The many reasons why parents choose to educate their children at home include:  the desire to preserve family unity; the academic freedom experienced at home; the desire to transmit faith and values to their children on a daily basis; the positive social/emotional development fostered in the home; the success of the tutorial method of teaching; the absence of stress, peer pressure and other influences by which some children have been harmed at school. 

Educating your children at HOME.

Working, playing and learning Together.

Children learning at their own pace
And in their own way.

PRIVATE SCHOOL – at a fraction of the cost.
TUTORING at its best.

Optimum parental INVOLVEMENT in education.

Education that meets YOUR standards.
Taking CONTROL of curricular content.

A lifestyle which allows parents
to pass their VALUES on to the children.

Making FAMILY UNITY a priority.

Spending the TIME with your children
that they crave and deserve.

Giving children a SAFE and SECURE place
from which to launch out into the world.

A learning atmosphere where SELF-ESTEEM can thrive.

Allowing children SPACE
To explore and think and play and BE.

A rapidly GROWING educational movement

In the words of education expert Raymond Moore, “The greatest teaching talent in the world lies in the warm, responsive and consistent parent whose love makes the needs of his children his highest concern.  If anyone disagreed, ask him for his evidence.  Parents’ daily one-to-one example amounts to master teaching at the highest level.”

It is important to realize that there is “negative socialization” as well as “positive socialization.”  Homeschooling eliminates much of the negative while accentuating the positive.  The daily example of loving, mature adults and access to their perspective and wisdom, produce a sensibility and maturity which many observers admire in homeschooled children.  Homeschoolers socialize with people of all ages.  Consequently, they learn to appreciate and easily befriend those younger and older than themselves in a way that is not commonly seen in children who have been conditioned by the age-segregation at school, to value their age-mates above others.  Sibling and other relationships therefore thrive in the homeschooling lifestyle.

*Raymond and Dorothy Moore, Home Grown Kids, 1981, p. 12-13.

Many people are unaware of the vast array of resources available to home educators.  New books, materials and computer software are published every year to accommodate the growing homeschooling market.  These can be obtained through mail-order, at curriculum fairs, and from private and public schools.

Moreover, creative homeschoolers are finding that libraries, colleges and community professionals are among the many resources available when they reach advanced levels in academics.  The use of computers and the internet have dramatically expanded the array of resources available to help home educated students learn.  With such a wealth of learning aids at their disposal, parents are finding it entirely possible for their children to learn subjects that they have not mastered themselves.  For “difficult” subjects, some families have turned to community colleges for assistance.  These families have found that a taste of college, while still under the control of the home environment, is the perfect opportunity to start transitioning their senior from home education to college education.

Colleges today are eager to accept students with unique and diverse backgrounds.  Interested in enrolling homeschoolers, some have developed scholarships especially for them.  Because of the growth and success of the homeschooling movement, many colleges and universities are developing new application procedures for students who have received their education at home.  These may include SAT scores, portfolios, resumes and interviews.  Homeschoolers are being accepted at colleges and universities throughout the country, including Harvard, Princeton and Yale.  Recent homeschool graduates of NJHSA have attended Cedarville, Fordham U., Drew U., Wellesley, Montclair U., Messiah, Nyack, Houghton and Rochester Institute of Technology, to name a few.  The community colleges in the North Jersey area (this may be true for all community colleges) have come to realize that home educated students are a new, untapped, resource and have been eagerly reaching out to the homeschool community.

Since modern home schooling is still a relatively new phenomenon, and home schoolers
still “swim upstream” in the rushing river of today’s society, consider yourself a
PIONEER!

Your course will not be clearly marked out for you at every turn. Home schoolers have
many decisions to make in the education of their children and the management of
their family life. We hope the following guidelines will help you get started.

1. Educate yourself. Read, read, read. (See Book List) Gather as much information
about home schooling as you can.

2. Pray. Be in agreement with your spouse. Bring all you learn to the Lord. Ask Him
for guidance in your decision-making. Dedicate your family and your home school to
Him. Commit your ways to the Lord, and He will direct your path.

3. Read the state law. Ask about any part you do not understand.

4. Meet other home schoolers. Join a support group, attend meetings. Be encouraged
and informed as others share their experiences and evaluations of curricular
materials.

5. Lay the groundwork. Prepare your children for the home schooling lifestyle. Train
them in obedience and respect. Establish guidelines for daily scheduling, the shared
responsibility of household chores, and cooperation in all aspects of family life.
Instill a “teamwork” attitude.

6. Subscribe to home schooling magazines and newsletters.

7. Choose your curriculum. Order curriculum catalogs. Attend a curriculum fair if
possible. Find out what others use and why. Evaluate and select curriculum.

8. Consider joining HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association). Call 540-338-
5600 for membership information.

9. Decide on notification. If withdrawing your child from school, you will need to
notify the superintendent. If your children have never been enrolled in school, you
need not notify – notification is not legally required in N.J.

10. Welcome to the wonderful world of home schooling!

Essential Information for NJ Home Schoolers

Home educators in New Jersey have enjoyed a climate of relatively little regulation and government involvement for many years.  No specific home education laws have been enacted.  Home schoolers have exercised their right to educate their own children under the “elsewhere than at school” provision in the education law N.J. Statutes Annotated § 18A:38-25.  The definition of home schooling was further clarified in the Massa case of 1967, making the major point that the superintendent does not have authority to monitor the progress of the children being educated at home.
 
An excerpt from the legal analysis of HSLDA on New Jersey states: The compulsory attendance age is between the ages of six and sixteen. There are no required days of instruction.  Public schools must remain open for instruction for at least 180 days each school year. Instruction academically “equivalent” to that in the public school is required.  In addition to language arts, math, and science, public schools are required to teach 1) a two-year course in high school in US and New Jersey history; 2) a one-year elementary school course in community civics, citizenship, and New Jersey civics, geography, and history; 3) 2.5 hours per week in health, safety, and physical education each year. N.J. Statutes Annotated § 18A:35-1 to 35.5.4.
 
For the complete text, go to: https://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp
 
In addition, the ENOCH web site contains further information about NJ Law and Legal Resources.   Go to: http://www.enochnj.org/index.php/laws

NJHSA suggests membership with HSLDA, as they are committed to helping home educators enjoy their rights without the unfair or undue intervention of government officials.  HSLDA applications are available through the Local Support Group New Member Contacts.  HSLDA can be reached at (540) 338-5600 or www.hslda.org.

It is legal for parents to teach their children at home in all 50 states.  Each state has its own education laws, and each school district has its own way of dealing with home educators.  Practicability is more of an issue than legality.  Most New Jersey homeschoolers find their district education officials indifferent, cooperative or friendly.  New Jersey has no statutes pertaining specifically to homeschooling.  As a result, New Jersey is one of the least restrictive states for home education.