Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Regions NJ Homeschooling Bill Introduced

FYI - http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A3500/3123_I1.PDF

Interestingly, it would give HS kids access to district extracurriculars including sports teams, and require substantial oversight and reporting.

I'm not as...well, frankly, not as *rabid* about my freedom to homeschool as some people are. I do get nervous about "oversight" because I fear that I'll wind up having to do some curriculum that is lockstep with age and is not right for my child's needs.

On its face, though, this bill doesn't see too onerous to me. What's the law in NJ now?

Where I am, we either have to submit a portfolio or achievement test scores. It looks like NJ requires a portfolio always and adds testing, too, in certain designated years. The carrot they're dangling seems to be the extracurriculars.

I'm not sure, but that might almost be worth it to me, depending upon what you have now and how big the change is...Hmm...

Kriston, as far as I know there is NO oversight in NJ. No testing, no portfolio, not even curriculum plan. Nothing. Going from nothing to something can be huge for them

Wow. I cannot believe that they require immunization! My children a fully immunized, but I know many hs, who hs for this reason itself. It looks like lots of requirements, such as keeping portfolio every year. I can see why NJ community wouldn't be happy about it, but being able to join in school activities is a nice thing. I am surprised that they don't specify how well the child has to do on the tests, neither do they state what subjects need to be taught.

I must admit that I didn't read it very carefully. What does that mean for gt students? Would gt 3rd grader have to at least on the paper work on the same material like regular 3rd graders? I hope not.

From Kriston's posts it sounds like our state has similar requirements like hers. If testing is allowed each year, then for me that's the easiest way out. Much less work than portfolio or report. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case in this proposal.

Yep, nothing in NJ. Nada, zilch, zero, as DS like to say. The local HS lists are going crazy. I doubt it will pass as is, b/c it's too much work for the administrators. Every child needs to be interviewed every year, all curricula reviewed, etc., and they have right of approval over the curriculum. That part makes me a bit nervous, if they don't want the kids accelerated, but all in all, I'd say we're pretty close to compliance anyway. I notified the superintendent and told him why we're HSing, and he very nicely has set up a meeting for me with the district curriculum supervisors. DS has his immmunizations, we are doing easily shown schoolwork, etc. It seems to me from what I've read on various local HS groups that the HS'ers who are the most nervous are the unschoolers, those who HS for religious reasons, and those who have chosen not to vacinate their children.

I'd say the only thing missing is the right to special services, like those in an IEP. Our district will ignore the IEP unless the child is enrolled in school, which I know is not right, but it's the way it is.

Sorry to be so slow to get back to this, but my time and Internet access are both spotty right now.

The acceleration issue is the one I'm watching carefully. Keep us updated, will you please, Questions? I'm curious to see how this shakes out.

Thanks!

Kriston is alive Good to see you.

The interview process would bother me too. I didn't even notice that the first time I read the proposal. I can see why people are upset about it. Going from nothing to this even if you get access to school classes is a huge change and the bill goes little too far. It gives the school district too much control.

From what I've heard/read lots of school districts don't bother too much when it comes to hs. They are busy enough with the kids in their own schools. I also saw quite generic curriculum plans for unschoolers, which supposedly worked just fine.

Thanks for the shout-out!

That's what I thought, too, LMom: that what's on the books and what happens in practice may be two different things. It's a lot of hassle for the schools to go HSer by Hser to check everyone more than once a year. I doubt they'd do it unless there was a real problem or a family they wanted to make an example of.

As for unschooling, I think the real unschoolers that I know--that is, those who take their duty to their kids seriously and really think about how to help their kids learn in their own ways--are FAR more organized and capable of enumerating the curriculum items they have available to the kids and the skills their kids are learning than I am, say. Doing unschooling effectively requires a LOT of work on the part of the parent(s). I'm just not that willing to drop everything at a moment's notice to follow my child's every whim. I'm too lazy!

Honestly, I suspect that the people who will have honest-to-goodness trouble with this review policy (vs. mere fear or inconvenience) are the people who probably should have some trouble IMHO: that small handful of people who really are neglecting their kids. For everyone else it will be a hassle, but nothing to really worry about. (Assuming, of course, that the curriculum stuff isn't too regulated. THAT could be a major problem for GT HSers!)

I know one unschooling family that worries me a bit about their approach, and I could see a law like the NJ one being a big deal for them. They have a really nice boy a couple or 3 years older than my DS7 who isn't reading yet. My son had to read some signs to him, and it was kind of troubling, both to DS and to me. I worry about the poor kid missing the "sweet spots" for learning certain skills. If he's not motivated to learn to read by 10, when exactly is he going to get motivated? Maybe it's time to consider the possibility that something isn't working there...

But I want to stress that this family is the exception, not the rule. Most unschoolers I know have kids ahead of the curve, not behind it. And they certainly work a lot harder to educate their kids than I ever do! It's a lot harder to have a variety of math options for a child to choose from whenever they feel like it than it is to say "Math time now!" and sit down with a curriculum!

The NJ bill would make it similar to the state where I live w/ hte exception of no annual interviews w/ DC, and no participation in extracurriculars. We have to have curriculum approved by the Principal of the school DC would have attended. My particular district is known for rejecting HSing proposals asking for more detail...they in fact require more info than is required by the state. Lucky me. I don't think the extracurriculars are a good trade off unless you're in an area as I am where there aren't many HSers so there aren't many programs that occur duing the day. We have no art classes, TKD, music, museums close by, etc open during school hours. For me, having access to extracurriculars at school would be wonderful. The few art classes are very expensive over $350 for a 8 week session, one session per week for pottery for example.