Living With Maine's Chapter 130

by Earl Stevens (Revised September, 1998)

Many of us have been homeschooling for years under Maine's Chapter 130, the rules for equivalent instruction through home instruction. We are a very diverse group, and it has been possible for us to practice home education without the state requiring that we conform to any single educational model or method. Homeschoolers have asserted their need to choose the educational approach that is most suitable for their unique situations, and the state has not objected to a relatively wide interpretation of the provisions of Chapter 130.

It would be difficult to attempt a description of all the approaches to learning that can fit under the term home education. Furthermore, since home education is not merely another academic method, it cannot be classified or explained solely in academic terminology. Home education is about education, but it is also about meaning, about personal convictions, and about the comedy and drama of family life.

This is why we sometimes have so much trouble trying to make what we do understandable to people who are thinking solely in terms of academic achievement. Sometimes parents have wondered how it could be possible to practice home education in their own ways and still be in compliance with Chapter 130. It has been possible because the state, while it may be preoccupied with the public school model, has been willing to approve many alternative practices. Perhaps there should be no such thing as compulsory schooling, much less oversight of homeschooling by public, but I will leave that discussion for another time. This is about living with Chapter 130.

In the application form that accompanies Chapter 130, the Department of Education is asking us to affirm that we have the capability and the intention of educating our children in compliance with Chapter 130. We read the form, we fill in the blanks about who we are and where we live and so forth, we identify the child, we note the dates when our homeschooling program begins and ends and we identify our support system.

The completed form goes to the Department of Education, Edwin N. Kastuck, 23 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0023. Another copy goes to the local superintendent and we keep one for our own reference. Local school departments may comment on our programs if they wish, but they have been excluded by state law from playing a part in the approval process, and we are eternally grateful.

Homeschoolers across the nation have held a wide range of opinions about what kind of homeschooling is best for kids. Some people like to bring the public school model of education into their homes. Others prefer to practice home schooling without a formal academic curriculum and without the methods and materials of the school. In the middle, somewhere between the schoolish families and the unschoolers, are many parents who like to maintain some feeling of academic forward motion while trying to avoid the more counterproductive habits of public schooling.

Chapter 130 doesn't order us to homeschool in any specific way but it does assume that we will probably want to or need to use the materials and methods of the public schools. Maine's home education regulations are maintained by people whose job is primarily to supervise public education according to the laws of the state. They are not going to know us on a more personal level by sitting with us in front porch rocking chairs on a summer evening, swatting mosquitoes and philosophizing with us about childhood. There aren't enough of them, and they don't have the time or the money. They have been obliged to set up some sort of standard for home education, and the model they are most comfortable with is the one they supervise, the public school model.

Consequently there is no need to for us to print notes in newsletters announcing that homeschoolers are free to use the public school model; parents already know that. Everybody knows that. But, somehow, not everybody knows that we have been free to decline the use of this model, even in the midst of coping with Chapter 130. There is a need to tell new homeschoolers (and often veterans as well) that we are have more freedom of choice within the terms of Chapter 130 than is immediately obvious from reading it.

These days more parents are aware that the education of a child is far more complex and mysterious than can be explained in classroom terms. So far we have been able to pursue freely our many and diverse educational paths, from the most conventional and traditional to the most radically serendipitous. The Department of Education has approved our many homeschooling choices over the past several years, and I can see no reason that we should otherwise today. This essay is based upon the expectation that the choices reside in our freedom as parents and as citizens of the State of Maine and that these choices are ours to keep forever.

Questions from the Maine Application for Equivalent Instruction form (in italics) along with my comments:

a. Instruction and Support System: Competent instruction will be delivered by a tutor who holds, or is eligible to hold, a certificate as teacher in Maine, or, competent instruction by a tutor who will be assisted by a satisfactory support system as outlined in Chapter 130, Section 3 (A).

Competent instruction is one of those phrases that is open to interpretation. As most teachers know, a teaching certificate is mostly evidence of time spent and dues paid, not proof of competence or evidence of common sense. Teachers who are admired and respected do not often claim that it came as a result of their certification courses. In any case, if you are not certified to teach in Maine you must seek a support system, and this is easily accomplished.

b. Support System: The support system selected to carry out the objectives of the program is identified as one of the following: (Certified teacher; public school or approved private school; family conducting another approved home instruction program for at least one year; other support system such as local homeschool support group.)

Of the four choices offered in Chapter 130, two simple and popular choices are to ask another parent who has been running an approved home instruction program for at least one year, or to participate (attend some meetings) in a local support group. You are not required to explain your homeschooling efforts or to submit to any kind of judgment or interference from the support group or from any authority figure associated with it.

