I'm declaring my intent. Few questions.

[seashells]

1. I have to list what my "school year" is. I could do September 1-August 31. I could do June 1-May 31. I dunno, maybe it just doesn't matter? I actually pick up the pace in summer rather than winter. I have more energy in summer, there's more stuff to do (gardening, nature hikes, etc). Eh, I already decided it doesn't matter, but I'll leave this up anyway in case there just happened to be some comment or other.

2. The big question is, how thorough should I be in my letter of intent. This is not a question of what I need to do in my state; I'm clear on that. The question is, do I do the absolute bare minimum or do I put a little effort and thought into it. I would like to put some effort into it, it might be a nice opportunity to make a nice plan. On the other hand, I am thinking I don't want to provide the state any more than I absolutely must. As it is, I did not declare my intent to homeschool last year though I consider DD a "kindergartener" already. The reason? Because the compulsory age is 6 in my state, and I didn't want to give them any reason to lower it to 5 (if everybody just declares for their 5 year olds, then that gives them a good reason to change the law, right?). I know this is a personal decision, but I'm very interested in your thoughts. What did you do? I also think about submitting the bare minimum and having the superintendent read it and know damn well I did just the minimum and probably copied it off the 'net. In my state (MA) they have to approve, I am not guaranteed the right to homeschool. As I understand it, I probably won't have a problem, but I also think a little about how we homeschoolers come across to the super and the board.

YES I overthink things.

[InstinctiveMom]

Congrats :) 

re: school year - I've tried 2 different 'ways' of doing it. We school all year round, and I start the school year on the first Monday in January. Last year, I had our school days and break days marked in the tracking program - that left me with holes - days where we didn't 'school' on a break day and I couldn't 'log' it that day, or days when we were on a 'school' day and I had nothing to log because we breaked that day... so this year, I have ALL DAYS marked as 'school days' - because honestly, we do SOME form of 'school' every day. So that's my take - homeschooling is every day, some more 'formal' than others.

re: bare minimum - I am with you on providing the letter of the law and not a bit more than was asked for. 

~h

[pigpokey]

I just do 9/1 - 8/31.

In my state we keep an annual report, so to speak, on file and it's easier to write about activities if the school year doesn't cut the traditional school year up.  So I guess I could do June 1 / May 31.  After we hit 180 days I don't send in monthly attendance.

[Ravin]

What state are you in? In my state, you just have to file within 30 days of the child reaching compulsory school age (6). There's a form affidavit, you just fill in the blanks and have it notarized and turned in to the county superintendent's office along with a copy of the child's birth certificate. It's available on the county superintentent of schools' website, at least in my county. Once you file, you don't have to file again unless you move or put child in/withdraw again from school, or another child in the family reaches compulsory school age.

[seashells]

I'm in MA, but not looking for help on the law. I understand the requirements, and they are different from yours. I was just trying to figure out whether I should adhere to "letter-of-the-law-and-not-one-inch-more" or provide a more thorough interaction. Some of my thoughts:

• In my state, I do not have an inalienable right to homeschool, and I despise that. So I don't know if I care to meet more than the absolute minimum of the law.
• On the other hand, that very inalienability is a reason to consider being more thorough. Our local superintendent must approve my plan, and I don't really want to mess around with this. I am not aware of homeschoolers in MA in general having a problem, nor in my city in particular, but I don't know the superintendent and don't really care to be the one waving a red flag to the bull. I just want to file and get on with my life. I do not have the resources (energy, time, money, desire) to wrestle with the state.
• I also know that I am, in a way, representing homeschoolers to the superintendent. I do think about his/her reaction to what I write. It could be "sheesh, another homeschooler who just copied their form right of the Internet, do they know or even care what they are doing?" Or it could be "hmm, I'm not a huge fan of homeschooling but the ones in this city seem to be thoughtful and capable, and seem to really care about what they are doing." 
• I am thinking that getting approval from a superintendent for homeschooling is not terribly unlike a midwife having to have an obstetrician sign off on her clients/work.
• But I don't want to be a target, I don't want trouble, I don't even want to get a letter just asking for more details, I just want to send my letter, never hear from them and go on my happy way.

I have been thinking about a compromise - not sending the absolute utter minimum, which would look rather hostile, lazy or stupid (or all three). The utter minimum in my case would be about four sentences with canned statements such as "I am of sound mind and good morals." It would be really obvious. I think I will be sending a bit more than that, but I am of course not going to lock myself into anything (like listing my entire curriculae or a plan for hours and days) but just give what I need to give while sounding pleasant and engaged about it.

[Ravin]

Seeing as there's no form letter provided by the state, a pleasant, professional tone and making it clear there is thought and effort involved in your homeschool without going overboard on small details sounds like the way to go.

[Rebecca2009]

I am very interested in this thread because I am also in MA.  My 12 year old is really struggling in middle school and I am planning to homeschool her for 7th grade and up.  She is having such a hard time I wish i could take her out now, we have been in touch a lot lately with the guidance/adjustment counselor at her school.  They said I'd need to provide a scope and sequence for what we plan to do.  The curriculum I plan to use has a new lesson plan coming out for their 7th, 8th and high school programs but they won't be available until this summer.  I wrote them and asked if I could get the scope and sequence now instead of waiting until the lesson plan comes out.

