1) CREDENTIALED TEACHER / TUTOR

A child may be taught at home by a parent or a tutor with a valid California teacher's credential for the grades and subjects taught. This means that if a parent has an elementary credential, she can only teach up until the age her credential covers. A parent (or tutor) with a secondary science credential can only teach that subject to his child and must hire another person to teach all other grades and subjects.

2) PRIVATE INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAM (ISP*) / CHARTER SCHOOL

Enroll your child in the ISP of a private school that has filed an R-4 Affidavit with the state of California. Private ISPs maintain all student records in accordance with state law and offer a wide range of guidance from simple record keeping to full academic guidance and support.
Some Fresno Area Charter Schools
Some CA Independent Study Programs
Some Correspondence Schools that offer Independent studies & largely cater to homeschoolers
 

NOTE: Many people want to join a charter school or ISP because they worry less that they will get taken to court on truancy charges. They also like to have somebody tell then what the kids should be learning when. They may be more worried about their kids getting into college or transferring to a public school later on. Many people join a charter or ISP their first year to "get their feet wet" and then go off on their own when they feel more confident.

3) PUBLIC SCHOOL INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAM (ISP*)

Enroll child in a public school ISP. Children enrolled in a public school ISP are subject to all rules and regulations of the state and the district. Expect to follow the same curriculum as the children in regular day classes and to be held to all schedules. The parent is considered the "teacher's aide". A school does not have to offer an ISP. Some only will if a child is pregnant or bedridden.

4) R-4 AFFIDAVIT

Establish a private school based in your home by filing a Private School R-4 Affidavit with the county or State Department of Education. This allows the most flexibility in curriculum as you are the school. You are required to maintain certain records and follow certain guidelines. It is important to remember that this is not a homeschool, it is a home-based Private School . Private School teachers don't have to have a credential they just have to be "capable of teaching".

To obtain an R-4 form in Fresno county write to or call the following and ask for a Private School Affidavit or R-4:

Pupil Personnel Services
Fresno County Office of Education
111 Van Ness, Fresno, CA 93721
(559) 265-3000

Here is a link that also explains how to establish your private school.
Here are directions for submitting an affidavit.
Here's the R-4 affidavit online.

REQUIREMENTS FOR HAVING A PRIVATE SCHOOL (R-4 OPTION):

1) File an R-4 ( a very simple, short form) every year between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15
2) Instructors must be "capable of teaching"
3) File names and address of all faculty along with a record of the educational qualifications of all instructors (this can include all educational trainings, church day care, cub scout leader duties, any particular skills, jobs held etc.)
4) Instruction must be in English
5) "Offer" the following subjects: For Grades 1-6 English, mathematics, social sciences, science, fine arts, health, P.E. for grades 7 - 12 all of the above plus foreign language, applied arts (consumer and homemaking, agriculture, industrial arts...). vocational education and driver education
6) Write a course of study each year for each child and keep on record. This can be a one page paper with what you intend to cover for the upcoming year for each subject. You don't have to stick to it like glue. It can certainly be revised as you go or at the end of the year!
7) Keep attendance record of each child and include on it any absence of over 1/2 day or more. (Suggested 185 day school year as required for public schools.
8) All kids under 18 must have immunizations or a waiver** along with a health check up for school entry, Keep in records.

RECORD KEEPING FOR YOUR PRIVATE SCHOOL:

1) Copy of your R-4
2) Attendance record for each child
3) Course of study for each child
4) Faculty names, address and qualifications
5) Health records or waiver
6) Report of Health exam for School Entry or waiver (within 90 days of entering first grade)
7) Mandatory student records (the cumulative file that goes from school to school with the student). File records include legal name, date of birth, copy of birth certificate, sex, birth place, name and address of parents (and of child if different from parent), entering and leaving date of each school year, subjects taken during each year, marks or credits given (marks or credits towards graduation), verification or waiver** from immunizations, date of graduation or CHSPE or GED or equivalent. This list may look long, but most of it fits on the front of a manila folder and doesn't change. It can be updated once a year. If your child has been enrolled in a public school he/she already has one and you should get it (or a copy of it ) from the school.

For further information contact California Homeschool Network @ (800) 327-5339

*ISP stands for Independent Study Program. It's a school at home program that started in public schools for kids that were bed-ridden and now some private schools do ISPs for people that want to homeschool and not register with a district. Some are only ISP's even though they are legally a private school. If you file the R-4 affidavit, stating you are a private school, you could offer ISPs to other homeschoolers so they would be able to homeschool under your "private school".
An ISP can be offered from a school anywhere (even out-of-state), but they would have to be registered in California or else you would still have to file an R-4. Some correspondence schools are there to offer curriculum support and let you deal with the legalities. For instance, I may sign up with a school from Texas to get their wonderful curriculum but that school doesn't file the R-4 in California. I can still get my stuff through them, but I would have to file an R-4 with the state to consider myself a private school. Some out-of-state schools do all this for you...provide curriculum AND offer you an ISP as well as a legal California state private school designation...in which case, I would use them as the private school and NOT have to file an R-4. It is a little confusing, but all you would have to do is ask the school if they have taken care of filing an R-4 affidavit in CA or not.

**Immunization Waiver Info:
Form PM286, the "California School Immunization Record" contains the two possible exemptions (a. medical and b. personal beliefs) on the back of the form.
Form PM 171A is the "Report of Health Exam for School Entry" and the waiver for this one is on a separate form.
PM 171B is the "Waiver of Health Check-up for School Entry".
All 3 of these forms are available from the Fresno County Department of Health. They are also 3 of the numerous homeschooling forms available from the California Homeschool Network's companion CD at 1-800-327-5339