Homeschooling in Washington
Hello! My name is Jennifer and I homeschool in
Washington. I live in the southeast part of the state with my husband, Dave, and
our three boys. My oldest child moved to Oklahoma to spread her wings, and although
we worry (isn’t that what parents do?) we are also very proud of her. We are beginning our eighth year of homeschooling this year.
If you have questions or comments about homeschooling in Washington, visit our online Washington support group.
Washington Homeschooling Resources
To find out more about the legal requirements for homeschooling in Washington, 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 Washington. 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.
Making the Most of Homeschool Resources
Our family has been involved with several different homeschool groups in our area. We are blessed to live in an area with many excellent homeschool groups. There is a large support group based out of Spokane, Valley Home Scholars, which includes a monthly newsletter, mom’s night, classes and clubs, field trips, activities, etc. They even sponsor a homeschooling conference each year. There is a homeschool co-op group in our town as well. They offer classes and mom’s nights. If you have one in your area, I highly recommend checking them out. Co-ops are fun for the kids, but they are good for you as well. Support groups are awesome, they can really help you feel connected and supported and give you a good place to go when you need advice or resources.
Our family has also been very involved with other homeschoolers through 4-H and Scouts. If you call the offices and ask around a little, they can usually point you in the direction of groups that are homeschool friendly, even if they are not technically homeschool groups. We have also been involved in our local public school ALE program, but I do caution you to read your homeschool laws VERY carefully if you are looking into those. You may be enrolling your children in a school and if you are not comfortable with that, you need to be very clear about the laws and how they apply. Also, many people feel that these programs may jeopardize the homeschooling law in WA.
Some of my favorite resources for WA state include;
Navigating the Homeschool Laws in Washington
If you are new to homeschooling in Washington, the laws can seem a little tricky, and even a little intimidating or daunting. They really aren’t, but since the list is rather long, they do look rather intense. Rest assured, Washington is homeschool friendly in most ways, and the legal requirements are pretty simple.
The first requirement has to do with being “qualified” to homeschool. There are a few different ways to fulfill this requirement. For many parents the easiest route is through attaining a certain number of college credits (45 college level credit hours). If either parent has gone to college for a year or more, you probably have this covered. The second way is to take a homeschool qualifying course. If there is not one near you, several companies offer them by correspondence. The third way is to be supervised by a certified teacher. Not many opt for this one, and if you do, you may want to carefully check the laws to find out if your child is registered as a public school student. The final way is to be deemed qualified by the superintendent of the school district in which you live. I don’t know anyone who has chosen this method.
The second requirement is that you must file a declaration of intent to homeschool with your local school district, every year, for each child that is over 8 years old. If your child is under 8, you only have to file a declaration if they have previously attended public school. It must be filed within two weeks of the beginning of your schools quarter, trimester or semester. If you know you are going to be homeschooling in time to file it before Sept. 15th that is the generally recommended date. However, you MAY file in the middle of the year if you decide to pull your child out of public school. Just do your research, know your laws and follow them closely. There is a certain amount of information that school districts may legally require of you. Many add extra information requests to their forms. Again, know your laws and follow them closely. You may choose to provide the extra information, but you do not have to. Legally, they can require your name and address, your children’s names and their ages. They can also require that you check a box to indicate whether or not your children will be supervised by a certified teacher. Anything else is optional. You don’t have to fill it in, even if they request more. Many people file this by certified mail with a return receipt.
The third requirement is to have your children tested annually. There are several tests that have been approved by the state and several companies that will send them to you via mail order. You administer the test and send it back; they score it and send you the results. You do not have to show these results to anyone, nor may they request them from you. You do have to keep them with your homeschooling records, which should include their vaccination records and anything else you would like to have included. You can also choose to take them to the local public school and have them tested for free with the other kids each year, but I don’t know many who do that.
The final requirement is that homeschoolers must teach 11 subjects. They are occupational education, science, mathematics, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, and the development of an appreciation of art and music. This instruction must be planned and supervised and must be provided for a number of hours equivalent to program hours in approved private schools. Don’t be intimidated by that. The law also states that homeschooling is less structured and more experiential than classroom instruction and that this requirement is to be liberally construed. Also, please notice that it does not divide how those subjects should be taught. If it takes you child 15 minutes to complete their math assignment and then they sculpt with clay or draw or read for two hours, that still counts as two hours and 15 minutes of “school”.
A Typical Day in Our Homeschool
8:00 a.m.- Kids wake, eat breakfast, shower, etc.
9:00 a.m.- Bible
9:30 a.m.- Math-U-See videos on Monday, otherwise begin math worksheets.
The kids who get done first will go on the computer until the rest catch up. Since my second grader gets done much more quickly than my seventh grader, he usually goes first. He gets about 30 minutes until the fifth grader is finished and then they switch. This is a great time for us to use T4L. It really helps them to feel that they are having fun, but they are still actively learning.
10:30 a.m.- Usually we have a break now. We try to do some exercising, running around, swimming, stretching, etc.
11:00 a.m. -Writing Strands or LLATL (Learning Language Arts Through Literature) and any creative writing assignments for the day. We add any misspelled words from this to their personal spelling lists.
11:30 a.m.- We talk about our Unit Study, looking at vocabulary words, reviewing what we already learned, etc. We use KONOS, which is based on character traits, so we also spend some time talking about the character trait we are studying and how it fits with the unit. We use a quote and a memory verse for each week, and we review these. Then we break for lunch.
12:00 a.m. -Lunch and chores
1:00 p.m.-Now we do the fun stuff. We read out loud, make clay projects, simulate giant ears to crawl through, dissect stuff, grow bacteria, make frontiersmen costumes, cast animal tracks or whatever we are studying at that time.
We also use T4L in this time period to keep one child busy if the activities we are doing are too simple or complex for them or if one child needs extra help and the others are ready to move on to the next activity.
3:00 p.m.OR 4:00 p.m.- Depending on when we get done, we have free time now. Hopefully we will finish our chores before it is time to make dinner together.
After Dad gets home, we have a lot of family time and other things to do until the kids get ready for bed. We read together and then get ready to start all over the next day.
But, like I said in the beginning… many days are NOT typical. Don’t get discouraged. It takes time to find your groove. Persistence really will pay off in the end. Take a deep breath and remember that everyone has days when the kids are still in their pj’s at 11:00 a.m.and math has consisted of you counting to 10 repeatedly to yourself before you open your mouth to speak to your children. Just don’t let those days make you give up. You can do it!
Homeschooling with Time4Learning
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.
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, multi-media 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.
- 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 Washington,
head over to the Washington Parents Forum.
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