A basic outline of state homeschooling laws
States with very lenient homeschooling laws don't require you to officially notify the local school district about your decision not to enroll your child when he or she reaches school age. However, only a handful of states are this flexible. If you decide to remove your child from a public school to be homeschooled, you must notify the school to prevent delinquency or child abuse charges from being filed.
Almost all states have requirements on how many hours a child must be engaged in homeschooling activities annually. In some states, what constitutes home education hours may be left to the parents.
Parents who live in states with “Assessment with Exceptions” regulations are legally bound to present their child for annual academic assessments, which are shared with the local school district. Certain states may offer a few exceptions for kids with disabilities.
If you live in a state with “Moderate Assessment” regulations, your child must undergo academic achievement reviews during his or her kindergarten through grade 12 years. Policies about a child's ability to continue homeschooling should they fail an assessment may vary per state.
States with “Stringent Assessment” regulations also require annual academic assessments. These states can oblige parents to follow a specific type of curriculum and engage in educational intervention programs.
Most states require notification of both the intent to not enroll or to remove a child from the government school system. Get information about academic assessment and annual reporting policies since these may vary per state.
A lot of states allow homeschooled children to join programs that permit students in grades 7 through 12 to sign up for a free dual credit K-12 and college course program. In most states, books and course fees are included. These programs can take place either on campus or online, but your child must meet the minimum academic scores that government school students are required to achieve.
Several states allow homeschooled students to participate in extracurricular activities. Your child may even be eligible for a specific number of classes at a government school.
Setting up a homeschool classroom
After you accomplish the requirements for homeschooling your children, you can now teach them useful prepping skills like gardening or raising livestock along with regular school subjects like math or science.
Since you have the freedom to develop your child's learning experience, you don't need to teach them in a dedicated room. To keep things interesting, you can hold lessons outdoors then return to a chair and desk set up for homework or tests afterwards.
You have two options when it comes to your child's homeschooling educational resources: Either buy the items included in the detailed school supplies list handed out to parents of government school students or make or download those resources.
Here are some ideas to get you started on homeschooling.
- When teaching your kids to read, write, and spell, use pen and paper indoors and chalk and a chalkboard wall area during outdoor lessons.
- Use homemade wood or plastic blocks to teach them how to spell their own names and other words.
- Design a multi-age homeschooling curriculum if you're homeschooling together with other preppers in your extended family.
- Tackle art by teaching your child how to crochet, knit, or sew useful things like small items of clothing (e.g., hats, socks, scarves). Shelter-building and making survival tools can also fall into art lessons.
- Teach your children the basics of gardening: growing seeds, transplanting, cultivation, and pest and weed control. When the crops are ready for harvesting, teach your kids simple preservation methods like pickling.
- Discuss navigational skills they may need when they're in the woods. You can also teach them how to identify wild edibles and how to read a map.
- If your kids are old enough, teach them how to handle weapons safely. (Related: 5 Survival lessons we can learn from people who haven’t had power in their homes for hundreds of years.)
After you create your personalized prepper-ready curriculum, search for free or affordable academic units, lesson plans, and worksheets online. Use dioramas, flip notebooks, and folder games to keep lessons fun for younger kids.
Accomplish the necessary paperwork for your state, then incorporate fun lessons about prepping and survival skills into your child's homeschooling curriculum to help them become independent and resourceful junior preppers.
Read Homeschooling.news for more coverage of homeschooling lessons and procedures.
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