Homeschooling In {Alaska}

Hi Everyone!!

Today i'm continuing on with my "Homeschooling In" series (if you missed my first one you can check it out HERE), today's state i'm going to be talking about is Alaska.

Alaska's homeschooling laws are pretty similar to Idaho's, in that they don't have many rules.

Here are some things you should know about homeschooling in Alaska.

1. All children are required to be educated once they are 7 years old and up until the age of 16. Anything before 7 years old or after 16 years old is not required.

2. There is no set amount of days/hours you are required to teach them.

3. You are not required to test them.

4. You do not have to have any teacher qualifications to teach them.

5. There is no paperwork to file, unless you are withdrawing them from public school.

6. You can use any curriculum you like.

With all that being said, i still believe you should keep records of your homeschooling just in case. I personally like to keep attendance records and all of my children's completed work (along with their grades). If your child was in public school and you withdrew them, i would keep a copy of the withdrawal letter too.

Here are some great resources for homeschooling in Alaska:

1. http://www.homeschoolinginalaska.com/ - Homeschooling In Alaska

2. http://www.eed.state.ak.us/faq.html  - Alaska Department of Education

3. http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/AK/ - HSLDA


Once you have decided to homeschool your child and you have looked into all the laws/rules, what comes next is picking out what curriculum you are going to use.

Best place to start with that is by checking out what curriculum other homeschoolers are using (and loving). In other words Google search "homeschooling blogs" and start reading what all the other homeschooling families out there use.

Another place you could go is HomeSchoolReviews, they offer reviews on all the curriculum out there and those reviews are written by other homeschoolers.

Keep in mind, when picking out curriculum, your child's learning style!

After you have the curriculum all picked out, all that's left to do is start planning your school year.

I personally like to keep with the same school year outline as our public schools, (start at the end of August and go until the end of May), but you can do whatever you would like. I know some families like to school year round and take more breaks throughout the year. It's really up to you to decide what will work best for your family.

Now all that's left to do is dive right on into it. The first year is going to be full of bumps. You'll make some mistakes, you'll have some rough days/weeks, but *hopefully* you will learn from your mistakes and in the end it will all be worth it.

Good luck with the journey ahead of you!!

****None of this is intended to be legal advice (i'm not a lawyer), it's purely informational. So make sure you check out your states laws beforehand.*