Laws & Legalities

I am Ann Zeise, your guide to the best and most interesting and useful sites and articles about home education on the web.

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* Home Learning Year by Year

* Homeschooling : The Teen Years

* First Year of Homeschooling Your Child

* The Unschooling Handbook

* Homeschooling: The Early Years

* The Complete Home Learning Source Book

* 100 Top Picks For Homeschool Curriculum

* The Teenage Liberation Handbook

* The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas

* Homeschool Your Child for Free

More Homeschool Books Here!

 

Homeschooling: The Early Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 3- to 8- Year-Old Child
by Linda Dobson
The formative years are the most critical to a child's education. They lay the foundation for developing learning skills that last a lifetime.

 

The Homeschooler's Guide to Portfolios and Transcripts
by Heuer, Loretta
Provides critical advice, examples, and resources for designing the most powerful and persuasive admissions presentations.

 

The Well-Trained Mind
A Guide to Classical Education at Home
by Jessie Wise, Susan Wise Bauer
This book will instruct you, step by step, on how to give your child an academically rigorous, comprehensive education from preschool through high school.

 

A Charlotte Mason Companion : Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning
by Karen Andreola
A thorough chapter-by-chapter overview of the inspiring teaching principles of Christian educator Charlotte Mason, this book reveals the practical day by day method of how to teach "the Charlotte Mason way".

 

The Unschooling Handbook : How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom
by Mary Griffith
Unschooling, a homeschooling method based on the belief that kids learn best when allowed to pursue their natural curiosities and interests, is practiced by 10 to 15 percent of the estimated 1.5 million homeschoolers in the United States.

 

The Teenage Liberation Handbook
How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education
by Llewellyn, Grace
Written primarily for teens who need to convince their parents they can teach themselves. 1998 Paperback

Oklahoma Education Code For Homeschooling

This is not intended to be legal advice and is distributed for information purposes only. Check for updates at your public library.

The state of Oklahoma recognizes your right to "in good faith" home educate your children and asks only that you provide 175 days of instruction.

Parental Qualifications - None.

Testing - Not required

Curriculum - an equivalent course offering to that offered in the public schools. See below.

Reporting - None

Oklahoma Statutes

Article XIII Section 4 Compulsory school attendance

(Previous Law, still on the books) The Legislature shall provide for the compulsory attendance at some public or other school, unless other means of education are provided, of all the children in the State who are sound in mind and body, between the ages of eight and sixteen years, for at least three months in each year.

Title 70 O.S. 10-105 Neglect or refusal to compel child to attend school - Exceptions

(Newer law. Follow this.) A. It shall be unlawful for a parent, guardian, or other person having custody of a child who is over the age of five (5) years, and under the age of eighteen (18) years, to neglect or refuse to cause or compel such child to attend and comply with the rules of some public, private or other school, unless other means of education are provided for the full term the schools of the district are in session or the child is excused as provided in this section.

Attorney General of Oklahoma - Opinion
Hearing Date: February 13, 1973

It is, therefore, the opinion of the Attorney General that your questions be answered as follows: The Oklahoma Compulsory Attendance Statute does not require that a private school be accredited by the State Department of Education or that a private tutor hold an Oklahoma teaching certificate so long as the private instruction is supplied in good faith and is equivalent in fact to that afforded by the State. While a board of education has discretion to classify students as it deems appropriate and require examinations relative thereto, credit for private instruction may not be denied solely because the private instructor did not hold an Oklahoma teaching certificate. A board of education is not required to furnish textbooks or other materials to a child residing in the district not attending a district-operated school.

Title 70 O.S. 11-103. Approved Courses of Instruction

A. Courses of instruction approved by the State Board of Education for use in school years prior to 1993-94 shall be those courses that are necessary to ensure:

1. The teaching of the necessary basic skills of learning and communication, including reading, English, writing, the use of numbers and science; and

2. The teaching of citizenship in the United States, in the State of Oklahoma, and in other countries, through the study of the United States Constitution, the amendments thereto, and the ideals, history, and government of the United States, other countries of the world, and the State of Oklahoma and through the study of the principles of democracy as they apply in the lives of citizens. In study of the United States Constitution, a written copy of the document itself shall be utilized

The public school districts of this state shall ensure that each child enrolled therein is provided with adequate instruction in the basic skills as set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection.

Each local board of education shall annually evaluate the district's curriculum in order to determine whether each child in the district is receiving adequate basic skill instruction as set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection. The evaluation process shall provide for parental involvement. Effective July 1, 1990, each district shall submit its annual evaluation of the district's curriculum to the State Board of Education. The State Board shall make this information available to the Oklahoma Curriculum Committee and, beginning with the 1996-97 school year, shall utilize such information in its periodic evaluation of curriculum.

