How To Cut The Cord on Public School

If you have children that are school-aged and currently enrolled in public (or private) school, but you want to get them out, you’re in the right place!

I can help you “cut the cord” and take back the control over your child’s education!

Beginning your homeschool journey can vary widely from state to state, but I’ve tried to narrow this down into EASY STEPS to help you get started!

1. What State Are You In?

Homeschooling laws vary a lot for each state. States like New Hampshire and Missouri have uncomplicated homeschooling laws while states like Massachusetts and New York try to make it difficult and overwhelming for homeschooling parents in order to keep them in the system.

Understanding the requirements for your own state is the first step to cutting the cord!

2. How Do You Get Started?

After reading the homeschooling laws for your own state, you may find that step 2 is usually notifying someone of your intent to homeschool. Usually this only requires sending a letter to a resident district superintendent or nonpublic school principal.

For most states, you need to send your letter of intent to homeschool when the child reaches the age of 6 by September 30th (For some states, the age of compulsory schooling is 7.) within 30 days of beginning to homeschool or starting your homeschooling program.

3. Are You Actually Qualified?

Only a couple of states (Pennsylvania for example) require that you have at least a high school diploma or its equivalent in order to homeschool your children. If this is not possible, you may need to hire a private tutor or seek additional options. Thankfully, this isn’t an issue for most states!

4. What Subjects Do You Need To Teach?

Most states do not require a certain set of subjects be studied every school year, but again, please check the requirements for your own state using the green button above.

We certainly recommend covering as many subjects as possible, even if your state doesn’t have any requirements (like Florida for example). Most homeschooling parents find that they are able to cover a wide range of subjects with well-rounded curriculum like The Good And The Beautiful where subjects like “Language Arts” will cover language, reading, writing, spelling, and sometimes art and music, all with one book.

5. How Do I Keep Records?

Most states will require you to keep some record of your homeschooling lessons and your child’s finished work. After checking what the requirements are for your state (green button above), we recommend that you check out this article on our blog about keeping records of your child’s schoolwork.

6. How Do I Get My Child Assessed?

You may find that some states require you to get your child assessed at some point during the school year. (Usually at the end of your school year or when a child has completed a grade.) You can usually find someone local to perform an assessment, some states allow you to go through the public school system for assessment, and some states will allow you to do the assessments at home with an accredited program like the Iowa For E Standardized Test from Seton Testing. Be sure to keep the records of each child’s assessment in a separate folder for ease of access.

Again, almost all of the points above are different depending on which state you live in so the most important thing is finding out what the laws and requirements are for the state that you currently reside in or will be homeschooling in.

It can feel overwhelming trying to sort through all of the information at first, but there are plenty of people that can help you with this new journey ahead of you, including ME!

If you have more questions about how to start homeschooling, I answer ALL your questions (and then some) in The New Homeschooler’s Starter Kit – a 100-page eBook filled with wisdom, to-the-point instructions, and all the encouragement you’ll ever need wrapped up into this one convenient guide!