Last month (May) my last child completed her home education and had her final law required evaluation. This has been a case of mixed emotions for me. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to facilitate education of my children at home using the materials we wanted to use and what they wanted to study. I’ve enjoyed the freedom we had to shape our days any way we wanted and allowed them to explore topics they were interested in, all the while checking off the requirements in the law text. I got to watch my children grow and teach them my values and from our Christian worldview. I never minded the sacrifice of my time or money to do it. It was way beyond worth it to keep them out of the public school system. My children never suffered academically or socially. But now that chapter is over, so what’s next for this former homeschool mom? I just don’t know. Not yet. I wish in some respects that I was qualified to be an evaluator for other home educating families, but I wouldn’t meet the law requirements. I want to keep the resources here on my blog for however long they are relevant for anyone needing help or forms to print out. But, I also want to transition my blog into something more relevant to where I’m at right now. I have other blogs floating around the internet that I just am not going to resurrect and not ready to let this one go. For now, nothing is going to change but posts may cease until I decide on a direction to go.
After 7 years of homeschooling my children I am down to my last 7 months and my remaining child will be finished with her 8th school year at home and officially graduated. She began learning at home at the beginning of her 5th grade school year while her brother began at the beginning of his 7th grade school year and has been attending college since last fall. It’s a strange place to be in and if you’re a veteran home education parent you probably understand. This has been a journey and its been wonderful. There is some relief in being done as well as…what now? I’m excited and maybe a bit sad at the same time. Even brick and mortar school parents feel this way, except my job for 7 years has been that of home educator, supervisor, instructor, counselor, administrator, etc. My job is ending. My children aren’t leaving the nest yet, and that will be a whole other experience. My son attends a somewhat local school so he’s able to live at home to help him save money. My daughter is still undecided what she wants to do post graduation, and that’s okay. Right now she is thinking of working for now and decide on school or whatever later and not rush in to anything. Even her brother ended up changing his mind in college by changing his major (completely normal).
If you haven’t checked out this entire blog, I wanted to direct you to a few resources contained here. I have a link to free forms that you can, and should use for your homeschool record keeping. You can take a look and use them or get an idea of how to create your own. I have not only renamed this area but I have updated all the forms I created. There you can find a free transcript, affidavit, evaluation letters, reading materials log, an attendance record (not required), and a simple report card if you choose to use one (if I use one it’s sole purpose is for keeping a record in their academic record). I have also included forms from other places (of which many I can’t recall from where or I’d link the source) for your generic objectives that are required to be included with your affidavit and alternate affidavit, as well as the PDE diploma and immunization record (if you wish to use it). Your 12th grade evaluator needs to sign the PDE diploma. The Pennsylvania Department of Education has approved this diploma to be the “acceptable” parent-issued diploma. My suggestion is to print it, get it signed and in the event a college or some other entity requires a copy of their diploma you’ll have it. This does not mean you can’t make and issue your own and provide your graduate with that one for them to keep, but they should keep the PDE one as well.
Below are screenshots of some of the items mentioned. Visit the Free Forms page to download them.
Below is what the home education law states about the diploma:
(d.1) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of this act or any other law or regulation to the contrary, a high school diploma awarded by a supervisor or an approved diploma-granting organization shall be considered as having all the rights and privileges afforded by the Commonwealth, a Commonwealth agency, including, but not limited to, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, a political subdivision, a local agency and an authority or instrumentality of the Commonwealth or a political subdivision to a high school diploma awarded under this act, subject to subparagraphs (i) and (ii): (i) In the case of a diploma awarded by a supervisor the following shall apply: (A) The student receiving the diploma shall have completed all the requirements in subsection (d) while enrolled in a home education program that is in compliance with this section. (B) The diploma shall be awarded to the student on a standardized form to be developed by the department and which shall be made available on the department’s publicly accessible Internet website. (C) The diploma shall be signed by the student’s twelfth grade evaluator in confirmation of the student’s suitability for graduation. (ii) In the case of a diploma awarded by an approved diploma granting organization the following shall apply: (A) The student receiving the diploma shall have completed all the requirements in subsection (d) while enrolled in a home education program that is in compliance with this section. (B) The diploma shall be awarded to the student on a standardized form to be developed by the organization. (2) The department shall establish eligibility criteria and an application process for approving diploma-granting organizations to award high school diplomas to students enrolled in home education programs. The department shall maintain a list of approved diploma-granting organizations and post the list on the department’s publicly accessible Internet website.
