Some people say that the education laws in California do not allow home schooling. There is a statute on the books in California that says “each person between the ages of 6 and 18 years not exempted . . . shall attend the public full-time day school or continuation school or classes.” Based on this law, children who are not in school are considered truant. The exemptions to this law are those children enrolled in a private full-time day school and children taught by a tutor who is a licensed California teacher. Where is the room for California home school families?
If you are wanting to home school in California, don’t worry! There are many parents who are ditching the public school environment in favor of becoming a California home school family. But how do they get around this law?
There are two main ways to establish a California home school, and both of these ways have to do with the exemptions to the compulsory education law. The first way is to have one of the parents become a licensed teacher in the state of California. This works as long as the children are in the grade level that the parent holds a license to teach. If you plan on home schooling your children through their entire elementary and high school career, this will not likely work, unless one parent holds a license in the lower levels, and the other holds a license in the upper levels.
The other way to create a legal California home school is to make your home school a private school. Creating a private school at home does not require accreditation or accountability to the government. All you do is file a form with the state board of education that states that you are a private school, and you will be teaching your children at home. The state board of education uses this information for their statistics. They do not hold any control over your home schooling environment, and they cannot force you to make certain curriculum choices or dictate philosophy to you.
To turn your California home school into an official private school, you must file a Private School Affidavit. This form, which is known as the R-4 Affidavit, can be obtained from the California Department of Education website. Each year, you will file this form with the Superintendent of Public Instruction in the first two weeks of October. The state of California does require that children are taught certain subjects, but how these subjects are taught is entirely up to the parents. Children in elementary must learn math, social studies, English, science, art, PE, and health. High school students must learn the same things as the elementary students, as well as driver’s education, vocational studies, applied art, and a foreign language, which could be Latin. Also, the state of California requires the students being educated in their state to be taught in English.
Most California home school parents are easily able to meet these requirements, and the state is not going to send in inspectors, so the parents still have the freedom them want as educators. The state of California has no legal right to approve or disapprove the curriculum, teaching methods, and existence of private schools, including home schools. The only purpose of the affidavit is to know the percentages of students who are enrolled in private versus public schools in California, and to ensure that all children are being educated.
However, some choose not to worry about the paper work and the possibility of having questions thrown their way. A third way to get around the California compulsory education law is through distance education or independent studies. Many public and private schools offer distance or correspondence education option. These can easily be implemented into a home school environment, and allow the child to be enrolled as a student in the school offering the program. An online school would be a good example of distance education. In order to be qualified under the California Educational Code, these schools need to be California schools. If you choose to do distance education through an out of state school, you will still need to file the affidavit to be considered a private school environment.
If you are ready to establish a California home school environment, you are now armed with the information you need to operate within the bounds of the California educational law. You can choose to become a private school, get a teaching certificate, or enroll your child in a distance education program. All of these options allow you to school your children at home within the secure bounds you create for them!
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