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Home Schooling - Professor Mom Can Help

By Raymond Smith
Staff Writer / GrantsPassNews.com

Why are so many parents choosing to home school? Because it works. A 1997 study by Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) found that home educated students excelled on nationally-normed standardized achievement exams. On average, home schoolers outperformed their public school peers by 30 to 37 percentile points across all subjects.

For many, the deepest and most abiding benefit of home schooling is the claiming (or reclaiming) of their family. Home schooling families spend incredible amounts of time together living, learning and playing. They have the opportunity to develop a depth of understanding and a commitment to the family that is difficult to attain when family members spend their days going in separate directions. Many families like the flexibility home schooling provides to both parents and children.

Children can learn about things they are interested in at a time in their lives when they are ready to learn. No preconceived schedule forces them ahead or holds them back. Vacations and outings can be planned for times when the family is ready, and often when the crowds are smaller and the costs lower. Children can learn about the "real world" by being a part of it, and can receive a superior education attuned specifically to their own needs, learning styles, personalities, and interests.

As home schooling becomes a more and more popular option for families with children with special needs which are not met by the public schools, families who are simply fed up with unresponsive public education, and those who assess the efforts of public education as falling short of teaching to the capacities of their children, business is starting to fill the gap to assist home schoolers. Professor Mom, a storefront business in Central Point, also hosting a web site addresses that need.

First off, home schooling is a legal option in Oregon. There are some laws dealing with it that the potential home educator must consider.

Will your child be at least 7 years old as of September 1st of this year? If NO, then no further action or notification is required. OAR (Oregon Administrative Rule) 581-021-0026 (11) If the answer is yes, then you need to send a one-time written notice of your intent to home school your child. OAR 581-021-0026 (4) The notice is sent to the Education Service District (ESD) for your county. You can find the ESD address at the Oregon Home Education Network website under "Resources".

The notice must be given within 10 days after you withdraw the child from school, or within 10 days after the first day of school if you begin home schooling during the summer or at the start of a school year. If you move to a new county, you must notify your new ESD within 10 days.

The ESD may request additional information such as the parent's phone number or e-mail address, but providing this information is optional (you don't need to provide this if you don't want to). There is no requirement to specify the child's grade level.

Has your child been diagnosed with a disability by a medical or other professional? Disabilities include: autism spectrum disorder, communication disorder, deaf-blindness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, mental retardation, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, traumatic brain injury, and vision impairment. These disabilities are described in OAR 581-015-0051. If the answer is yes, then your child's educational progress may be assessed according to the child's Individual Education Plan (IEP) or Privately Developed Plan (PDP). OAR 581-021-0029.

Is your child in grades 3, 5, 8 or 10? If not, then no further action is required. Have fun home schooling! If your child is in these grades then your child's educational progress must be assessed this year.

As a parent, you have the choice of placing your 7 year old in 1st grade or higher. OAR 581-021-0026 (6) Once you choose a grade level placement, you should use it consistently. For example, you should not "hold back" or "skip" your child to avoid the four assessment grades (3, 5, 8 and 10). If home schoolers do this, it can jeopardize the flexibility to determine when our children are ready for 1st grade.

If your child re-enters public school before 10th grade, he or she will probably be placed with age-peers, regardless of the grade level you choose. Once your child has done their 10th grade assessment, you and your child have flexibility in determining when your child is ready to graduate and/or begin college. Allowing your child an extra year at the beginning (by designating their 7-year-old year as 1st grade) gives them a little extra time before their 3rd grade assessment, but does not necessarily determine their ultimate graduation year.

Was your child in public or private school on or after February 15th during the last school year? If they were then no assessment is required this year. OAR 581-021-0026 (5)(a)(A) Assessments must be done by August 15th of the year that your child completes grades 3, 5, 8 and 10. However, no assessment is required during the first 18 months after a child leaves school. For example, if your child was in school for 2nd grade until at least Feb. 15th, then no assessment is required for 3rd grade, because the assessment would be within 18 months after the child leaves school.

Your child must take an approved standardized test by August 15th of the year that the child completes grades 3, 5, 8 and 10. You choose and pay for the test and the tester (from a list of certified testers). Approved tests include the two most recent versions of the California Achievement Test, Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Iowa Tests of Basic Skills/Tests of Achievement and Proficiency, Metropolitan Achievement Battery, and Stanford Achievement Test Battery. (Note, however, that many testers only offer one or two of these tests.) OAR 581-021-0026 (1)(a)

The tester provides the results to you. The ESD may notify you that you must turn in the results to the ESD. Only the composite score (combined math and verbal) needs to be submitted to the ESD. OAR 581-021-0026 (7)(a) Was your child's composite score in the fifteenth percentile or above? If so then no further assessment is required until the next "assessment grade" (5, 8 or 10). 6. If your child's composite score was below the fifteenth percentile, then the child must be assessed again the following year. If this second composite score is the same or higher than the first score, then your child returns to the normal assessment schedule (grades 5, 8 and 10). OAR 581-021-0026 (7)(e)

If the second composite score is lower than the first score, then the child must be assessed again the following year, and the ESD superintendent may allow the parent to continue homeschooling as before, or may require the child's education to be supervised by a person holding a teaching license (selected by and paid for by the parent). If the composite score in the next year declines again, then the superintendent may allow the parent to continue homeschooling as before, or may require continued supervision and testing, or may remand the child to school for up to 12 months. OAR 581-021-0026 (7)(b)-(d)

Thus, while there are some hoops to jump through, if a child is progressing well, the public sector takes little interest in home schoolers. In fact home schoolers as a group test well above the average public school levels, but political dictates (i.e. the fact that home schooling takes tax money out of the school systems based on enrollment) has led special interests in the legislature enact the supervision mandates. The last legislature put a bill deregulating home schooling on the governor's desk, but he declined to sign it. It will likely be resubmitted in the next legislative session.

What does Professor Mom have to offer home schoolers? While being a Christian oriented business, Professor Mom offers full curriculum choices for the family which is educating their own children. Those choices run from traditional text books to sophisticated computer learning programs which allow the student to study, test, and be evaluated on line.

Curriculum companies such as Alpha/Omega publications offer their curriculums in publication format, on computer media, or through online classrooms where students can interact with teachers who are supervising their progress. These choices are price driven, with prices ranging from $200 to $1500 per year depending on the type of program.

If you are interested in learning more about home schooling and its benefits and burdens, contact Professor Mom.

Professor Mom's Homeschool Center
834 S Front St
Central Point, OR 97502
(541) 664-0303
Monday - Thursday 10:00 - 5:00 PM PST