Attn fellow Floridian moms/dads. How do I legally begin homeschooling my children? They're failing, I'm lost.

Question

I'm a northerner, moved to FL 2 yrs ago, well aware of FCAT prior, although in disagreement. What I didn't know, was that my now 7 y.o. would come home w/the metric system one nite/fractions the next, literally. My 6 y.o. is expected to recognize the concept/definitions of time value, money value and even fractions. I am not exaggerating. There is no consistency in their curriculum. I am spending 4-5 hrs each day on h.w. for a 1st/2nd grader. Tonite, finally @ 15 min until 12 am, we completed a w.s. with several mathematical concepts all in one page, when my child is only an intermediate reader. I know that times have changed but how can a small child realistically be expected to learn, understand, recognize and apply these skills when so many different lessons are accumulated simultaneously. My children never come home w/related assignments, everyday is something new. They're falling more behind daily even with my help. I want to begin homeschooling & I don't want any shams. HELP

Answer 1

HSing is easy in FL...

- Contact your local board of ed and ask where to send in your letter of intent to homeschool; they'll give you an address or send you a package

- keep a portfolio; it can have anything you want in it, the only requirements are that it has a regularly updated reading list and some work samples.

- get an annual evaluation-- this can be arranging to go to the school for the FCATS, or getting a licensed teacher to evaluate your children's portfolio. This would be due by your 1 yr anniversary, so if you started HSing now it's not something you'd have to do until next January.

- The final requirement by law is that you must be your child's "main" teacher-- they can take classes or learn from other people, but you can't let a relative or an unlicensed teacher take over for you. Simple enough.

FL is a very HS friendly state... there are lots of support groups, co-ops, etc. in FL. Try this website for more info:

http://www.notry.com/hschool/florida.htm

Answer 2

Children should have *at most* 10 minutes of homework per night per grade level. That means your kids should have no more than 10 minutes for your first grader and 20 minutes for your 2nd grader. I strongly recommend "The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing" by Alfie Kohn and "The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It" by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish.

Even if you still decide to pull them from school, please consider talking to their teachers. There is NO educational reason to be giving them that much homework. Education theory recognizes that young children need a significant amount of down time...and working for 10-11 hours a day (school plus homework) in incredibly unhealthy. Your kids aren't learning from the homework (as evidenced by the fact they need you).

One thing to consider doing is, in the time before you leave school, spend 10 minutes with your younger and 20 minutes with your older on work. Anything they accomplish in that time, fine. Anything else, leave undone and write a note to the teacher. Even if it doesn't help your kids before you start homeschooling, it might help the other kids in the class.

Answer 3

Start with www.hslda.org They  will give you the laws you are looking for.

Have you looked into a curriculum yet or are you planning to unschool?

If you want a recommendation Sonlight is awesome! www.sonlight.com for math we use Math U See and we love it. www.mathusee.com

Part of the reason we chose to home school in Louisiana was the 4+ hours of home work a night so I know how you feel. What's the point of sending them too school when your teaching them everything at home any way!

Answer 4

Start with HSLDA.org. There you will find the rules of homeschooling for Florida. You have the option of using the Florida virtual online school. Not all states have this. Regardless, there are many options out there as far as curriculums go. Hope all works out for you.

Answer 5

The first step is finding out what your state requires of homeschoolers.  Here's a link to your state laws:

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?St...

Next you need to find out how you want to teach your children.  I am not a big fan of virtual schools, but you do have that option available.  Here are some other options:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Doing that background research will help you in choosing a curriculum.

The other thing you want to do is find avenues of support.

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Your state organization should give you a good start:

http://www.fpea.com/

You have some valid concerns about your children's education.  Good for you doing something about it.  I wish you the best!

Answer 6

Hi,

I live in Fl and can tell you it is very easy to homeschool here.

Go down to your Local School Board (DO NOT CALL them), when you reach the Info Desk ask them for a Homeschool Packet. There will be a 'Letter of Intent' in the packet, fill it out and call the number (or ask the clerk) and turn it in. They should come down form their office to stamp it and make a copy for you.

You will need to pick a date to start homeschooling your girls ( it's Wed  Jan 30 if you go down EARLY tomorrow and take care of the paper work, you can pick the girls up from school tomorrow afternoon and say 'goodbye' to the school--put your start date as FEB 1---they can take a nice long weekend and you can start slowly on Monday). When you drop the girls at school tomorrow, don't say anything to either the girls or the school and when you go to pick them up, go early so that you can go to the Office (take the Intent Letter with you to show them) and sign the papers to withdraw. They can't stop you from takeing the girls OUT and as long as you have the Intent letter filled, signed and stamped, they can't even argue.

It is none of their business what curriculum you will use (the schoolboard's or the school's) and as long as you homeschool thru highschool, they don't have to take any of the State tests other than the SAT's (but that's not till highschool anyway) .

Contact me at [e-mail] and I can help you with the ins and out and give you some websites for curriculum and such. BTW, I'm in Central Fl with a 10yr girl that I have homeschooled now for 4 yrs.