Homeschooling in Mississippi
Hi my name is Anita, and I homeschool in Mississippi. I'm a 38 year-old native of the
Mississippi Gulf Coast. My husband and I have five children, a dog,
three cats, and a rabbit. I am often quite tired. I started
homeschooling after Hurricane Katrina wrecked our house in 2005. That
first year was spent juggling lesson plans with rebuilding our house
while we were living in it. After managing that, any fears I once had
about homeschooling vanished. I can also hang and float sheet rock now!
If you have questions or comments about homeschooling in Mississippi, visit our online Mississippi support group.
Mississippi Homeschooling Resources
To find out more about the legal requirements for homeschooling in Mississippi, articles, and state-specific resources you can also visit one of these sites:
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Legal disclaimer: This section is one family’s story and how they meet the mandatory school attendance laws in Mississippi. It is not intended and should not be used as definitive legal advice. In most states, parents find a variety of legal methods to pursue the educational approach that they prefer for their child.
Finding Support and Resources in Mississippi
We are members of the local Parent Educators and Kids (PEAK) network. You can find out more about them at http://peaknetwork.org. The group is an invaluable source of information on local events, homeschool groups and activities, and friends for the weary homeschooling parent. Our local chapter was defunct for quite a while after Hurricane Katrina, but we are finally starting to see some activity again. The PEAK groups for other parts of the state (non-Gulf coast) are enviably active and full of highly experienced homeschoolers.
" There is also a state-wide group: The Mississippi Home Educators Association (MHEA) which describes itself as a "Christian ministry". Their website can be found at
http://www.mhea.net/.
Homeschooling in Mississippi Has Its Advantages and Disadvantages
Homeschooling in Mississippi definitely has its advantages. First and foremost, the state takes a hands-off approach to home education. As a matter of fact, the pertinent legal code for the state includes the following: "nothing in this section shall be construed to grant the State of Mississippi ... authority to control, manage or supervise” the private education of children. “And this section shall never be construed so as to grant, by implication or otherwise, any right or authority to any state agency or other entity to control, manage, supervise, provide for or affect the operation, management, program, curriculum, admissions policy or discipline of any such school or home instruction program.”
Another advantage to homeschooling in Mississippi is that there is very little social resistance to homeschooling here. We seldom encounter people locally who question our choice to home educate our children.
The greatest disadvantage, however, has everything to do with living in such a large state geographically-speaking with such a small relative population. Depending on whether or not you live near a larger city, it can be very difficult to make contact with other homeschoolers in your area. This is one of the ways the Internet has made home education more accessible for everyone. And this is why I'm happy to be of service to you as the Mississippi state representative for Time4Learning -- I want to help you find the support you need.
Basic Legal Requirements
As I mentioned above, the basic legal requirements for homeschooling in Mississippi are just that: basic. Any parent is permitted by law to teach his or her own children in a home instruction program. The only regulation requires that your child is participating in a 'legitimate home instruction program." A legitimate program is defined as one which is not "operated for the purpose of avoiding or circumventing the compulsory attendance law". So as long as you aren't planning on yanking your kids out of school so you can put them to work in the family factory -- you're okay.
There is a very small amount of paperwork involved in complying with Mississippi law. By September 15th of each year parents are required to file a "certificate of enrollment'" with their county attendance officer for each child between the ages of 6 and 17. (Also, if you have a child younger than 6 years of age who has previously attended a private or public school then a form will be required each year for them as well.) This 'certificate of enrollment' is actually a large index card with fields for your child's name and date of birth, parent information, and a box to check indicating that the child will be enrolled in home study. Your signature is required and you must attach a simple description of "the type of education the child is receiving". For this description, I usually go overboard and attach a complete curriculum list for the year. For those children who are using Time4Learning - I print out the lesson plans for the appropriate subjects and attach those. However, all that is actually required is a statement such as: "We will be using a curriculum appropriate for the 4th grade."
The hardest part about complying with the law in Mississippi can be locating your county attendance officer! If you're lost - try calling your nearest private school. Since private schools in Mississippi have to file the same forms with the attendance officer -- they will know where to find him or her.
