What is legally required to homeschool my autistic 5 year old boys in Texas?

Question

I am homeschooling all of my children, but this is only my first full year of homeschooling. My older children who are not special ed we are doing great with. My autistic 5 year olds are not ready for kindergarten work. I have set up my own lesson plans and for them, and I am happy with our progress so far. However, people I know outside of my home are suggesting that what I am doing is nowhere near good enough - no science, no history, I am not teaching them phonics or teaching them how to read. Well, no, I am not. I have them singing the alphabet, and now we are working on recognizing their letters individually and matching capital to lower case, and the concept that each letter has a sound... We are also still working on correctly holding a pencil, and using a pair of scissors. For the time that they were enrolled in the public school system, they were in the PPCD classroom, and they will not turn six until next June.

Answer 1

Everyone has answered sufficiently on the legal aspects, as far as what you are teaching:  You are teaching them beginning phonics if you are teaching them that each letter has a sound, and letter recognition is a pre-reading skill,  so you are working on reading.  For science, do you ever go outside and try to draw their attention to things?  Honestly, for a five year old with or without autism, it sounds like what you are doing is reasonable.  Now, perhaps children without autism would already be holding a pencil correctly and using scissors, but your boys are on the spectrum and will need adaptations regardless of where they are schooled.   There will be time for History and more advanced science later, first they need to learn exactly what you are teaching them.  To try to push them into a full fledged phonics program before they understand the basics of the Alphabet and letter sounds would be like trying to teach an infant how to walk before he was sitting up on his own- you could spend hours and hours of frustrating work but the child is just not ready yet.  Don't let people discourage you, do what you are doing now, and when they are ready move on to the next step.

Answer 2

If they were in the public school system, you were required to notify the school of your intent to homeschool. You are only required to provide a curriculum that inlcudes "reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics and a study of good citizenship, and you must pursue that curriculum in a bona fide (not a sham) manner." (taken directly from the THSC website)

Letter recognition, reciting the alphabet, distinguishing cases, sounds, all of that IS reading, and if they were in the public school, that is EXACTLY where reading would begin. They also work on holding scissors and pencils correctly in the publicschools as well, even in to second grade.

SO, do not worry, you are doing exactly what you should be doing. Don't let "well meaning" yet incredibly uninformed others make you doubt your self.

You are doing a great job and your sons will flourish under your loving care.

Answer 3

The legal requirements to homeschool in Texas can be found here:

http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Texas...

According to this document, home schools (in TX) do not have to initiate contact with a school district, submit to home visits, have curriculum approved or have any specific teacher certification.  Home schools need only have a written curriculum, conduct it in a bona fide manner and teach math, reading, spelling, grammar, and good citizenship.

There are no requirements for testing or recordkeeping (although that's always a good thing to do for your own records)  

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

Don't let the negative comments from others affect you and what you are doing for your kids.  I got a lot of similar comments and they mostly come from people who do not know anything about homeschooling.  For us, it was the best thing I did for my son who also has autism.

Answer 4

I'm not in Texas, but other's have answered that question well enough, follow the same legal standards that you did for your older children.

I did want to encourage you with homeschooling your autistic boys, I have two autistic children myself, and school was a nightmare for both of them. Don't become discouraged or fearful, but maintain your faith and belief that this is best for your children. My two have bloomed tremendously since coming home from five years at school, and it's taken two years just to recover from the bullying, from teachers not understanding, from the stress and pressure of being in a building for seven hours with hundreds of other people. My daughter has learned nearly all the academics that she's needed since coming home, when I pulled her out in first grade, she had no math, no reading, nothing! She's also doing great socially, because she can address people when she's comfortable, she's much braver about that than every before.

Please contact me privately if you want to talk more, I am more than happy to do so. My email should be in my profile! Good luck!

Answer 5

You may have to contact The Texas Home School Association;

http://www.thsc.org/defaultpage.asp

The home School Legal Defense Association will be able to address some of your questions, and concerns regarding these issues.

http://www.hslda.org/

You may have to contact them by phone if the web site does not have the information you are looking for.

Blessings, and good luck.

Answer 6

There are no special requirements to homeschool special education students in Texas.  What you are doing sounds great, not only for autistic children but for any kindergarten child.  It is not mandatory to teach science and history at the kindergarten level.  Many public schools do not teach "social studies" until 3rd or 4th grade.  On the K--2nd grade levels, they teach about communities, neighborhoods, etc.

Also, please know that in the state of Texas, homeschools are considered to be private schools, and if you choose to obtain services through the public schools while you are homeschooling you can.  A link to this information is below:

http://www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner/s...

God bless  you as you do what is best for your boys.

Answer 7

Don't listen to those people, your boys are just fine. Many kids are not ready to read at five and they won't be any further behind in high school than they would be if you forced them to learn to read now.

Answer 8

You do whatever you feel is best for them. Texas's formal legal requirements are "Reading, spelling, grammar, math, good citizenship" for kids who are 6 years of age and older.  Working on the alphabet counts as part of teaching reading AND spelling. You probably do science and stuff without even thinking of it. You don't have to have a formal program and it sounds like you are really focused on meeting THEIR needs instead of somebody's idea on what kids are supposed to be doing.

You're doing fine. Don't let these people who don't understand the finer points of homeschooling get you down.