Your Friendly Guide To
Florida Homeschool Laws

Are you looking for guidance on Florida homeschool laws without having to wade through any legalese? We will try not to bore you to tears. We will present Florida homeschool laws in simple, conversational English - with a dash of humor to keep you awake.

A word of warning: homeschooling Florida style may be difficult in the beginning because there is a mountain of information you have to know. So please bear with us as you read this very, very long article. We have no choice but to pack all that information in this page.

We will try our best to keep you on the right side of Florida homeschool laws - the last we heard, prison food is still awful.

Shall we get started? Let's look at Florida homeschool options first.

Florida legislators are fully aware that different folks have different strokes. What's your stroke? Plunge right in to find out. We will only look at those options that homeschoolers choose, and public school is not one of them, unless you like dog paddling.

Florida homeschool options that await you.

There are 3 ways you can homeschool your children, although only one of them falls under Florida Homeschool Laws. They are:

• Private tutor program
• Private or umbrella school
• Home education program

Only if you choose the home education program will you fall under the Florida homeschool laws.

Let's look at all of them in detail.

Florida Homeschool Option 1
Private Tutor Program

The requirements for the private tutor law are quite simple. First of all, the private tutor has to have a valid Florida certificate for the subjects and grades she will be teaching your children. So even President Bush is disqualified.

Secondly, she will be held responsible for keeping all the records and making all reports required by the state and district school board. And finally, your children have to attend her classes for 180 days or the equivalent in hours. Simple really.

By the way, if you choose this option, you don't fall under Florida homeschool laws. You will have to obey the private tutor law. Shall we go the the next option.

Florida Homeschool Option 2
Private or Umbrella School

There are many private schools - aka umbrella schools - that allow you to enroll in them without having to step foot in their premises physically to attend classes. Therefore, your children can be almost 100% homeschooled but still be students of a private school. So you get the best of both worlds.

What other advantages can you get by homeschooling through an umbrella school? Other than never being bugged by government authorities (we are not talking about the CIA), quite a lot actually. There are so many private schools out there that you will surely find one that fits your religious and educational philosophy, unless you are a devotee of Baal.

It's a good idea to enquire about their curricula and teaching methodology to see whether you like it. Plus you could check out their books and materials. Is their library well-stocked? Are there other support services that would be of great help to you?

Most of them also provide tests, transcripts and eventually diplomas. These diplomas are valuable if your kids intend to go to college or apply for scholarships.

The private school option is very popular with homeschoolers. If you don't want to have sleepless nights over whether you are complying with homeschool laws, this is the best option for you.

And is it expensive? A very big no. Huckleberry Finn would have been able to afford it. In fact, a great many private schools are dirt cheap. The annual tuition fees are only in the double digits for some private schools.

If you feel that this option is still quite restrictive, then you should look at your third option, the home education program. Shall we look at it now?

Florida Homeschool Option 3
Home Education Program

What are the advantages of this option?

Parent's Qualifications for Homeschooling in Florida

You don't need a Florida teaching licence to teach your kids. You just have to have the honor of being a parent of a human child.

Required Subjects for Homeschooling in Florida

There are no required subjects to teach. Your curricula could include math, martial arts, carjacking, graffiti or arson - you are not breaking any homeschool laws in Florida. Other laws, we don't know.

Required Days of Instruction for Homeschooling in Florida

You are also not required to teach for a minimum of 180 days annually. So technically, if you are ultra lazy, you could teach for only one day annually.

The Negatives of Homeschooling in Florida

The catch is - and there are 2 - the superintendent can inspect your portfolio anytime and your children have to be evaluated annually. We will discuss these later. And just when you thought you could take a permanent mental vacation.

Your Obligations as a Home Educator in Florida

Let's look at your obligations next. There are 6 of them. Please memorize them or alternatively print them out, frame the paper and hang it in a prominent place.

It's that important. You are on your own here - any mistakes you make will fall entirely on your head. The Law can be quite brutal to those who are guilty. Don't panic though. Thousand of parents are already doing it, and what's more - we are here to guide you.