You can do a search on topics such as curriculum, transcripts, reviews, portfolio, etc and find articles I’ve written since I began the blog in 2017. Please always make sure to follow the latest article for the most up to date information. There is a drop down list for you to select months/years of articles made as well as a tag block for you to click directly onto the topic of interest. Keep in mind that the blog may look different on different devices. You can always view the blog on your browser in desktop mode. I will be working on making the blog easier to navigate so keep an eye out for those changes. I plan to keep the blog current for as long as I have a child that I am homeschooling in the state of Pennsylvania. After that time remains to be seen. Rest assured though that I still have one remaining teenager with 2 more years highschool to go, so updates will continue, Lord willing. Everything I offer here is free to use, however as I am the content creator of the articles, I do retain the copyright to the articles I post. Please do share with others anything you find helpful but always supply the link to this blog. I receive no compensation for the information I have shared. My blog is only to help others navigate home education in the state of PA and perhaps my reviews can be helpful for anyone. Please do check out the other resources I have supplied for you in the Resources section of this blog.
How are you holding up so far? Whether you are a veteran homeschooler or new one, 2020 was a rough year. It’s a new calendar year, but one that I believe will be filled with its own challenges. So, how are you doing? It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been at this gig, you no doubt have been met with things you are not used to. This is my 4th year homeschooling my now teenagers and though we are getting all our work done and going through the curriculum just fine, we are missing all of our other activities. Perhaps you came to my blog from outside of Pennsylvania (USA) and aren’t feeling as restricted. That’s wonderful! If this is your first time here or you don’t remember, my blog pertains to homeschooling in my home state, although I often do review curriculum choices which can generally be used by anyone. Even if you’re outside of my home state of Pennsylvania, your homeschool year may still look different. I want to encourage anyone reading this that even if there are many things missing from your homeschool year, like field trips or sports, you are still providing your kids with tools and knowledge and I would venture a guess that most of you probably try to find social outings that you’re comfortable with (and let us not forget that brick and mortar school is not about socializing). The biggest perk that has been shown obvious (at least in a state like mine) is that stability of learning. Schools in my state have been shut down, half-way open, shut down again, half-way open, etc. I know from people in my circle that children who remained enrolled in the public school system have been struggling. Between the inconsistency and the remote learning they are not used too, it’s been quite challenging. I do understand parents who feel they have no other options. I have not had to experience working outside the home and being a homeschool parent, but I do know that others have done it. I also know many parents who tell me, “I could never teach my kid at home.” I used to think I couldn’t do it either. You know what? You can. You don’t need a college degree and you certainly don’t need to know everything. Most teachers when getting a college degree focus on one subject, maybe two, not all, and yet, especially in elementary, they teach most if not all. If they can teach your child, why can’t you? I know, then people say, “they won’t listen to me.” Yep, I used to think like that also. Do they always? Nope! Do I get frustrated? Yep! Do I ever think of sending them back to public school? Nope! Those frustrating days I know can be rough and I know sometimes some parents feel like giving up. Don’t. Ask yourself why you started the journey. Remember the reasons. Did those change? I’m not going to lie, being a homeschooling parent is a sacrifice, but one that for us has been well worth any bad days.
As promised I am going to update you on what curriculum I’ve chosen for my 8th and 10th graders. Down the line, once we get the books and begin using them I will try to stay on top of posting what works or doesn’t. Before I begin listing the materials I want to say how good our God is. Yes, this world has gone crazy and things are a mess, but He has been providing for my family during it all. If you read my last post, you know my situation. With prayer and discussion we opted to go ahead as systems normal, even though they are not. That means I filed for homeschool and began purchasing curriculum. Now comes lesson planning once everything comes in. Please, if you are new to homeschooling in PA, go through my posts and visit my printables and resources pages to help you navigate the law and be compliant with it. It’s not that hard to follow, it just sounds difficult. I was once a new homeschooling mother also. (this is our 4th year!)
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