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Tell me about homeschooling in Florida


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Dh is considering a potential relocation. I'd like to hear about how homeschooling works and actually educational stuff in general--can kids enroll part time in public schools? Participate in extracurriculars there? Are there good dual enrollment options that are inexpensive?

 

What do you love about the state? What is hard?

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2 options for homeschooling - registering with the county or using an umbrella school.

 

County registration

  can participate in extracurriculars at the schools starting in 6th grade (not academic classes unless it's related to the extracurricular, like band class)

    some elementary schools will allow participation, but it is up to the individual school

  dual enrollment is free (have to pay for your own books)

  have to keep a portfolio - can be checked at any time with 2-week notice (this is very rare)

  annual evaluation (standardized test or in person eval. - both have to be signed off by FL Certified teacher)

 

Umbrella school

  technically you will be with a private school - so the director of the umbrella can set the rules of what they expect

  can be free (Florida Unschoolers) or paid

  dual enrollment is not free (there are rare exceptions to this)

 

Florida Virtual School 

  can use this as long as you are a resident

  full time - you are a public school student

  flex - can take 1 to 6 classes with the school without having to take the EOC exams

  offers AP, foreign lang., and IT certification classes (even the cert exams are free after you pass the class)

 

Bright Futures

  This is the FL scholarship program and can be applied for by all students, but qualifications are different for homeschoolers (SAT/ACT scores have to be higher)

  Rules change for this almost yearly - so you have to keep up with this

 

Homeschool association - FPEA (Florida Parent Educator Assoc) - very informative website

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Homeschooling in FL is awesome And all info above is correct

 

You can receive any special services at the local school up to their discretion and

They always help (speech therapy for example)

 

The school is required by law to allow your child to pArticpiat in Any and every after school club, sport, or activity. If band has a class during the school day and practice after school you'd have to check with the school though. Most middle school band classes in FL are after school though

 

Most colleges there are very homeschool friendly and accept home transcripts and look more at sat scores to validate student ability for homeschoolers

 

I live in an extremely unfriendly state now and I hate it and wish it was Like FL

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CinV gave a great overview!

 

I've found homeschooling here in FL to be quite simple. We are registered with our school district (registration is just a notice of intent, filed once--your annual eval is due on the anniversary of your notice of intent each year). I hang onto a few work samples in each subject area throughout the year, and have a portfolio eval done in the spring.

 

The superintendent of the district has the right to ask to see your portfolio at any time with 15 days' notice, but they cannot actually evaluate it--they can only check to confirm that you are following the law that says you are required to keep one (and the law is not very specific about what has to be in it). I've been told that in my county, the only time they request to see the portfolio is when the family has not submitted their annual evaluation.

 

If you're willing to share what part of Florida you're considering, people in that area can probably give you specifics about the homeschooling community there.

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Thanks to those who have responded!

 

Currently looking at the Fort Walton Beach area, but things are still very much up in the air.

 

We have a fabulous situation homeschooling wise in our current state--can participate in school extracurriculars, enroll part time in academic classes, enroll in virtual charter schools that allow families to choose their own curriculum and provide funding for outside classes and extracurriculars, enroll in the local Vo-Tech high school program, dual enroll in college (not free though unless students score high enough on the SAT/ACT for a scholarship). No record keeping or testing requirements if homeschooling independently. 

 

It's hard to beat :)

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FYI DO NOT enroll in any charters in FL...you do NOT want to do that...just FYI it's a very different situation there and if you join a charter you lose all your access to the local brick and mortal public school services, clubs, and after school activities.  You also will not be welcome in ANY homeschool groups, as they have fought loooooonnnnggg and hard to keep homeschooling awesome and easy, and part of doing that there is to keep charters out.  Also the cost of living is so low there that you can likely afford what you need without that extra level of beurocracy.  I think you will find that FL is almost as awesome as your current state. :)

 

(FYI in my current state it's a very different situation and I love and support all my charter homeschool friends so I am not overall anti-charter depending on the state and situation.)

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Yeah, around here enrolling in a charter does not lose you access to regular public school classes and extracurriculars. Also, things have just gotten better and more flexible for homeschoolers all around over the years--homeschool regulations have become easier not harder as access to public school resources have increased. It has all been win-win.

 

And it's a low cost of living area too. The only thing Florida really has on us is more sunshine and no state income tax (which would save a junk of money).

 

I have family in Florida, and dh badly wants to leave his current job. My older kids are also feeling antsy for new adventures--we've been a mobile family and they want to move on :)

 

Florida does sound like it has some great homeschooling opportunities and I'm sure I can organize myself enough to keep a portfolio. Does anyone do that digitally? If I don't have to keep physical copies of stuff I think I'll be fine--photos or scans are so much easier to store. (I'm terrible at paper organization)

Edited by maize
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I keep a digital record on One Note of our daily curriculum and books. I don't keep pictures there but I bet you could. I think taking pics and storing them would be fine. But you may want to double check with Florida state regs or county guidance.