This provision can be treated as a good excuse to put yourself in a position to explore what other people are saying and doing. If you are homeschooling in relative isolation, you will benefit from the experience. It is good to choose a family or a support group which agrees with your educational philosophy so that you really do get some support. It is only necessary to be in contact with your support system. You do not need to be always explaining yourself or presenting progress reports or justifying your homeschooling program. If you attend support group programs once in a while and stay in touch with other interested families, then you have taken care of this provision.

c. Instructional Day: The instructional day will be of adequate length of time to accomplish the proposed educational program. Please provide the information requested on page 4.

You may submit a typical weekly instructional schedule if you use a schedule, or, if you don't use a schedule, you may just check the appropriate box. I have never used an instructional schedule in my homeschool program. Some families can get along with home education schedules, and others cannot. It doesn't work for them. We each have the right to adopt an approach to home education which makes sense to us, in which there is meaning for us and for our children. This should be regarded as our most necessary and basic freedom. We should jealously guard it and never allow it to be bargained away for any other gain.

d. Instructional Year: The instructional year will meet at least the minimum number of days required by statute (175).

Those who maintain a formal schedule can simply look at their record books to see that 175 days of teaching have taken place. Parents who do not use academic lessons or do not define one day as administratively different from the next can figure that this provision of the law has been met in any case by the number of hours that they spend with their children.

Proposed Program Dates:

For the purposes of record keeping many families begin and end their homeschooling year inside the September to June time frame of the public schools even though we all know that the learning takes place all year round.

e. Curriculum: Instruction will be provided appropriate to grade level in accordance with Chapter 127, Instructional requirements and graduation Standards adopted by the Commissioner in: English/language arts, math, science, social studies, physical education, health education, library skills, fine arts, and, in at least one grade level between grades 6 and 12, Maine studies. Additionally, at one grade level between grades 7-12, the student will demonstrate proficiency in the use of computers. (Note: a copy of instructional requirements of Chapter 127 may be acquired by sending your request to the Department address on page 1).

New homeschoolers may wonder about their capacity to cope with the home education of their children when they look at the instructional requirements of Chapter 127 provided by the Department. These are the Elementary Course of Study and the Secondary School Program Requirements. The list can look rather daunting, depending upon your experience and your level of confidence. If you are looking for a curriculum that will meet these requirements, remember that doing so is a choice that you are making, not something that has been imposed upon you by the Department of Education. You may use a curriculum if you like, but you are not required. Some people use a curriculum for everything. Others use only one subject that makes them feel uncomfortable, perhaps mathematics. Even then, some follow the curriculum meticulously, other loosely. Your choice.

Curriculum requirements can be met in a variety of ways at a leisurely pace over a long period of time. You don't need to have all the resources, all the materials and all the answers right now. Also, your child is not required to maintain grade level status in any of these subjects. You can approach any subject on this list in entirely new and different ways, without regard for the way it is done in the schools or by other homeschoolers. This isn't the time to go through the entire list of academic subjects, but I would like to mention the computer requirements. If you are worried, for instance, about how you will fulfill the computer requirement before 12th grade, your stress level is too high. Relax. Take a walk. Is your child never going to be exposed to a computer? The computer requirements are very basic. A child who has learned some modest typing skills has already mastered the most difficult aspect of this provision. When the time comes, your child won't find the computer a bit intimidating.

You will notice that the Elementary Course of Study uses the phrase sequential instruction for almost every subject of study. Some parents have wondered if we should be concerned that the Department is going to have an opinion about the order in which our children learn academic subject material. Sequential is used merely to describe the public school learning process, not to dictate educational methods to homeschoolers.

f. Instructional Materials: Instructional materials and textbooks are available for use by the student in the instructional program.

If you use a curriculum you may wish to purchase textbooks, workbooks and other materials, or you may look around to see if they are available for free. In many school districts homeschooling parents can bring home the textbooks and other materials that their children would normally be using if they attended school.

We have found that it is better to ask, "When would be a good time to pick up Sally's books?" instead of meekly asking if it would be possible to obtain permission to borrow them. Once you have the books you may find that their chief value is to let you see what other kids of a similar age are memorizing in school this year. It is your choice whether or not to use the local school's books. You may also build your own curriculum, with or without textbooks or other school materials. Public school libraries carry many nonfiction children's books on a great variety of subjects. You will find books on space exploration, plant biology, weather, physics, architecture, arts and crafts and every other subject under the sun. There are also historical fiction books, racks of specialty magazines and, possibly, an audiovisual department.

