Homeschooling in New York: what to know before you start

In New York, home instruction follows a set process under section 100.10 of the Commissioner's regulations: a notice of intent, a written plan, quarterly reports and an annual assessment. This post summarises it. It is not legal advice, so read the regulation and your district's instructions before you act.

Send a notice of intent

Parents write to the superintendent of their school district of residence each school year to say they will educate their child at home. The regulation sets the date as July 1. A family that starts after the school year has begun gives notice within 14 days of starting.

Write an individualized home instruction plan

After the district receives your notice, it sends you a copy of the regulation and a form for your individualized home instruction plan, known as the IHIP. The IHIP lists:

• the child's name, age and grade level
• the syllabi, curriculum materials, textbooks or plan of instruction for each required subject
• the dates when you will submit quarterly reports
• the names of the people who will teach

The district reviews the plan and tells you whether it meets the requirements. If it finds a deficiency, it tells you in writing and you can revise the plan.

File quarterly reports

On the dates you set in your IHIP, you send the district a quarterly report for each child. Each report includes the number of hours of instruction in that quarter, a description of the material covered in each subject, and a grade or a written narrative for each subject. If less than 80 percent of the planned material was covered in a subject, the report explains why.

The annual assessment

With the fourth quarterly report, you also file an annual assessment. The regulation allows a commercially published, norm-referenced achievement test, or another form of evaluation that the regulation permits.

Where HeyScholr fits

HeyScholr plans lessons from New York's published learning standards for Grades 1 to 6, and its portfolio PDF summarises what your child has done by subject, which can help when you write a quarterly report. It does not send your notice, your plan or your reports. You do that yourself.