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Homeschool Interest Page
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ALL ITEMS IN GREEN ARE LINKS AND WILL TAKE YOU TO THAT PAGE
Let's talk about learning at home and define some terms to help everyone understand what they are talking about and where they want to move on to.
First, let's talk about distance learning. When the schools had to shut and students had to start learning from their home environment they began participating in distance learning. This program was created in direct response to the need to quarantine while continuing teacher instruction. The defining factor of distance learning is that all curriculum planning and execution is based on the Core Curriculum standards that the MA Department of Education, (MA DOE), requires teachers to instruct. All instruction is created by the teachers and is acceptable by state standards. As a parent, your job is to support your students' completion of the work assigned by the teachers.
Do you think distance learning is working for your child and family? If you are finding that distance learning is a success for your child and family then there are virtual school programs for Massachusetts students that are fully recognized by the MA DOE and available to you, free, in lieu of your local public school. These virtual school programs offer grades Kindergarten through 12, although Massachusetts does not mandate Kindergarten attendance. If you want more information about virtual public school please check out this page about the Commonwealth Virtual Schools from Massachusetts DOE.
Now, homeschooling is something different. Homeschooling is education that is completely organized and executed by you.
Homeschooling is where you, the parent educator, decide what your learning will be. Your local schools do not give you curriculum, oversee your work, or give you a report card or transcript. Homeschooling is completely up to you, the parent educator, to decide. If you are interested in starting down this path then there's some important information that you should know, and the best place to start your journey would be looking into the Massachusetts Laws About Home Schooling. This site is very helpful in providing laws, cases and searches to help you navigate along the pathway to homeschooling your family. Also, this website lists some contacts for the state trail court law libraries if you need further assistance with education laws. The exact law they have highlighted at the top of the page is Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 76, Section 1 which covers the specifics of Requirements and Exceptions from Attendance of Public School. You will see that the law specifically names your town's Superintendent as the person who adjudicates your petition to have your child in a "special type of school."
So now, you should be contacting your town's Superintendent to see what steps you need to take next. There is some information that the Superintendent will require of you, and it is my understanding that this can differ greatly between towns. Knowing what the state is allowed to ask and what you are legally required to provide is sometimes not clearly understood between the two parties; that is when it would be helpful to have someone to turn to...and that is what will be covering next = places to go for help navigating this journey.
HSLDA or the Home School Legal Defense Association is a private organization that "passionately advocates for the freedom to homeschool and offers support for every stage of your homeschool journey." They are an organization that you can buy a membership to and you can contact them with any questions you have about your legal rights and the school's legal limitations. They are a lawyer in your corner, so to speak, if you need it. (If you opened up the Mass Laws page you might have notice that there was a link to their page from the Mass Laws page as well.) About halfway down the HSLDA page, you will see a box for "Homeschool Laws by State" and if you click on the Read More at the bottom, it will direct you to a map of the USA. You might notice that the HSLDA designates Massachusetts as a "High Regulation" state and, if you click on Massachusetts, you might get an idea why. Clicking on the Massachusetts state icon will direct you to a page full of options. You should explore those options as they could have links to forms that you may want use as part of your application for homeschooling that you will submit to your Superintendent.
Another site reference found on the Mass Laws page is Time4Learning. Time4Learning is a site for a curriculum company, but if you go to the search field at the top of the page and enter in Massachusetts, this will open a new page full of informational links for homeschooling information for Massachusetts, one of which is Massachusetts Homeschooling Laws. Yet another reference for your use.
Another site to check out is Advocates for Home Education in Massachusetts, Inc. Their About AHEM page says they are, "[A]dvocates for Home Education in Massachusetts (AHEM) is a nonprofit, independent, grassroots, volunteer-run, educational organization that gathers and disseminates information about homeschooling in Massachusetts through education, advocacy, and events." AHEM provides information about Mass laws, FAQ,and Reporting, networking, events, Research and Outreach. If you look at the contact page you will note that they have a dedicated contact for each region of the state, this might come in handy as they might have a wealth of information for organizations and opportunities specific to your home.
National Home Education Research Institute, or NHERI, is another national group dedicated to assisting homeschool families. NHERI is a homeschool research organization dedicated to studying homeschooling. "NHERI focuses on homeschooling research, homeschool facts, and in-depth scholarly articles." This organization publishes a quarterly, peer reviewed academic journal focused on homeschooling research. This site can be helpful for the many links they have at the bottom of their page, covering topics like: Homeschool Freedom in Your State, Homeschooling Today, Homeschooling World and Homeschool Organizations.
If you are interested and are looking for more help with the process, you might want to look into the Coalition for Responsible Home Education. This is a nonprofit organization that states as its mission, "The Coalition for Responsible Home Education empowers homeschooled children by educating the public and advocating for child-centered, evidence-based policy and practices for families and professionals." This site might be helpful and I saw noted at the bottom of their page that they are located in Boston, which might make contacting them easier and they might have great knowledge about homeschooling information specific to Massachusetts.
Now that should help you with some basic knowledge about schooling options and give you some places to begin if you truly want an alternative to regular public school. Keep exploring this page for links to local homeschooling groups, local homeschooling programs, information about curricula and places that offer special activities, times, rates and apportunities for homeschool families and groups.
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Most homeschool organizations are on social media so its a great place to start looking to meet up with other homeschool families and learn about area activities and support. Most of these pages will require you to get approval to join as they are mostly closed groups.
Looking for organizations in our neighborhood, try looking here: Facebook - I searched for "Homeschool Groups Plainville, MA" and I found: * Homeschooling Resources Support Group * Outstanding Homeschool Adventures Then I searched "Homeschool Groups Southern Masssachusetts and I found: * Massachusetts Homeschoolers Connection * MHLA - Mass Home Learning Assoc * AHEM - Advocates for Home Ed in Mass * South Shore Homeschoolers * LIFE Homeschool Group * Southeastern MA Homeschool Supprt Group * Southern Hills Homeschool Group ************************************************ Websites with information on homeschool activities, programs, opportunities and groups, you can try:
* Massachusetts Home Learning Association * The Homeschool Mom * Time4Learning * Homeschool World * A2Z Homeschooling * Home Ed Directory * Homeschool Facts ************************************************* Next Home Schoolers Meeting :
More information coming. Please check back soon! |
Basics of Education Theory to Help You Understand the "Jargon" Here is a link to an article from theteacherofsci.com that is absolutely full of useful information. THIS IS AN AMAZING TOOL TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTALS OF LEARNING!! This list includes every aspect of learning theory that you might ever need. I have downloaded the entire article - 24 pages printed - I will make a hard copy for anyone who requests it! ******************************************************************* No matter your style....
The Plainville Public Library can help with great resources for your homeschooler. ************************************************ 
Hopefully you were able to read the information about learning theory and the chart of homeschool styles because now we're going to look into curricula:
* Just a quick note before we dive in - many families choose to homeschool because they want an education with greater attention given to their faith. As we explore curricula you may see many faith based options so if you are looking for something more secular it may take some digging. Perhaps the most popular place to start looking is the book: 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy. There are some copies of this book, as well as her older 101 Top Picks, available to borrow through library network. |