Frequently Asked Questions
-
The Pennsylvania Homeschool Law can be found online. Each state has it’s own requirements and each school district has its own unique approach to requirements, as well.
We recommend that you look at the Pennsylvania Homeschool Law itself…https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/resources/policies-acts-and-laws/basic-education-circulars-becs/purdons-statutes/home-education-program.
There are also websites that help parents navigate homeschooling laws, such as the HSLDA …. https://hslda.org/legal/pennsylvania?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=10694976388&gbraid=0AAAAADv9Ad6EnQWj4PEDOwv4KfjBJWtkM&gclid=Cj0KCQiAhtvMBhDBARIsAL26pjGZtEFBo_lxHizPPbeUgWyuRBRUWREgze5UBnAiTDG7dHd03MUI_eQaAhbcEALw_wcB
-
As per the law, found on the government website, Subjects that must be covered by Homeschoolers in Elementary (K-6) are:
English, to include spelling, reading, and writing
Arithmetic
Science
Geography
Civics
History of the United States and Pennsylvania
Health and Physiology
Safety Education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires
Physical Education
Music
Art
**NOTE: The law just states that these subjects must be covered in Elementary School. It does not say that each subject must be taught everyday of the school year or that it must be covered in a course alone, for example, you may cover Safety in the same course that covers Health.
We encourage you to research this information and discover what works best for your family and your student.
In addition, students in 3rd and 5th Grade, must take Standardized Achievement Tests. The approved ones are found on the state website.
-
As per the law, found on the government website, Middle School is part of the Secondary School Requirements which is from 7th-12th Grade. These students must have:
English, to include language, literature, speech and composition
Mathematics, to include general mathematics, algebra and geometry
Science
Geography
Social studies, to include civics
History (World history, history of the United States and Pennsylvania)
Health
Safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires.
Physical Education
Music
Art
**NOTE: The law just states that these subjects must be covered in Secondary Education. It does not say that each subject must be taught everyday of the school year or that it must be covered in a course alone, for example, you may cover Safety in the same course that covers Health.
We encourage you to research this information and discover what works best for your family and your student.
In addition, students in 8th Grade, must take Standardized Achievement Tests. The approved ones are found on the state
-
As per the law, found on the government website, Middle and High School are part of the Secondary School Requirements which is from 7th-12th Grade. These students must have:
English, to include language, literature, speech and composition
Mathematics, to include general mathematics, algebra and geometry
Science
Geography
Social studies, to include civics
History (World history, history of the United States and Pennsylvania)
Health
Safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires.
Physical education
Music
Art
**NOTE: The law just states that these subjects must be covered in Secondary Education. It does not say that each subject must be taught everyday of the school year or that it must be covered in a course alone, for example, you may cover Safety in the same course that covers Health.
We encourage you to research this information and discover what works best for your family and your student.
SPECIAL INFORMATION FOR HIGH SCHOOL:
In order to graduate, Pennsylvania requires :
4 Years of English
3 Years of Science
3 Years of Math
3 Years of Social Studies
2 Years of Humanities
Again, we encourage you to do your research on what constitutes a “year” in regards to fulfilling requirements.
-
The Homeschool Evaluator was started by a teacher, who became a evaluator, and then a homeschooling mom herself. The Homeschool Evaluator was designed with all those experiences in mind in order to bring you, the parent and your student an easy, seamless process for your year-end evaluation.
There are many benefits to doing homeschool evaluations online through The Homeschool Evaluator. For one thing, it’s EASY! You have everything that you need in the convenience of your own home, The Homeschool Evaluator eliminates traveling somewhere, lugging all the books, artwork, and other things around to a different location.
Since you can do The Homeschool Evaluator Evaluation at home, stress can be avoided by you and your student because all of the questions, including the interview, are completed at your leisure and in the comfort of your home.
-
Getting started is simple. We encourage you to visit the What You Will Need Page,. Watch the video, read the list, and look at the examples of the 3-4 pictures that will need to be uploaded. Take the necessary pictures and get everything together before you begin.
Once you have about a half an hour and your student is available to answer some questions, than feel free to pay and choose your students grade level.
A link will be sent to your email that will allow you to open the form. When the form is complete, just submit and it will be on it’s way!
If you have another student just repeat the process.
-
Visiting our “What You Will Need” page before you begin the evaluation will allow you to gather everything you need. Once you have it all ready, the Form should take you approximately twenty minutes to a half hour to complete. Every student is different, and so the time may vary, this is just an estimate.
Just enjoy getting to do it from the comfort of your home and in your own timing! Before you know it, you’ll be set to go and ready for summer!
-
Our process is EASY and it is not The Homeschool Evaluator’s job to Pass or Fail students. We know Homeschool families generally want the best education for their children! It is the evaluator’s job to just make sure that the learning is occurring according to the state laws.
