[bluebird38]

Does anyone homeschool their bio children? I know that most states will not let you homeschool fc. I am considering homeschooling my ds and I was wondering if it would affect me fostering.

Thanks

[mommytoEli]

i was homeschooling 2 of my adopted children when we were fostering to adopt our last. no one even asked why the kids were home in the middle of the day, and i never thought to bring it up. lol.

[cecegarrett]

I home school my teen bio-son and the 4 year old bio daughter seems to think she is in "school" too. Our agency loves that we are super involved in our kiddos' education. We know we can't home school fc's but, if we adopted? you can bet they would be learning algebra in their jammies as well.
If you need anything on the HS front, feel free to PM me anytime.

Good luck!
CeCe

[Sdirector]

We homeschool ours... we also received special permission to homeschool our foster daughter. Of course, it could have something to do with the fact that we hope to have her adopted by the end of the year, but either way, we were given permission.

It is one of the best things that we have done for our children.

[Shiree132]

We homeschool our bio daughter, adopted daughter, and we are now fostering a baby. We have never been questioned about homeschooling. We love it!

[GeorgiaMom]

We homeschool our 3 bio DDs, and we are in training to be FPs. I will have to take/send any school-age FC to school, but I'm OK w/ that. It actually frees me up to take the FC to their current school(if in the area) instead of feeling like I need to move them to my children's school for convenience. If we adopt, we will definitely HS the adopted child(ren).

[luvmykids4]

I homeschool my four kids, and all of our fc have been under 2 years old. If we were ever to adopt, we could teach them as well. I've also had the same experience of no one mentioning that my kids were home, or came with me to visits, etc. I do mention it, though, to cover myself. I am careful, however, to not let my guard down too much. We have a wonderful Children and Youth agency, but you never know if you'll come across someone who is negative. I don't know how it would be if you had older kids from foster care. I would think that they may have some jealousy or frustration at the other kids 'getting to stay home'. I think it all depends on each personality. Good luck.

[mommy09]

I was home schooled by my mom k-12 and I loved it!!!! I'm planning on homeschooling my own daughter while doing foster care.. There are so many resources out there now that make it easier! Good luck

[hrisme]

One family I'm working with homeschools their biochildren (aside from 1 who is in a special school for autism), but has been required to put their 6 year old kinship placement in public school. We're just over a month into the school year and so far he's missed 3 full days of school for court dates, visitation, etc. and several partial days. Seems off to me, but then this entire case has been a joke--so why not require the family to jump through random hoops?

I've done respite for another family who homeschools many of her bio/adoptive children and has received permission to homeschool some of her foster children as well (I believe 2 out of 4? Not sure). She has a strong relationship with DCFS, and I'm sure that's made it easier for her to get exemptions.

I wouldn't think it would have any affect on your license as long as you make it clear you understand you would be required to put school aged children in a public school.

[Joy2566]

I homeschooled my bios while fostering. It was never an issue. I was given permission to homeschool two of the foster kids. They wanted be homeschooled and their bio parents agreed. My latest kids wanted to be homeschooled too, but their needs were such that I needed them to be gone during the day.

[Sunnyblu]

We homeschool our 2 older biokids but was told in Texas you have to school fkids. But we did get permission to keep him our fson in private preschool/daycare (vs. public kindergarten) at 5 although he could start kindergarten as the mandatory age to start public school in Texas is 6. But our caseworker is great with us homeschooling. Maybe getting permission also has to do with the parents being ok with it?

[_Liberty_]

We homeschool our bio 4th grader and 7th grader and foster an infant.
This is my own personal opinion and others will feel differently, but I recommend looking into Homeschool Legal Defense Assoc. You pay a fee each year and they will represent you on any case involving your homeschool rights. I think that when you invite the gov't into your home and life the way we foster parents must, it's comforting to have legal representation to protect our homeschooling rights. A lot of gov't workers (including those in the school system) are unaware of the laws.

[Joy2566]

Oh absolutely, we were members of HSLDA when we were still homeschooling. Our first encounter with the caseworker (when we first started our journey into foster care) did not go well. She told us that homeschooling was illegal in PA and that she would need to investigate us. We went with a different agency and HSLDA helped us with the first caseworker.

[Bamamom07]

I am now homeschooling my youngest (bio) child & my next youngest (foster-preadoptive) child. I did have to send her to public school last year, but the TPR has been done and we are moving closer to adoption. I have never homeschooled before, but it's so obviously right with my two youngest kids and I'm so happy to be able to do this now. Find out all the info for your state, and be prepared to educate your agency on the legalities and your reasoning.