Homeschool World Forum

Hi Track!

You could certainly take up homeschooling with your parents permission, but you would need to do it in accordance with the homeschooling laws for NY.

Unschooling and homeschooling are not one in the same. Homeschooling is being taught at home. Unschooling is a form of homeschooling that is child led and does not rely on traditional teaching methods. The parents do not tell the teacher what, how or when to study. Students learn as they follow their interests. As they grow older, they choose an academic path based on their goals. Unschooling relies heavily on trusting a student's natural desire to learn. Here's a description for you:

Unschooling

Unschooling is certainly an option, as long as the state criteria are met. Each state treats homeschooling differently. Here's where you can find a summary of the laws in your state:

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=NY

It sounds like you are very motivated to learn and anxious to begin taking control of your education.

Good luck!

To summarize the PDF linked from the above page:

Compulsory age: Until the last day of the school year in which you turn 16. You didn't mention your age, but I assume that will be around a year from now, at which point you won't need to worry about any of the legal requirements any more.

Required hours: 900 per year. This is a good deal higher than the US average, but keep in mind that almost anything can be counted as schooling with a little creativity - your daily chores could be considered home ec, for instance, and any physical activities could be phys ed. Take something you already do for fun and apply it to your required hours.

Required subjects: "English, social studies - including American history, participation in government, and economics - math, science, art or music, health, physical education, and electives... patriotism and citizenship, about substance abuse, traffic safety, fire safety." Again, a lot of categories, but some of them overlap, so fulfilling them shouldn't be impossible. The core subjects are required for entrance to college anyway.

Notice of intent: Submit by July 1, or within 14 days of starting homeschooling if July 1 is not conveniently placed.

Individualized Home Instruction Plan: Submit by August 15, or within 4 weeks of starting homeschooling. Must contain your name, age, grade level, a list of the syllabuses, curriculums, materials, etc. you're going to use, the dates you will submit your quarterly reports, and who will be the official "teacher" (in this case, one of your parents, but only for fulfilling the legal requirements).

Attendance: Must be kept for the last 180 days. Just keep a chart where you mark off x estimated hours per day, you don't have to be perfect or write down which subjects were covered in which hours.

Quarterly reports: Must contain the number of hours of instruction during the preceding quarter (just add up the numbers from your attendance chart), a brief description of the content covered for each subject, and a grade or evaluation for each subject (you can basically make these up based on how well you feel you did).

Teacher qualifications: None required, so long as all of the above regulations are fulfilled.

Annual assessment / standardized testing: Sent with the fourth quarterly report each year (the year dating from when you started homeschooling). Can be either a standardized test or assessment, administered by a certified teacher or another "qualified person" (see the PDF for more details). Since a standardized test is required every year in high school, may as well just take a standardized test. Allowed are: "...the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the California Achievement Test, the Stanford Achievement Test, the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, the Metropolitan Achievement Test, a State Education Department test, or another test approved by the State Education Department."

Wow, thank you guys - this is incredibly helpful to me!

I think I will definitely be taking the "Unschooling" route from here. But I wonder - do the "Homsechooling" rules apply to it, or are there different rules?

I lived abroad for a few years, and was placed in the same grade twice, so I am 16. Does this mean the information in that PDF file is irrelevant to me?

My biggest concern has to with higher education.
If I want to begin "Unschooling", how will I take the necessary exams to qualify for College education?

Thanks again!

Since you are 16 you do not need to do the paper work unless you want a certificate of completion. The certificate of completion is issued by the superintendent and is only issued if the paperwork is submitted until graduation. You can take the GED which I think you can do in NY at 16. You could also enroll in courses at Kingsboro inorder to fullfill the NYS requirements and get college credit.

Just so you know if you go the full unschooling route it might be a little more difficult to get into college. Most colleges are looking for the courses required for a Regents or Advanced Regents diploma. I am not saying it can not be done it is just more difficult. NYS does not neccessarily accept the online high schools so state schools may or may not take students who have completed their schooling using that method.

