How to Homeschool: Will Public Schools Provide You with the Curriculum?

by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

When you choose to homeschool your child, you may be wondering if the public schools will help you with curriculum. Can they give or sell you you textbooks and study guides? If you are pulling them out of the public school, will they give you the books and learning materials where your child left off? Will public schools provide homeschoolers with a curriculum?

Will public schools give you a curriculum?

It depends on the rules in your area, as well as each situation. If you have registered as the homeschool teacher, most states do not allow the public schools to administer tests or curriculum to your students. They can only do this if the students are enrolled with them. Some public schools offer homeschooling programs, in which they provide the materials. However, in this case, you are not the one who makes the final rules and your children will still be technically in the public school program. If you prefer it that way, then go ahead and register in this type of program. But if you'd rather be responsible for all aspects of your child's education, you will need to seek the curriculum elsewhere or create it yourself.

Should the public schools give your child curriculum if you homeschool?

No. Unless your child is registered in a program with the public schools, they should not be involved in the educational aspects of your homeschool. Laws change all the time, so keep up to date with your local laws on homeschool. However, in most cases, public schools cannot and should not be distributing you any learning materials unless your children are registered as their students.

Why wouldn't I want to accept curriculum from the public schools?

t's not really a matter of whether you have the desire to accept the materials. But as the homeschool teacher, it is also your responsibility to abide by the law. By allowing teaching from someone not authorized as the homeschool teacher, you could be getting yourself and the school into trouble. If you would prefer they provide the curriculum, you need to either enroll your child in the public schools or in a home-based program with them. This ensures that you and the school are both abiding by the appropriate laws regarding the education. If you would like more control over your child's education, you need to take charge of the curriculum yourself.

Why won't the public schools give me the unused materials where my child left off?

In some states, it is actually against the rules for them to help you, unless you are registered in a homeschooling program through the public schools. As the parent and homeschool teacher, all the responsibility is on you, unless your child is enrolled in a program that relieves that responsibility. The decision to homeschool is not one that should be taken lightly. By choosing to homeschool your children, you are choosing the responsibility of anything involved in their education. As such, you must make a decision on curriculum and many other things. In homeschool, no one does that for you - or anything else for that matter. That's right. It's all up to you and the public schools will likely not help much or at all.


*I originally published a version of this via Yahoo Contributor Network