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Must I follow my states requirements for a diploma?


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I can't imagine why I would, my method has to look at colleges Ds may want to attend, then back plan requirements from there for high school.

 

My state requires 2 credits of health and pe- I was thinking of doing just one combined health and pe credit. They also require state history (I credit) and state government (I credit) which I completely don't see a need to do. Ds will still have 4 social sciences, but of none of them will have any specific focus on our state, in fact they may end up being quite oddball as I am getting brave and considering letting him do "20th century Asian history" for next year. Since I am granting the diploma, not our state, this is fine, right?

 

I had a small moment of panic and just checked our states requirements and want to be sure what I think is correct before getting any deeper into high school.

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In my state, there are homeschooling requirements (like English, math, state studies, etc) that you have to cover each year. They aren't narrowed down any more than that but are supposed to be "age appropriate" - not grade appropriate, they don't even ask about grade. There are no specific graduation requirement for homeschoolers.

 

There are graduation requirements for the public high schools.

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I am in VA, and I can find nothing on hslda, heav, etc that says I must follow graduation requirements for ps kids. In fact, they are called "diploma course requirements" on the state Ed website, and they won't be issuing my child a diploma, so I guess I don't have to follow them. ;-)

 

Whew!

 

And, how did I get to the end of my Ds 9th grade year and not think of this already?!

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All the above is accurate of course. But, I always wanted to make sure "if" my children needed to move into the local schools during high schol, we would be covering what the state required and they wouldn't have to take 9th gr classes when they were in 11th, 12th, etc. (in our case, that is state history, mostly). I also think local and state history are actually worthwhile subjects :0). But my main reason is being in line with our school district in case we would enroll them.

 

Of course there is no guarantee that the credits would be accepted at the local high school - because in our state, every school district can accept or deny homeschool credits for high school enrollees as they deem appropriate.

 

Lisaj, 2 grads; 10th gr; 8th gr; 5th gr

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If the home education statutes in your state do not require you to follow any specific requirements, then, no.

 

Florida doesn't require homeschoolers to cover any specific subjects or materials. We just have to prove our kids are learning every year. What they learn and how much of it is pretty much up to the parents.

 

My goal has always been to turn out a transcript for my kid that will look familiar enough to in-state colleges that they will know how to evaluate/interpret it. So, although we've taken a few rabbit trails and he'll have a few non-traditional course titles included, my son's transcript will show he's covered more or less the same required ground as have his public school counterparts. And, of course, this means he will also conveniently have met the requirements for admission to our state universities.

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The only big ones I do not want to do (and Ds does not) are the state government and history credits. He would still have 4 years of social sciences, though, as needed for colleges we are looking at. Health and pe I thought we'd combine for 0.5 for each, but thinking more on it I think we will do one year of each- he needs meal prep, nutrition, child development, type health stuff. I've been remiss on that. And pe just because he is sedentary, and it's a way to get him moving, lol. Virginia state history has really been covered fairly extensively in our us history this year and years past, we lived here years ago, too.

 

Ps is an all or nothing proposition- we closed that door by home schooling 9th grade, as he would not have the required sol tests to graduate or transfer in without starting nearly over. It's a risk, but if the worst happens all online school or a GED is the option, not ps.

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I can't imagine why I would, my method has to look at colleges Ds may want to attend, then back plan requirements from there for high school.

 

My state requires 2 credits of health and pe- I was thinking of doing just one combined health and pe credit. They also require state history (I credit) and state government (I credit) which I completely don't see a need to do. Ds will still have 4 social sciences, but of none of them will have any specific focus on our state, in fact they may end up being quite oddball as I am getting brave and considering letting him do "20th century Asian history" for next year. Since I am granting the diploma, not our state, this is fine, right?

 

I had a small moment of panic and just checked our states requirements and want to be sure what I think is correct before getting any deeper into high school.

 

No.

 

I haven't heard of *state* *government* being required, so I wouldn't have a problem with not doing that (state history, yes; state government, no). U.S. government, though, is a must, IMHO. I cannot imagine sending a young adult of voting age out into the world without having studied U.S. government.

