my 7 year old son is the second grade.  lately he has been having lots of problems in school.  my husband and i talked about and we agreed to look into homeschooling for a few different reasons.  i was just wondering how would i go about starting this process?  i know every state is different.  but i was wondering how do i get approved and what are the basic guidelines?  also, i do i have to be certified teacher or be certified in anything?

Homeschooling varies drastically from state to state.  If you go to HSLDA - Home School Legal Defense Association's website, they give information about each state's laws.  That is a good place to start to find out what requirements are in place for each state.

In Your State

Good for you, for looking into it!  I hope you have great success!

Hi there.

Another thing you may want to do while you are at the HSLDA website is look for one of your area's local homeschool organizations.  (HSLDA has a list of those, too.  Here's a link for Massachusetts: www.hslda.org/orgs/default.asp)  This list doesn't include every organization, so when you call one of them, ask if they know of others.  Once you start homeschooling, I recommend getting connected with a local group.  That's a great way to get support, meet friends, and participate in field trips--and your son will see that he's not the only one staying home. 

Then you can talk to people who are homeschooling right in your area--possibly even your school district.  (In Massachusetts, I believe you'll wind up giving your notification to your school district's superintendant, so it's a bonus if you can meet someone in your district that has gone ahead of you.)

You may also want to check out the website of the state organization, Massachusetts Homeschool Organization of Parent Educators: www.masshope.org/   Their state-wide convention is coming up at the end up April.  If you can swing it, convention workshops are a great way to get information.  (I recommend getting a babysitter and bringing your husband--sometimes the hubbies need to get the information more than we do.)  One warning about the exhibit hall at a convention:  Don't get overwhelmed with all the neat stuff you can buy!  You don't really need most of it--but, boy, it sure is fun to look at!  :)  (I just went to convention in Cincinnati.  This year, I wrote down ISBNs for any book I saw that I wanted to bring home and type into this site...not a lot of luck with that, but my wish list got longer....)  :)

(I live in Ohio, but I grew up a couple of towns away from Lawrence, MA.  Hi there, former neighbor!)

thanks for the information! 

Hello!

If at all possible you should go to MassHope's convention on April 25-26 (you can go for one day if you want not two). There will be over 2000 of us homeschoolers there (me included). It will be overwhelming but you will receive infomation for newbie's and lots of encouragement. I highly recommend that you attend the conference as it is very energizing and you can see all the options for methods and styles of homeschooling.

Also get in touch with your local support groups and meet some people, speak to the local leader etc.

Good luck with researching and exploring your options!!