How Ridding Myself of Regulations Will Change My Homeschoolby Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger 30 Mar 2008 06:47 AM It is official. We are moving at the end of this summer. We are buying a house outside of the city with a big huge back yard. My kids are thrilled about the big huge back yard, but I have another reason to be excited. I've written extensively about the regulations to which New Yorkers (my current residence) must adhere. There is a letter of intent, an IHIP, four quarterly reports, and an annual assessment. That's seven pieces of paper. You're held accountable to 80% of your IHIP and you'd better have an explanation if you fall short. You must do 180 days and 900 hours per year. That's 6 hours per day--but we school year round. Our new state requires nothing--a letter of intent is merely a suggestion. That's right, I'm moving from "accountability" (which actually is accountability in name only; I doubt anyone reads what I send to make sure my children are really properly educated) to one of those places with no regulations. Gasp! I will be accountable to no one--officially speaking that is. This means all sorts of things for us: 1. I can school using my curriculum four days per week, and take a day per week to teach the kids about keeping up the yard, the house or any other sundry things that doesn't normally fall within my official curriculum--but is valuable learning none the less. 2. If we see deer, eagles or other wildlife in our back yard, (and we will) we can stop and appreciate it. I don't have to contemplate whether or not "stopping to appreciate nature" is in my IHIP. Neither do I have to think about how to make it an assignment--it can just be what it is--a valuable educational moment. 3. I don't have to pass up exciting opportunities like field trips and programs anymore. I don't pass them up now, but if I spend a substantial amount of time doing them, I run the risk of either not fulfilling 80% of my IHIP, or having to file a Revised IHIP. 4. I don't have to take a day off per quarter in order to keep up with my paperwork. 5. We are free to pursue all and any tangents that we find in our studies without having to contemplate how it fits into the IHIP. You can read this to mean, enhanced learning. While it sounds like we are pursuing the 'unschooling' route, I can assure you that's not really true. But freedom from regulations frees us up from having to pursue a specific course of study and enables us to pursue my kids' interests in addition to our already planned course of study. It allows me to change gears to take advantage of opportunities that arise as well as meet the needs of my kids--without having to spend time thinking about whether or not it fits into my IHIP. This is really, a better education for all. Valorie Delp shares recipes and kitchen tips in the food blog, solves breastfeeding problems, shares parenting tips, and current research in the baby blog, and insight, resources and ideas as a regular guest blogger in the homeschooling blog. To read more articles by Valorie Delp, click here. Learn more about Valorie Delp  Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line. Relevanthomeschooling tags User Comments  Valorie Delp (49340) 31 Mar 2008 01:41 AMHee-hee. . .they are building me an actual school house on the property. I'll have to chronicle the progress. ;-) Discuss this article
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