Question about keeping track of attendance

[kkapfe]

In our state we need to have 180 days of school. I want to try a new system with my daughter who takes forever to get school work done everyday. I'm thinking of giving her all the work that needs to get done for the week and telling her that she can do a little everyday or do some extra and earn a day or two off at the end of the week if she gets done early. How do I count this in her attendance? She would be getting all the required amount of work done the same as if she worked everday, but in fewer days. Does it matter how long she works everyday to count it as attending? I'm thinking that if she just does a read-aloud or something on the day off so that I can count her as "present" it will be enough. Any thoughts on this idea?

[Theodore]

Hmm. I'd say just figure out how many hours constitute the average "day", total up the hours for the week, and divide to arrive at the number of days you put in that week. If you feel that's not quite following the letter of the law, you can always have your daughter read part of a book on the off days.

Really though, the best way to homeschool is year-round, which means you would only need to put in about 3 1/2 days per week. You shouldn't have any problem doing this even if your daughter is a bit irregular in her schedule.

[elliemaejune]

In our state we need to have 180 days of school. I want to try a new system with my daughter who takes forever to get school work done everyday. I'm thinking of giving her all the work that needs to get done for the week and telling her that she can do a little everyday or do some extra and earn a day or two off at the end of the week if she gets done early. How do I count this in her attendance? She would be getting all the required amount of work done the same as if she worked everday, but in fewer days. Does it matter how long she works everyday to count it as attending? I'm thinking that if she just does a read-aloud or something on the day off so that I can count her as "present" it will be enough. Any thoughts on this idea?

You're in Illinois? Well, no, you don't have to have 180 days. The law is 176 days for *public schools,* not private or home schools.

Here is HSLDA's Legal Analysis for Illinois:
http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Illinois.pdf

[Theodore]

Good catch, I didn't think to check that. You may also be interested in the Summary of Compulsory Attendance Law in Illinois from Christian Home Educators Coalition.