 

But no, you do not have to follow the same requirements as public schools do.

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The one other thing I would consider is the requirements to the top-notch VA public universities--even if those are not your preferred college choices. We are in NC and Chapel Hill's requirements align fairly closely to the state's public school high school requirements. I know a few years ago when the math requirements increased, a lot of homeschoolers were caught by surprise. It is really nice to have an affordable (relatively) high-quality college option.

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I can't imagine why I would, my method has to look at colleges Ds may want to attend, then back plan requirements from there for high school.

 

My state requires 2 credits of health and pe- I was thinking of doing just one combined health and pe credit. They also require state history (I credit) and state government (I credit) which I completely don't see a need to do. Ds will still have 4 social sciences, but of none of them will have any specific focus on our state, in fact they may end up being quite oddball as I am getting brave and considering letting him do "20th century Asian history" for next year. Since I am granting the diploma, not our state, this is fine, right?

 

I had a small moment of panic and just checked our states requirements and want to be sure what I think is correct before getting any deeper into high school.

 

Are you referring to what your state requires of public-scooled students, or what your state requires of homeschoolers? That would make a HUGE difference in what you do and do not have to do.

 

My state (PA) does list requirements for homeschool graduation, and they are less specific than what most public schools require. Also, PA lists what "Secondary" students (grades 7-12) must be taught, but nothing in the law specifies how, when, or how much for each subject. For example, PA History can be a 1-day mini-unit, or it can be a daily hour-long class every single year. We have enjoyed a lot of freedom in what subjects Diamond studied, and when and how they were completed. We didn;t follow the typical schedule or topics for Science, as they weren't necessary for her goals. Some paid-diploma-issuing-programs set requirements on their customers, but we did not go that route, since were were homeschooling independently and issuing our own diploma.

 

Bottom line: know your state laws- if you have freedom, enjoy it an use it to your child's best advantage. If you have specific requirements, follow them and find good ways to fit your child's plans into them.

 

editing to add: we don't have to follow the public schools plans/credits/etc for graduation- although some people do use it as a guideline.

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All the above is accurate of course. But, I always wanted to make sure "if" my children needed to move into the local schools during high schol, we would be covering what the state required and they wouldn't have to take 9th gr classes when they were in 11th, 12th, etc. (in our case, that is state history, mostly). I also think local and state history are actually worthwhile subjects :0). But my main reason is being in line with our school district in case we would enroll them.

 

Of course there is no guarantee that the credits would be accepted at the local high school - because in our state, every school district can accept or deny homeschool credits for high school enrollees as they deem appropriate.

 

Lisaj, 2 grads; 10th gr; 8th gr; 5th gr

 

 

Yes, if you're thinking that you might switch to ps later on, it is helpful to follow what they do; I'd check with the school's courses, etc, first. I didn't do that with my eldest and they could only grant credit for classes they teach (all on computer, so they can't just add any course to it.) I could have sent an additional transcript to colleges, but chose not to as she was mainly interested in a state school where it really wasn't going to help much. I am going to do this with ds who wants to go to ps but who I'm trying to have go only part time. Our school district is relatively easy, especially if you get a good counsellor; counsellors here are assigned alphabetically by surname. I'm even going to design things in such a way that they can be called honours since I have two there now, a great relationship with their guidance counsellor & a proven academic track record with my dds (plus he easily placed into their honours math program, although at this point he wouldn't make English but he will be able to eventually now that he enjoys reading.)

 

I'm not going to follow their content or use their textbooks, but I will use their course names and keep it close enough that I can call it the same thing, especially with the extra projects they have to do for honours classes (and some are quite in depth and count for a significant portion of the grade)

 

Personally, I don't like public school and never will, but since my dc all really want to be there I've made it work part or full time as long as they follow our rules & expectations. Our dc are strong willed and the dc in honours classes here aren't trouble makers (come by it honestly ;)) and so there is no point to teaching dc who hate being here and are going to argue their way through school. The dc in honours classes here aren't trouble makers and my dd's have had a minimum of problems; there are always some, but that happens out of school, too, even to adults.

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