CA Homeschoolers

[Juliegmom]

Could you please share your reasons why you chose either an umbrella school or filed a private school affadavit? This is our first year homeschooling. My older girls are covered under their charter school, but I'm not sure how I want to go about filing for my 2nd grader. Any advice? Thank you!!!

[rdj2027]

We chose a charter school because we started to homeschool very abruptly (walked out of a rather acrimonious meeting with the PS principal and took our children out of school on the way out). I had no plan, no materials, no nothing to go with and still 8 weeks and the standardized test left before the end of the school year. The support of our charter was fantastic, they gave us a complete set of textbooks, full access to their library (they have full class sets of anything a homeschooler could ask for), they never missed a beat with my daughters IEP and took the stress out of testing day. They have many interesting workshops and introduced me to several parents to help me get started. We have to submit one sample of work per subject per month and as long as it meets the criteria of the standard they are fine with it.

We have park/beach days and field trips that would be hard for me to arrange (like the Jet Propulsion Lab or a tour behind the stages of a big theater production).

In addition they keep all records and the children receive an accredited diploma (which is important to us because our children wish to study in Europe and a homegrown diploma is not accepted).

I absolutely love our school.

 

Diane

[sassenach]

We file the affidavit. It's easy, it's free and it's once a year. If ever the affidavit system came under fire, I would join an umbrella. But until or unless that happens, an umbrella just looks like extra paperwork and expense to me.

[KrissiK]

We file the affidavit. It's the simplest way and I still retain complete freedom over curriculum, etc.

[Momtoamayalilal2]

:iagree:

 

Filed with an umbrella the first year, but pulled out of it after 2 months because of all the requirements and such. Made it more diffiicult IMO when CA is an "easy" state to hs in IMO.

[ocelotmom]

We did an independent study program through the school district our first year because DS was heartbroken about the idea of not going to K, but also didn't want to go to K and leave his homeschooled friends (we were already attending park days). The ISP offered workshop classes for a few hours a week, and seemed a good compromise.

 

Had we stayed in CA, we probably would have gone with a charter school for the money. We had plenty of friends who had good experiences with some of the local charters and felt fully able to homeschool as they wanted.

 

Whether a charter school is a reasonable option or not really depends on what is available locally.

[Ellie]

For the first five years, I filed my own affidavit, because back in 1982, in San Diego, there weren't any PSPs (the preferred term for Private School Satellite Program).

 

We moved to San Jose in 1987, and I filed the affidavit then, because there were a handful of PSPs in the area, which I thought about joining because older dd was 12 and I imagined that the PSP administrator might be more knowledgeable about high school things, KIWM? But all of them were way too restrictive for this relaxed homeschooler, and frankly, it offended me that they required way more than the law did as far as record-keeping and testing and whatnot. One of them had *mandatory* *weekly* meetings. :blink:

 

In 1988, I started my own PSP, sort of the Alternative PSP. :D I didn't require testing and meetings and all that carp. But many Californians just want to be anonymous, so my school allowed them to be that and still not have such heavy requirements (they did have to stay in touch with me monthly, and I required HSLDA membership). I passed the school on to some trusted friends 16 years later when I moved here to Texas, and they kept it going for several years. :)

 

My first recommendation is to file an affidavit. My second is to enroll in a PSP only if it doesn't require annual testing, meetings, quarterly goals or evaluations, turning in grades, etc.

[tammyw]

We file an affidavit. I'm not interested in having anyone oversee me. I feel confident in what we're doing without the help (and besides, I get all the help I need here!)

[Crimson Wife]

I've done both.

 

We started out filing the affidavit and I really liked the freedom to set my own schedule, which particularly came in handy when the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and recovery coincided with my oldest's 1st grade year. I did very relaxed schooling, where I required DD to do something in math and LA every day but allowed her the complete freedom to pick something off our shelf. She actually managed to make progress during this time frame despite not working through a math or LA program systematically. However, DH freaked and then the economy tanked :glare: So DH told me that I either had to enroll DD in a charter or the local PS.

 

I signed up for the most flexible of the local charters, which gave me a stipend to spend on any materials and/or classes of my choice so long as they are secular. I like the money but am not thrilled by the hoop-jumping.

 

I had to change the way I keep records so now it's not just listing the name of the textbook/workbook and pages completed but I have to go through and list the topics covered translated into language that mirrors the CA state standards.

 

I have a certain ordering window and if for some reason there's a hiccup getting the materials I want, I'm SOL until the next ordering period. I try to order ahead to prevent problems, but I still don't always have everything I want to use when I want to use it. For example, I've been trying to get Beast Academy 3A & B since last spring but I'm still waiting on it.