You Never Know What a Day In Our Homeschool Might Look Like
We are very flexible about scheduling and never pass up an opportunity to learn -- even if it's not part of the lesson plan for the day. However, we do have to be practical sometimes to cover all the material we feel we should cover over the course of a year.
On a good scheduled day we all wake up around 7:00 a.m. to get dressed and straighten up the house. Our two oldest boys walk to 8:00 a.m. Mass at our parish church while I stay home with the little ones. It's easy enough to get the baby settled with a drink and snack and some puzzles while our 5 year-old gets started on language arts for the day on Time4Learning. She can work rather independently on the laptop in the kitchen while her little sister watches (and learns!) and I get breakfast ready for everyone.
After Mass, we all eat breakfast before our youngest girls take a break to play for an hour or so. This is when the oldest boys get started with school in earnest. We start our day with math as we've found that it is best to tackle that subject when they're still fresh in the morning. After math the boys get a break while the girls and I straighten up and change the baby.
Another hour passes and the boys are back to work on whatever subjects they can finish independently. In the meantime, I sit down at the computer with the girls to do some Time4Learning math with them. When we're done, the kids take another hour off to play or study.sometimes while I make lunch for everyone.
Once our bellies are full, we go outside for a while to tend to the garden and run off some energy. The goal here is to get the baby ready for a good long nap. If we are successful in tiring out the baby , then we have a couple hours in the afternoon to sit down together (all of us) and finish school. These couple of hours of instruction are our favorite time of the day. We use a comprehensive approach to history, geography, grammar, literature, and religion so that we aren't bogged down with short lessons in the individual subjects that take all day and give little reward. This time can include reading aloud, watching educational DVDs, hands-on activities, art, songs, games, or serious discussion. The important thing is that everyone is involved.
If you've started to detect a pattern here - then you should guess that the next thing on our schedule will be an hour-long break for everyone. Everyone except me of course - as it's time to change and feed the baby again. After some snacks all-around - the boys and I sit down to tackle the Latin lesson for the day while the girls enjoy the Playbox on Time4Learning. We continue until my husband gets home from work when our dinnertime/bedtime schedule commences.
This is the basic schedule that we try to follow. The day is a little different for us twice a week when we work on science in the afternoon instead of our regular comprehensive study. The keyword for us is flexibility. If we start falling woefully behind - then we may do some lessons on Saturday. On the other hand, if someone in the family has a birthday in the middle of the week - we may take a couple of days off to celebrate.
Time4Learning Homeschool Curriculum
We spent the last three years developing our own homeschooling style. We have tried pre-packaged curriculum and we've tried creating our own from scratch. What we have finally settled on is a good mix of whatever works. Still, we lean toward classical learning in most areas but feel more comfortable with a more documentable form of instruction for the basics of math and grammar: This is where Time4Learning comes in for us.
For families with more than one child, choosing a homeschool curriculum can even be more problematic. What works for one child, may not work for another. What works for one subject may not work on the next. What works one year, may fall flat the very next year.
Time4Learning's experience shows that there is no single, best homeschool material. Rather than feeling torn between homeschool resources, parents should select a diverse blend of materials and activities.
Some of the features that make Time4Learning so successful include:
- Time4Learning appeals to a wide range of learning styles. Our online learning materials are especially well-suited to children who are visual or kinesthetic learners. These children can take advantage of Time4Learning's interactive, multimedia materials.
- Children like using the computer to learn. It's a convenient, interactive homeschool resource that provides a welcome change each day to paper-and-pencil workbooks and textbook-based lessons.
- Parents like that it tracks progress and helps children advance by clearly presenting and reinforcing each lesson. Quizzes and tests are graded by the computer, saving valuable time and effort for parents who would be happier concentrating on other areas.
- Time4Learning's self-paced, modularized lesson plans allow you to move forward and back through the materials whenever you want. You can skip lessons that teach concepts your child has already mastered and repeat those he or she has not. The choice is yours. With Time4Learning, you are always in control.
Time4Learning is proven effective with homeschoolers, has a low monthly price, is easy-to-use, and provides a money-back guarantee so you can make sure that it works for your children!
Sign up for Time4Learning as part of your overall homeschool program.
If you have any more questions or comments about homeschooling in Mississippi, head over to the Mississippi Parents Forum. |