The tests that you would take for college credit are the CLEP tests. Here is the link http://www.collegeboard.com/student/tes ... about.html

Hope this helps.

Again, incredibly useful information. Thank you, mschickie.

But let me get this straight. I can drop out of school, start "unschooling", study by myself, and then just take the "CLEP" exams and get the college credit I need to get into the college of my choice?

Is it really that easy? What I need is to know precisely how to do two things - start unschooling, and get into college.

I believe you still need to notify the district of your intention. For College you would still need documentation of the courses you are studying and create a transcript. Not all colleges will accept homeschoolers but most will if you have the transcript.

Here is a link on some articles and tips for homeschoolers and college
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/Issues/C/College.asp

Here is an article on unschooling high school
http://www.homeschool.com/advisors/McKee/default.asp

I know you wanted to take the CLEP test, how are you planning to study for these? I am not as familar with unschooling as we are using traditional textbooks and courses for our 16yr old. I am sure it can be done. Do you know where you want to go to college and/or what you want to major in? If you know where you want to go you might want to talk to admissions and see what they suggest you study or take. Don't forget to take your SATs or ACTs too.

You can create your own independent study program using whatever materials you need. Just remember that 108 hrs of study is what is normally needed for 1 unit in NYS and 80 hrs for 1/2 a unit. So if you are making up a course for English that has your studying certain pieces of literature that you would need to complete approximately 108hrs to complete that unit. You might also want to keep track of what you are studying and the time incase a college asks for that information (it is rare but some admissions offices may).

Unschooling is more applicable to elementary school, imho - high school and preparation for college require somewhat more of a direct focus, and study of subjects you won't necessarily enjoy. What you should do is find out what coursework you need to complete to (a) graduate with a regular high school diploma and (b) get into the college of your choice, then cover the material and CLEP, AP, or DSST. The exception would be lab science courses, which are probably easier done at your local community college than at home. Also take the SAT and/or ACT (more than once if you don't do well the first time). Once you've done all this, and assuming you score well, you should have an excellent shot at scholarships. Test scores are test scores, colleges won't care that you homeschooled for the last few grades.

Regarding age - the law says "until the last day of the school year in which you turn 16", and since the next school year starts in September and you've already turned 16, you're good to go. No legal requirements.

So, if I get this correctly..

In order to get into a good college I need to get my letter of completion, which I will get by taking a single achievement test each year and submitting a work sheet, classifying and noting what I have been doing, and by taking other certain exams that anyone is eligable for - every those who "dropped out" of school.

Without the letter completion - how much harder will getting into the college of my choice be?

Is there a list of the exams I have to take in order to get into that college?

What you have provided helps me see the road ahead more clearly, but I still require someone who can draw me a correct path to make it to my destination. I am trying to do that myself, but there are too many obsticles and blank spaces. Hopefully the questions above will clear those and fill them in completely.

Oh, and thank you for your compliments. They mean a lot coming from a person I respect.

Do you have a particular college you are looking at? Depending on your SAT scores and your transcript most colleges will accept homeschoolers. CLEP tests are also accepted by most colleges. A letter of completion in NY is the equivalent of a diploma for almost all colleges. If you have a couple of schools you are interested in then it might help you focus on exactly what you need to study. Most colleges do not care if you were homeschooled, public or private schooled as long as you know the material and have the proper skills. Not having the official diploma should not prevent you from getting into college as long as you have completed the equivalent work.


As for exams that you need to take in order to obtain entrance to college you would either take the SAT or the ACT. Most schools will accept either but you need to check with the individual College or University. CLEP tests can be taken in 34 different areas http://www.collegeboard.com/student/tes ... exams.html
Many of the tests cover subjects that are required by NYS for high school so if are indepth with your studies you should be able to do ok on the tests.


Here is a link to a local district that has a good manual on homeschooling that you can download. It provides examples of the forms that need to be submitted so you can see what is involved. http://www.rhnet.org/vollmer.cfm?subpage=479

I think that pdf should answer most of your questions.