Getting Started Homeschooling in Oregon (Part 1): Know Your Why + File Your Letter of Intent

Lighthouse: Hello everybody. My name is Tana Meyer. I am representing Ocean Network, the Oregon Christian Home Education Association Network, And our mission is to support and encourage private home education in Oregon and to give you guys the support you need all year round to help you to do that and to answer your questions. And we also work hard to protect and expand homeschool freedoms in Oregon, Alright, the first thing that I think it's really important to talk about is why we're homeschooling. What is driving you to think, I think I want to try this. For some people, maybe it's bullying and they're pulling their kids out of private or public school or private school, or maybe it's academics or social issues or You know, just you want to spend more time with them, whatever it is. And every family's reasons are going to be different. There's lots of different reasons to start homeschooling. Most of them come down to the freedom to be able to raise and educate our children intentionally in the way we feel is best for our children individually. You know, parents, we know our children better than anyone else. And you can tailor learning to your child's strengths and needs and interests and at their pace with homeschooling. It's a wonderful, beautiful thing with the homeschooling journey. And of course, you can, you know, incorporate faith and character development the way you want to and weave it naturally throughout your day. A lot of people love that homeschooling allows learning to happen through more than just books. It can happen through conversations and projects. And life skills and field trips and just everyday experiences, not just the academics that you get at a desk or at the you know the dining room table. You have the flexibility to create the homeschool and the environment that fits your children and your family best. And that's really wonderful because then it's not this one-size-fits-all experience for your children. It really fits their needs specifically and your family's needs, because a lot of different families have a lot of different needs or lifestyles. And so homeschooling can really adapt to all of those. Also, you get a lot more time together to, you know, these years when we have our children at home to educate them, you know, like they say, the you the days are long, but the years are short. It's really, really true. Those years just fly by. And so having that time, that precious time with them at home and kind of protecting that time is a real blessing too. One of the things that new homeschool families or just families who are considering homeschooling, they run into maybe some doubts, whether that's internally. They're like, Can we really do this? Is this gonna work for my kid? Or maybe they see some homeschool critics, whether they're you know, online or in their family or whatever, who are saying, can homeschooling really work? Well homeschooling does really work. The research consistently shows that homeschooling is an effective educational option. The studies find that there's positive outcomes academically, socially, and in family relationships, and that's over what the other educational models have to offer. If you want to know more about the research, research and statistics, I would recommend going to Neri. They are a homeschool research organization. And if you go right at the top, they have like a fast facts area that just kind of gives you a quick rundown. A lot of it is full of more in-depth, you know, peer-reviewed studies and everything, but they have that fast facts up there, and it's a really good one to just browse and get the data. If you're wondering how do homeschoolers measure up academically, how do they measure up in these other areas? Homeschooling has proven to excel in those areas. And I think it's because homeschooling offers basically a private tutoring model. You know, you would when you think about families who can hire private tutors to teach their kids and you know they come out academically superior, this this is very similar. And even more so because we know our children best, you know, and we are with them every day and we know them best and we can educate them in a way that fits them exactly. that's my personal opinion. That's why I think the statistics are so good for homeschooling. some people will think, well, can homeschoolers really thrive in the real world? Will they be able to go to college? Will they be able to go to, you know, into the workforce successfully? Will they be able to socialize? And again, across the board. The statistics show that homeschoolers excel in those areas. And we've seen, especially in the area of college, more and more colleges and universities are actually seeking out homeschoolers because they've seen that homeschoolers are often, you know, become self-starters, they often show initiative. they tend to just do better in those areas that suits college learning better. So, but even in areas like social and civics and you know, in the workforce and the things that they go and do afterwards. And you can find a lot more details on that in Neri. So I would encourage you, if you are running into doubts, every homeschool parent is going to have doubts every once in a while or concerns. Like, is this really going to work? especially if you hit bumps in the road. But there is support out there. There are tools and resources to help you. But if you're just thinking about the big picture, I definitely recommend going and checking out Neri. when we first started homeschooling, my so my husband and I, we've been homeschooling for like 15 years now, I think. My if unless you count from birth and then is 18. My oldest is 18 and my youngest is nine. We have six kids. And the thing that helped me the most when we first started homeschooling was talking to other veteran homeschoolers, other experienced homeschool moms and dads. being around their kids, you know, inviting ourselves over to dinner at their house and being like, what is going on over here? These kids are amazing. and just learning how they do life together, that that learning is just a part of their lifestyle. And, you know, it does not look anything like the public school system. And it's just very organic and beautiful and suited to their individual family. All the homeschools are so different. The more that we talk to other families and other parents and we're inspired by them, the more we realize we can do this, you know, we can do this. So I would definitely encourage you to find those other experienced homeschool moms and dads, whether they're just a step or two ahead of you or you know, way down the road, all of them have tremendous insight to offer. And, you know, if you are a Christian, then Seeking God in His wisdom because we know that God will give us all we need to educate our children well and raise them for His glory. And so we can go to Him and ask Him for wisdom and insight and help in those areas to craft a homeschool that's unique to our family and our family specific needs. I just want to encourage you, you are going to have times where you you feel like, can I really do this? And you can. You can homeschool your children well. You you will, you know, the Lord will give you all you need to homeschool your children well. There's lots of support out there. Families have been doing it for years and years, thousands and thousands of families. And you can do it. There's many different ways to homeschool too. So if you have this idea in your mind of what homeschool needs to look like, sometimes we need to let go of that a little bit, especially if it looks exactly like a public school system, because that's not how it works in homeschool. And so, you know, crafting a homeschool and a an experience that works for our children. I know I