Any New Yorkers out there?

[Journey]

I haven't done my IHIP yet and I think I'm freaking out. My school distict is very "easy" when it comes to homeschooling. I don't put down how many hours I teach or anything like that. I was just going to do my IHIP showing Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, Health, Music and Physical Education. Someone on another local homeschooling board said there is something in the regs (which I read but don't understand) where it says there needs to be three units of electives. What in the world is an elective? HELP!!!

 

Thanks.

 

As you can tell by my ignorance, we are very, very laid back homeschoolers and have been since the day we started 5 years ago.

[LisaNY]

I haven't done my IHIP yet and I think I'm freaking out. My school distict is very "easy" when it comes to homeschooling. I don't put down how many hours I teach or anything like that. I was just going to do my IHIP showing Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, Health, Music and Physical Education. Someone on another local homeschooling board said there is something in the regs (which I read but don't understand) where it says there needs to be three units of electives. What in the world is an elective? HELP!!!

 

Thanks.

 

As you can tell by my ignorance, we are very, very laid back homeschoolers and have been since the day we started 5 years ago.

 

Technically, a "unit" is equal to 6,480 minutes of instruction. The units required for grades 9-12 are *cumulative*, so you don't have to do three electives per *year*.

 

An elective could be a foreign language, or any other course that is outside of the required courses.

[Journey]

Thank you so very much! Phew! I think we can handle that! Now, how long is 6,480 minutes of instruction usually? Like I said, I've never recorded my hours and it hasn't been a problem, I don't know why this "unit" thing is throwing me off so much, it never mattered before but now I'm all scared!

 

Thanks.

[Myra]

If you've been home schooling for 5 years and sending in all your paperwork in New York.....and the District hasn't questioned it...then I say don't sweat it as you are doing what you are required to do already! I never list minutes or units. I just check out the basic regulations that say what is required sometime in grades 9-12, or 7-8, 1-6 (since that's the way the states list grade level requirements) and make sure I list those on my IHIP and whatever else I'm doing, too!

[Peek a Boo]

Thank you so very much! Phew! I think we can handle that! Now, how long is 6,480 minutes of instruction usually? Like I said, I've never recorded my hours and it hasn't been a problem, I don't know why this "unit" thing is throwing me off so much, it never mattered before but now I'm all scared!

 

Thanks.

 

6,480/ 60 = 108 hours.

 

If you are following a typical 36 week schedule, that equals 3 hours per week.

 

If they spend 3 hours every week at the stables/ ice rink/ sports practice/ speech and debate/ art/ computer stuff/ or cooking, etc, then you will MORE than cover the requirement. You can offer a half credit of many electives to get the three credits of electives.

 

So if they spend one hour a week cooking, one hour practicing computer skills [typing, formatting documents, programming, etc], and an hour doing some other activity, you will EASILY have your three units by the time they graduate.

 

Just find something they are already doing and write it in.

 

In NY, they can't ask to see EVIDENCE of that work. You have to provide a PLAN for it, and they can request an attendance record for the whole school program, but they don't have authorization to require proof unless your yearly assessment fails completely. And your yearly assessment in highschool is a basic test, right? ;) They'll just have to take your word that your student is completing the electives you wrote down :D

[ChrisN in NY]

I haven't done my IHIP yet and I think I'm freaking out. My school distict is very "easy" when it comes to homeschooling. I don't put down how many hours I teach or anything like that. I was just going to do my IHIP showing Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, Health, Music and Physical Education. Someone on another local homeschooling board said there is something in the regs (which I read but don't understand) where it says there needs to be three units of electives. What in the world is an elective? HELP!!!

 

Thanks.

 

As you can tell by my ignorance, we are very, very laid back homeschoolers and have been since the day we started 5 years ago.

 

Journey,

 

An elective is any course beyond those required for graduation.

 

According to the NY Homeschool Regs, a student must have the following cumulative units in grades 9 to 12:

four units (basically four years) of English,

four of Social Studies including one of American History, and 1/2 (one semester) each of Economics and Government,

two of math,

two of science,

one in art and/or music,

1/2 in health,

two in PE,

and three electives.

 

 

Any course that is beyond the other above requirements is an elective. If, for example, your child take four years of math and four years of science, he has the required two units in each category, plus 4 total electives.

 

Peek's suggestions are also very good:

 

If they spend 3 hours every week at the stables/ ice rink/ sports practice/ speech and debate/ art/ computer stuff/ or cooking, etc, then you will MORE than cover the requirement. You can offer a half credit of many electives to get the three credits of electives.

 

So if they spend one hour a week cooking, one hour practicing computer skills [typing, formatting documents, programming, etc], and an hour doing some other activity, you will EASILY have your three units by the time they graduate.

 

HTH!

[Myra]

What tests have you folks been using for the end-of-year test for high school in New York? I have one entering grade 9 in the Fall and was wondering if I should just continue the CAT tests? Do SATs, ACTs, PSATs, etc count?

[Peek a Boo]

What tests have you folks been using for the end-of-year test for high school in New York? I have one entering grade 9 in the Fall and was wondering if I should just continue the CAT tests? Do SATs, ACTs, PSATs, etc count?

 

 

ok, I'm not in NY --I was exiled there for 4.5 years before finding my way home back to TX, lol.

 

But while I was there, I learned a LOT via NYHEN's email yahoogroup.

 

You can see a list of NY State-approved tests for homeschoolers here:

 

http://nyhen.org/RegsSum.htm

 

you can ask on their yahoogroup if there have been any changes.

 

good luck!

[Journey]

You guys are so great! Thank you everybody for all of the great information.

[Kimberleigh]

I've used the CAT test for the past two years and plan to continue it through high school. The kids are familiar with it and it gives us something to use for comparison each year. It's also a no-brainer -- we put music on in the background and chips on the table while they're taking the test, just to keep the pressure off.

 

As far as electives, if your child is studying a foreign language, you're covered. There's no foreign language requirement for NY homeschoolers, so that counts as an "elective" for their purposes. They also need only minimal art/music, so if they do anything beyond that minimum, you can count those as electives. If your child wants to studying something beyond the standard curriculum -- SCUBA diving or utopian thought or zoology, just about anything -- that can also be an elective.

 

Our district is a stickler for some things and easy about others. They've never questioned my IHIPs, and I'm pretty minimal on them (usually just a list of some of the books we'll use in each subject, with no promise to cover all of it and all subject to change as the year progresses). But when I tried to submit the kids' SATs (taken through the Johns Hopkins CTY program) as their annual assessment, I was told we couldn't use it because it wasn't a grade-level test. They couldn't wrap their heads around the idea that scoring well on a beyond grade-level test was probably a good indicator that they'd mastered what they needed at grade level. Thus our need to spend a day taking the CAT test.