 

The state is easy to homeschool in, COL is low, college support is good (duel enrollment, Florida scholar program to pay for some college). I've heard great things about Fl virtual school. Things are a little different for elementary school as far as extracurriculars at the school and virtual school (some depends on local school offerings).

 

There are many Fl colleges too.

 

ETA - you don't have to have a portfolio, you can do yearly standardized testing instead. But for my paper portfolio I just pile all work. Once a year I spend a couple hours pulling examples out. Probably if you did it every two months it would take ten min instead.

Edited by displace
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Florida Virtual School

can use this as long as you are a resident

full time - you are a public school student

flex - can take 1 to 6 classes with the school without having to take the EOC exams

offers AP, foreign lang., and IT certification classes (even the cert exams are free after you pass the class)

 

 

Can anyone speak to the quality of FVS courses?

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Can anyone speak to the quality of FVS courses?

I haven't used it personally but I've spoken to dozens of families who love it. They have part or full time, extracurriculars, clubs, languages, etc. Gifted kids can accelerate or have specialized classes somehow. The only reason we don't use it is DS is 2e and needs super specific and changeable curriculum.

Edited by displace
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I haven't used flvs, but have heard mixed reviews. Ranging from great classes, great teachers, to tons of busy work, politically one sided, and takes all day long. I did talk with them about gifted classes. They honestly sounded like more busy work... with the flex option you can accelerate through classes quicker, not with full time option.

 

Many of our high school friends start dual enrollment in tenth grade.

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Regarding portfolios: one thing that's neat is that legally you can do a virtual evaluation.  I email scans/photographs of work showing progress (for instance, a math worksheet from the beginning of the year and one from near the end) to our evaluator, plus a syllabus and booklist, and then we do a conference call.  So easy and convenient.

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Another plus in the "Yay Florida!" column is college. Florida's in-state tuition is one of the lowest in the country. Couple that with the generous Bright Futures scholarship and tuition is extremely reasonable, which is one of the reasons the major universities have a high percentage on in-state students. And they are decent schools as well.

 

We've taken a few FLVS classes, mainly for foreign language and math at the high school level. They are fine, I wouldn't say wonderful, but since they are free I think they are worth it! Not for every class, mind you, because they can be a lot of busy work, but to fill a class here and there, I'm satisfied.

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Also, not sure if it was stated, but dual enrollment is free for homeschool students. You do have to buy your own books (public school students don't)

 

My son is taking all his classes at the local community college this year. 

 

And when he first homeschooled he did take some classes at the public school. Also, my sister is a principal at a high school and it is VERY common for kids to take some classes at the high school and homeschool for the rest. And yes, they are eligible to play in public school sports, etc. 

 

We also have a state homeschool scholarship for kids with certain disabilities, including autism spectrum, that can be used to pay for homeschooling curricula. 

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Bright Futures

  This is the FL scholarship program and can be applied for by all students, but qualifications are different for homeschoolers (SAT/ACT scores have to be higher)

  Rules change for this almost yearly - so you have to keep up with this

 

Homeschool association - FPEA (Florida Parent Educator Assoc) - very informative website

 

Great overview. Just correcting the bit about Florida's Bright Futures scholarship: SAT/ACT scores for homeschoolers no longer have to be higher than public/private schoolers to qualify. The legislature amended that last year b/c we have an ah-mazing homeschool lobbyist. She is seriously wonderful. On top of legislation, present at committee meetings, works tirelessly to get Florida the great homeschooling laws we have. Brenda Dickinson. 

 

We have a fabulous situation homeschooling wise in our current state--can participate in school extracurriculars, enroll part time in academic classes, enroll in virtual charter schools that allow families to choose their own curriculum and provide funding for outside classes and extracurriculars, enroll in the local Vo-Tech high school program, dual enroll in college (not free though unless students score high enough on the SAT/ACT for a scholarship). No record keeping or testing requirements if homeschooling independently. 

 

It's hard to beat :)

 

Of your current benefits, Florida has

*participation in public school extracurriculars

*part time enrollment in classes

*free virtual school 

*free dual enrollment in colleges

 

We don't have virtual charters like you described. 

We do have to keep a log of work done and students either have to take a nationally normed test or have a present a portfolio to a certfied teacher. Test scores don't have to be turned in though. You can have the teacher document that the student is progressing commensurate with ability -- not grade level even -- ability. 

 

Can anyone speak to the quality of FVS courses?

 

Mixed. It's gotten much busier over the years, especially now that all public schoolers have to take one FLVS class to graduate. Because the teachers have a heavier load, there's less of a teacher-student relationship. The teachers will check up on the student and check in with the student, but in the old days, we got to really know the teacher and they knew the students. (we visited one in the hospital.) 

 

In our experience, the classes are get-R-done. Your student needs to be independently motivated. They can often take a fascinating subject and make it textbook boring. So while we've done APs and Latin I, II and III through FLVS, it's no longer a go-to resource for us. It's a last resort if we really need to check a box or need an accredited class in that subject area. 

 

I can't speak to the full-time elementary FLVS. We've only done the a la carte high school FLVS. 

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