Iowa Homeschooling
More and more parents in Iowa are joining the millions of homeschooling families in the United States who have chosen to provide a home education for their children. Here you'll find everything you need to successfully home educate your children at home, including information on homeschooling methods, support groups, local and state events, online resources, and much, much more.
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The History of NICHE
This video relates the fight for homeschool freedom in Iowa by the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE).
281—31.2 Reports as to competent private instruction.
31.2(1) Reporting. The parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian of a child of compulsory attendance age who does not enroll the child in a public school or Iowa accredited nonpublic school shall complete a report in duplicate on forms created by the department of education and provided by the resident public school district, indicating the parent, guardian, or custodian’s intent to provide or arrange for competent private instruction for the child for each school year. The report shall be...
299.1A Compulsory attendance age.
A child who has reached the age of six and is under sixteen years of age by September 15 is of compulsory attendance age.
Necessary and Optional Forms and Resources
NICHE provides a wide variety of free materials that may be used by home educating families in Iowa.
Report of Portfolio Evaluator Selection Form
If you will be using the portfolio evaluation method, you may find this simple optional form helpful.
When filled out and submitted to your resident school district, it provides a mechanism to fulfill
the legal requirement of seeking the school district superintendent's approval of your selected
portfolio evaluator. This approval process is simply a check of the appropriateness of your
evaluator's license.
Iowa Homeschool Support Groups
This referral service will connect you with local support groups near you. NICHE maintains a list of over 120 support group contacts throughout Iowa. This service is for individuals who are either currently homeschooling or about to start homeschooling.
Home School Assistance Programs (HSAP)
A Home School Assistance Program [HSAP] is a program the local school district may offer to families in their district. School districts are not required to provide HSAPs and parents are not required to enroll their homeschooled students in a HSAP, if their district provides one.
The Home School Assistance Programs that do exist across the state of Iowa vary widely as to how they operate and the services they offer, but, in general, all HSAPs provide a supervising teacher for HSAP-enrolled s...
299A.5 Reporting of evaluation results.
The results of evaluations administered to children of compulsory attendance age who are under competent private instruction shall be reported by the evaluation administrator to the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian, the school district of residence of the child, and the department of education. Personally identifiable information relating to or contained in the evaluation scores is confidential and shall not be released without the prior consent of the child's parent, guardian, or cu...
Iowa Compliance: Step-by-Step
A short summary of the different ways to comply with the laws.
299A.1 Private instruction.
The parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child of compulsory attendance age who places the child under private instruction shall provide, unless otherwise exempted, competent private instruction in accordance with this chapter. A parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child of compulsory attendance age who places the child under private instruction which is not competent private instruction, or otherwise fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter, is subject to the provisions ...
Homeschool Iowa Kids
Penpal and discussion group for homeschooled kids in Iowa.
Wellspring Christian Resources
10465 Hickman Rd
Des Moines, IA 50322
Phone: 515-251-4008
Browse through homeschooling materials, curricula, supplies, and books. You'll also find Christian materials, books, and music.
Iowa Homeschool Legal Requirements and Options
The Iowa law and rules may seem quite complicated at first, but NICHE has created a number of resources and forms to help home educators find their way through the maze of regulations. Here you will find a brief overview of the legal requirements and options in Iowa.
Iowa School Districts
A listing of all the school districts in Iowa.
homeschool-Iowa
YahooGroup email list for homeschoolers in Iowa.
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Featured Resources
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A Different Kind of Teacher: Solving the Crisis of American Schooling
In 1991, shortly after receiving both the New York State and New York City Teacher of the Year Awards, John Gatto resigned to begin a new career as an education reform advocate. In this collection of 16 essays, Gatto analyzes the problems of American...
Ideas and Books: The Method of Education
A selection of Charlotte Mason's writings on the topic of the place of ideas and books in the education of children. Mason's teachings on the topic of education required six large volumes to cover. This book makes it simple for homeschooling parents ...
Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook
A short, illustrated guide to the use of Montessori classroom materials. Describes how to set up a "children's house" - an environment for learning where children can be their own masters.
Diana Waring--History Alive!
Diana Waring--History Alive! produces books, tapes, videos, and history curriculum for the homeschool market.
Catholic Homeschool Companion
Here’s your one-stop resource for information, insight, and inspiration about every aspect of educating your children at home — written by those who understand it best: homeschooling parents themselves! Would you like to teach science or phonics bett...
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Quote of the Day
The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.
Plato