B. Courses approved by the State Board of Education for instruction of pupils in the public schools of the state for use in school years prior to 1993-94 may include courses that are approved by a local board of education and are necessary to ensure:

1. The teaching of health through the study of proper diet, the effects of alcoholic beverages, narcotics and other substances on the human system and through the study of such other subjects as will promote healthful living and help to establish proper health habits in the lives of school children;

2. The teaching of safety through training in the driving and operation of motor vehicles and such other devices of transportation as may be desirable and other aspects of safety which will promote the reduction of accidents and encourage habits of safe living among school children;

3. The teaching of physical education to all physically able students during the entire school year from first through sixth grade, through physical education, a weekly minimum of seventy-five (75) minutes per student, exclusive of recess activity, supervised play, intramurals, interschool athletics or other extracurricular activities; provided, any student participating as a member of any school athletic team shall be excused from physical education classes; provided further, that certified physical education instructors shall not be required to administer the programs required for grades one through six. An elective program of instructional physical education designed to provide a minimum of one hundred fifty (150) minutes per week per student shall be provided for all students in the seventh grade through the twelfth grade. The State Board of Education shall prescribe qualifications for physical education instructors. Provided, however, that the State Department of Education shall be empowered to exempt all or a portion of this requirement if an undue hardship would result to the school district. Provided, further, that any student who has exceptional talent in music may, with the approval of the superintendent of schools in independent districts or in elementary districts, substitute a course in music for the above-required physical education course;

4. The teaching of the conservation of natural resources of the state and the nation that are necessary and desirable to sustain life and contribute to the comfort and welfare of the people now living and those who will live here in the future, such as soil, water, forests, minerals, oils, gas, all forms of wildlife, both plant and animal, and such other natural resources as may be considered desirable to study;

5. The teaching of vocational education, by the study of the various aspects of agriculture, through courses and farm youth organizations, such as FFA and 4-H clubs, homemaking and home economics, trades and industries, distributive education, mechanical and industrial arts and such other aspects of vocational education as will promote occupational competence among school children and adults as potential and actual citizens of the state and nation; and

6. The teaching of such other aspects of human living and citizenship as will achieve the legitimate objectives and purposes of public education.

70-10-109.

A. An attendance officer, any school administrator, or designee of the school administrator who is employed by the school, or any peace officer may, except for children being home schooled pursuant to Section 10-105 of the Oklahoma Statutes, temporarily detain and assume temporary custody of any child subject to compulsory full-time education, during hours in which school is actually in session, who is found away from the home of such child and who is absent from school without lawful excuse within the school district that such attendance officer, peace officer or school official serves, if said school district has previously approved the temporary detention and custody pursuant to this section.

Other Resources

Oklahoma Homeschooling Laws
HERO provides an overview of not only the laws, but how homeschooling would affect your child's re-entry into school or college. Includes driver's licensing information for teen homeschoolers.

Return to Oklahoma homeschooling legal information.

The Complete Home Learning Source Book : The Essential Resource Guide for Homeschoolers, Parents, and Educators Covering Every Subject from Arithmetic to Zoology

by Rebecca Rupp

This ambitious reference guide lives up to its name. Practically three inches thick--and we're not talking large print here--it's packed with titles, ordering information, and Web site addresses.

 

Home Learning Year by Year
How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School
by Rebecca Rupp
A structured plan to ensure that your children will learn what they need to know when they need to know it, from preschool through high school.

 

First Year of Homeschooling Your Child
Your Complete Guide to Getting Off to the Right Start
by Linda Dobson
With the constant concern about the safety and quality of our nation's schools, many of today's families are opting to teach their children at home. The first hurdle these families face is getting started.

 

The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas: 500+ Fun and Creative Learning Activities for Kids Ages 3-12
by Linda Dobson

As a homeschooling parent, you're always looking for new and creative ways to teach your child the basics. Look no longer! Inside this innovative helper, you'll find kid-tested and parent-approved techniques for learning math, science, writing, history, manners, and more that you can easily adapt to your family's homeschooling needs.

 

Homeschooling : The Teen Years
Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 13- To 18-Year Old
by Cafi Cohen
This book reveals the adventure and rewards as well as the special challenges of working with this age group.

 

Homeschool Your Child for Free
More Than 1,200 Smart, Effective, and Practical Resources for Home Education on the Internet and Beyond
by LauraMaery Gold and Joan M. Zielinski
The best sites for everything from reading-readiness activities for preschoolers to science projects for teens.

 

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