by Lorinda K. F. Newton
Find Your Homeschool Path
Leaving the Classroom
Children often need some decompression time after leaving a formal educational setting. If you are removing your child out of a classroom setting, learn about deschooling here and here. If you are removing your child out of school midyear, read about that here and here.
Learn Washington’s Legal Requirements.
- To qualify to home educate your child, you must meet one of these requirements.
- Have at least 45 quarter college credits (or 30 semester credits).
- Take a qualifying course.
- Able to Teach by Family Academy
- Start to Finish by Christian Heritage
- Parent Qualifying Courses by WHO (secular)
- Be supervised by a certificated person, such as a teacher.
- Be “deemed sufficiently qualified to provide home-based instruction by the superintendent of the local school district.”
File a Declaration of Intent (DOI)
You must file a DOI by September 15 each year, or within two weeks of the start of any public school quarter, trimester, or semester. Send it to the office of your local superintendent.
The declaration must include your child’s name and age. You must specify whether you are being supervised by a certificated person. You don’t need to file until your child is eight years old (compulsory education ages in Washington are 8 to 17).
Warning, some school districts have created DOIs that ask for more information than what the law requires. Don’t give them that information. Use the form created by CHN. Make a copy of this form for your own records before sending it in.
Teach for 180 Days
Your child should do 180 days of schoolwork a year or about a thousand hours. One high school credit equals 150 hours of work. Completing a one-credit textbook or curriculum also equals one high school credit regardless of the time it takes the student to complete it.
Cover the Required Subjects
These include occupational education, science, math, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, and appreciation of art and music. You don’t need to cover all of these in a given year. For high school, check college entrance requirements, or if your child doesn’t plan to college, set your own requirements.
Standardized Testing
When your child is eight-years-old, you must have him assessed or have him take a standardized test annually. Many support groups offer testing each spring. Keep these results as part of your records.
Keep records of your children’s work. For suggestions, click here and here.
Set Goals for Your Child
First, remember that homeschooling includes more than academics. Not only are you training your child’s mind, but his body, soul, and spirit as well. A well-educated person without good character is worse off than an uneducated person with good character traits. Establish measurable goals in these areas: intellectual, physical, spiritual, and social.
Next, focus on meeting your goals for your child, not the goals on someone else’s list. Include life skills goals as well, especially if your child has special needs.
- 15 Important Life Skills
- Life Skills Checklist by Focus on the Family
Research Learning Styles
People learn in different ways. Your child may learn differently than you. Keep this in mind when selecting curriculum and working with your child. Here are some resources on learning styles.
- The Way They Learn by Cynthia Tobias—a classic on learning styles.
- “What Is My Child’s Learning Style?” at HSLDA
- Discover Your Child’s Learning Style at Cathy Duffy Reviews
- Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner
Explore Teaching Methods and Educational Philosophies
When considering a teaching method, decide how involved you want to be in your child’s education.
- Do you want an online school program that does all the work for you?
- Do you want textbooks or workbooks that your child can work through independently, and you only have to grade the assignments and tests?
- Do you want a curriculum with teacher’s guides that help you instruct and interact with your child?
- Do you want to be more involved by reading aloud to them or taking nature walks and field trips and completing hands-on projects?
Develop your educational philosophy and select a teaching style. Some people mix styles. For instance, many use the traditional textbook method to teach math. Then, they may follow the classical style for history and an unschooling style for science. Here’s a quiz to help you figure out what teaching method might fit your family. Learn about the pros and cons of several learning methods.
I have listed brief descriptions of several educational philosophies.
WriteYour Goals and Personal Educational Philosophy
After researching, jot down some educational goals for your child and consider which educational philosophy or a combination of philosophies will guide you in reaching your goals.
- What knowledge, skills, and character traits do you want your child to have by the time he graduates from high school?
- What type of learning environment do you want in your home? Structured, child-led, or something in between?
- What worldview do you wish your child to embrace?
Writing these ideas down will help you clarify what path you should take. They will also serve as guidelines as you explore curricula and other educational resources. Over time, you will find that you may need to adjust your method.
When I began homeschooling, I fell in love with the classical method. This method, in its pure form, however, didn’t suit my son. So, I had to change gears and moved to an eclectic, living-books approach. For the high school years, we primarily used the traditional textbook method. See my educational mission statement, philosophy, and goals.
Ways to Fulfill Your Homeschooling Goals
The beauty of homeschooling is its flexibility. You can choose a complete curriculum to set your course or bring together multiple sources to make a custom-fit educational path for your child. Each year may take a different direction depending on your child’s age, the availability of resources, and life’s circumstances.
A few roads people can take on their homeschooling journey include:
Totally independent: The parent is 100 percent in control.
- Select your education style and all your own resources.
- Use a complete homeschool curriculum package and shape it to meet your needs.
Parents delegate some of their responsibility to other teachers.
- Cooperatives (aka co-ops)
- A small, informal co-op: A small group of friends with children around the same age often form these around a subject such as science. Others meet together once a week for multiple subjects taught by the parents. Some groups plan field trips together. For instance, three of my friends and I coordinated trips to the children’s theater each year.
- Classical Conversations: A group of families work together to teach their children with this curriculum.
- Formal learning centers: These organizations frequently offer social activities and field trip opportunities in addition to classes. In my area, three large co-ops serve hundreds of students. Each learning center offers approximately a hundred courses for preschool through high school. See my article on the pros and cons of using co-ops for more information.
- Community Resources
- Local pools, sports teams, and athletic clubs
- Local parks ‘n rec classes
- Children’s programs at museums
- Music, drama, or art lessons
- Tutors, mentors, and apprenticeships
- Private school oversight: Some private schools provide various levels of assistance to homeschoolers.
- Hybrid Homeschooling: a private school that blends traditional school instruction with homeschooling. This is what Academy Northwest is. See my post that describes how hybrid homeschooling works. Washington law calls these “private school extension programs.”
- Part-time enrollment at public school.
Beware of the Trojan Horse—Public School at Home
Alternative Learning Programs, Parent Partnership Programs or virtual programs (online) provided by school districts are often called “homeschool” programs. Enrolling in such programs makes your child a public school student.
Only registering part-time to maintain your homeschool status is permissible by law. Still, some of these programs don’t comply with the law and enroll their students as full-time. Thus, these students must follow all public school requirements and testing. See the Exposing a Trojan Horse trailer for more information. I can lend my copy of the 30-minute DVD, if you are interested in seeing it.
May this guide help you as you start your homeschooling journey. If you have any questions, please contact me.
Lorinda K. F. Newton began homeschooling her children in 2004, and her family joined Academy Northwest in 2014. Her family lives on beautiful Whidbey Island north of Seattle, Washington. She writes about faith, culture, and governing from a biblical worldview at Lorinda’s Ponderings and Lorinda’s Ponderings on Facebook. ©2020 by Lorinda K. F. Newton.
