Do you have to have a license, or something of the sort to homeschool in Indiana?

Question

I am not against homeschooling, but my step children's mother has pulled them out of school to homeschool them. She didn't make it past 8th grade herself. Their oldest is a sophomore in high school. Her children had a problem with attendance from the time they entered kindergarten (missing more than 60 days throughout the year), simply because she didn't want to get them ready. At one point her second grader was responsible for getting a kindergartener up and ready for school. The school contacted us many times about this, but CPS wouldn't do anything about it. The only law in Indiana requires homeschooling parents to keep attendance, and to have books. There are no mandatory subjects or tests. So how do we go about assessing the kid's progress? Couldn't she "forge" attendance records? My husband and I have both been through college and are successful, but we still want our children to have better lives than what we have, I think everyone wants that for their children.

Answer 1

Dedication is not the only key element in providing an education.  You need to intervene if  you care so strongly about this which I commend you for in doing so. Seek the advice of a lawyer.

Answer 2

You already answered your own question, so you know the laws.

It's a parent's right law.

In the case of homeschool it is all up to the actual students.  

Homeschooling works quite well with self-motivated, self-starters who open the books and learn.

This means they must have books and programs to work with.

Now, if a parent interfers with that and you can prove it, it may become a department of Social Welfare issue.  You would have to be able to PROVE that the parents are directly endangering the childen in such as manner that the childern would end up living and idol and dissalute life.

That means you are starting a process by which the Department of Social Services may put the kids in a FOSTER HOME because of delinquecy or parental abuse issues.

There is NO warranty you would get them, a court would decide that and a court might favor FOSTER parents.

Now tread lightly if you want to go that route for you can become the enemy of the whole clan!

Answer 3

Hm, you're in trickier waters now than when the kids were in school. The repeated absences could have been brought to the attention of a lawyer, with it being tied to a custody arrangement to make sure she did as she should. Now, however, you don't have any legal recourse.

I think if I were in your situation I would see myself as a new homeschooling parent. I'd learn everything I could, find out about resources, talk to the mom about what she's planning on using, stay connected, supplement while they're with me(I'm assuming you've got custody of them from time to time?), talk with them a couple of times a week, ask their mom to set up a private blog where they can post photos of stuff they've done and kind of keep a running log... Make it fun, interesting, educational!

Btw, attendance records for homeschooling are probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I know more than one state requires it, but honestly, it doesn't mean anything. If you've read a story that day, that counts as school work. If they've helped cook, that counts. If you've gone for a walk, phys. ed. Every day can be a learning day, so the attendance record means nothing.

Answer 4

No, you don't have to have a liscense. In most states, you don't even have to have a degree. I'd give it time before you go panicing and reporting things. As a step parent, you'll have contact with your children and be able to see if/how well homeschooling may work for them. It's possible their lack of attendance was due to other circomstances you aren't aware of. Give it time. If you notice a serious problem, talk to the mother and then see what you can do to help. Maybe as a legal parent, you can take responsibility for some of the homeschooling as well. Maybe offer to take the kids for a short time each week and teach a specific lesson, or take them on field trips or to homeschool group gatherings.

Answer 5

I home schooled and before I did I actually contacted CPS because I did not want any problems.  The caseworker I talked to told me I had to register with the Indiana Dept of Education, which I did.  As long as you are registered you are considered a "private" school.  If you think the children's education is truly being neglected (which can happen in home schooling families who homeschool for the wrong reasons) perhaps it would be in the children's best interest for your husband to seek physical custody of the children.

Answer 6

I've known quite a few HSing families in which the parents had a high school diploma or ged or never finished high school and things were going well. Parents don't necessarily have to teach kids, as long as they can help children learn how to learn, even if it means sitting down and learning with them.

I don't think mandatory subjects, structured lessons,  degrees, "attendance" records (how the heck does that work when you wake up in your "school" ever day?), or even tests or grades or high scores are what makes HSing successful. I don't even think there is anything wrong with making your kids help each other or having them learn to be responsible for each other and do things for each other.

I think the approach is much more important-- that the parent is attentive to the kids, active with the kids, engaging the kids or guiding them to activities that engage them. The kids should be learning/progressing in some sense-- not necessarily the traditional bookwork sense, but with some projects or activities or creativity.

That doesn't mean that everyone who decides to homeschool is automatically going to do great, but just because there is an absence of degrees and structure doesn't necessarily mean they will do poorly.

I recommend you and your husband read up on HSing yourselves and maybe get more involved in it-- ask the children to share what they've been doing, offer to do projects with them or lessons or take them on field trips; that's the best way, really, to assess their progress, as well as to advance it; by being involved. It might work out well for the kids, you might be pleasantly surprised-- if not, you'll have a lot more experience and information on which to base your objections.

I'm thinking the mother might be more receptive to your involvement if you tried to get involved in the children's education more as a partner than as an opponent or judge.

Answer 7

The only license required is that she is the parent, and has a right to direct the upbringing, and education of her children.

We home school; my husband has a Masters in Education, one of several degrees; I have more formal education than I need as well, but the point is, we know several parents who did not, or barely finished high school, and did a fantastic job educating their children, who then went on to college, and did great.

A parents education level is not a key factor in successful home schooling, their dedication to it is.

If you and your husband have so much to offer, why not offer your help, and support to make this a great experience for everyone involved.

Answer 8

UNfortunately some states have 'easy ' laws regarding homeschool and parents can get out of doing it altogether.

I'm not sure of the laws in your state, but in GA all we have to do is turn in an 'intent to homeschool' form once a year and an attendance form once a month.

We have to keep a report card once a year and do testing once every three years.

But the thing is, NO ONE from any school has to see ANYTHING that we do! They don't have to see the report cards, testing, curiculum, grades, etc.

Most parents DO everything correctly, but some don't.

I just don't know what to tell you about this. Go to some homeschooling websites and see if you can ask someone what to do.

The best one is www.hslda.org  ( or .com)