https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N42R0cfvO8
Want to know what it’s like to homeschool through the charter system in California? I’ll give you some of our personal experiences and insights. Don’t forget that this is a collaboration with Techie Homeschoolers! Check out her channel. Here’s Demetria’s video on her charter school experience.
What’s the biggest perk of going through a charter school that caters to homeschoolers: Funding! Educational funding varies from school to school, but if you are with a school that has no brick and mortar facility, you can expect anywhere from $1000-$3000 per school aged child per year.
What can you spend your educational funding on? Curriculum, computers, laptops, printers, supplies, educational material, books, etc. as well as services and classes. Everything you spend educational funding on has to be from a list of approved vendors. If you don’t see a vendor you want, just request that that vendor be added to the list (granted the process can take time, and sometimes vendors are denied).
What do you have to do in return for that funding? You have to attending everyday of school. The school’s funding depends directly on student enrollment and attendance. The school is extremely strict on school attendance and truancy is punishable by expulsion in some cases. But it’s homeschool! And the idea of ‘attendance’ is really broad, so unless you miss a meeting with your teacher, your child is basically in attendance everyday.
What else do you have to do? Turn in samples of your work. Each month, your teacher will collect one or more samples (depends on the school) in the same subject areas: history, language arts, math and science. Physical education is also required, but samples are not needed in most cases.
What else do you have to do? You have to meet with your teacher once a month (slight variations between schools, most in person, but some may be virtual). The charter schools are also pretty strict on this matter as well. I believe that it’s written into their by-laws that the credentialed teacher will meet with her students every 20 school days (or once each calendar month, depending on the school). The school may be at risk of losing its charter if this isn’t accomplished, so schools are fairly strict on this rule.
Anything else? State and school testing is required in most cases and with most schools. There are some exceptions and some ways to opt-out of these tests, but usually the school isn’t keen on you opting out of state testing because their funding may be contingent on a certain percentage of the students taking state testing.
The fine print: All non-consumable material belongs to the school. No religious material can be purchased with school funding. No religious material may be turned in as samples. You may not spend educational funding on clothes, food or furniture.