What if you don't use textbooks or an academic curriculum? The rules require that there be materials available for your child; they do not require that the learning process should be chained to textbooks. Some textbooks are useful, but many seem to be utterly boring and designed to make a person lose interest in the subject as quickly as possible.

g. Quarterly Assessments: There is a plan of assessment which will accurately and adequately measure the student's academic abilities and progress in the education program at least four times during the school year.

This does not mean that we are required to submit a written quarterly assessment to education officials. It is a request for homeschooling families to pay attention to what they are doing. If schooling is your educational model then you are free to use testing to assess how things are going. If you are using the independent learning or "unschooling" model, then you will interpret and fulfill this assessment request in some other way, perhaps by entering a few words in a journal about your observations and thoughts. The state does not ask for hard data, and homeschooling families of every philosophy should make certain that this never changes. It is possible for a child to be getting a wonderful education in non-traditional ways which will not be reflected well in traditional testing practices.

Parents need not take this provision to mean that their assessments should always show that their children are performing at grade level. Each family should have its own priorities in education, as in life. For example, many parents (and some educators) feel it is counterproductive to introduce reading to younger children, in spite of the fact that practically everybody does it. They feel that young children should spend a great deal of time experiencing life before they begin reading about it. Others feel that it is okay to introduce reading, but that it shouldn't be forced. I wouldn't claim to know exactly what you ought to do with regard to reading or any other pursuit, but you should know that you have the right to do what you think is best in this regard.

Finally, no matter what your approach to home education you might periodically ask yourself, "Is it working?" Your observations and your answers to that question can be your assessment.

h. Records: There is a plan for record-keeping which charts the student's academic progress and records other pertinent information. These records shall be made available to the Commissioner upon request.

We have lived with this provision for some time, but there is still some occasional misunderstanding about the use of the word "chart." In this instance Chapter 130 uses the word as a verb as in "to keep track of" or "to follow." Since it never hurts to be too careful in these matters I called the Department of Education some time ago to confirm this, and they agreed that parents are not required to keep charts.

Parents who use a school type curriculum along with workbooks and test and grades can enter the results of the tests and exercises along with comments as a means of satisfying this requirement. Parents who employ other approaches to home education will approach record keeping in some way that makes sense for them. If you wish you may keep detailed records in a teacher's record book, but you don't have to. In the old days when we were required to say how we planned to chart progress, it was enough for a parent to say, "I intend to keep a journal." Now we don't have to say anything at all about how we will keep records, but we are nevertheless expected to keep them.

How does one chart progress? Some people will make hundreds of little entries: "This morning Sally learned that 2+2=4." Others will be more general: "During December and January, Sally became interested in arithmetic and learned addition and subtraction." Your records can be full of charts and graphs and notes about every detail of your child's learning or it can resemble notes to a friend in which you chat about the many marvelous things your child is doing. There is no single correct way to keep records. For those of us who really hate to keep these kinds of records, I think it would be enough to jot down some observations from time to time in a spiral bound notebook and let it go at that. We do what we can.

i. Annual Assessment: There will be an annual assessment of the student's progress in accordance with Section 3(J) of Chapter 130. Where necessary, provision has been agreed to by the local school unit. You need to send a copy of the results of the annual assessment and the Department cover letter (you will receive in the Spring) to Edwin N. Kastuck and to the Superintendent of your local public school administrative unit.

If we skip testing and avoid the use of a local advisory board, that leaves us looking for a willing certified teacher or for a support group which has captured a willing certified teacher and holds an annual portfolio review. When you have found your certified teacher the first thing is to determine whether or not your philosophy of education is compatible with that of the teacher. Overall, parents who follow the school model might have an easier time locating a teacher than those who have chosen an alternative model. Some teachers, even those who homeschool, will only accept evidence of traditional schooling and will want some proof that your child is learning "grade level" material. Other teachers will be tolerant of alternatives and will listen with a supportive ear to your family's unique way of approaching education and life.

Will the teacher expect to be paid a fee for signing your annual assessment? Some will, and some won't. Among other factors it depends upon the relationship between the teacher and the family, on whether or not the teacher is working as a support group activist, and upon the teacher's need for income. As a group, teachers are not enormously wealthy. For that matter, neither are homeschoolers. But when we ask a teacher to become involved in our lives, it is going to be somewhat time consuming for the teacher, and we should expect to offer compensation.

Local support groups can take an active role in finding and identifying local certified teachers who are willing to work with homeschoolers. Teachers who are approached by homeschoolers should keep in mind that they are not being asked to predict the eventual success or failure in life of the homeschooling child, but simply to affirm that an education seems to be taking place. State officials are not going to come back to the teacher and say "Sally" didn't perform well on her SATS in spite of the fact that you reported her doing well in the spring of 1996. They will not burn the teacher's certificate and make him stand in a corner.

