Anyone Homeschooling in MN?

[TimtheGuy]

Wow, 1,700 is a huge number. How many students are in that school district? That seems like it would be a large percentage.

Do you have any numbers for ISD 200 or ISD 196 (Dakota Co.)?? I don't have any kids so I am not the most in touch person when it comes to schooling. But I am 38 so most of the people I know have kids. I would be shocked if we had the same percentage down here...but it could be the fact.

[QueenBee]

Anoka Hennepin is the largest district in the state, with 41,595 being the number of students I got from the internet. So no, your district probably would not have those numbers of homeschoolers, but I know there are plenty down there also. I think here it averages 2-3% of the student population, growing by leaps and bounds each year and I would suspect that percentage would be the case in the southern metro also. In our co-op, which is considered small, there are 24 families. Seems like we are always running into other homeschoolers. Co-ops and support groups are everywhere. Just about everywhere offers special programs for homeschoolers so we have our pick of just about anything that catches our interest. It really is a wonderful lifestyle and my children love it. My son is very social and says he never wants to go back to school again, so that says something.

[TJF]

Originally Posted by BeckyS

You also turn in results of standardized tests that homeschooled students are required to take.

This is not correct. You are required to have your child tested annually but you do not turn in the results of the test, they are for the parent and child's information only.

Here is a link to legal requirements for homeschool in MN: HSLDA | Home School Laws

There are many homeschooling families in MN. There is also a strong education lobby here that is very threatened by the success of homeschooling students!

Parents have to research and make their own decisions about the best education options for their children. There have been many research studies showing homeschoolers have excellent results for academic skills, socialization, community involvement, character, etc. If anyone is genuinely interested in it, I suggest you do some research and you will be blown away by all the positives there are to homeschooling!

TJF

[bnesser]

Originally Posted by stellar9

We're looking to move to the St. Cloud area and would like some feedback from people currently homeschooling. The regulations are more strict than in CA, where we are now. Are there problems or issues with school districts or anything specific with the St. Cloud area? Are the local support groups active?

Thanks in Advance.

I live in Greenfield, MN. We have homeschooled for 9 years. We were going to move out of Minnesota, so I did a lot of research about homeschooling in other states. I found out that Minnesota has the largest homeschooling community of any state! There is a very active community of support groups associated primarily with MACHE (I think it is MACHE.org.). I don't know much about St. Cloud in particular (we are 1 hour from there), but there are a lot of resources, classes, and groups around the homeschooling environment here. The main negative thing I have found is the religiousity associated with the homeschool community. I do believe in God, but I find a strong judgmentalism that I personally believe Jesus would frown upon. I don't know if it is just Minnesota (I am not from here) or if it is my own issue. Anyway, that makes it hard for me to connect to other homeschooling families (as I am turned off by that energy and because I might seem to be too "open-minded" by those who feel it is important to impose their own personal beliefs upon others. I was raised in a Jewish home and find it wrong to condemn others religious views. Besides Jesus was a Jew.)

[stellar9]

Originally Posted by bnesser

I live in Greenfield, MN. We have homeschooled for 9 years. We were going to move out of Minnesota, so I did a lot of research about homeschooling in other states. I found out that Minnesota has the largest homeschooling community of any state! There is a very active community of support groups associated primarily with MACHE (I think it is MACHE.org.). I don't know much about St. Cloud in particular (we are 1 hour from there), but there are a lot of resources, classes, and groups around the homeschooling environment here. The main negative thing I have found is the religiousity associated with the homeschool community. I do believe in God, but I find a strong judgmentalism that I personally believe Jesus would frown upon. I don't know if it is just Minnesota (I am not from here) or if it is my own issue. Anyway, that makes it hard for me to connect to other homeschooling families (as I am turned off by that energy and because I might seem to be too "open-minded" by those who feel it is important to impose their own personal beliefs upon others. I was raised in a Jewish home and find it wrong to condemn others religious views. Besides Jesus was a Jew.)

thanks for the info. I find it amazing that MN has the largest homeschooling community, considering how people keep going on how great the education system is there. I am not surprised you found religious judgementalism; I think that is everywhere among Christians who homeschool primarily for religious reasons. I don't, but I do associate with a group from my church. I also like doing things with secular homeschoolers, because they tend to focus on the real-life learning instead of the moral/religious development (which is fine, but not the only reason I homeschool). I don't know where you are from and I can only compare MN and CA by experience. I would guess that it is worse in the south.

[Amy Leinen]

Glad to see someone caught the mistaken information about submitting test results.
You do NOT need to submit your test results! It's actually pretty easy to comply with the laws in MN, especially if you get connected with experienced homeschoolers!

The 2006-2007 statewide numbers for homeschooling students between the ages of 7-16 is 17,621! This information was provided to the Minnesota Homeschoolers' Alliance from the Department of Education.

If you have any questions about the laws or resources, feel free to contact me personally, or email mha@homeschoolers.org.

I'm a volunteer with the Minnesota Homeschoolers' Alliance. It's a statewide non profit homeschooling network run by other homeschooling families in support of all homeschoolers in MN. Oh, the conference is coming up on September 29, 2007, so visit their website: www.homeschoolers.org for more information. Even if you aren't a member of MHA, they can answer your questions about local groups and the laws. You'll find that MHA has a diverse network of local groups.

Amy Leinen
651-552-0753

[Amy Leinen]

Homeschooling is legal in Sweden, although it is uncommon and sounds challenging. Here's a link you might find useful:

MATS – Mitt alternativ till skolan

~Amy Leinen

[austere]

We homeschool here -- love it! Tons of support networks, tons of families, classes and field trip opportunites galore.

St. Cloud is a easy drive to the Twin Cities for a day trip in for some classes at the parks or museums!

[4bythelake]

Bump. Did you find the resources you were looking for? MHA - Minnesota Homeschoolers' Alliance - (Welcome To MHA! | MHA) can email you a list of homeschooling groups in your county.

[Juliet Boyer]

I want to homeschool my son for the rest of this year, he is in 8th grade. What steps do I take to do this. ASAP