Here are Your Magnificent Six Florida Homeschool Obligations:

1. Send your NOI to the school district.
2. Maintain a portfolio of your child's records.
3. The superintendent can inspect your portfolio upon 15 days' written notice.
4. Keep your portfolio for 2 years.
5. Submit an annual evaluation to the superintendent.
6. Submit a letter of termination when homeschooling ends.

That's all there is to it. Now let's go into the teeny-weeny details. And sorry, you can't run away from this unless you migrate to Zanzibar.

Florida Homeschool Obligation 1
Send your NOI to the school district

A Notice of Intent is basically a simple document that informs the school district that you intend to homeschool your child. If your child has attained the age of 6 or will have attained the age of 6 by February 1, then the NOI is a must or your child will run foul of the truancy law. You will have to continue sending the NOI annually until your child reaches the age of 16.

This Florida homeschool law is not tough to obey. What you need to do is to type out your child's name, birth date, address and sign it. You don't have to give any more information than that - even when they demand it. You are protected by the Law. Whew!

Then you could personally visit your school district to submit the NOI. If you are feeling lazy, send it return-receipt requested to prove that it has reached its destination.

Need a sample. Click Florida Homeschool NOI to get your lifesaver - kindly provided by southcountyhomeschoolers.org.

Please send the NOI within 30 days of starting your homeschooling, especially when you remove your child from a public or private school. It is best not to get entangled with the Law.

Florida Homeschool Obligation 2
Maintain a portfolio of records

Are you getting a headache? Complying with this homeschool law is quite easy actually. You have to maintain 2 things - a log of educational activities and samples of your child's work.

To maintain a log, you don't have to hack down a tree. It can be quite basic as long as it makes sense to the superintendent who may want to view it. Your log of educational activities should be made "contemporaneously" with the instruction that is given to your child.

What this means in English is that you should write your log when you teach your child. Let's say for example that on Monday you taught your child English, History and Math and also took her to the museum to learn about dinosaurs. At the end of the day, write in your log the date and time you taught English, History and Math, and also include the trip to the museum because it is part of your endeavor to give her a sound education.

Anything that you feel is an educational activity can be logged in, such as creating an ant farm, learning how to ride a horse, or a trip to the beach to learn about marine life. You certainly want to show that your child has been busy.

Also include in your log the titles of the books and materials your child reads as part of her education.

The other thing you have to do to be on the right side of Florida Homeschool Laws is to keep samples of your dear child's work. They are writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials used or developed by your child. Again, this is to show that your child has been educationally active.

Is this easy? You bet it is. You could keep them all in a ring binder or simply throw them into a box if organization is a word you detest.

Florida Homeschool Obligation 3
The superintendent can inspect your portfolio upon 15 days' written notice.

Why do we have to go through all the trouble of maintaining the portfolio? The dreaded superintendent may take it into her head to have a look at it. She can ask for it anytime for any reason, or for no reason whatsoever.

Is this scary? Only if you haven't maintained a portfolio. The superintendent's job is to look at your portfolio to confirm that it complies with Florida Homeschool Laws.

She has no right to comment on the progress - or lack of it - made by your child. Your child doesn't have to be present for the inspection. Yes, you can hide her in the closet. Did we hear a sigh of relief?

If you have nerves of steel - just joking - you could personally submit the portfolio. If the idea of meeting the superintendent, or her agent, gives you the jitters, then by all means ask your best friend or mother-in-law - if she loves meddling in your affairs - to do the dirty work.

The superintendent doesn't have the authority to ask any questions relating to your child's grade level, progress or achievements. You can keep you mouth tightly shut if anyone were to ask you these questions. Don't you just love our Florida homeschool laws?

If for some reason you have run foul of Florida Truancy Laws while your child was enrolled in a public school, and you want to homeschool your child, then you will have to endure monthly portfolio reviews until the committee conducting the review feels that you are doing an adequate job of homeschooling your child. A long sentence - sorry.

Florida Homeschool Obligation 4
Keep your portfolio for 2 years.

According to Florida Homeschool Law, you have to keep your portfolio for 2 years. However, the law doesn't state clearly whether the 2 years is from the beginning of the school year or the end.