As long as all of the information required by law is shown and completed, such as proof of days/hours, standardized tests for 3rd, 5th, and 8th grade, sustained learning overall is demonstrated by the portfolio, summaries, submissions, etc., and the interview questions are answered, there should be no problems.
Our Evaluation Forms are designed to be submitted when all of the correct information is completed.
-
Our goal is to have the completed Teacher Evaluation Form back to you in as little as five days.
Since most evaluations are occurring during April, May, and June, and each is an individual evaluation, we ask you to be patient and give us five days.
-
It depends. If your student has an IEP for Special Education through a public school, than the answer is no, not at this time. We do not have a Special Education Evaluator to do the legal evaluation at this point.
If your student has exited from the IEP before or since homeschooling than yes, we can do the evaluation.
If your student has an IEP for a Gifted Program, they do not require a Special Education Evaluator, so then they would be able to be evaluated by The Homeschool Evaluator.
-
If you have more than one student that needs evaluated, you will pay for the first student, complete the evaluation, and submit it. After submitting the Year-End Evaluation From, please return to the store and pay for the next student’s form.
You must go through the process individually for each student in order to make sure that the information is complete and each student will receive an evaluation.
The same is true for requesting transcripts. You will need to make a separate transaction for getting a transcript.
-
Absolutely! in the state of Pennsylvania, a homeschooled student can get a state diploma if they have met the lawful graduation requirements, and the diploma is signed by the Evaluator and the Parent/Supervisor.
A graduating Senior will need a regular evaluation, and also be asked some questions in order to receive their diploma. The diploma will be filled out and sent to the graduating senior by mail.
Keep in mind the Senior Year Evaluator must also be the one who signs the diploma. In order to issue the diploma, the Senior Year Evaluation must be completed through The Homeschool Evaluator.
A COPY OF THE DIPLOMA must be given to the school district, along with the yearly evaluation.
The cost for the evaluation ($60) and the signed diploma ($60) will be a total of $120 for both..
-
We know that sometimes students (and parents!) work really hard on their courses by taking extra ones and doubling up in order to graduate early or complete classes faster.
Since a “year” also signifies a course completion, such as in block scheduling at a public school, we recommend that you divide the courses among multiple years.
For example if the student did two English Courses in one year, put one in the 9th Grade Year and one in the 10th Grade Year.
If you want to turn in an Evaluation for multiple years (9th & 10th for example) you will need to do separate evaluations for each year. We cannot put multiple years on one evaluation. Of course, you can just put all the courses on one year and get one evaluation and turn that in to your school, but it will only have one grade level on it.
If your student has completed all of their courses and requirements for graduating, the same applies and the courses can be separated over each of the four years. For graduating and receiving a State Diploma, The Homeschool Evaluator just needs to evaluate the Senior Evaluation With Diploma Form.
-
The diploma is exactly
-
Getting a High School Transcript made from The Homeschool Evaluator is easy! All that you need to do is input the courses/subjects, grades, etc. that the student has taken each year into the High School Transcript Form.
You will need to go to the Evaluations & Transcripts page and order the form. Each Evaluation Form and Transcript Forms must be done as separate transactions. However, once made, the transcript is yours to keep and it will be emailed to you to print as needed.
If the student hasn’t graduated yet, but needs the transcript for dual enrollment or something else, they can still get a transcript for what they have completed.
If your student has doubled up on classes or is graduating or has graduated early, it is recommended that you separate the courses/subjects over the four years.
-
At this time, The Homeschool Evaluator will not be keeping track of what your student is completing year to year.
We encourage you to keep your portfolios, work samples, etc. and track of your courses. Of course keeping a copy or the original of The Homeschool Evaluator Evaluation Form that is returned to you and goes to the school district, is important, too.
HINT: Make a Transcript for each year to keep track of the courses. It will be much easier for the Senior Year or if applying to college.
-
At this time, no…we are not keeping records and track of what your student has accomplished. The Homeschool Evaluator is simply here to make the year-end evaluation time EASY!
We suggest that you keep good records, particularly in Middle School and High School, by listing out the courses that your student has taken. By doing that, upon graduation, you will be able to easily build a transcript.
-
Once a form for a student is purchased, we will not be able to offer all sales are final and we will not be able to offer refunds.
After you purchase the form, you receive an automatic link to the form. This link opens the form and we are not responsible for incomplete forms.
The forms are easy and as mentioned in a previous question, you do not need to worry about “Passing” the evaluation. As long as all the required sections are filled in and necessary photos are uploaded, showing that the legal requirements are met, the finished evaluator’s form will be sent in a timely manner.
-
At this time, only Pennsylvania Evaluations are able to be done by The Homeschool Evaluator.
It is our desire to eventually be able to do evaluations in more states, so keep checking back! :)