Homeschool World Forum

dakeeper · User Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 6 Location: NC

which are the hardest/easiest states to homeschool?
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~Angie~
wife to Wayne
Mom to Dylan(6) and Alayna(2)

elliemaejune

In my mind "easy" means no interaction/accountability with any government official.

New Jersey, Oklahoma (which has homeschooling written into its constitution), Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Connecticut, and Alaska don't require any accountability (other than possibly notifying someone that hsing will be taking place). They have specific laws about hsing (except OK, as noted).

Missouri doesn't have requirements for testing, but people are supposed to keep logs: "Maintain records of subjects taught, activities engaged in, samples of the child's academic work and evaluations or a credible equivalent, and a written log showing the hours required under "attendance." This brings it down a notch IMHO, especially as I've read comments on many discussion boards about counting those hours.

Texas has a court case deciding that homeschoolers are the equivalent of private schools, and private schools are not regulated at all. Woohoo!

California doesn't have a court case or any laws. It does, however, have a very vague private school law, which only requires that private schools file an annual notice that a private school is in existence. This is the option that most hsers take. (Some enroll their dc in private schools which only enroll hsed students, sort of umbrella school.) There is some language about subjects and teacher requirements and whatnot, but since people would have to work really hard *not* to cover the "required" subjects, they're not even worth talking about, lol. I include California with the easy states.

These are the states that top my list of "easy."

The hardest states: New York, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. They all require some combination of testing, lots of record keeping, and approval. Now, there are many hsers in those states, and they manage to deal with it; but I have often thought that if I had lived and hsed in one of those, I'd have been the first test case, lol.

All the other states have varying, middle-of-the-road requirements, some of which make you scratch your head but which are not nearly as invasive and restrictive as the hardest states.

arewethereyet · User Joined: 26 Feb 2007 Posts: 5

I have homeschooled in Missouri and now in Louisiana. Missouri can be a bookkeeping nightmare, especially if you are as precise as I am. I was keeping track of hours during summer vacations. UGH! We moved to Louisiana where you must notify the state each year you hs. There are two options here. We are doing the private school option where there is no testing, only 180 days per year. This has easied my paperwork tremendously. You can check out www.hslda.org which will give you an overview of state requirements.

dakeeper · User Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 6 Location: NC

thsnks i was just curious Smile

NC is pretty easy in my mind..
_________________
~Angie~
wife to Wayne
Mom to Dylan(6) and Alayna(2)

Calla_Dragon · User Joined: 22 Jan 2007 Posts: 212

Minnesota is pretty easy, but they have some pretty seemingly arbitrary requirements. Two of them being:

1) If a teacher's only qualification for teaching is being the child's parent, quarterly report cards must be submitted. Reports do not need to be submitted if the teacher holds a bachelor's degree. Fortunately I do have a degree and will have more than a bachelor's degree soon, but seriously, what's a bachelor's degree got to do with your ability to homeschool your child? Studies have shown the parent's education level has nothing to do with the quality of education the child receives and the achievement level of the child.

2) Yearly standardized testing is required but results do not need to be submitted to the superintendent. Umm, ok, why even bother mandating testing then if the results are not required to be submitted? I also understand from other homeschoolers here that school officials cannot ask to see the test results either. Seems like an empty mandate to me.

Other than that we're pretty unrestricted. We're not required to keep attendance records or show instruction for a set number of days or hours per year. Like any other state, the teacher's unions here are constantly trying to pass laws that further restrict our freedoms and those laws keep getting pounded down by the homeschooling community so our laws have been fairly consistent for the last several years or so.
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To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

momo3boys · User Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 574 Location: Western Mass

Massachusetts isn't that hard, it's just that it depends on where you live, i live in a regional school district, so that means that one person is in charge of keeping track of all the homeschoolers in FIVE towns! there is no way that this one person can do much more than keep track of who is doing this, nevermind what they are doing and how they are doing. Basically I notify in September, and then I keep a portfolio which no one has ever asked to see. It all depends on where you live. I know that the eastern part of the state is much harder, but they have more people to keep track of all the homeschoolers.
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Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

4given · User Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 735 Location: S.Indiana

We may be the easiest state around...Here's the jist:

1.Child must be given instruction equiv. to that given in ps. State does not have authority to define "equivalent instruction."

2. Law allows the operation of hs and essentially deems it a private school; defines a school as "a place where instruction is imparted...number of persons...does not make it any less or any more a school."

3. Parents must keep an attendance record to verify the enrollment and attendance of child upon request of state.

4. If requested, the hs (private school) must furnish the number of children by grade level attending the school.

Teacher qualifications: None
Standardized Tests: Not required by statutes

There ya have it. Absolutely no registration required in Indiana.
It's been very interesting reading about diff. laws across the world.Thanks.

Sheila

iamnettie · Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 8:59 pm Post subject:

To me Missouri is VERY easy...because you don't have to ever give your records to anyone so they can be a detailed as you want. The law is sooo terribly written (which to me is a blessing) that it leaves tons of room for interpretation.
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The Ultimate Home Schooling Record Book

groovyhsmama · Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:58 pm Post subject:

mdsmomct · User Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 46 Location: CT

CT is easy. If your child has never been in school you do not have to tell anyone anything. You may "CHOOSE" to file a notice of intent but it is not required. Other than that they leave you alone and they have a bill that should hopefully be passed this summer making it easier to withdraw kids from school.

wrightno · User Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 32

FLORIDA IS I THINK THE EASIEST STATE TO HOMESCHOOL
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natasha w.

MelN2LilMen · User Joined: 25 Mar 2007 Posts: 22

Here in NJ you pretty much don't have to do anything: no reporting, no testing, no notification. I wish this state were less expensive and less densely populated and I would stay here for just that reason.

Instead, I'm researching other lenient homeschooling states to move to.
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Mel N 2 Lil Men

Arif · User Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

Natasha,
Can you elaborate on why you think Florida is easy? We are starting to homeschool and thinking about using Florida as our base for hs. Thanks

iamnettie · Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:39 am Post subject:

I am in Missouri and I agree it is easy. The only person that can request to see you records is your County's Prosecuting attorney, and they have bigger fish to fry then deal with a homeschooling family. I just keep a notebook with our stuff written in them.
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The Ultimate Home Schooling Record Book

ncmom · User Joined: 13 Jul 2007 Posts: 324 Location: Eastern NC

NC is pretty easy. You have to name your school and send in an intent form to the Dept of nonpublic education and you have to test every year but the parents can choose which test to use and administer the test, and there are no records to keep other than attendance (yea right where else would they be) and they just have to be kept in the home. You don't have to send in anything to the state, your schedule is your choice, your curriculum is your choice. In fact I haven't heard anything from the state other than a yearly postcard asking if my school is still open since I started.

Before we lived here I lived in IL and where my sister-in-law HS her kids and she didn't have to do anything.