homeschooling high school - pbchomeschoolers.com · homeschooling statistics palm beach county:...

HOMESCHOOLING

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Sponsored by PBC Homeschoolers, Inc.

pbchomeschoolers.com

Questions? Contact us at pbchomeschoolers.com

Or better yet, come visit us at one of our meetings.

Homeschool support is our mission.

Presented by PBC Homeschoolers at our

Homeschool Fair

July 31, 2019

at the

Mall at Wellington Green

Cheryl Trzasko

Former classroom teacher

Public, Private, Dept. of Defense Dependents Schools

Taught from 6th to 12th grades

Current FL certification in Math, grades 5-9 and grades 6-12

Previous DoD certified to teach

Science—general middle & high school, biology, chemistry, physics

Math—middle & high school

Computer science

Recruited to teach at FAU

Homeschooled own children from start to college

Was homeschooled herself for some elementary years

PBC Homeschoolers support group leader since 2009

Homeschool evaluator since 2003

Homeschool consultant

Helped homeschoolers get into colleges including Stanford

University of Chicago college admissions committee alumnae interviewer 7.5 years

SAT prep instructor

Previously for Sylvan and Club Z!

privately

HOMESCHOOLING STATISTICS

Palm Beach County: Over 5,000 home education students

Include umbrella school students: Estimates of 10,000

homeschooled students in PBC

Current estimates 2.5 million homeschoolers in USA

Lots of homeschoolers in our area.

Lots of opportunities to socialize, learn from others,

get information, etc.

WHY HOMESCHOOL? Customize education

Control own schedule

Assist children in social settings

Provide consistent values

Spend more time with family

Provide a better education

Safer environment

More time for interests/hobbies

And more

SOCIALIZATION CONCERNS

Fears

Isolated social misfits

Can’t work with others

Can’t follow directions

Miss key social skills

Solutions

Get to know people of all ages

More adult supervision/mentoring

Too many options for classes, clubs, co-ops,

field trips, etc.

Homeschool support groups provide

options

“The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of

Homeschooling” by Rachel Gathercole

GETTING STARTED

1. Withdraw child from school, if already enrolled. Save written record.

2. Must register within 30 days.

a. If at least 6 years old or will be six by Feb. 1st of this school year

i. Younger? Homeschool unofficially.

ii. Our school district will accept registration a year younger but there’s no need to be official early.

b. Choose legal record-keeping option.

a. Home education (aka Letter of Intent or registration with county)

b. private school with homeschool option (aka umbrella school)

REGISTRATION OPTIONSHome Education “Umbrella School”

Register through? School district Private school

School physical required? No Yes

Immunization records required? No Yes or exemption form

Educational records required? Log of educational Attendance & educational activities, titles, samples progress

Number of days/hours to track? No Yes 170 days, hrs. vary by grade

Testing required? Annual evaluation might Depends on school rules

be a test

Legal option for homeschooling? Yes Yes, considered private school


Can get services for special needs? Yes Maybe

FSA state testing required? No No

Required subjects? Parent decides School decides (may leave it to parent)

Materials required? Parent decides School decides (may leave it to parent)

Who decides teaching methods? Parent decides School decides (may leave it to parent)

Who decides teaching materials? Parent decides School decides (may leave it to parent)

Can district see records? Yes—with 15 days’ written Yes—If school is defunct and has no

to verify log, titles, samples system or association to collect

are kept them, records go to district


Can participate in public school

extracurricular programs? Yes Maybe—if tiny school

Participate in free dual-enrollment

college classes in high school? Yes Maybe—if has an articulation agreement

Can take free FLVS Flex classes? Yes Maybe—if has an affiliation agreement

Best option? Depends on you and your family.

Suggestion: If interested in college, stick with same option for final two years of high school.