So to be on the safe side, keep it for 2 years from the end of the school year. Better not mess with the law, even when it is messed up itself.

Florida Homeschool Obligation 5
Submit an annual evaluation to the superintendent.

We have to give the superintendent a break. How else is she to know that parents have been conscientiously educating their kids rather than chaining them in the basement to conduct unhealthy scientific experiments? Florida homeschool laws really do protect our kids.

Here's what you need to do as a responsible Florida homeschool educator. You have to demonstrate that your child is making scholastic progress at a level that is commensurate with her abilities. You have to choose one of 5 ways to evaluate your child. They are:

• Evaluation by a Florida certified teacher
• Take a nationally normed student achievement test
• Take a state student assessment test used by the school district
• Evaluation by a psychologist
• Any other valid measurement tool that you could persuade the school district to accept

You have to select only one. And don't forget to send the results by certified mail, return-receipt requested to avoid any trouble later if the people at the school district were to misplace your document. You will have to pay the price, not them.

Please make sure the evaluation results reach the school district before the anniversary of the NOI. In other words, if you submitted the NOI on 25 July 2008, your evaluation results should arrive at the school district on or before 25 July 2009 - or you will be breaking Florida homeschool law, and consequently your piggy bank for the fine that might follow.

Shall we look at the 5 evaluation options in more detail.

Florida Homeschool Evaluation 1
Certified Teacher

The first option given by Florida homeschooling law is the certified teacher option. If you want your child to be evaluated by a Florida teacher, you can choose any teacher you like as long as the teacher has a valid current teaching certificate to teach academic subjects at the elementary or secondary level.

It is a good idea to get a teacher who is also homeschooling her kids. She will be better able to understand your situation. And she also won't ask you any embarrassing questions.

The teacher will evaluate your child's academic progress by looking at your portfolio and discussing with your child. The benefit of this method is that you will receive feedback on your child's strengths and weaknesses from a third party. You will then know whether you have created a prodigy or irredeemably ruined your child's future.

The cost of being evaluated by a certified teacher is around $40 - not a hefty sum we believe.

Florida Homeschool Evaluation 2
Nationally Normed Achievement Test

If you are not comfortable with a teacher poking her nose into your portfolio and asking your child inane questions, Florida Homeschool Law, like a generous uncle, is kind enough to give you other options. Your child could take ANY nationally normed achievement test such as the MAT, CTBS, SAT, CAT and ITBS.

A number of support groups offer these tests. It is better to get the help of a support group because you need a certified teacher to administer the test.

Please don't send the results of the test directly to the school district - the people there don't trust you. They don't want to give parents the temptation to doctor the results. It is the test administrator's responsibility to send the results.

The cost is around $60 if your child takes the test in a group. However, if you are of the opinion that your child should sit for the test alone - perhaps she has the tendency to bite others - then the price tag is more than $100.

Florida Homeschool Evaluation 3
FCAT

If you feel that you are better off spending that money on Pizza Hut but you still like the idea of a test, then our beloved Florida Homeschool Law gives you yet another choice - the State Student Assessment Test aka FCAT. This is the test all Florida public school children take. And you guessed it - it is free or almost free.

To take this test, you have to inform the school district in your county. The school district will handle everything after that and will inform you of the test date and location. The test scores will be sent directly to the school district. You will also receive a copy.

Please make sure that your child is thoroughly familiar with the test before she takes it or she will be in for a nasty shock when she sits for it.

The next option Florida Homeschool Law has given us is the psychological evaluation. If you have a special needs child with a certain disability or if your child is a genius, then you might want to consider this option. You need a psychologist with a valid active licence not a witch doctor. The cost is at least $150.

Florida Homeschool Evaluation 5
Your Choice

If for some reason you feel that the above 4 options don't suit your taste, then you can come up with an evaluation option that you like. The advantage is that the test would fit your child perfectly.

The big problem is, you have to convince your county school district to accept it. Just because Florida Homeschool Law gives us this option doesn't mean that the school district has to accept any evaluation method that a parent comes up with. The evaluation has to make sense. An example might be correspondence school records.

