Is It Legal...............?

Question

To take a student out of school and not home school

Answer 1

Depends on the age and the homeschool program.  For example, if you are under 16, in most all states, you must legally be in school (or home schooled).  But, you can take a student out of school for a few months and then begin the homeschooling, as long as the student keeps up with the state standardized tests that are administered every year.  Some people choose to do a full year of schooling in a few months and then take the rest of the time off - that is fine as long at the student is keeping up with other students their age (but not necessarily recommended because a long break will cause a loss of learned information).  Some others choose to move ahead of schedule and cover two years of schooling in one.

Answer 2

I agree with hsmom. Check your state laws to see what they require.

For a short while might be okay but to just stop educating them...nope.

Best of Luck!

Jana

http://www.purehomeschooling.com/

Answer 3

To not school right away?  Yes.  This is common, it's called "deschooling".  

To not school at all during the calendar year?  No.  Almost every state has a required (or strongly recommended) number of days.

However, homeschool often doesn't look anything like public or private school.  Unschooling, for example, is learning from life and may not have any "normal" subject work.  However, for the students that are wired for unschooling, an incredible amount of learning takes place.  It may not be in standard subject areas, but it's there.

In order for us to make an educated guess at whether a scenario is legal or not, we'd need to know more details - how old the child is, what state, and specifics on what they do for school.

Answer 4

That depends on how old you are.

It is not legal to take a child permanently out of any type of school (homeschool, home tutor, etc) between 1st and 8th grades.

But High School is not required. Some states extend the required schooling through 9th grade (in instance where 9th grade is still considered middle school).

However, if someone has taken you out of school against your will, then that is illegal and you have the right to take action against it.  

Answer 5

Hm, what do you mean by that exactly?

I know a bunch of unschooling parents who don't teach their kids. The kids are still homeschooled.

Btw, Loren's information is not at all accurate. Most states require that you be at least 16 (definitely older than gr. 9) to be able to drop out; some have 17 and others 18 (or a high school diploma, whichever comes first).

You can definitely be pulled out of public school and put into private school, homeschool or charter school against your will--it's all perfectly legal since parents are the ones in charge.

Answer 6

Some states don't require any registration with the school board if you're homeschooling. Some do. As long as you follow the laws in your state, you're fine. Some states don't require any testing in which case you wouldn't have to sit any exams or prove anything until you take the SAT or ACT for college if you plan to go. Some require standardized testing. It all depends. If you think there's a family that isn't homeschooling their kids but took them out of school, well there's a good chance you don't have all the information, because there is in fact one method of homeschooing called Unschooling that would appear to someone who didn't know any better as "not homeschooling". Then there is the "De schooling" process that some families will take. This means that homeschooling does not start immediately after taking the kids out of public school, but rather they have a sort of "cool down" period where they relax, get out of the school mindset and routine and get used to the idea of homeschooling before getting fully into it. This is perfectly legal, and can sometimes take months. It doesn't hurt the child. It's done to help them. I took a few months to "de school" when I started homeschooling in ninth grade, and now I'm starting college early so it doesn't mean you lose out on education because you DO eventually get into school. I was also unschooled in a sense so I can tell you for sure that that USUALLY isn't hurting the child either. If you think the family is giving the kids work that's below their level, consider the possability that they started homeschooling because the kids were very behind in school and not recieving the help they needed, but now can go back and learn the lower level things they didn't get entirely the first time. Explore all the possabilities before jumping to conclusions. If the family is in fact neglecting their children and your state is one of those that require testing, it wont be long until they're put back in school.