FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
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FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions |
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Yes. You can still teach your child many subjects in your native language, and you can find groups and opportunities in the homeschooling community (try joining NYCHEA.org) for your child to learn in a group of English speaking children. You must address this issue in your homeschooling paperwork, since the regulations list as a required subject “bilingual education where the need is indicated.” So in your IHIP and in each quarterly report you must state how you are teaching your child English when you don’t speak it well yourself. Common suggestions include: participating in organized group activities with families who do speak English well, hiring a tutor (this could be anyone from a certified teacher to a gifted high school student), getting help from a friend, using certain books or videos, swapping childcare, having an English-speaking sitter. Even watching Sesame Street or having a weekly conversation with the local librarian are English activities that could be included in your reports.
I can recommend a workbook series on grammar and punctuation that is self-correcting, where all the answers are on the next page and the child can do most of it him or herself. The series is called Daily Language Workouts and there is one for every grade level. For young children I also recommend a phonics workbook series called Explode the Code.
Practical arts has also been called "life skills". According to the board of ed. this includes: industrial arts, home economics, business and agriculture. So you could teach your 7th grader one of the following: how to balance a checkbook, open a bank account, make a profit running a lemonade stand, how to do the laundry, mend clothing, cook a dinner, how to properly put out a kitchen fire, plant a garden, or repair a lamp, and so on. Those skills would all come into this category. I never used a curriculum or bought a book for this subject, and just added to the bottom of each page that "practical arts" and "life skills" were included in my child's instruction. I taught them most of these things as a natural part of the parenting process. But you could certainly find books on each of the topics (cookbooks, how to handle money, gardening books, etc.), and choose your own focus.
The best answer to your question is to go to the college and ask them directly. I visited several colleges and universities with my two sons. At each admissions office I asked the same question: "Is your application process for homeschooled students the same as it is for regularly schooled students?" In most places the answer was yes. I carefully read each application, and they asked for the equivalent of fours years of high school. So I wrote home-made transcripts explaining, briefly, what my kids had done in their high school years. My kids also submitted SAT test scores, essays, a portfolio (if the application was to an arts school), a creative or extracurricular resume of amazing activities, and they had interviews. In both cases they were accepted to their first choice colleges with generous scholarships, but they were well-prepared and had done their research. Neither of my sons ever got a high school diploma.
One or two of the colleges we asked had extra requirements for homeschoolers, usually three extra Sat II exams. SUNY is the New York State university system, a good deal for NYS residents, and they are one of the few places that still requires a diploma, regardless of how many exams you have taken. There are equivalents that they will accept. These include: a passing grade on the GED, passing grades in five specific Regents exams, earning at least 24 college credits. For more info, go to: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/nonpub/homeinstruction/.
Most homeschooled teens take college courses and earn real college credits, while still in high school. CUNY has a scholarship program called College Now.
For more info, see About College and Pre College ProgramsOne more comment about correspondence schools and on-line programs -- they vary as much as any other school and can be just as boring. We concentrated on experiential learning, and focused on each student's individual strengths. In this way my sons each found their direction and were able to focus on the right school.
The information you need is at the NYS Dept. of Labor website: Working Papers - Facts for Teenagers under 18. You will need to go down to the Bd. of Ed. homeschooling office in Manhattan with your child (who may need to sign something). The homeschooling office receives people between the hours of ten and noon. They should give you a letter on Bd. of Ed. letterhead stating that you and your child are fully in compliance with state regulations. All of your paperwork needs to be order. Just to be on the safe side, bring copies of your paperwork (IHIP and quarterlies) when you go, to prove you are fully in compliance. Also, make sure you bring your child's birth certificate and social security number. While you are there, you might pick up your MetroCard if you don't already have one.
NYS regulations state:
The cumulative hours of instruction for grades 1 through 6 shall be 900 hours per year. The cumulative hours of instruction for grades 7 through 12 shall be 990 hours per year.
This is what I write on the quarterlies of my high school age son:
[Student's name] has completed more than 247.5 cumulative hours of instruction in the equivalent of 45 days. Attendance: 100%.
See also Required Courses in Ten Steps to Successful Homeschooling: Step 1: Know the Law.
| NOTE: Students should keep their spring MetroCards over the summer as the cards will probably work for a couple of weeks at the beginning of the new school year in September. This is due to the fact that it takes time for them to distribute the new metrocards. MetroCards are issued twice, in the fall and again in early February. To avoid having to send in a request in August and again in January, you can submit two requests in the fall. More importantly, this way you will not experience any lag time between metrocards. The NYC DoE office suggests that parents submit both semester metrocard applications with your IHIP in mid August. |
After many years of effort, the homeschoolers of NYC have finally won the right to have MetroCards for their children. The NYC student transportation office has finally changed their policy to reflect our true needs. Homeschooling simply is not done exculsively at home! All homeschoolers who reside within the NYC limits, and whose paperwork is up-to-date, are eligible to receive a MetroCard. The cards are standard issue, good from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., for up to three trips a day, Monday - Friday. They last for a single semester, so you will need to get one in Sept., and another around Feb. 5th.
