Homeschool Program

Program Description
The Homeschool Program is open to parents of K-8 students who wish to teach their child(ren) at home full time. It allows parents to design a program based on their child’s individual learning style and to monitor his/her progress. An experienced, credentialed teacher provides assistance to the parents in lesson planning, testing, and obtaining educational materials. Homeschool families receive a periodic newsletter and have opportunities to do special projects and field trips together.

Parent Responsibilities
Parents who teach their children at home are required by the state to keep track of the minutes their child spends each day of home schooling (attendance), which is kept in a record book and turned in to the Homeschool Office. Families work with the homeschool teacher in planning lessons and determining the grade-level goals for the student. Parents meet with the homeschool teacher on a regular basis and determine with the homeschool teacher the best methods for assessment.

Student Responsibilities
Students in the Homeschool Program attend regular meetings with the parent and homeschool teacher to be part of the lesson planning and to be clear on the goals for each subject for the week. Students keep their work in portfolios for parent/teacher assessment.

Homeschool Teacher Responsibilities
The homeschool teacher assists the parents in planning lessons for their child(ren), and obtaining the required materials. At regular meetings the homeschool teacher reviews the  work with the parent(s) and student, and certifies the daily instruction minutes as recorded by the parent(s). The homeschool teacher makes available to the parents any district or county resources that will benefit the student, and from time to time offers special programs for the homeschool students.

Benefits of the Pacifica School District Homeschool Program
Parents who decide to homeschool their child(ren) can find the task almost overwhelming. However, our school district can provide homeschooling parents the following benefits:

• the resources of an experienced teacher;
• the resources of the school district (textbooks, supplementary books, curriculum specialists);
• the resources of the County Office of Education (videos, units of study, educational research);
• standardized testing;
• classes in science, art, and writing at the Linda Mar Education Center;
• field trips and projects designed for the homeschool community; and
• certification of completed work.