How do I home school my junior and senior year in NY?

Pre-College Issues Home Schooling and College
1

Hey CC community! As you can tell by my title, I want to home school for next year.

I don’t really know what the laws in NY say but I have heard that it’s illegal to study online. Is this true or false and am I allowed to take AP classes online? I have done some research and have found that there are sites like Coursera and Edx which have online classes. Am I allowed to use those as part of my curriculum or does it have to be strictly textbooks since I’m not allowed to use online schools. Also, how would I administer tests and calculate a GPA? Wouldn’t it be unfair to create my own tests and stuff for non AP courses?

In addition, I also plan to enroll in the Honors Science Research program from the University of Albany. It involves labwork and research and I would enter my project in competitions such as Intel and whatnot. Would I still be allowed to do this as a junior and senior? I have my mentor at a lab and everything since I already started this class this year (my sophomore year).

Anyways, the classes I would like to take next year are:

APUSH
AP Bio
AP Literature or AP language
Precalculus
Spanish
AP Environmental Science
Astronomy (as an elective)
Gym/ Physical Education (would I be able to use something like my martial art classes as a substitute for Phys Ed?)
AP Psychology
Honors Science Research
Politics (as an elective)

Art (would I be able to develop a portfolio to submit?)
Philosophy (elective)

I just really want to study what I’m interested in and this seems a bit loaded but would that be an issue? In regards to dual enrollment, how would I register for classes at a local community college? Would I send an email with the class I want to take or something else?

Also in regards to testing, would I be able to take the CLEP exam at the end of the year to show colleges that I thoroughly know the topic or is it unnecessary?

Thank you in advance, I really appreciate it :slight_smile:

2

Oh for clarification, I would use something like Coursera in addition to a textbook.

3

Homeschool parent in Illinois here. You’re not likely to find help on specifics of New York homeschool regulations on CC. Do your parents belong to a local homeschool group? Those are the folks who would know. ‘Illegal to study online’ is probably not the case, but you need someone who really knows. If your parents don’t belong to a group, you should google around for NY homeschool organizations and graduation requirements.

4

I can help you out a bit; I’m home schooled to-be senior who lives in PA, so while the laws are a little different I think I can provide some salient advice.

First of all, you’re not going to take thirteen classes next year. No one does that. It’s just a ridiculous amount of classes to take. Aim for like 5-6, but most people I know that’re homeschooled do less than that.

Here’s what most homeschooled people I know have done w/ regards to their GPA: given themselves a 4.0 and moved on. No college admissions committee is going to evaluate you by looking at your homeschool GPA, so it’s kind of pointless to worry about. If you want, you can even just not give yourself a GPA; make your classes pass/fail and just note whether or not you’ve passed or failed them.

If you’re shooting for like, mid-range schools – like your state flagship or whatever – I would not worry that much. Do your work, enjoy school, take the SATs – study for them – and you’ll probably get in.

If you’re shooting for any school in the top twenty five, then your education for the next two years is going to be an entirely different animal. For one, you should be taking SAT subject tests. AP tests are nice but a) they’re only given one time during the year b) about 25% of the people who take most AP tests get a ‘top score’ so doing well is less impressive and c) you don’t need AP tests to get into a top school; however, most good schools require at minimum two SAT subject tests. Because you’re going to be homeschooled, I’d suggest that you provide closer to three or four subject tests.

What I did, was take two easy-ish subject tests in the fall of my Junior year. I knew I wanted to get a bunch of subject tests done, so I wanted to get two in the bag by the fall. I studied during the summer and took one in October and the other in November. I got 800 on the US History one and 780 in Lit.

Not because I’m particularly good at either of those subjects, but because I prepped for the tests. What I would suggest, is building your curriculum around the tests you need to take so you can blow them out of the water. Need to take the SAT subject test for World History? Go out and buy an subject test prep book for World History and learn World History out of that book so that when you go to take the test, the knowledge you’re tested on and the knowledge you have are the same.

Also yeah it’s a good idea to go to community school. It’s also pretty easy. Go to whatever community college in yr area that you want to take classes at, tell them you’re a dual enrollment student, and then they’ll tell you what you need to do. It’s not an especially hard process, I know plenty of people that are close to brain dead and took a class or classes at community college as Juniors. Personally, I took about four classes my junior year and plan to take like 5-6 during my senior year.

Don’t let anyone at the college intimidate you and don’t take any BS classes – ‘communications’ is not a serious class, so don’t waste your time on it. Take a class in an academic subject, preferably one you’re good at. Also, if there’s honors classes available at your community college, try to get into them. They’re usually more fun.

