Homeschooling in New Jersey

Hi, my name is Kathi, and I homeschool in New Jersey! I am a homeschooling mom to my wonderful 6 year-old son. I also have five adult children and eight grandchildren. I retired after working for 20 years in the social work field. I worked first with mentally retarded/developmentally delayed adults. Then the next 10 years I worked with drug addicted moms and their babies. A little over six years ago we adopted our son from Guatemala. He was 5 months old when we brought him home. We always knew that we would homeschool him. So when it was time for him to begin kindergarten, we turned to Time4Learning. To help supplement our income I sew. I have a little store on Etsy.com where I sell handmade sandwich wraps, snack bags, produce bags and washcloths.

If you have questions or comments about homeschooling in New Jerse, visit our online New Jersey support group.

New Jersey Homeschooling Resources

To find out more about the legal requirements for homeschooling in New Jersey, articles, and state-specific resources you can also visit one of these sites:

Legal disclaimer: This section is one family’s story and how they meet the mandatory school attendance laws in New Jersey. 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.

Homeschool Support in New Jersey

There are many local homeschool groups in New Jersey. I am an assistant organizer for New Jersey Homeschool Hangout. This is a meetup group that can be found at New Jersey Homeschool Hangout . We have regular activities including park days, theater, sports outings, zoos, hiking, and museum trips.

There are numerous groups on yahoo.com for New Jersey including:

All of these groups host a wide variety of activities for the children and parents. There is a brand new Yahoo group for 8 to 11 year olds but I don't have the URL for it yet. There is also a brand new meetup group just for teens.

For more info on homeschooling in New Jersey, you can refer to:

I love Homeschooling in New Jersey

I love homeschooling in New Jersey. It is one of the easiest states to homeschool in. Parents are free to homeschool in New Jersey "as long as the education that is received by the child is comparable to the education received in a public school." There are no special requirements of the state, no forms to fill out, no letters of intent, no assessments, no testing. You're basically free to do what you want. If you are ever involved in litigation, you must show that you are offering your child an education that is at least equivalent to public schools. After that, it is up to the state to prove that you are not meeting that requirement.

I do keep records of attendance just in case I would ever have to prove anything. I also keep copies of the work that my son does. This is so easy to do with the daily, weekly, or monthly reports you can print out through Time4Learning. As he completes each subject I print out the overall report for that subject and grade level.

Our Laid Back Approach to Homeschooling

We are pretty laid back in our approach to homeschooling. On the average day, we don't roll out of bed until 10:00 or 10:30 a.m. Then it's breakfast while mom checks email and Dakota plays video games. If we have a morning activity, which we try not to plan, we're off to that. When we come home we have lunch and then spend one to two hours on Time4Learning. If we have an afternoon activity we try to do Time4Learning in the morning before we leave.

We try to make sure we spend at least one hour three days a week doing Time4Learning. Some days we are out all day, especially on park days. But we feel that even at the park we still learn. Days that we are at home all day, (and those days are pretty rare,) we might bake bread or cookies or just play outside in the yard. After dinner Dakota likes to watch Mythbusters, How Its Made, or something on the Discovery Channel or Science with Dad. Sometimes they build rockets together or work on Lego projects. Then it's time for a bedtime story with Dad and off to bed. Two weekends a month, we go to Rocket Club where the guys launch their rockets.

Choosing Homeschool Curriculum

New Jersey homeschool law includes the freedom for families to pick and choose their own curriculum based on what works best for their child. However, families new to homeschooling quickly discover a dizzying array of choices when it comes to selecting homeschool curriculum. There is no more popular discussion among homeschoolers on the web than the pros and cons of various homeschool programs.. After sifting through the homeschool curriculum reviews, most parents end up mixing and matching homeschool programs, trying to create the best match for their child.

For families with more than one child, choosing a homeschool program can 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!

If you have any more questions or comments about homeschooling in New Jersey, head over to the New Jersey Parents Forum.

New Jersey Homeschooling