Schools are not required to take responsibility for how life turns out for their students. Neither can certified teachers or anybody else guarantee the future of home educated children, and they cannot be expected to know exactly what is best for any given child or family. All that teachers can do is attempt to get a sense of the family, ask themselves if they can feel reasonably positive about the situation and then sign on the dotted line. Life isn't perfect. If a teacher finds that he or she is being solicited by a family that is doing a terrible job of homeschooling by even the most liberal standards, the teacher can always decline to participate.

j. Maintenance of Records: All records required in Section 3 (H) of Chapter 130 will be maintained by the parent(s) of the student until the home instruction program concludes.

Parents sometime feel intimidated by this provision, especially as Chapter 130 states that such records "shall be made available to the Commissioner upon request." To gains some perspective we might ask ourselves if the Commissioner is likely to suddenly demand all our records so that the Department of Education can separate the sheep from the goats? Seems rather unlikely to me. Can you picture the mess? Some years ago the Department chose not to receive annual portfolios anymore because the process used up time and resources without providing much help to families. Much less do they wish to wade through mountains of peanut-butter encrusted, juice stained "records" going back, in some cases, for more than a decade. What would be the point, to determine who keeps the best records?

It is argued that the most important reason for record keeping, especially during the teenage years, is in case your child begins going to school and you need to demonstrate to a secondary school that he or she has met some specific requirement such as health or computer science. You could say, "Look, it's right there! Sally did one semester of health!" There would be some evidence that Sally fulfilled the one semester health requirement. Whether or not the school will honor your records and your version of the events is another matter, but at least you have something to show them.

Another stated reason for keeping records of some kind, especially for older children, is the possibility that such records will be useful in preparing applications for colleges and other learning institutions. Colleges are not usually terribly interested in all the little details of a home-based education, but they may wish to have a broad, general view of what a child has been doing as a teenager. Because there may be little else on which an institution can base an admissions decision for a homeschooler, records might come in handy for that purpose. Of course if there are big gaps in the records because you forgot to make entries or because you lost them, you can always sit down at the kitchen table with a pot of tea some evening and attempt to recreate them from memory.

k. Maine Education Assessment: (grades 4, 8, and 11)
Most homeschooling families choose not to involve themselves with assessment testing. As you can see from the form it is optional.

l. A request has been received from homeschoolers for the Department of Education to make mailing lists of homeschoolers available to associations, the Legislature, papers, vendors of educational materials and researchers. Please respond to the following: (Please check one) I do___ do not___ want my name (Parent or Guardian) released on mailing lists.

If you allow your name to be released you will receive more homeschooling advertisements than all your other mail combined, and you will continue to receive them for the rest of your life.

m. Home School Access Law: In July, 1996, Chapter 610, "An Act to Require that Public Schools Permit Participation in Curricular, and Cocurricular and Extracurricular Activities for Students Enrolled in Approved Equivalent Instruction Programs" went into effect. For specific information regarding local policy and procedures, please contact the office of your District Superintendent of Schools.

Every school district must have a policy which grants access to homeschooled kids across the whole spectrum of classes and activities. Some school districts are gracious and accommodating like the Portland Public Schools: "Tell us what you want and we'll try to give it to you." Other school districts are not so friendly to kids who wish to take a class, march in the band, or play football. It all depends on where you live. Sometimes you need to push a little.

I hope these words are helpful to Maine parents who are seeking to comply with Maine home education regulations without giving up their own convictions about learning and about childhood. While we may occasionally choose to debate among ourselves about the best way for children to become educated, we can all be accommodated under the present regulations and within the present political climate in our state of Maine. We may not have exactly what we want, but, so far, we are free to assert ourselves in support of our children and to provide for them the environment that we think best for their healthy development and for their education.

Home education is not simply another teaching technique. It is a process of growth for parents and for children. Parents learn and grow and try new things and change their minds about old things. You may change your mind anytime you like about any aspect of your family's home education program. When you sign this paper you are not promising to go on with your present plans whether or not they work. You will learn, and you will change when you perceive the need for it. I hope that one day Chapter 130 matures into a document that more reflects our diversity, our willingness and capacity to succeed with our children and our freedom to explore. In the meantime, by respecting and supporting the differences among us, we can get along with each other and we can cope with Chapter 130.

*For more information about cooperation between homeschoolers and certified teachers read our article by Earl Stevens "Working with Certified Teachers"

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