CLEP exams are pointless. Don’t waste your time on them. AP tests are used to gauge college readiness in admissions, the ACT is used to gauge college readiness in admissions, the SAT & SAT Subject tests are used to gauge college readiness in admissions; CLEP exams are not used for college admissions. I would not waste your time on them.

Anyway, sorry I wrote something of a novel here but there’s a lot of ground to cover. PM me if you have any questions.

5

Experienced (past) NY homeschooler here.

Please know that there are specific homeschool regulations that you have to follow as a homeschooler in NY.
-You must send in a letter of intent to your school district and complete and
-IHIP (individualized home instruction plan) and
-complete quarterly reports. You are also required to test each year in High School.

You can absolutely take classes online. Where did you hear that you couldn’t do that? I suggest you connect with an experienced homeschooler in your area–and pick their brain. There are many resources and support groups. There are homeschool email lists here: http://www.nyhen.org/lists.htm.

Please don’t go under the radar. If you are in an unfriendly school district you could get in trouble for not doing the appropriate reporting. It’s not hard once you know what is needed. A parent or guardian would need to complete this paperwork. Are you Downstate or Upstate?

My point is that in NY you must know what the regulations say about homeschooling. You can find them here: http://www.nyhen.org/RegsSum.htm

6

A note on the AP exams: I don’t agree that 25% get the top score, generally. Last year the physics and math exams had an unusually high number of 5s, and languages tend to score high. So, last year only 7/34 exams had 25% or more get 5s, and every one of them was either physics/math or a language. In fact, roughly 1/3 of last year’s exams had 11% or less get 5s (11/34), and these were in subjects like biology, chemistry, english lit, english language, and world history. World history saw only 6.4% get a 5, and biology saw 6.5% get a 5.

http://www.totalregistration.net/AP-Exam-Registration-Service/2014-AP-Exam-Score-Distributions.php

SAT II tests are a great option, of course, and probably more useful for the actual college applications because the AP May test dates make senior year scores useless. However, if you can show you’re taking AP courses, that adds rigor to your course schedule which is useful for your application, and AP exams give course credit at many (but not all) schools. I just want you have to have correct information when you’re making your decisions.

7

@dwsh1324, I run a homeschool network in NYS. The first rule of homeschooling is to know the regs better than your district. The [NYS homeschool regs, NYSED 100.10,](http://www.p12.nysed.gov/part100/pages/10010.html) are pretty straightforward. I always suggest that families go straight to the source (NYSED), not groups interpreting NYSED regulations.

The regs don’t prohibit studying online, however, online degrees are not acceptable proof of high school equivalency for admission to NYS colleges. You need a Letter of Substantial Equivalency from your district super, or a passing TASC test, or passing scores on 5 specific Regents, or 24 credits of (specific) college classes to show high school equivalency.

Enrolling in courses in Albany can be done as long as it’s part of an approved IHIP. (Enrolling in a cc isn’t necessary. You can take classes at 4-year colleges if they accept you.) To get your IHIP approved by your district super, you’ll have to show that you’re meeting state subject requirements. Each course requires a specific number of hours (108 minimum), so make sure you allot enough time to complete them. There aren’t enough hours in the day to take 13 classes and do them well. Even if you treated them like college courses and did some in the fall and some in the spring, 13 is too many.

You can use martial arts for PE, although if you have the required # of PE courses to graduate, you don’t have to take that credit at all. You can self-study AP courses and take the CB exam. Some students take CLEP courses and/or SAT subject tests too. It depends on what colleges they’re interested in.

Your Letter of Intent will be due ~Sept. 23rd, and your completed IHIP 4 weeks after your district sends you a copy of the regs. If you don’t hear from them, send your IHIP by the end of Oct. just so they have it on file.

8

Hi! I am a current senior online homeschooler in New York. I don’t know much about the regulations of traditional homeschooling because I am enrolled in an online school. I would recommend looking into online options. It is much easier. You can get a full diploma from online highschools and will be treated like any other homeschooler when applying to colleges.

Of course you have to be careful to go to an accredited school. Look around online and see if any of the options interest you. You can do so much! Talk to your current HS guidance counselor and they can help determine if it is accredited. I am currently attending Keystone http://www.keystoneschoolonline.com/. This is a private school that technically resides in Pennsylvania but can be taken anywhere! However, online homeschooling isn’t for everyone. You have to be very diligent about getting your work done and sticking to deadlines. Some people find it easier to learn online then others. Take some free online classes (like https://www.khanacademy.org/) to see if you can easily learn online.

Hope that helped!

9

The NYS Board of Regents doesn’t prohibit studying online, however, online degrees are not acceptable proof of high school equivalency for admission to NYS colleges. You need a Letter of Substantial Equivalency from your district super, or a passing TASC test, or passing scores on 5 specific Regents, or 24 credits of (specific) college classes to show high school equivalency.