You are completely qualified to home school your children! You don’t need a degree or any expertise to be the best possible teacher for your kids. God has great plans to grow you, your kids, your relationships, and to prepare your children uniquely for the specific plans he has for them! It’s so exciting! And it’s quite simple to school lawfully here in Colorado. I’m not a legal expert, and the following is not legal advice, but thankfully we’ve had some great people fighting to keep the homeschool laws friendly here in Colorado.
Here is my summary of the things required by law in Colorado. See https://hslda.org/post/how-to-comply-with-colorado-s-homeschool-law for more specific details. I like to keep organized by keeping all of these in my Master school binder.
1) Register to homeschool with your Notice of Intent, with an umbrella school, or neither required if you’re a certified teacher in the state of Colorado. (See former post)
2) You need a record of each child’s immunization records, or a written personal exemption statement for each child. (Store these in your master binder under “Official Documents”)
3) You’ll need to give your child a standardized test or have a formal teacher assessment in each of the odd grade levels. (More on this in a future post 😊) File this with your school district or your umbrella school. It’s not required if you have a Colorado teacher’s license. (Make a tab for “Standardized Testing” in your Master Binder)
4) You must keep attendance records, and school a minimum of 172 days a year for an average of 4 hours a day. (Make an attendance section in your binder -- More on this in a future post)
5) Required subjects to be taught - Reading, Writing, Speaking, Mathematics, History, Civics, Literature, Science, Constitution of the United States
6) See https://hslda.org/post/how-to-comply-with-colorado-s-homeschool-law for compulsory age, and more complete details.
Though it is not required, I suggest becoming a member of HSLDA (The Home School Legal Defense Association). They are a great resource, and will defend you if you run into legal challenges homeschooling. They also are fighting to keep homeschooling free in the US and around the world.
Need more help? Contact Renee Hirsch at shinelearningsolutions@gmail.com; or visit shinelearningsolutions.com
Comments