Email of the Day:
I am interested in homeschooling my daughter. She is a freshman this year, and she wants me to homeschool her. I found the Declaration of Intent on your website and I understand it needs to be filed with the Superintendant of our School District. Where do I get the curriculum for her once we get started?
Answer:
The answer is “where ever you like.” Or “no where at all.”
The law specifies that ” all decisions relating to philosophy or doctrine, selection of books, teaching materials and curriculum, and methods, timing and place in the provision or evaluation of home-based instruction shall be the responsibility of the parent.”
We keep a list of our vendors for convention here:
http://washhomeschool.org/convention/elist.html
and our marketplace offering here:
http://washhomeschool.org/marketplace/marketplace.html
Your local homeschool group will be a great source for ideas (and getting a chance to see things before buying them), if you want something between now and Convention: http://washhomeschool.org/convention/convention.html
(We’re the largest homeschooling convention on the west coast. Two days of workshops and seminars, hundreds of vendors, tons of family activities — save your pennies and join us!)
Because we’re so late in the year, you may want to take a breather, and use your local libraries liberally. (And don’t over look college/university libraries, most of which have cards for community members, but all of which you can browse at your leisure).
I’m not much help on specifics, as we didn’t use a curriculum with our daughter (who then started college full time at 16 with Running Start). I would say these things:
1) Don’t buy anything sight unseen.
2) Involve your daughter in picking the curriculum. It’s her education. She must take it. If she doesn’t have buy-in, you’ll get no where.
3) Being “well-rounded” is for the birds. If your kid has a passion(s), start there, and build from that.
4) We don’t have a specific set of “graduation requirements” for homeschooling. We have the 11 subjects that we must cover over the course of our homeschooling, but we don’t have to imitate the public schools. Do not feel constrained by what’s “normal” or “average.” Moreover, “the
legislature recognizes that home-based instruction is less structured and more experiential than the instruction normally provided in a classroom. Therefore, the provisions relating to the nature and quantity of instructional and related educational activities shall be liberally construed.”
5) Know your goal(s). Does your kid want to go to college? Does she want to start her own business? Does she have a trade in mind? This, more than anything, can help you guide her studies.
Let me know if you have more questions.
Welcome to homeschooling! It’s a great journey!
Warmly,
–Jen Garrison Stuber, WHO Board Advocacy Chair