Washington Private School and Home Schooling Standards

Takeaways from the state law governing private schools and home instruction:

1. You must offer at least 180 school days or 1080 hours of instruction per year for middle and secondary students
2. You must have certificated teachers, or oversight by certificated teachers
3. You must offer instruction to meet the state subject and credit requirements -- 24 credits
4. You must have a building that meets the same code as school buildings, unless you're a homeschooler teaching only your own children in your own home
5. Home schoolers cannot instruct other than their own kids
6. Home schooled kids must pass annual assessment tests or be assessed annually by a certificated professional, and if they are deficient for their age, parents must rectify

Regarding the home school classes, 30 weeks of 3 day weeks with 8 hour days is only 90 days or 720 hours. So we couldn't run this as a school. It would have to be supplementary activities for home schoolers. How does the Wilderness Awareness School do it?

Regarding the one room schoolhouse, must each subject be taught by a teacher certified in that particular subject? That would require a minimum number of teachers above two, since you are also required to teach all of the subjects, including foreign language and music!

Regarding the whole learn at your own pace thing, forget it, kids gotta keep pace with their peers in public school, and, I presume, learn the same kind of history (world vs. state, etc.) in the same year.

And so much for holding classes in a yurt.