Homeschool World Forum

Theodore · Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:52 am Post subject: Missouri Homeschool Law

http://www.chef-missouri.com/LegislativeFrame.html

Synopsis:

You're required to school (or homeschool) your child from ages 7-16, except when:

1) The child is mentally or physically incapacitated
2) The child is 14-16 years of age and employed
3) The child is 5-7 years of age and a written request for removal is submitted

The course of study must offer at least one thousand hours of instruction, at least six hundred hours of which will be in reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies and science or academic courses that are related to the aforementioned subject areas and consonant with the pupil’s age and ability. At least four hundred of the six hundred hours shall occur at the regular home school location.

A homeschool should keep the following as evidence, or equivalent:

1) A plan book, diary, or other written record indicating subjects taught and activities engaged in, and...
2) A portfolio of samples of the child's academic work, and...
3) A record of evaluations of the child's academic progress

The production by a parent of a daily log showing that a home school has a course of instruction which satisfies the requirements of this section shall be a defense to any prosecution under this section and to any change of action brought pursuant to chapter 210, RSMo. 167.042:

A letter of intent should be submitted yearly:
(EDIT: As pointed out below, this is optional...)

For the purpose of minimizing unnecessary investigations due to reports of truancy, each parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child who causes his child to attend regularly a home school may provide to the recorder of deeds of the county where the child legally resides, a signed, written declaration of enrollment stating their intent for the child to attend a home school within thirty days after the establishment of the home school and by September first annually thereafter. The name and age of each child attending the home school, the address and telephone number of the home school, the name of each person teaching in the home school, and the name , address and signature of each person making the declaration of enrollment shall be included in said notice. A declaration of enrollment to provide a home school shall not be cause to investigate violations of section 167.031. The recorder of deeds may charge a service cost of not more than one dollar for each notice filed.
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homeleader · User Joined: 14 Nov 2005 Posts: 1 Location: MO

In response to the letter of intent part, this is NOT required by law! As a state wide homeschool organization leader and in contact with the Homeschool Legal Defense crew we both highly recommend against turning this paper work in. This is just another way for the government to try to keep up with us and eventually turn on us and require to have us sign this no matter what.<br>

If your child is in the public school you need to write a letter to the superintendent letting them know that you are removing them from the school system and are responsible for his/her schooling. But other than that you don't need to do anything in the state of MO as far as letting anyone know you are homeschooling.<br>

I hope this helps. For more information go to our website at http://www.match-inc.org or HSLDA's http://www.hslda.org. <br>
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Theodore · Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 5:53 pm Post subject: Thanks for clearing that up...

I stand corrected.

For the purpose of minimizing unnecessary investigations due to reports of truancy...

The yearly letter is of course optional, if you feel it would violate your privacy. HSLDA is the expert here.

For further reading beyond the above:

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/MO/default.asp
http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=MO
http://www.fhe-mo.org/law.php

And I'd add a link to MATCH's Missouri law page, but I can't figure out where it is on your site.
_________________
The Farming Game - Software Edition for Mac and PC
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

sweetpea · User Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Missouri

For the plan book/diary that Missouri requires, I have printed off log sheets on which to record the time my son spends daily on each subject, and whether it is core or non-core, home or away from home, etc. but...how detailed should I be?

For example, is "MATH" Core/Home 2 hours and "SOCIAL STUDIES" Core/Home 2 hours sufficient OR should I put "MATH/Polygons" Core/Home 2 hours and "SOCIAL STUDIES/The American Revolution" Core/Home 2 hours??

I am keeping a more in-depth journal of his studies/activities (for our own purposes) just not sure how much info. needs to go on these log sheets.

Thanks for any help!

Theodore · Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 1:46 pm Post subject: Re: Log Book for Missouri

All the log book has to show is that your son is putting in x number of hours in each subject at the proper level for his age and ability. That means you need to include a grade level (7th Grade Mathematics) or topic (Algebra 1/2), but you probably don't need to go into specifics (Properties of Fractions).

You can, of course, always contact the school board to get the official word on what they're looking for. just make sure to get that in writing, or it's not much use as evidence later.
_________________
The Farming Game - Software Edition for Mac and PC
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

sweetpea · User Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Missouri

Martha · User Joined: 28 Oct 2006 Posts: 10

Is there someone we have to contact at the end of the school year? When keeping these records...is there someone to turn them in to? or is it just in case you are investigated? Thanks
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Martha

Theodore · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:21 pm Post subject:

5. The production by a parent of a daily log showing that a home school has a course of instruction which satisfies the requirements of this section shall be a defense to any prosecution under this section and to any change of action brought pursuant to chapter 210, RSMo. 167.042:

For the purpose of minimizing unnecessary investigations due to reports of truancy, each parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child who causes his child to attend regularly a home school may provide to the recorder of deeds of the county where the child legally resides, a signed, written declaration of enrollment stating their intent for the child to attend a home school within thirty days after the establishment of the home school and by September first annually thereafter. The name and age of each child attending the home school, the address and telephone number of the home school, the name of each person teaching in the home school, and the name , address and signature of each person making the declaration of enrollment shall be included in said notice. A declaration of enrollment to provide a home school shall not be cause to investigate violations of section 167.031. The recorder of deeds may charge a service cost of not more than one dollar for each notice filed.

You are not actually required to turn in any of your record-keeping. You could choose to do so if you want, but as noted above, HSLDA recommends that you don't, and records are basically just there in case the worst happens and you need to produce them as evidence of a homeschool program. No notice that you've started a homeschool program is necessary either, though if you're transferring to homeschool from public school, you probably want to let the public school know so they don't come after you for truancy.
_________________
The Farming Game - Software Edition for Mac and PC
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

Martha · User Joined: 28 Oct 2006 Posts: 10

Thanks!

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Martha

iamnettie · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:25 am Post subject:

I am in Missouri and was a public school teacher in Missouri, we home school now! You will NEVER have to show your records to anyone! DESE does not have the man power to over see home school. The only person who can demand seeing your logs is your county prosecuting attorney and they don't bother because they have bigger fish to fry.
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