Seven years complete

/ Holly Stoner / Leave a comment

As the title of this post indicates, this was my 7th school year of home educating my children. My oldest graduated last school year, his 6th and final year of education at home. He has now completed his 1st year of college where he has done very well. My youngest is completing her 7th year of home education, which is her 11th grade year by public school standards. One more year to go. Her 12th grade year is going to allow her pretty much customization in her studies. She needs to only do English and another history course to fulfill the laws graduation requirements. She is planning on taking another year of Science because she likes it. She does not yet know what she will do post graduation. It is something we are still figuring out. Not all kids have this figured out by 12th grade or even at graduation. It’s okay. If they don’t know, they shouldn’t rush into anything or randomly pick something. Getting a job that gives as many hours as possible is not a bad thing, it doesn’t matter what the job is, even that means having 2 part time jobs if you can’t find one that provides enough. Work experience is never a bad thing. One of the issues is she has several interests. She would rather do something creative, but worried about how that pays the bills. This is always the case with creative persons who enjoy artistic endeavors. Many, like myself, end up choosing to get into a different field solely because they don’t think they can ever earn money with their artistry. I won’t sugar coat it, there is a real possibility of it being difficult, not impossible, but more challenging.

So, onto what I liked and didn’t like this 7th year, my daughters 11th grade year.

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20 questions and answers

/ Holly Stoner / Leave a comment
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This post is going to attempt to show you the most frequently asked questions I see on social media platforms surrounding home education in Pennsylvania. I hope this answers most of them to the best of my ability and knowledge along side of the law text and public school codes. Over the years maintaining this blog I have posted and answered many questions. I have also extensively researched the home education law text along with the public school codes and health department codes, also referred to as regulations. Many refer to them as laws, but they are not laws because they were not passed by the state legislators. I do this as a service to anyone who is looking for help but doesn’t have time to look everything up or can’t find what they are looking for. I have maintained this blog while home educating my own children. I am not an attorney and I do not provide legal advice. If I miss something, please post a comment so I can possibly help answer your questions in regards to home education in the state of Pennsylvania. These are in no particular order.

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“I can’t teach a teenager”

/ Holly Stoner / Leave a comment

Can I really homeschool high school? I see this topic asked about, or commented on, over and over again on social media, or during one on one or group conversations. People think it is impossible to continue home education through high school and they need some other kind of diploma. People think it’s far too difficult to “teach” a teenager, or to provide them with “enough”. I have already graduated one child, who decided to go on to college, completed one semester, and did exceedingly well. He has a parent issued diploma and a parent made transcript. His college accepted his transcript with no issues and never asked for his diploma. I have currently a 16 year old in what public school would place her as 11th grade. I can only speak from my experience (but I do know there are many parents who graduated teenagers).

I hear this a lot, “I don’t have the patience” to educate my kids at home, or “I can’t get my child to do the work”. Also, I hear parents say their kid begs to go to public school and the parents either do it or consider it because they just keep butting heads with their child. They say their teenager refuses to get out of bed, complete work, doesn’t try, etc. Some seem to think people like myself that continue the journey must have some special skill or ability or never have those issues. I’m here to tell you, that is not so. My youngest began educating at home before she would be entering 5th grade in the public school system. She did not want to leave public school. The decision, however, was not hers, it was mine, I’m the parent. I decided what was in the best interest for my children, despite what a 5th grader thought. She came around pretty quick to the idea, but even if she hadn’t, she wasn’t going back to public school. So, do I have some special skill or ability to continue home education? No. Have my children always done what they were told? Absolutely not. Has school at home never been difficult to do? There are some difficult times. Have I never felt overwhelmed? Of course I have. Haven’t you considered putting them back into public school then? Not even once. That is the absolute truth. My reasons for taking them out of government school don’t change because I have a difficult time getting a child to complete work, or follow the directions or because my teenager gives me an attitude of anger, annoyance, or whatever else. For me personally I can’t imagine any scenario where I would put my child back into the government school system, willingly.

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Goodbye 2023

/ Holly Stoner / Leave a comment

(Edited to add information January 5, 2024)

This year has been different to say the least. I began to homeschool both of my children in the start of their 5th and 7th grade school years. My oldest completed homeschool in the spring of this year and in the summer of this year he began college. My youngest is working through her 11th grade school year. I used to be a lot more involved in their school day, as in, I would do several of the classes with them. Bible, science, and history were three I typically did along with them, or taught them, not to mention the years I taught them art or cooking and sewing to my daughter. As they advanced through their ages and grades, I began to be less hands on in favor of them doing more studies on their own to teach more independence and accountability. I still enjoyed teaching them art but sadly they both lost interest and wanted to study other things. My homeschool mentality has always been to create a program that suits their individual wants, likes, talent, and interests. As such, I developed programs of study they wanted to learn, not what I wanted to teach them, aside from faith building and Bible reading which is a “required course” in my homeschool program. That is by far the most important subject they need to learn, continue to study, and build on.

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What are Highschool Credits

/ Holly Stoner / Leave a comment

It’s the end of September already. My home education program for my remaining child has been in full swing for a month. That’s not to say she didn’t have learning happening prior to beginning her curriculum work, because going to the gym 3 days a week, working 4 days a week, and church/youth group 2 days a week all counts. That doesn’t even take in account the work she does at home. Segway into the topic I see come up frequently about how much time needs to be spent on school; what counts, is it enough?

There is a misconception that once they reach high school you have to change your approach, or you have to complete so many hours of work for it to “count”. I always direct people to the law text. There is absolutely no mention of that information that people are passing around in homeschooling groups.

You’ll find the law text below:

“(c)  A child who is enrolled in a home education program and whose education is therefore under the direct supervision of his parent, guardian or other person having legal custody shall be deemed to have met the requirements of section 1327 if that home education program provides a minimum of one hundred eighty (180) days of instruction or nine hundred (900) hours of instruction per year at the elementary level, or nine hundred ninety (990) hours per year at the secondary level:

(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.”

1949 Act 14 Section 1327.1 Home Education Program
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