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Old 03-26-2004, 10:55 AM
DianeS DianeS is offline
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In most cases foster parents are unable to get permission to homeschool foster children, so I'm glad you don't have your heart set on that.

But as to agencies' opinions of homeschooling families in general - that's harder to answer. Homeschooling gets both good and bad press nowadays, so you really can run into an individual social worker's prejudices.

Anything bad you've ever heard about other homeschooling families could come into play - lack of interaction with other children, not completing lessons, doing it just so your kids don't get seen by other adults, thinking you're better than the teachers trained to teach, etc.

But you could also run into positive ones - the fact so many spelling bee champs have been homeschooled, that lesson plans can be tailored so the child can excell, etc. (I'm sure you can quote all the other positive stories better than I can!)

But one issue that seems to crop up for most homeschooling families I know is that homeschooling families don't have any experience in dealing with the public school system. They have no friendly contacts, nobody they've gone to in the past for favors, nobody who knows them as a reasonable and intelligent family. So when a foster child is placed, and the homeschooling family has to enroll that child in school, have him/her tested for learning disabilities, get an IEP set up and used, and advocate for that child when the schools resist the changes that child needs - that's when the homeschooling family is at a disadvantage.

It's not that huge of a disadvantage in most cases - if you can navigate the laws required to homeschool, and annual tests or reports or whatever your area requires, and handle all the intrusive questions you run into about homeschooling, then you ought to be able to handle a few stuck in their ways people in one school district office. Just be prepared for that type of challenge to your abilities and you should be fine.

And of course, make sure you're following all your state and district regulations regarding homeschooling - have their papers filed whereever or whatever else is needed, because it's possible those would be checked.

Good luck! I'm sure others will chime in with their own experiences, too.
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