Looking for suggestions/feedback!

[Maria McKee]

Hey everyone!  I'm wondering if someone can tell me what RU looks like in New Hampshire (or any state with "home schooling" requirements)?  When we dove into this we were living in TX, which was great because it's a very free state in terms of having no testing or the like.  We came back to NH (having lived here previously) last summer and my son, who is 15 and started high school this year, went to public school in the fall because that's what he wanted at the time.  He now absolutely hates it and wants to come home.

If ever there was a perfect candidate for RU, he is it.  Formal school structure is just not a good fit for him!!  But now that we live in a state that at the very least will require a portfolio evaluation at the end of the year, how in the world does one apply RU to that kind of thing??!

Thanks for reading!!

Maria  :)

[Susan Burke]

You file a letter of intent with either your local SAU (School Administration Unit) or a private school.  I use a private school.  They usually charge a fee, but do not report your child's name or ss# to the state, so it affords you anonymity.  With the letter of intent you send the fee, and a S.A.S.E. with your address on it so they can send you back a letter of receipt.  You go about your life, keeping some sort of a portfolio or slide show, etc and at the end of the year find an unschooling friendly certified teacher to evaluate the portfolio.  I make a slide show with narration which I burn to disc. I go to our evaluators home and watch the disc with her, answering any questions she has while my child plays outside with her kids.  She emails me if she has any further questions and later on she writes up, in educationese, a lovely evaluation of our portfolio which we then sign, make a copy, and send to the participating agency ( the private school) along with a check for the fee for the coming year, and another S.A.S.E.  Easy Peasy!  You just have to live life fully so there are an over abundance of things to include in your portfolio.  Hope this helps!!

[Maria McKee]

Thanks Susan!  I appreciate the feedback.  I like your suggestion of filing with a private school instead of my local district; since he is currently enrolled in public school, I'm afraid they already have him "on radar."  I'm still looking into all the requirements and wondering if I have to send a letter to his school for withdrawal purposes (I would imagine so, otherwise they'll simply assume he's truant and all that hoopla...).

One thing that bothers me, and perhaps you or another member here can comment, I know from past home schooling experience in NH that the law states I am to provide the name, address, birthday, etc. of all children participating in the home school program.  When I have filed intent with the district in the past (several years ago, when we lived here previously) they wanted the names/info of all children in my home, whether hs'ing or not!  Will I avoid that sort of intrusion by filing with a private school??

Thanks again!