Now you are on nodding terms with the 5 Florida Homeschool Evaluation options. Do you remember that the Homeschool Evaluation is your 5th Obligation under Florida Homeschool Law?

Let's go to your 6th and last Obligation.

Florida Homeschool Obligation 6
Submit a Notice of Termination when homeschooling ends.

Whenever you feel that your child is much better off going back to school - public or private - or if you are leaving the county for Alaska, you have to write a Notice of Termination. The notice should include all the information that was included in the Notice of Intent that you filed earlier.

A friendly reminder - don't forget to send via certified mail, return-receipt requested to avoid any problems. You could get into trouble with the Homeschool Law.

If you continue to home educate after your child has reached the age of 16, it is a good idea not to send the Notice of Termination. Rather, it is better to continue sending in the Notice of Intent annually.

Why waste valuable time and paper, you may ask. The reason is your child can continue enjoying the benefits, if she wants to, of dual-enrollment and extracurricular activities at public schools. She could also apply for scholarships. There are also other benefits you might want to look into.

We have finished looking at your 6 obligations under Florida Homeschool Law. Now shall we look at other Florida homeschool matters that might be important to you?

Florida Homeschool Miscellany

The Florida Virtual School, fondly referred to as FLVS, is a public on-line school. It provides middle and high school courses for Florida kids. To enroll for the courses, you have to provide verification from your district that your child is registered legally under the Florida homeschool law. Their website: Florida Virtual School.

Interscholastic ECA for Florida Homeschoolers

Would you like your kids to be physically active - perhaps play football or compete in your local interscholastic alligator wrestling competition. Florida homeschoolers are entitled to participate in all interscholastic extracurricular activities that public school students enjoy.

In fact, your homeschooling children have nothing to lose by homeschooling in Florida. Florida loves homeschoolers. Florida homeschool law specifically states that public schools can't exclude home education students from their ECA.

Another benefit is that your child doesn't have to pay any extra fees for participating in ECA. She pays the same fees, if there are any, as public school students. Wonderful, isn't it?

However, to participate in interscholastic extracurricular activities, your child must have a minimum grade point average of 2.0. You determine your method of evaluation by discussing with the principal of the school. Don't worry, it won't be much of a hurdle.

Exceptional Students Who Are Homeschooling in Florida

If you have a special needs child, the school district is under obligation by Florida law to evaluate her. This is good because by identifying your child, the school district will be able to offer special services for her.

The school district will first ask you to sign a consent form to allow them to evaluate your child. How will they conduct the evaluation? They could look at your child's portfolio, observe your child, or ask you to complete checklists.

After the evaluation, the school district will decide whether your child has a disability as defined by the Florida State Board of Education Rules. If she does, the district will make recommendations as to how and where your child can get the needed service, such as language therapy at a public school.

You will not encounter any problems by homeschooling children with disability in Florida. Florida homeschooling laws are there to make your child's homeschooling life wonderful.

How Do Homeschoolers in Florida get their High School Diploma

An important question that many parents ask is how they are going to get transcripts and diplomas for their children who have completed their high school through home education.

Florida homeschool law doesn't say it is illegal to create your own diploma or transcript. As long as you have the proper records to show that your child has received a proper education, there is nothing to prevent you from printing out your own transcript and diploma. Many colleges and employers accept homeschool transcripts and diplomas.

If however you don't think you will be able to sleep unless your child receives a diploma from a third party, there are a few options available to you. You could enroll your child in a private or public school full-time to receive her high school education there. Or you might want to enroll your child in an umbrella school as we discussed earlier, if you want to be in control of her education.

Another option is the General Educational Development (GED). Click Florida GED if you would like to know more about this diploma.

Scholarships for Florida Homeschoolers

Is your child brimming with intelligence? There are some scholarships you might want to look at. Here they are.

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship is for those kids who are in the 11th or 12th grades and plan to have a rosy future. Call 888-827-2004 or visit Florida Bright Futures Scholarship. Other scholarships are the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship (not for bird brains) and Scholarships for Children and Spouses of Deceased or Disabled Veterans and Service Members. Check out the same website given above.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

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