Homeschooling In {Washington}

Hi Everyone!!

Today I'll be continuing on with my "Homeschooling In" series. I've already talked about Idaho and Alaska, so today i'm moving on to Washington!

Washington has a lot of rules/laws, so let's get started.

Here is what you should know about homeschooling in Washington.

1. All children ages 8-18 years old need to be educated. If your child was in public school before age 8, you need to withdraw them.

2. Each year you are required to fill out an intent to homeschool form for each child.

3. To teach your child you must meet 1 of these 4 requirements - You must have at least 45 hours of college credits, You must attend a parent qualifying course, You must have your child meet with a certified teacher for 1 hour a week, OR You must be deemed qualified by your local school's superintendent.

4. You must have your child tested annually.

5. You must keep records. Those records should included: test scores, immunizations, yearly intent to homeschool form, and everything else related to your homeschool.

6. The total hours/days you homeschool should be the same as established for approved private schools.

7. There are 11 required subjects to have in your curriculum, they are: Reading, Writing, Spelling, Language, Math, Science, Social Studies, History, Health, Occupational Education, & Art/Music Appreciation.


Here are some great resources for homeschooling in Washington:

1. http://www.washhomeschool.org/ - Washington Homeschool Organization

2. https://www.christianheritageonline.org/learn/legal-resources/washington-homeschool-law/ - Christian Heritage

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


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

Keep in mind the 11 required subjects and your child's learning style!

You can check out other homeschoolers reviews on all the curriculum out there by checking out HomeSchoolReviews!

Once your curriculum is all picked out, you need to set up your school year schedule. Keep in mind you have to have the same set amount of hours as a private school.

Which would be:
Kindergarten at least 450 hours
1st - 12th Grades at least 1,000 hours annually

Now all that's left is to get started! Don't be surprised if your first year is full of bumps. You'll probably make some mistakes and 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 on 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.*