Homeschooling is becoming more popular every day. Due to this popularity, what was once illegal in almost every state is now legal and many parents feel it is their right to school the way they see fit. Unfortunately a few bad apples have made it so that many states require a home inspection.

Schooling at home requires you to abide by your states homeschooling laws. Failure to comply can mean your child is marked truant, you as a parent can be held for child abuse and court orders for mandatory attendance at the local public school may be issued.So always comply with your states laws.

What is a home inspection?

Schooling at home requires record keeping. You should at the very minimum keep attendance records, immunization records, standardized test scores, and some form of daily log showing what you are teaching and the subjects that you have covered.

This log will be very helpful to you in keeping organized. A home inspection is when a person from either the local school district or the state department that handles homeschooling comes to your home to review your records and to be sure that your home is in compliance.

Is it legal? Can the state really send a home inspector to my home? In many states, it is legal and if it is required you must comply. What does an inspection entail?

It depends on where you live. In some states, you only need to show attendance records, immunization records, and standardized test scores for the last year. You can meet the inspector at your door step and do not have to let them in.

Other states require that you file full lesson plans and work with the local principal or other school administrator on a regular basis. What ever your state’s law dictates, you must comply with it.If you live in a state that has rather lenient rules you may want to keep detailed records in case you move out of state.

This will save you a lot of grief later on.Why do states require a home inspection? Schooling at home removes your child from the largest mandatory reporting agency of abuse, which is the traditional school system.

Both private and public school teachers and administrators and staff are mandatory reporters. There have been a few, but very public, cases of home schooled children suffering from neglect and abuse. Although this is not common and most home school families obey the law, there are a few who slip through the cracks.

It is the government’s way of trying to legislate a way to protect children from harm. This is why many states require a home inspection. Whether we like it or not, if it is written into the home school law, then you should comply.

Homeschooling is a huge responsibility. In order to ensure the safety and well being of children, many states require a home inspection. Schooling at home? Just learn to live with the inspections.

References:
http://www.hslda.org
http://www.home-school.com
http://www.nche.org

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