The 2020-2021 school year is almost complete. We officially have just one day left to meet the required 180 days. We probably won’t be done until next week though. It’s been another interesting year. I would have liked things to go a bit different than they did, but we did the best we could, in the world in which we live. There were no field trips. They have been involved in church and youth group weekly. There have been other social events, but no trips other than one to a nearby arcade complete with mini bowling. Hey, that’s problem solving skills right there. Now that we are wrapping up its time to get prepared for evaluation. If you missed my post on that, you can see it here. Please do read it, especially if you are new to homeschooling in Pennsylvania. I see so many questions about this online. The law is clearly written. Follow what it says and you are good. Don’t add to it and don’t take away from it. Remember that you signed a legally binding document (the affidavit) before you began your homeschool program. That document isn’t just a formality in PA. It’s a legal document and if you are suspected and found guilty of not abiding by what you attested to in that document, you broke the law and there will be consequences. Not to harp on this topic, but as an example, as I said in that post, you are not required by law to show your evaluator any “proof” of completing your required “time”, as in, days or hours. You already attested to that in your legal document. No other form of “proof” is proof at all and is just a matter of trust, however, you signed a legal document stating you would provide education to your children for the required amount of time. If you don’t, you broke the law. I see nothing in the law that states an evaluator gets to determine if you did that by showing them any sort of paper with checked off boxes. Keep track of days/hours for your own records. Likewise, they don’t get to determine if you provided health services or if you in fact hold a highschool diploma. These are things you attest to in your legal document.

Moving on.

In a future post I’m hoping to break down the law for anyone who doesn’t quite understand it, but for right now here’s an update on my homeschool year with an 8th and 10th grader. People think you can’t homeschool highschool. I say, why not? You have just as many options for your teen as when they were younger. Some may be intimidated by upper level courses. Okay, I get that, but again, there are many options. For example; I am horrible at math, especially any upper level algebra or geometry courses. It just never made sense to me. I can’t teach what I don’t know. I do try to learn still so that I can maybe help them. I know my limits. So, we chose online math for Algebra 1 last year and Geometry this year. My 8th grader did a 2nd year of pre-algebra and I managed well enough and the MasterBooks course seemed mostly understandable, but next year she needs someone other than me, so we’ll be using an online program. Typically we don’t rely on the internet for a variety of reasons, but online upper math courses are most beneficial as I am unable to teach them. If you have someone else in your home who can help with whatever course of study may not be your thing, use them, or even an older child can help a younger child. My 10th grader often helps me to help his younger sibling in her math courses. You could consider a family friend, a relative or a tutor to help, but a tutor may end up costing more than an online program. You’ll have to decide what’s best. So we are now completing as far as we will go with MasterBooks for math, finishing out with Principles of Math book 2. I heard they are developing an Algebra course. The Jacob’s Algebra just didn’t work for us and that’s currently what they offer for Algebra 1 and a Jacobs Geometry, but we didn’t even try that with how overwhelming the Algebra course was. There was just not enough instruction, no solutions to problems, just answers, and far too many work problems that it stressed my son out. Both of my kids maintain a B average in any math course for reference. I have posts on Math in the blog, look them up.

Now that my oldest is going into 11th grade I am bombarded with questions like, “what’s he going to do for college?”, “doesn’t he need to take these tests?”, “how is going to graduate?”, and so on. So, number one, college. He’s probably not going to college. No that’s not a bad thing. No they don’t have to go to college to be successful. I’m encouraging him to think outside the box. There’s a possibility of community college or tech school. He has options. If he chooses to just work for now until he figures it out, okay. If he wants to try and start his own thing, that’s okay too. Earning loads of money and being in loads of debt isn’t a measure of success for us. All I encourage him to do is do something that makes him happy and can sustain himself, independently and eventually care for his future family. I am far more concerned with his relationship to our Holy Creator than making money. Money doesn’t make a man. God first is how I am raising my children. So what about tests? Well, we are undecided. If he goes to community college or tech school he doesn’t need SAT or ACT tests. I’m not convinced anyone needs them. If he were to take such a test, he would be taking the CLT test. Please look it up. It’s a college level entry test same as SAT and ACT and it isn’t aligned with common core and it is accepted by several colleges. In PA, public school teens need to take keystone tests in order to graduate highschool. Just another perk of homeschool, we don’t. No child should be denied graduating based solely on a test score when they have all the credits they need and passed their classes. Finally, how will he graduate? I will sign his transcript along with his evaluator (though that is not required) and issue him a diploma, that’s it.

I have some planning to do for 11th and 12th grades as far as his courses go and if he would be taking any college level course for dual enrollment, but frankly that’s unlikely given he’s not even sure what he’s doing. His next goal is to get his drivers permit which is on the horizon and get his first job. The plan was he’d been working last year but with all the virus hoopla in the state that didn’t work out. This year isn’t proving to be any better in that regard. Strange times we live in. Navigating this new world environment comes with several challenges and a refocusing on what is most important. I’m looking into what courses I will purchase for them to work through for the 2021-2022 school year right now. My teens will be, by public school standards, in 9th and 11th grades. My youngest, however, has been doing highschool level courses for the past 2 years with her older brother and prior was working on middle school level in elementary. Here’s what I am looking at so far:

