programs requirements instead of accommodating the needs of their kids. In the case of the friend with a LD child, they even had an IEP and her son never mastered reading at grade level or writing. This child is going into the 5th grade and even with a rigid computer based program, tons of teacher support, and special help, he is not ready for the coming school year. This friend dropped K12 and is going use a boxed curriculum and supplement her son's education with private services this year. She doesn't regret pulling him from traditional school to give him a chance to catch up, but feels she lost precious time going with a program she said basically is an at-home version of what he had at traditional school. She's hopeful this year will be better.

If you opt to go on your own and use a prepackaged curriculum or create a curriculum from scratch, be sure to keep excellent record of your day to day lessons and store workbooks and papers in yearly boxes for a minimum of 3 years, in case you need to show proof of the work your child has done and it will help you when the time comes to create a transcript.

Most important, in Minnesota, annual testing is required to assess your child's academic progress. If you use the public school online, you will be provided the tests. In fact, they give you more tests than what the state requires, which is once annually. I believe my friends who went with the online school had tests at least 3-4 times a year.

If you choose a boxed curriculum that is not accredited (if they're accredited they will maintain transcripts and also provide the annual test for you) you can contact a homeschooling accrediting agency to administer the test for you for a small fee. Homeschoool accrediting agencies can also help you design a curriculum from scratch that is approved by the state and maintain transcripts for your child's education until graduation, if you don't want to do these things yourself.

For information on accrediting agencies and people and organizations licensed to administer assessment tests see:

http://www.hbeaa.org/

http://www.echo-mn.org/blogengine/page/MN-Homeschool-Test...

For support getting started, you might be interested in knowing that there is a statewide homeschooling conference hosted by Minnesota Homeschooler's Alliance on September 22nd. They will have workshops for beginners and will address all of your legal questions and concerns. You can also shop for curriculum and meet other families who homeschool in your area. You may even find a co-op to join for social gatherings and maybe shared classes. Click on the link below, page down to the bottom, right hand side and click on the link to MHA Conference for details on the event and click on the bottom of the page to register for the conference.

See:

http://homeschoolers.org/

http://minnesotahomeschoolersalliance.wordpress.com/

depends on the state. i had to notify the BOE by a certain date. i chose not to use an umbrella program, so had an annual review with the BOE where i produced a portfolio of material proving that my kids were getting 'regular instruction' and that was it.
i find it very intrusive and troubling that the BOE is waving truancy threats at a parent over a child too young for the compulsory ed laws to apply. very heavy-handed. i'm glad you set her straight.
homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, so parents cannot be arrested and the children taken away for it. but each state has different requirements and it's up to the parents to make sure that they're in compliance with their home state laws.
khairete
S.

I believe different states have different policies, but I have several friends who homeschool, and the way you do it here in CA is to register with the state as a private school, and/or register via a homeschool charter school. The difference would be that the homeschool charter provides you with the public school curriculum free of charge, and if you're a private school, you may choose your own curriculum (and pay for it yourself). Check with your state's Board of Education. There's likely a section on the website about homeschooling and what you need to do to be in compliance.

No, your child isn't truant if you homeschool her. However, you have to show them that you are homeschooling.

Find out the laws in your state, and be in compliance with them. Homeschooling is a lot of work - be prepared for that.

Dawn

You have to do something "official" whether it is use a certain curriculum that has testing by certain dates to show that your child is in fact learning the proper materials or some sort of program that has some accountability.

A friend of mine let 2 of her kids stay home once they hit Jr High. It was just too much for them to deal with the social drama. They went to the college with mom every day and sat in an office across the hall from her to do their work. They did their monthly testing in the college's testing center and those scores were sent in to the state to verify the kids were in fact going to home school and were learning the appropriate material.

K.,
Homeschooling is another legal method of education and your child will not be a truant. Do as other moms suggest H., check your local homeschooling site (www.mache.org) and also other sites like HSLDA.org (there are others but this one came to my mind now) where you will find the legalities about homeschooling in each state. In many states is only necessary send a letter informing the school that your child will be homeschooling. When you start home schooling keep always records of what you are teaching, planners, grades if you do so, hours of teaching, etc. This is the way (among others) you can prove that you are homeschooling. I have been home schooling for 4 years and I have never had any bad or uncomfortable situation (Thanks God!). Homeschooling is a great journey, not easy, but wonderful experience for the whole family. Relax, and do what you feel is best for your family...especially the kids.

Don't know the laws in your state. However, in NC, you have to register your home school with the state department of non-public education. Once you do that, you are done. In NC, they do not investigate home schools, you do have to provide some documentation (testing) at the end of the school year. But, even if you don't, they only investigate about 10 home schools out of the entire state (100 counties) per year. So, no, if you register to be a valid home school in your state, your children are not truant.

I have to wonder why the school contacted you. That sounds odd to me. Were your children students at the school in the past and you made a comment that you would home school?

Check the laws in your state. The school that called you should be able to tell you who to contact.

Good luck.

My mom pulled my sister out of HS for a year and homeschooled. She had to notify the school that she was being homeschooled. There were tests at the end of each course that were sent away, graded, and the the grades were sent to the school district.

It all depends on what state you live in. Queen of the Castle provided you with good information.

Typically for homeschooling, you would have to contact your local school district and follow procedure for starting your own homeschool. If it isn't "official" homeschooling, it is truancy.

When my son started K in MD, they were to start if they were or were turning 5 by Dec. 31st but if you wanted your child to wait a year it was ok but you HAD to contact the school to indicate that otherwise they would be truant and the parents could be in trouble.

In our state you only have to sign and submit a document called an "intent to homeschool."

Check the laws in your state. You will most likely need to let the school board know that you will be homeschooling and most states require that you hand in some kind of monthly reports.

Most states offer on-line public schooling through K-12 or connections academy. You will need a computer for these and to be logged on at certain times of the day.