 

I will most likely do a private school for high school, possibly Stanford's EPGY Online High School or Kolbe Academy. Our charter is very flexible K-8 but its high school program requires students to use specific state-approved textbooks. I haven't been super-impressed by those books when I've looked them over at the school's lending library.

[JenneinCA]

We file the PSA. The benefits of becoming part of one of the 'charter school at home' schools just aren't enough for us.

 

We could get money but you can only spend it at approved vendors and the places we spend our money aren't approved. (Our music lessons and foreign language classes are not on the list.) So the money isn't very tempting.

 

So it would be some amount of work for no benefit. Nope.

[Surfside Academy]

We file the affidavit. It's the simplest way and I still retain complete freedom over curriculum, etc.

 

:iagree:

[faiths13]

we have done charters and VA's and a small stint on our own. I really like being private the best. It's nice to have the extra money from the charter, or all the materials sent to you from the VA, but its such a huge pain. You have the meet with their teachers, show you are meeting their curric requirements, do state testing, wait on the teachers constantly, jump through their hoops. so i can just buy whatever curric we want now and we cant take any extra classes, but i love the freedom to do what we want. i dont want to meet with a teacher to show our work, or make my kids do state testing just to get money. with the charter you have to wait weeks to even get the materials you ask for anyway. plus if you are not a good match with the teacher you get you have to either deal with it or keep going through teachers in hopes of finding one you like. and you cannot even use anything religious at all and have it count. i am really tempted to try a charter again, but we have already bought our curric for the year (and i only spent about $300 for 3 of my kids.)

[ocelotmom]

Another thing to keep in mind about charter schools that offer funds is that you don't actually own supplies bought with school money, and will be expected to return non-consumable items (or consumable items that aren't used). Some are relatively lax about this - if you have another upcoming child that you'll be using it for, they'll let you hold onto it rather than having to store it themselves, and that sort of thing. However, many people find that the funds are best used for classes and consumables.

 

(As I said before, charter school policies vary. I'm pretty sure this is one is technically universal, though enforcement may be more variable.)

[momto2Cs]

We file the affidavit. It's the simplest way and I still retain complete freedom over curriculum, etc.

 

:iagree:

 

We did start with a charter school when ds was 5. We used that school for four years, happily, but then they began to change things up to "better meet state standards". :glare: So we finished out that year, and have filed on our own ever since. It is a very easy process, and I love that I can set the pace, tone, and curriculum myself.

[idnib]

We file the affidavit. It would be nice to have the money but I prefer more freedom for our family and we take pride in being a "private school." Everyone I personally know who did the charter school in our area has changed back to affidavits.

 

I think a lot of it has to do with your financial situation. We have 2 kids and can afford to homeschool them w/o the state money. But if someone has say 5 kids, if you enroll one and are having someone come over and check progress anyway, it's probably worth it to do them all and get the money.

[NancyNellen]

We file an affidavit. I'm not interested in having anyone oversee me. I feel confident in what we're doing without the help (and besides, I get all the help I need here!)

 

:iagree:

[Running the race]

We belong to a PSP. The group is like a large family and provides many activities/parties for the kids. I also have made life-long friends in the group. I am on the Board and we try to keep oversight requirements to a minimum.

[gracefor5]

We we're in a PSP in the beginning....it didn't fit us. We filed on our own for years and loved that. This is our first year in a public school charter and it's "all about the money, honey!" My kids have expensive extracurricular habits and some of them are covered by the charter. It's a little help that has given Dh and I a little breathing room;). I would like to occasionally go out to dinner or maybe, dare I say it, have a vacation. Call me selfish.

[fraidycat]

We file an affidavit. I'm not interested in having anyone oversee me. I feel confident in what we're doing without the help (and besides, I get all the help I need here!)

 

:iagree:. To be completely honest, I'm too lazy to jump through somebody else's hoops. ;)

[Crimson Wife]

you cannot even use anything religious at all and have it count.

 

You can use religious materials if you buy them out-of-pocket, you just can't turn in any work samples from those. And you have to know how to log the work you've done in a way that doesn't raise any red flags. So if I'm using Seton's Reading Comprehension 5 for Young Catholics, I log that as just plain Reading Comprehension 5.

[MyLittleWonders]

We have always filed our own affidavit. I much prefer it that way. :)

[Chrysalis Academy]

We file a PSA. One word: Freedom!

[Shellers]

Last year was our first year homeschooling and went with this PSP. No testing or meetings are required.

