Texas - little requirements

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Home : 2008 : February : 18

Texas - little requirements
By twin2

http://www.hslda.org/laws/

Looks to me like you have a good amount of freedom in Texas to homeschool as you please. In MD, I had to give the school notice before I homeschooled, and they had to review my portfolio
twice a year. I felt compelled to have a lot of paperwork done, but wanted to do more hands on activities with my son. I think I had more freedom than I feared, but it really took me a year to understand it all. I was really excited about the next school year because I felt I knew how my son learned and had lots of ideas of how to conduct our homeschool that next year.
I homeschooled

my son when he was in the 3rd grade, 3 years ago. He has anxiety issues and had developed ticks. The doctor's answer was to remove the stress. The stress was school. My son was tested for learning disabilities at the school level, tested by an occupational therapist and school psychologist. All agreed that my son was in the normal range on everything except a little low on auditory processing, but still normal range. His teachers and I have always agreed that there seem to be ADD, but none of the professionals seemed concerned about that either. My son has always been the child that sits in front of his school work, never really getting to it. His teachers would have to prompt him with every problem or question until he finished his work. Anyway, I spent an entire spring researching homeschooling in my area. I checked out lots of books and spent hours reading. I was convinced that homeschooling was for us. I was only a substitute teacher and had no benefits, so the timing was right for us to try homeschooling. I only got to homeschool for one year, but I don't regret doing it. The ticks always slowed down in the summer time, but came back full force with each school year. By October, I noticed the ticks were pretty much gone. By Christmas, the ticks were completely gone and to this day, I have never seen any signs of them again. My son was more settled and although his behavior wasn't bad before, he was easily angered or frustrated. He was very needy for attention. He had no friends. My family, who was so concerned about the lack of socialization from being out of school, started to tell me what a nice boy he was turning out to be, how smart he was and such. My son would tell family about his science projects which we absolutely loved doing. He hated other school work and it was like pulling teeth to get him to do some of it. Financially, we couldn't make it. Even my little substituting paychecks were sorely missed. My son finally made friends and asked to go back to school and my husband was begging me to go back to work. I made the decision to go back to work, but if I had it my way, all my kids would be homeschooled. Negative socialization, which you know some kids receive, is harmful to their self esteem. It is a lifelong problem for some kids. I would rather homeschool and choose the socialization opportunities and have a more positive child. I would say google homeschooling requirements for your state and then decide what to do. My child wanted to go back to school, and although the ticks haven't returned, he still has issues. He is the child that reacts inappropriately to teasing. He has a couple of friends, but he does get teased on a regular basis. His grades are horrible, but he has improved his math grade due to being put in a smaller math class, taught by the vice principal. My husband and I have talked about private school recently, but I can't afford it and my son probably wouldn't fit in any better there anyway. I carry the insurance now, so there is a new thorn keeping me from quitting my job. If I could have my way, I would homeschool my children and join a homeschooling organization for socialization. My only real concern is your child does not earn a high school diploma. When I did my research, research shows homeschooled students are becoming accepted into colleges and doing well. Some people take the high school age as an opportunity to put their kids into online schools or private schools for the diploma, but I'm not sure that is necessary. You can even print up your own diploma from your homeschool. Sorry, my reply is a little jumbled here, but I think you'll understand it. A nice perk to homeschooling, our lessons were more concentrated to my son's needs, but even then, we could finish our school day much earlier than his peers. Just think of all the wasted time with attendance and transitions throughout the day. My son and I have always been close, but we had a special bond during that time. What my son needed most at that time was accpetance and I was able to provide that.