keep saying that over and over, but that's probably one of the hardest lessons I think that homeschool moms in particular have to learn. To let go of their preconceived notions of what education really looks like. You know, yes, there's going to be bookwork and there's going to be academics, and those things are important, but that is not the whole of a child's education. So we've talked about the why. So now we're going to talk about the homeschool hows, specifically the homeschool laws. Fortunately, in Oregon, the homeschool laws are fairly straightforward. I do need to say, of course, that I'm not a lawyer and I'm not giving you legal advice. And Ocean Network is not a lawyer, and Ocean Network is not giving you legal advice. But Ocean Network has been involved in understanding and the homeschool laws in Oregon has been instrumental in fighting for homeschool freedoms in the legislature and making sure that our pr our freedoms are expanded and protected as much as possible. Because the freedoms that we have now, they weren't always that way. And Ocean Network was a big part of expanding those freedoms. So if you want to go find a place for accurate information about homeschooling in Oregon when it comes to laws and requirements, my recommendation is to go to the Ocean Network site first. Go to HSLDA as well. Those sites will give you accurate information. If you go online You know, if you go to a lot of websites that aren't those two things, or if you go to you know, Facebook and ask there, every state has different laws and requirements. So somebody, even though they're well-meaning, might be giving you information that's completely wrong for Oregon. So just keep that in mind. You need to make sure you're getting accurate information. So homeschooling in Oregon, when we say homeschooling, we what we mean Edoce Network is parent directed. privately funded education. We believe that parents are responsible for choosing curriculum, providing instruction, and overseeing their child's education. We've been given that right and that responsibility, and it is a responsibility that we need to take seriously. When it comes to the actual laws and regulations in Oregon, like I said, it's very straightforward. There's only a couple things you really need to know. One is that you have to file a letter of intent to homeschool for each of your children. to your ESD, not to your school district, not to the school, not to the superintendent, only to your ESD. And that ESD means educational school district. So that is an area that covers multiple school districts. so I'm trying to like Northwest ESD is one of the ESDs. And if you need to know what ESD you are in, we have a spreadsheet on our site that will show you based on what county you're in, which ESD you're in, and it will give you the contact information and mailing address of your ESD. But it's really important to remember that because that that trips up a lot of people. They think, well I need to, you know, send this to my school. that I withdrew from or I need to send it to the school district. No, you don't. You only need to send it to your ESD. Your ESD is responsible for informing the school district or whatever that your student is is a homeschooler. You submit that letter of intent for your child when they are six or older by September 1st of that school year. So if you've got September 1st coming up, right? I guess we all do, because time works like that. So September 1st is coming up, and your kid is gonna be five, then you do not have to submit your letter of intent this year. Now you can still start homeschooling them, you know. one of my favorite sayings about homeschooling is that it's just an extension of parenting. So you can still start homeschooling your child and with any academics that you want before they turn six, of course, on September 1st. But as far as the state is concerned, Your legal requirement is to submit the letter of intent when they are six or older by September 1st of that school year. You don't want to send it in earlier. All right. And so when you send it in, your child's grade level will default to kindergarten. Now you may be, by the time they're six, you may be teaching that a first grade level. That's what we did with our kids. That extra year builds in a buffer for students, you know, if you later on, you know, you need to. Hold them back a year, or if you just need a little extra time before testing time. So it's just important to keep in mind that when you submit your letter of intent for your six-year-old, that officially makes them a kindergartner according to the state. But you can teach them however you want, okay. The other time that you would need to send in a letter of intent, of course, is if you are withdrawing them from public school or private school. So if they're a five-year-old in kindergarten or preschool or whatever, and you're withdrawing them from a public or private school, you have to send the letter of intent because you're officially changing them to a homeschooler. If they're later, you know, if it's your middle schooler and you withdraw them from a public school or private school, you submit your letter of intent. you only have to file the letter of intent once for each child. The only time that you would do it again is if you move to a different ESD. We recommend At Ocean Network, that when you're filing your letter of intent, that you do not use the ESD's online forms. Sometimes they call it a registration, homeschool registration. Homeschoolers don't actually register in Oregon. we just file a letter of intent to let them know we're going to be homeschooling now. but you might see it called homeschool registration. We recommend not using the online forms that the ESD provides because As an organization, we work really hard to protect and expand your homeschool freedoms. And we have seen in all these years past that ESDs the more information you give them beyond what's legally required, the more they push that envelope. And so we really hold the line and say, you know, advise homeschoolers only. give them the information that is legally required. And on our website, we even have a PDF generator for the letter of intent that only collects the information required and puts it in a format that's suitable and you can print it off and mail it to your ESD. The reason we say not to use the online forms is because by nature they all ask For more information that's le than is legally required. They all ask for an email address, which is not legally required. And many times, because, you know, if homeschoolers are like, well, that's okay, it's just an email address, eventually they start adding other things to it. and I'm not saying it's for nefarious purposes, it just keeps, you know, it's like the slippery slope or the scope creep. It just keeps creeping. And so we really advise to just only send in what's legally required. When you send in your letter of intent. you could print off your own or you could use our PDF generator. You print it off, it will have all their information in there for your kid that's required. And then you would mail it off to your ESD with the mailing address that we can provide you. sometimes parents we've seen that they really prefer to send that certified mail so that they can get a notification that it has been delivered, Legally, the ESD is required to send you an acknowledgement of their receipt of your letter of intent within 90 days. And that acknowledgement is important for you to keep on hand. So do watch for it, pay attention for it. If it doesn't come in, we recommend calling your ESD and asking about it. And if you run into any trouble, Please call or email OSHA Network and we will make sure that you get your acknowledgement. That acknowledgement is really important to show that you fulfilled the legal requirements by sending in your letter of intent.