 

This year I'm going to file a PSA to save money. :)

[SkateLeft]

We lived in CA up until three years ago.

 

We were enrolled in the home study division of a site based classical charter school, because where we lived in northern CA, there were only two local homeschool communities. One consisted of unschoolers, and the other was for conservative Evangelical Protestants. We didn't fit in to either, so the charter school was a great source of community for us. We did file the affidavit one year, with the intention of homeschooling, but after a very lonely first semester, we went back to our charter school.

 

Our charter did not offer a stipend like most homeschool charters in CA. We choose all of our own curriculum (and I paid for it), and we set our own goals. Because it was a site based school, we had access to on-campus resources and classes, like Latin, Great Books and violin. Our advisor became like a member of our family. We adore her, and still keep in touch. Over the course of 9 years, I called all the shots and our advisor told me how brilliant I was. It worked out well. :D

 

I've homeschooled independently since we moved to MN three years ago, and there's no difference between what I do now, and what I did as part of our CA charter.

[justme824]

We were with a charter for the first two years. Pulled out 2-days before the STAR testing as I was just over and done with all the hoop jumping and figured there was no need to make thems it through the test knowing I was going to pull out anyway. I was told some things were changing the next year and got a little flavor of the changes. No thank you!

 

We have been private since and love it. Freedom :)

 

In a way I wish I had done it sooner and saved all the headache & time of preparing learning records to meet with our education specialist. Not to mention the writing samples and pre/post year testing we had to endure. Ugh.

 

Freedom would be my choice if you can swing it for sure.

[Juliegmom]

I filed my PSA and think I will enjoy the freedom! :001_smile:

[momto2Cs]

I filed my PSA and think I will enjoy the freedom! :001_smile:

 

:hurray: and :cheers2:

[Carol in Cal.]

We joined a site based homeschooling support public school that had a huge library of curricular and other materials and offered onsite enrichment classes, in the Santa Cruz mountains (lovely natural setting). This was mostly because DD was an only child, and I did not feel that it was right to homeschool her in isolation. This particular program was extraordinarily respectful of parents in their roles as teachers, and regarded us as the experts and boss, a position I heartily endorse.

 

When that program closed, some of the teachers we knew went into a public charter ISP, and so we went with them. Although the ISP was fairly restrictive, by then I knew how to assert myself, and was able to use it to our benefit and minimize the effects of the restrictions to the point where they really did not influence our teaching at all (just the reporting, and we also mostly did the CA state testing.)

 

However, it is crucial to understand that if the option of homeschooling completely independently did not exist, I would not have been nearly as able to assert myself in those settings. I understand that fully, and for that reason I lobby and advocate for parental rights to educate their children as they see fit, and against (frequently) proposed government restrictions on that.

[JennW in SoCal]

Could you please share your reasons why you chose either an umbrella school or filed a private school affadavit? This is our first year homeschooling. My older girls are covered under their charter school, but I'm not sure how I want to go about filing for my 2nd grader. Any advice? Thank you!!!

 

We did both over the years. In the elementary grades it was the affidavit. No muss, no fuss. In the middle school years our needs changed so we joined a charter in order for one to have outside accountability and for the other to get the outside classes he enjoyed.

 

One of mine graduated from the charter, but we went back to the affidavit with the other. Most of the local high schoolers I know wound up in a charter, partly because the parents needed the support, partly because the teens wanted the social aspect of classes and clubs. The other compelling reason for a charter in high school is if the charter is WASC accredited, meaning it offers a transcript and diploma accepted by the UCs and State system. Things may change greatly over the next 10 years, but for my kids and their peers, the only direct route to a UC was through graduating from a charter. (Of course, the only kids I know who eventually went to a UC went to CC first, even after graduating from a charter! The kids who went straight to a 4 year, like mine, all went out of state to private LACs.)

[Mekanamom]

Affidavit this year!

 

We started out over 10 years ago filing the affidavit... Then used a virtual charter school at home for a number of years while it fit our needs. Last year, two of my kids went to a site-based charter school that used the same curriculum we used at home (K12)... Worked fine for one child and not as well for the other.

 

Now my two older children are attending the local high school. (So they can participate in marching band, which they LOVE.)

 

And my youngest is back home. I've got my curriculum pulled together and we don't need the virtual charter school this year, so the affidavit it is. :)

 

However, since all my kids have taken the Star tests every year for so long, I would like to find a way for my privately homeschooled child to continue to take the tests, if only to compare to previous years. Does anyone know what I would need to do to have her participate in the state testing?

