Massachusetts Homeschooling

This state requires the parents to obtain advance approval by local school authorities. What this entails seems to have varied over the last 10 years, so find out your local school district’s current requirements as soon as you decide to homeschool here.

Reporting: Beyond the approval process, there is currently no reporting requirement. However, since the atmosphere in this state has been very draconian in years past, it might be wise to keep records of attendance, track the child’s work and progress, etc., anyway. When it comes time to apply to colleges, this information will come in handy for developing transcripts and showing completion of certain work.

Compulsory Attendance: From age 6 to 16 and with the usual 900 hours per year for elementary students; 990 hours for secondary school students.

Required Subjects: Arithmetic, reading, writing, English language skills, including grammar, art, music, geography, the U.S. Constitution and history, citizenship, physical education.

Testing: There is no specified requirement, but at the time approval is sought, the approving authority may require standardized testing as a condition of approval. This is why it is important to inquire in detail first, before you make a hard and fast decision about homeschooling here.

State Organization(s):
(1) Massachusetts Home Learning Association (Non-religious)
POB 536, Swampscott, MA 01907 – http://mhla.org/ E-mail: mhla@mhla.org

(2) Massachusetts Homeschool Organization of Parent Educators (MASSHOPE)
(Christian) 46 South Rd, Holden, MA 01520 – http://www.masshope.org
Tel: 508-829-0973

Convention: Sponsors annual conference. Check website for updates.

(3) Advocates for Home Education in Massachusetts (AHEM) (Non-religious)
POB 1307, Arlington, MA 02474; http://www.ahem.info -
E-mail: info@AHEM.info

Convention(s): Learning In Our Own Way – http://www.learninginourownway.com/
Produced by esteemed unschooling expert, Patrick Farenga
Check website for updates

Congratulations, You Have Been Accepted! Now What?

by Andrea van Niekerk, College Goals Consultant

Many students who applied to regular decision programs now have a big envelope (or more likely these days, an email!) in hand telling them that they have been accepted to a school. Congratulations! Those who got good news from their dream school feel like they were handed the keys to the kingdom. For most, having at least one offer of admission is an enormous relief – let’s face it, one school is all it takes!

But as that good news keeps on streaming in, you may now find that you have difficult choices to make between those schools that looked good earlier on. So keep the following in mind:

***This is all wonderful. After being a supplicant at the mercy of admissions committees, the ball is now firmly in your court. Enjoy it – soon you will be a first year and at the bottom of the college totem pole again!

***Seek out the information you need to make your choice. Phone financial aid offices and talk to them about your aid package. They may not change their minds, but you won’t know unless you ask.

***Try to attend accepted student events, even if you had visited before. It changes the experience to know that college is yours if you wish! Also, if your earlier visit was over summer, a campus feels very different when it is in term.

***When you do visit, hone in on the things you care about – student organizations, research facilities, teaching faculty, or dorm rooms. Don’t confine yourself only to a few new friends or the set program, but rather explore the campus, talk to students, or attend a class.

***During your visit, have a good time but behave with propriety – schools would rather retract their offer of admission than end up with a freshman whose lack of good sense marks him or her for serious trouble.

***Don’t doubt the decisions of the admission officers and wonder if you have what it takes to succeed. If they had doubts, they would have informed you quite bluntly!

***But don’t harbor the illusion that you now have made it either – college is meant to challenge us because that is how we grow.

And then get back to senior year, relishing the last days of high school, preparing yourself academically for college, and enjoying what may be your last months living at home. Above all, stay safe!

Copyright, 2010 by College Goals. Used by permission. (www.collegegoals.com)