Anyway....I have homeschooled in the past and wrote a basic letter of intent and also provided the scope and sequence.  They sent me back a letter of approval and that was that.  I hope the situation is still the same now as it was then. 

My daughter just received her mid term progress report yesterday and she was very disappointed in herself with her grades.  She feels like her only options are to care about her grades and be totally stressed, or to just not care and get through the rest of the year.  I worry if I take her out now though that we'll kind of be a target for the town to focus on.

Just putting in my 2 cents and I'd be interested in what you all might have to say.  Not meaning to hijack this thread....thanks.

[seashells]

I love it when people "hijack" my threads :) We're all in this together, and if we can join in on something, so much the better.

If you've homeschooled before, you're more experienced than I am. My understanding is that you don't have to be specific about the scope and sequence. I'm not looking at what I had researched before right now, but I recall that wording such as "our curriculum will be varied and flexible" and such is supposed to be adequate. Of course it does depend on the superintendent. Also, they may be pickier about the letter for a 12 year old than a 5 year old. I think I've decided to go with a phrasing like "our resources will include but not be limited to." Ah, maybe the scope includes naming the courses of study as described in the law, like "writing" "reading" and such. Yeah, I'll be naming those - but I was not at all planning to say a thing about sequence. I don't HAVE a sequence in mind. I don't WANT a sequence. DD is more interested in multiplying than adding or subtracting, so we're doing that, you know?

In your shoes, I'd be wondering too about whether to pull her now or wait. I don't think there's a good answer. I'd worry about being a target too. But honestly, I think it's less likely, plus if your superintendent has a chip on his shoulder about homeschooling, it doesn't really matter whether you pulled her now or later, right? On the other hand, it's not an extraordinary amount of time left to summer break. We're most of the way through March already, there's April and May (and school lets out early June?). I guess the question to ask yourself is what your goal is. If you think that something good will be gained by sticking it out, then you can keep that in mind and work toward that. If you're not sure, just vague feelings that she "can't quit midway" or "don't want them to be irritated at you" then maybe reconsider? I have personally worked through the "quitting" issue - only in preschool, granted, but I've still worked that through my head. I did start with the impulse that quitting was wrong but I realized that quitting something that isn't working is a GOOD strategy. The key point is to identify whether you are quitting because of fear, or lack of direction, or because it's just plain not working. The first two are cues to work through them, but in the latter case, it's just senseless to keep doing something that is netting nothing. Well, anyway, I have no desire to try to convince you of anything, it's solely your choice, but hopefully my thoughts are helpful in organizing your own.

[Rebecca2009]

Yes, they are helpful in organinzing my own.

My gut feeling is my husband would be completely against pulling her now, since there's only 3 months left.  It is a good three months though as our schools don't get out until mid to late June.

My main motivation is wanting to relieve the pressure and stress for my daughter.  And no, what is going on now is definitely not working.  I told her already that we'll be homeschooling after this year to give her at least a light at the end of the tunnel.  I just hope the remaining time won't discourage her even further than it already has.

We are seeing a naturopathic doctor today, I am hopeful that we'll get some help for my daughter there.  She hit puberty very young and it really slammed her....very hard periods and all the resulting hormonal and mood upheaval.

Just have to think and pray and wait and see what the best course of action will be right now.  I am excited to be homeschooling again though, so is my daughter.  It gives her some hope I think. 

[seashells]

Update:

I went back and forth on my question of thoroughness vs bare minimum. I ended up choosing to be thorough.

In my case, it turned out to be the right choice, I think. When the superintendent first called me, he seemed a little hesitant and maybe defensive. Not too bad, but he was clearly not the homeschooling champion of the year. But when I submitted our curriculum (which was more thorough than the state law, and even more than what they asked for) he seemed impressed. We were "required" to go to a meeting of the school board to receive approval though a landmark case in my state specifically said they couldn't require it. DH and I went back and forth on whether to stand on principle or just go along with it. I ultimately said let's go along with it, not even so much because it was easier, but ulitmately because I suspected they wanted to see us and just get an in-person sense for whether there was an abuse situation (which may be crazy and rare and so on but I can also sort of understand that).

So we went to the meeting, a formal meeting of the whole school board (which includes the mayor as the head of the board) and superintendent. The super introduced us, and we were amazed. He went on at some length about how well thought out our materials were, and that we were clearly very engaged and proactive parents. He was actually kind of excited about it, as crazy as it sounds. His enthusiasm lit the board and everyone was just telling us that if we needed anything, we could contact them anytime. We were approved with a resounding aye! I actually do appreciate having the support of the local board. And I don't think we would have had the same reception if I had just submitted the absolute bare minimum - not at all.

That still doesn't address the principle of it, though. They asked for more than I was required, and told me it was required. There may have been benefit to me standing firm, because nothing is going to be enforced if nobody enforces it. They will get away with anything we let them get away with. But for me, I'm satisfied - I feel my experience shows that they didn't have a vendetta, and they were very supportive once I showed I was not their antagonist. (Though I was absolutely prepared to draw the line if needed - I wasn't going to go along with just anything). Anyway, I'm happy with my choice.