[LAmom]

We file the affidavit. It's easy, it's free and it's once a year. If ever the affidavit system came under fire, I would join an umbrella. But until or unless that happens, an umbrella just looks like extra paperwork and expense to me.

 

 

:iagree: Exactly my thoughts. Perhaps when I need better record keeping for high school I'll use a charter. But for now I just can't justify the cost. I'm not interested in field trips with groups either.

[shinyhappypeople]

You can use religious materials if you buy them out-of-pocket, you just can't turn in any work samples from those. And you have to know how to log the work you've done in a way that doesn't raise any red flags. So if I'm using Seton's Reading Comprehension 5 for Young Catholics, I log that as just plain Reading Comprehension 5.

 

:iagree: We're using CLE's Language Arts for older DD. My ES (Ed. Specialist) just had me find a "secular" page with no religious references and turn that in. I could have just as easily printed out something from Teacher Filebox and used that as a sample instead of using her CLE work, though.

 

Having said that, I can't stand the hoops older DD is required to jump through based on her low test scores, so we're 99% sure we're going to pull her out this spring.

 

Unless you really NEED the money (and, we do) I'd file a PSA.

[BlueTaelon]

:iagree: We're using CLE's Language Arts for older DD. My ES (Ed. Specialist) just had me find a "secular" page with no religious references and turn that in. I could have just as easily printed out something from Teacher Filebox and used that as a sample instead of using her CLE work, though.

 

Having said that, I can't stand the hoops older DD is required to jump through based on her low test scores, so we're 99% sure we're going to pull her out this spring.

 

Unless you really NEED the money (and, we do) I'd file a PSA.

 

 

Even then I'd think HARD. Last years charter was really nice, only thing I didn't like was the fact that STAR testing was down in LA which ends up being about 7 hours of driving each day and the stress of if you miss 2 meetings for what ever reason that year your dropped from the program (we got hit with the flu for the 1st meeting then again at the end of the year and missed STAR testing and had to appeal right then to be allowed to attend the make up session without being dropped from the program. (They issued you $1,600 in funds so the trade off was worth it when you use $$$$ stuff)

 

This year it wasn't an option, since we use so much K12 stuff I figured we would try the VA option again. We lasted a bit under 2 weeks, yep, seriously unhappy with the requirements and crap CAVA adds in. So today I filed a PSA without even looking at another charter.

[Juliegmom]

High school students in California charter schools must also take and pass the CAHSEE (exit exam) to receive a diploma.

[Ellie]

High school students in California charter schools must also take and pass the CAHSEE (exit exam) to receive a diploma.

Yet another reason to file a PSA as a private homeschooler. :)

[BlueTaelon]

Yet another reason to file a PSA as a private homeschooler. :)

 

 

One thing I've wondered is, how does that hold water for a job? Someone who quit school could simple say "I was homeschooled" I had to show an actual diploma from an accredited high school when applying for some jobs.

[Ellie]

One thing I've wondered is, how does that hold water for a job? Someone who quit school could simple say "I was homeschooled" I had to show an actual diploma from an accredited high school when applying for some jobs.

Not once have I ever had to show an actual diploma for a job. That includes the stock brokerage firm where I had to be bonded.

 

Not once has any employer asked whether the school I graduated from was accredited.

 

Not all public schools in California are accredited.

 

Thousands of homeschooled grads have gone on to hold all sorts of jobs, including the military, with the diplomas issued to them by their parents.

[BlueTaelon]

Not once have I ever had to show an actual diploma for a job. That includes the stock brokerage firm where I had to be bonded.

 

Not once has any employer asked whether the school I graduated from was accredited.

 

Not all public schools in California are accredited.

 

Thousands of homeschooled grads have gone on to hold all sorts of jobs, including the military, with the diplomas issued to them by their parents.

 

2 different jobs I applied for that I can think of required it, one was a non profit working with special needs families and the other was a gov contractor.

[J9Mommy]

We file the affidavit. It's the simplest way and I still retain complete freedom over curriculum, etc.

 

:iagree:

[Ellie]

2 different jobs I applied for that I can think of required it, one was a non profit working with special needs families and the other was a gov contractor.

That does not make the argument, however, that a high school diploma which does not come from an accredited school is worthless. There is still the great cloud of witnesses I mentioned who who did not need a diploma from an accredited school. IOW, your two jobs do not trump the thousands of others.

[Juliegmom]

I see the exam as another hoop to jump through, but this is our first year homeschoolong and I don't feel confident to teach high school on my own. Maybe we will get there. I'm loving the freedom of choosing my own curruculum for my 2nd grader! Thankful for so many choices! :)