Californian Home Schooling: Just As Legal as Any Other!
One of the harder states in which to start a home school is California. Rumors have flown in the past that home schooling is illegal in California, but that is not the case. Home schooling is legal in California, however the requirements are a little bit on the strict side, depending on how one reads them.
As in all states, home schools in California should use an accredited and recognized school curriculum, or an ISP (Independent Study Program) that can come from an area public school or from a private, but accredited source.
Having the capability to teach
It is also true that some rumors have been circulating that in the state of California you must have a Californian registered teaching license in order to run a homeschool.
While it is helpful for a teacher to have a teaching certification, the law in California actually states that someone who is running a home school in California has to, simply, be capable of teaching.
As you can see, the Californian law for this in particular is extremely vague and so can be interpreted in many ways.
In public and privately-run traditional school settings, the administrators, teachers, and parents are the ones who decide if teachers are still considered qualified to teach, alongside their formal certification.
But when you look at the situation in a homeschooling environment things are pretty different, since the teacher and the parent of the child are normally the same person.
Starting your home school in California
Even if you only have one child to tutor, you should make the effort to go and declare yourself a private school, this may seem like hassle but it will clear up a lot of questions.
Another option is to simply sign your child up at an area public school, but register for an Independent Study Program that you will be responsible for implementing for your child at home.
Whatever option you choose to take, you shouldn’t have any real problems in starting your California homeschool.
The teacher
Obviously a tutor will be necessary in a homeschool. In most homeschools It is one of the parents who takes it on their selves to fill this role, but it doesn’t have to be that way if you don’t want it to be. You can pay a tutor to come to your home and tutor your children.
As we’ve already covered a homeschool teacher does not have to be legally certified, but clearly has to be above capable of teaching.
If the tutor is an adult hired by the parents to be the primary teacher, most parents opening home schools in California understandably demand that the tutor have a proper teaching certification.
There is no doubt that setting up and putting into practice a Californian home school is going to require a lot of work and dedication on your part, but the rewards of a better education for your children are more than worthwhile.