Home-schooling in Nebraska

Nebraska's requirements for home-schoolers

Every once in a while, I'll get an e-mail asking me how to start homeschooling. Or someone I know will call me and say they're considering homeschooling, and ask how they can get started. It does vary from state-to-state, so you need to check with your local state laws. Since we live in Nebraska, I thought I'd share with you, how to homeschool here.

Homeschooling in Nebraska is really pretty easy. You do have to fill out paper work from the NE Dept. of Education, but the paperwork is not very hard to fill out. You can simply call and either request Rule 12 forms, which you need, if you are homeschooling only for academic reasons. If you are homeschooling for religious reasons, you need Rule 13 forms. We are homeschooling for both academic and religious reasons, and so far, there is no paperwork for both, so we went with the Rule 13 forms.

Once you get your forms, fill them out and send them back in at least one month prior to starting your homeschool. Every year after that, they must be filled out and sent back by August 1. The department will automatically send them out to you yearly once you've filled them out the first time.

As you fill out your paperwork, you will see that it asks for a "monitor". The monitor is the teacher, or the one who will be overseeing what the children learn on a daily basis. In our family it's me, the mom. The kids' dad is our principal. Of course these situations can be arranged visa-versa if the family chooses to. You will be asked for the name of your school, as you will be considered a private school. This is the fun part. Make your school name reflect either something about your family, your area, such as Lakeview Homeschool, or maybe have something to do with your curriculum. We named ours Liberty Baptist Academy. It's fun to come up with your name!

You can also look into joining a Homeschool Group if you would like to have your children involved in activities such as PE, field trips, etc. It is also nice for you to have some support. If you don't know of a group in your area, try contacting the NE Christian Home Educators Association or the Home Educators Network.