Homeschooling Illinois
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You and your two children are at the zoo when you are neared by a young woman who shows you a badge and then asks what your children are doing out of school. You fumble for an answer because you live in the State of Illinois and you homeschool your children and are not sure whether homeschooling is legal in Illinois. What do you do? Calmly explain to the officer that you homeschool your children and give a reasonable comprehensible statement why you are at the zoo. Perhaps the visit is intended as extracurricular action or part of a biology or science lesson. A clear and convincing answer will most likely fetch the matter to a polite and hurried end since homeschooling is legal in the State of Illinois. However, the truant officer might ask to see a copy of your state registration or letter of compliance. If you do not have either, do not worry. Just make sure the officer that you will send a letter of compliance as soon as you return home. Homeschooling proceeds on the increase. Surveys show that the number of students being schooled at home has doubled since 2002, from a little over one million to well over two million. Despite this increase, states have been slow to pass legislation governing homeschools. For instance, there is so specific legislation in Illinois regulating homeschools. Nevertheless, an appellate court decision has declared that homeschools are “private schools” under the Illinois Compulsory Attendance Law, Section 26-1 of the Illinois Annotated Code. Homeschooling is permissible in Illinois so long as the homeschool complies with the State regulatings for private schools which include instructing sure specified subjects in the English language. Though not required by law, if you grant your children to go out of the house for the duration of school hours without you accompanying them, then it is advisable to secure identification cards for them indicating that they are being homeschooled in the event they are neared by a police officer or truant officer. Most homeschooling supply stores offer numerous form of student identification cards. Please note that the author of this article is not an attorney. You will have to consult a competent attorney with regards to your person situation. |
