What is the procedure to seek permission to homeschool your child in Boston?

Question

What is the procedure to seek permission to homeschool your child in Boston?

Answer 1

I don't have any advice for you, I just wanted to point out how sad it is that this question is even being asked with sincerity. The fact that a responsible parent has to obtain permission to educate their child infuriates me. From whom do we obtain the permission? The fact that the state grants parents the permission, i.e., the privilege, to rear and educate their children the way that they see fit indicates the extent to which we have abandoned our founding principles. Jefferson would role over in his grave if he knew that the citizens of Massachusetts had to obtain permission to rear their children the way they saw fit. Ironically, most of those who are in the position to grant us this permission would not be, by my estimation, qualified to babysit my dog.

Good luck to you.

Answer 2

Here's a site with a chart that tells the basics:

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

And here's a legal analysis of homeschooling in MA:

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

(By the way, due to the amount of litigation and legislation in MA right now, I would very much recommend joining HSLDA (It's something like $80-100 a year).  It's not a requirement, but should anything happen (from a social worker showing up on your doorstep to someone suing you), they will take care of ALL of the legal hassles for you.)

Here are some links with info from Massachussetts homeschool groups that provide additional info:

http://www.masshope.org/gettingstarted.h...

http://www.mhla.org/supt.htm

http://homeschoolcentral.com/support/mas...

http://www.mhla.org/information/gettings...

Hope that helps!  I looked up Boston Public Schools, they don't have anything online about homeschooling.  As each school district seems to be autonomous in their dealings with homeschooling, I think you'll have to contact the district.  I would really advise contacting a homeschool group in Boston before you do that though - they can give you the details about what to and not to do.

Edit:  hufstabe - Amen to that!