You can download a MetroCard application form we've prepared in either MSWord format or pdf format. Print it out, fill it out and take, mail, or fax it to the central homeschooling office (see address for NYC paperwork). Include a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your MetroCard form if you are sending it in by mail.
Make sure that you have already received a letter of compliance and all of your paperwork is up to date. Otherwise, appear in person with copies in hand of all your paperwork to date: your letter of intent, your IHIP and quarterlies. Arrive between ten am and noon and be prepared to wait.
Activities listed on this form should be a certain distance from home. This varies according to grade level. The distances are:1/2 mile for grades K-2; 1 mile for grades 3-6; 1-1/2 miles for grades 7-12. Parents of kids in K-12 have successfully written a general statement like the following: "Activities will vary according to our curriculum and will all be school-related and more than 1/2 mile from home." Other parents have listed activities (such as sports, library visits, music chorus, etc.), and listed the distances.
Student metrocards are good for three fares each day, but only on days when public schools are in session, Monday to Friday, 5:30 am to 8:30 p.m. Turnstiles wil refuse the cards after 8:30. Using the cards on school holidays (e.g., election day, Dr. King's birthday, etc.) the turnstiles are not programmed to reject the cards. At those times, a parent accompanying a child can sometimes successfully argue with the token clerk that "we do have classes today". A child traveling independently on those school holidays is at risk of arrest. (There was a case described on NPR when a child enrolled in high school was scheduled for a team practice on election day, used his metrocard, and was arrested for fare-beating, later acquitted, but still...) Check with the DoE school holiday calendar.
Children old enough to travel alone should always carry photo ID (such as a non-Driver's license obtainable at the DMV) and a letter of permission signed by the parent stating that the child is not truant, but homeschooled or on "independent study". Include the phone number of the Bd. of Ed. homeschooling office as well as a way to reach the parent.
As for your friend in NJ, does she really want to exchange the privilege of no paperwork for a NYC MetroCard? Everything's a trade-off!
For a map of Regional offices, go to the NYC Department of Education - Find a School website and click on the Zip Code tab. Enter your zip code, then press Enter. And here's a list of Community and High School Superintendents (pdf format)
The following information was found at The League of Women Voters website:
This information is taken from the federal Home Instruction Questions and Answers. Scroll down for General Q & A.
| 38.. | When must a student begin to receive instruction? |
| A change in Education Law 3205, which became effective on July 26, 1993, clarifies the age at which a student is subject to compulsory education. The law now requires children who turn six on or before December 1 to receive instruction from the start of the school year in September of that year. Children who turn six after December 1 must begin to receive instruction no later than the first day of school the following September. However, the New York City regulation is slightly different -- it requires compulsory education for a child who turns six in the calendar year, that is, turns six by December 31. See Admissions, Readmissions, Transfer and List Notice for All Students (pdf format). | |
| 39. | Must the IHIP for a six-year-old indicate that the instruction is on the first grade level? |
| No. As with any age, instruction should be geared to the level appropriate to the student's needs and previous level of achievement. |
This information is taken from the Home Instruction Questions and Answers. Scroll down for General Q & A.
| 43. | If a student reaches the maximum age for compulsory attendance during the school year, must the IHIP for that student cover the full year? |
| Yes. Students who turn 16 (or 17 in New York City) between July 1 and June 30 are of compulsory attendance age during the entire school year. | |
| 44. | Is a district required to review the IHIP submitted for a student beyond compulsory attendance age? |
| No. |
The Not Back to School Camp wasn't just created for homeschoolers, it was created for unschoolers! Grace Llewellyn, author of The Teenage Liberation Handbook, has created a summer camp environment for teens where kids really feel allowed to be themselves. Sessions include two weeks at the end of August in Oregon, and one week at the end of September in Vermont. Each week there are dozens of exciting workshops, and campers can do or not do what they like. One homeschooled teen described his camp experience here as possibly the best week of his life.
See our list of a-typical Camps for homeschoolers and families.
We pick strawberries in June and early July. There are some great farms in New Jersey, not too far to drive to. Blueberries we pick in August. There is a large farm of organic blueberries with very high bushes -- no stooping -- in Dutchess county. We’ve never picked peaches, but if you find a lovely grove of peach trees in NY or NJ, please do let us know! Fall is the season for apples and pears and pumpkins (the NY Times just ran an article saying that some pumpkin patches were buying them and leaving them out by the vines to sell to unsuspecting pickers!).
Happy picking! When you get home you'll just have to make lots of jam, and, of course, read to the kids: Jamberry, by Bruce Degen, for 1 - 6-year-olds and Blueberries for Sal, the Maine classic by Robert McCloskey, for ages 4 - 9. Family favorites!