Texas State Requirements for Homeschooling
We know that many are unfamiliar with homeschooling and are wondering what we do with our days. We hope this gives you an idea of what we are required to tech and how we go about it.
Texas is a very homeschool friendly state. Texas does have requirements however there are other states that are much more strict with what they require. According to Texas state laws homeschooling is considered at private school. We are required to teach Reading, Writing, Math and Civics. The following was posted on the Texas Homeschool Coalition's website THSC.
What is the required curriculum?
In order to be a legitimate home school, you must have a curriculum which teaches reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics and a study of good citizenship, and you must pursue that curriculum in a bona fide (not a sham) manner. This curriculum may be obtained from any source and can consist of books, workbooks, other written materials, or materials on an electronic monitor including computer or video screens, or any combination thereof.
Does the school district have to approve my curriculum?
Absolutely not! Home schools in Texas are private schools, and private schools are not regulated by the state. The school district has no authority to approve curricula used by private schools.
Do I need accredited curriculum? If so, where can I get it?
Actually, schools are accredited– not curricula. To be accredited, a school must meet certain standards, such as holding classes the same number of days and hours as are required of public schools, employing certified teachers, etc. There are accredited correspondence schools in which students can enroll. In these cases, teachers from the schools make the assignments and grade the work. These programs tend to be more expensive, because the school is doing more of the work. Examples of such schools would be Alpha Omega Academy (Christian), Texas Tech ISD (secular).
Being enrolled in an accredited school is not legally necessary to home school. (See answer #3 above.) The major benefit of enrolling in an accredited school is that if your child wants to enroll in a public school, the school would accept his credits, and he should not have to undergo testing for grade placement.
What is required for graduation?
Can my home educated students get into college?
In Texas, state colleges are required to accept a home school graduate's diploma and transcript and to treat a home school graduate just as they would any other applicant. Home school graduates are accepted at most colleges and universities around the nation, and even recruited by many.
We are using Bob Jones University, a Christian based curriculum. We also supplement with worksheets we find online, Latin workbooks, astronomy and lots of living books.
While of course spiritual growth is not required by the state, we are taking a journey through the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon. We take time each morning to study and learn more. We then pray for Heavenly Father’s blessing of a good attitude towards learning that day. We also ask for patience and understanding with the new things we are being taught. This as added such a wonderful sense to the day. Of course the day is not always perfect but more often than not it is a real help.
The girls are also getting music instruction in voice, piano, and guitar. Aaron has started piano lessons. We require that they do 60 minutes of PE a day. We prefer it to be outside time however when the weather does not permit we do have a Wii Fit that they use.
We have computer program that we use to keep our grade and attendance. We also keep tests and certain projects as samples of the children's work for reference.
Not only do we teach history/civics from the BJU but each child is either in Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts with also satisfies the civics requirements.
