Thanks to a person in my homeschool co-op for reminding me to file our notice of intent to homeschool for the 2012-2013 school year! This fall will only our second year of homeschooling and for some reason I didn’t realize you have to file the notice of intent (NOI) every year.
From the Colorado Department of Education:
Written notification must be re-submitted to the school district each year the home school program is maintained after the initial year.
Find out more information here, because I am obviously not an expert on this. :)
Ours will be in the mail today! Veteran Colorado homeschoolers, is there anything else that I’m forgetting to do?!
$1.25 for Lucerne (half gallon) at Safeway, Fri-Sun Only
I have a follow up question to the Homeschooling Veterans out there. We filed our NOI with Distric 20 as our son is going to be attending the Home School Academy, and choiced into that district. However, do I need to notify our home district (49) in some way as well?
Colorado home school law requires that you file your letter of intent with your local school district. So send it to the district your child would attend if you weren’t home schooling. It should only include their name, age at the beginning of the year (date of birth not required) and total hours you plan to homeschool for the year. You need to file this each year once your child is 7 years old or older. (Kindergarten is not mandatory in the state of Colorado.)
Thank you! Since we Choiced into D20, I think that is now our home district.
According to the CHEC website, you can file your NOI in any district in Colorado. This same link also mentions how to file for 6 year olds:
http://www.chec.org/resources-2/law-2/recent-changes/
–Penny
I don’t know anything about Homeschooling but Im very interested. My family is moving from Kansas to Colorado in less than a few weeks and Homeschooling is something I am considering. My son is Six and in Kindergarden and doesn’t like new things very well, so I was thinking that this would be a good way to give him time to adjust to things.
I was told that In CO that you can’t actually homeschool but have to have a private teacher come to your house? Is that true?
Please help
No negative comments please and thank you
No, that’s definitively *not* true. You can homeschool your own child here – perhaps what someone might have been thinking of was that, since your child must be tested at certain intervals (3rd, 5th, 7th grade if I recall correctly; I don’t remember anything past 7th but there might be some testing requirements), and you can either opt to have them do a test or have a certified teacher evaluate your child’s progress in lieu of a test. In that case, yes, they would come to your home but that’s for testing every couple of years. not to actually educate your child. :)
Leann, Welcome to Colorado. We found the organization named CHEC to be a good resource for learning how to homeschool and the laws about homeschooling in Colorado. They have a beginning homeschool course they offer several times a year and throughout the state. Last I looked it cost $35 and came with a large manual on how to homeschool and the laws. They also have a great annual conference we like and they can hook you up to many organizations and local groups. Best wishes in your endeavor.
Where do you get your children tested at the appropriate grades?
Thanks.
Susan
Susan,
You can have a CO-licensed teacher evaluate your kids (see chec.org because there are a couple of more qualified evaluator statuses). You can also test your own kids via tests you can order for $25 from Seton Testing Services.
–Penny
Our child goes to a local public school program once a week just for homeschooled kids. District 20, 11 and 49 have these programs and each has a different flavor. The programs have no out of pocket cost. The one we chose does only enrichment (drama, PE, art, music, etc.) All them offer standardized testing on the years the state law asks for evaluation to be done. But you can choose if you want that standardized testing, or can use the certified teacher evaluation on your own.