HOMESCHOOLING OPTIONS

Home Education

Send “Letter of Intent”

No form required

Child’s full name, DOB,

parent’s name, mailing

address, parent signature,

and say you plan to home

educate

“Umbrella School”

Find a school

Register with the school

Submit physical and immunization

forms

Make plan to submit attendance

regularly

WHAT DO I TEACH?1. Whatever your child needs to learn

2. Deschooling—Taking time to get out of school mindset. Do things that don’t seem school-like: Fun field trips or videos but no textbooks for a while. Let child get bored. Keep some interesting educational materials, kits, videos, etc. to help child learn that there are ways to learn that don’t necessarily require the mentality of “Sit down and don’t do anything until I tell you. Don’t ask questions that aren’t related to the topic of the day. Learning must come from a teacher.”

Deschooling: Not necessarily the same as unschooling.

1. Use time to assess how child learns best and research best educational options

WHAT DO I TEACH?

Lots of options to consider.

Religious vs. secular materials

Workbooks or typical textbooks vs. hands-on activities

Family-style or individual grade-level lessons

Academic rigor vs. gentle learning and mental/emotional health

Set schedule of topics vs. interest-driven

Literature rich vs. just the basics

Grade level vs. interesting

and more

WHAT DO I TEACH?

Eclectic—mix and match

Your choice!

DIY—do it yourself

Hire a tutor

Find some families and work together in a co-op

Use a hybrid school that mixes school classes and homeschooling the rest of the week

Use online programs, books, board or video games, puzzles, etc.

Mix and match any of these and more

How Do I Teach?

Our websites list many options in our area

Estimated 10,000 homeschooled

students in Palm Beach County =

Lots of options

How Do I Teach?

Using interests?

How Do I Teach?

Record keeping, aka Portfolios

Log of Educational Activities

Titles of Reading Materials

Samples of Work


Log of Educational Activities—pick ONE

Lesson plan book

Calendar with notes

Publisher’s lesson plans with dates, or check marks, etc.

Blog

List or anything else you can think of


Titles of Reading Materials

What are reading materials?

Textbooks? Workbooks? Websites? Library books?

Magazines? Story books? Books read for fun? Books read

to the child? Books read by the child? Books assigned?


Samples of Work

Samples of the students’ work

Samples of materials used

Pages from books. Photos of projects. Notes. Graded

work. Ungraded work.


Samples of Work

Ideal—Save some from the beginning of the year and

some from the end.


Umbrella schools and portfolios

Might not require portfolios.

If they aren’t keeping records of educational progress, you

should.

Evaluations

FSA testing at a public school

Nationally normed testing by a FL certified teacher

Testing with a psychologist

Portfolio review

Other that parent and district agree on

Evaluations

FSA testing at a public school—free, no do overs

Nationally normed testing by a FL certified teacher


Portfolio review


Evaluations

Nationally normed testing by a FL certified teacher—expensive when done privately, some support groups do testing sessions


Portfolio review


Evaluations

Testing with a psychologist—great option if seeing a

psychologist anyway

Portfolio review


Evaluations

Portfolio review—any teacher with current,

professional-level FL certification in any grade from k-12

can do review, should look over records of the year, not

a test, ask to be sure teacher knows the law


Evaluations

Other that parent and district agree on—for example,

many in PBC submit grade reports from FLVS classes as

the evaluation

What if Child Goes to School?

Florida’s Pupil Progression Plan

Places by age (if successful evaluations)

unless student not successful by end of 1st

marking period

College?

Yes!Dual enrollment

Bright Futures

AP

CLEP etc.

Research

Shows homeschooled students typically outscore schooled studentsOne-on-one learning

Focus on learning not grades

Go over missed answers

Use interests

Customized—student’s level(s) and knowledge

Not sure?

Lots: Regret not starting

soonerNot permanent decision

Never heard any regret trying it

Not sure?

Jump in!

The water’s great!

Homeschool Support Group

Palm Beach County

Homeschoolers, Inc.



Parents helping each other figure out this

homeschooling journey



Providing low cost social and educational opportunities



Field Trips

Clubs

Classes



Dances

Talent Show

Science Fair

Geography/History Fair



Sharing resources

Knowledge

Opportunities

And more


Q & A

Sponsored by PBC Homeschoolers, Inc.


homeschooling high school - pbchomeschoolers.com · homeschooling statistics palm beach county:...

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