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If you live in TN, GA, or SC, how are the homeschooling laws?


athomemom
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We lived in TN up til almost 3 years ago. There are a few different ways to follow the attendance law. I think you can register with the county, but I don't know what the requirements are if you do that.

 

You can register with a Church Related School (CRS) that would serve as your umbrella school. We chose The Farm & HomeLife Academy (not at the same time). Then you are under their supervision and follow their rules- very simple. Find an umbrella school that aligns with the amount of "intervention" you are comfortable with (see the 2 above :001_smile:).

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GA is simple. YOu must submit a Declaration of Intest by September 1 or within 30 days of starting your program. Adult must be a HS grad or equiv. Program should include the regular basics but not be limited to the basics. 180 days of instruction. They just changed from submitting attendance every month to once a year on the last day of instruction. Forms are submitted to the State instead of the local School Board.

 

Student must take a standardized test every 3 years starting in 3rd grade (results are for your records only). Write a summary of the school year (for your records only).

 

It was easy to follow the rules before and it's easier this year since they've changed record submission to annually instead of monthly.

 

Here's the info from the State: http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Pages/Home-Schools.aspx

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We lived in TN up til almost 3 years ago. There are a few different ways to follow the attendance law. I think you can register with the county, but I don't know what the requirements are if you do that.

 

You can register with a Church Related School (CRS) that would serve as your umbrella school. We chose The Farm & HomeLife Academy (not at the same time). Then you are under their supervision and follow their rules- very simple. Find an umbrella school that aligns with the amount of "intervention" you are comfortable with (see the 2 above :001_smile:).

 

 

If you register with the TN local school system (and don't register with a charter), you have to file your course of study, grades, and attendance with the district, and certain grades require testing. Theoretically, if your child is below level and doesn't have an IEP, you have to do a remediation plan, but in practice it's rare for that to happen simply because it's so hard to be below grade level in TN. Participation in public school activities is left up to the individual school, which usually says "no", IME. IEP services, testing and the like are open whether you're a legal homeschooler or if your child is registered with an umbrella school (legally, if your child is in an umbrella school, you're not a homeschooler. Potato, potato.)

 

I go with a CRS because I prefer to be able to file records online. I taught with the local school system before DD was born, and I wouldn't trust them to feed her pet snake frequently enough to keep the creature alive (and she only needs to eat every 10 days or so). They have a real gift for losing and scrambling records. Paying a little money each year to make recordkeeping easy and to have someone else make sure the i's are dotted and t's are crossed is worth it.

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We lived in TN up til almost 3 years ago. There are a few different ways to follow the attendance law. I think you can register with the county, but I don't know what the requirements are if you do that.

 

You can register with a Church Related School (CRS) that would serve as your umbrella school. We chose The Farm & HomeLife Academy (not at the same time). Then you are under their supervision and follow their rules- very simple. Find an umbrella school that aligns with the amount of "intervention" you are comfortable with (see the 2 above :001_smile:).

 

I agree. TN is pretty easy, but it's the only state I have homeschooled in. I think using a CRS (church related school) allows more flexibility and independence than going through the state/county. Homelife Academy makes things pretty simple and everything is online.

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GA is simple. YOu must submit a Declaration of Intest by September 1 or within 30 days of starting your program. Adult must be a HS grad or equiv. Program should include the regular basics but not be limited to the basics. 180 days of instruction. They just changed from submitting attendance every month to once a year on the last day of instruction. Forms are submitted to the State instead of the local School Board.

 

Student must take a standardized test every 3 years starting in 3rd grade (results are for your records only). Write a summary of the school year (for your records only).

 

It was easy to follow the rules before and it's easier this year since they've changed record submission to annually instead of monthly.

 

Here's the info from the State: http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Pages/Home-Schools.aspx

 

 

And I promise, OP, it is simpler than it sounds. I've told people before and they said it sounded like a lot. It really is easy peasy.

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Sounds like GA is similar to SC. If you've looked it up you know that there are three options as far as accountability goes--through the school district, the South Carolina Association of Independent Homeschoolers or a "third option group". We use a third option group and attendance is sent in once a year and a portfolio of sample work along with a progress report and end of the year report are to be kept on file.

 

HTH

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We are also in SC and chose Third Option. It costs me $40 a yr for both of my kids. I keep a planner with attendance and a little snippet of what we do each day. Once a year I have to sign an online form that states I followed the rules of the State and taught subjects comparable to what is taught in public school.The planner is kept at home, I don't have to submit it to anyone and there is no mandatory testing.

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And I promise, OP, it is simpler than it sounds. I've told people before and they said it sounded like a lot. It really is easy peasy.

 

I probably made it sound like a lot. It's not.

 

For thios year I did the Intent form over the computer. Gave student names and ages and sent. There is nothing else to do until we finish our 180 days. We do school.

 

We use a homeschool group for the testing. They charge us about $60 to administer the Iowa test around May. Only every third year is needed but I like to see how ds compares knowing we're not following the typical progression. We've tested every year.

 

So, I did a sheet in August. We'll test around May. And I'll send in attendance once. That's it for the year.

 

Jim

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