• Math – Algebra 1 (9th), Algebra 2 (11th) – Will likely stick with CTC Math. It will be the younger’s first time using an online math program.
• History – Undecided at this point, but looking at completing Geography.
• Science – Leaning towards Apologia Marine Biology which is, according to them, a more advanced highschool course. The only pre-requisite is that they have had some biology previously and they have twice now. (9th and 11th)
• Bible – I already have some curriculum from Positive Action for Christ that we didn’t get to or finish yet and if we don’t work on those over the summer we will do them next school year. What I have are not year long so I will be looking into more. I like what they offer so that will be my first place to look, although I also liked the verse by very study of Acts we did from Memoria Press.
• English – This is always a challenging subject for me to pick as nothing ever has everything I want. I usually end up piecing something together. I have yet to look at what I want to do for the next school so be sure to check back.
• Electives – course materials have not been chosen yet but course of study has been. My daughter (9th grade) would like to continue learning about cooking and possibly interior design so I will be looking for programs to accommodate her wishes. My 11th grader wants to stick to computer programming. He has done this a few times with various programs but wants something more this year so I’ll be looking into what is available. It will more than likely be an online course.

As that will only bring them to 6 credits we have room to add additional courses. They have done Art every year since we began our journey but neither wants to really pursue it. Neither has any interest in music and we’ve already completed the requirement for elementary level and secondary levels. To review, here is what is required during each level. Note, not all courses need to be taught each year during these levels. They need to be taught at least once during these levels. Per the homeschool law:

(1)  At the elementary school level, the following courses shall be taught: English, to include spelling, reading and writing; arithmetic; science; geography; history of the United States and Pennsylvania; civics; safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires; health and physiology; physical education; music; and art.

(2)  At the secondary school level, the following courses shall be taught: English, to include language, literature, speech and composition; science; geography; social studies, to include civics, world history, history of the United States and Pennsylvania; mathematics, to include general mathematics, algebra and geometry; art; music; physical education; health; and safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires. Such courses of study may include, at the discretion of the supervisor of the home education program, economics; biology; chemistry; foreign languages; trigonometry; or other age-appropriate courses as contained in Chapter 5 (Curriculum Requirements) of the State Board of Education.

(d)  The following minimum courses in grades nine through twelve are established as a requirement for graduation in a home education program:

(1)  Four years of English.

(2)  Three years of mathematics.

(3)  Three years of science.

(4)  Three years of social studies.

(5)  Two years of arts and humanities.

We have now been officially done with the elementary requirements. I do not assign credit though until 9th grade on the transcript. The only reason I can see for adding courses from 8th grade (for example) would be if they took an advanced course. My daughter has taken courses, aside from math, that are considered credit courses since 7th grade as she does them with her older brother. She just gets experience, not credit. Here’s an example of my 10th graders transcript which will be updated at the end of this year and each year after.

Just for more samples of how I organize, here are some more screenshots of how I record days, grades, and reading materials. These are all done in a spreadsheet. I use LibreOffice which is free and works just like Microsoft Office.

Please do remember that you are not required to show your grading records (if you have one) or attendance logs (you have a sworn legal document as your proof) to your evaluator but your materials log (dates are not required and I am not too good at keeping track of starting and completing) is required per the homeschool law to be included in your portfolio. As per the law text:

A portfolio of records and materials. The portfolio shall consist of a log, made contemporaneously with the instruction, which designates by title the reading materials used, samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks or creative materials used or developed by the student and in grades three, five and eight results of nationally normed standardized achievement tests in reading/language arts and mathematics or the results of Statewide tests administered in these grade levels.

So what does an evaluator do? “An annual written evaluation of the student’s educational progress as determined by a licensed clinical or school psychologist or a teacher certified by the Commonwealth or by a nonpublic school teacher or administrator. Any such nonpublic teacher or administrator shall have at least two years of teaching experience in a Pennsylvania public or nonpublic school within the last ten years. Such nonpublic teacher or administrator shall have the required experience at the elementary level to evaluate elementary students or at the secondary level to evaluate secondary students. The certified teacher shall have experience at the elementary level to evaluate elementary students or at the secondary level to evaluate secondary students. The evaluation shall also be based on an interview of the child and a review of the portfolio required in clause (1) and shall certify whether or not an appropriate education is occurring. At the request of the supervisor, persons with other qualifications may conduct the evaluation with the prior consent of the district of residence superintendent. In no event shall the evaluator be the supervisor or their spouse.“

This text is also in the heading of the law and this is where the confusion lies with some evaluators who interpret this differently. “”Appropriate education” shall mean a program consisting of instruction in the required subjects for the time required in this act and in which the student demonstrates sustained progress in the overall program.” The words that I highlighted there are where some evaluators deem it to be their job to check attendance records. This does not in any way, shape, or form mean that you are required to have a document with days on a calendar checked off in your portfolio. That is not more proof or evidence than that of your legal document which ALL are required to file and attest to completing the time required. Your evaluator may ask you, verbally, if she/he is so inclined, how many days you completed. This is EQAUL to a document that could literally be made up the day before your evaluation which is not actual proof of anything and is still on the honor system except that you signed a legal document.

Tomorrow my teens officially complete 180 days. We still have work to finish after that. I still need to verify an appointment with my evaluator and hopefully she is still willing/able to do it in this odd time in the history of our world. Look up friends. We don’t know the day or the hour of when Christ will be coming on the clouds to remove his church but we need to remain ready and keep our eyes fixed on things above. Infect others with the truth of the Gospel. Jesus is the way, the truth and life, no one comes to the father except through him. (John 14:6)