California Homeschooling: How to File a Private School Affidavit, Step by Step Instructions

PSA

If you already know all the below info and just need the link to file, GO HERE.

Take a deep breath…it isn’t as hard as it seems!

So you’ve read the legal options for homeschooling in California, and you decided that you are going to go with the private school option…That means you’ve completed your first step towards legally homeschooling:

STEP 1: Decide what legal option you will homeschool under


Now you are really overwhelmed because it seems so daunting, with legal paperwork to fill out and things you must keep on file…and you’re not really sure exactly how to do it all…And you REALLY don’t want to screw this up!

Don’t worry! It really isn’t that hard. I’ve got you.

My Experience with the private affidavit

 I started my homeschool journey back in 2006 on a private affidavit with this cutie, my oldest:

Kinder Maeve
My first kindergartner

I added my son (youngest) to the affidavit his kindergarten year. After 5 years on the affidavit, I switched to a homeschool charter when my son was in 1st grade, my daughter 5th…(I wanted some options that I saw in this local program.)

Maeve Tyr
My kids, listening intently on field trip

Then near the end of the 2016/17 school year I pulled my 10th grade daughter from the 2nd homeschool charter we were in (first charter closed our wonderful local program, sigh) and filed the affidavit again for her. And here she will stay until she finishes, at the end of the 2018/19 school year.

IMG 9461
Shortly after I pulled her from the charter that was stressing us out way too much…on a much needed hike in nature.


My son is now 13 and in 8th grade, still in a homeschool charter (which I stay at solely for the funds they provide), but I’ll be pulling him and going affidavit again once he hits high school as well. (The hoops that are required for homeschool charters in high school just do not work for our family.)

IMG 2100
Slime is alllll the rage at our co-op.


My point

I’ve done this. And you can too! And the freedom you get from this option is very freeing.

Scary too, I know…especially for those that are starting out and really unsure of yourself because there’s no one to hold your hand with this option.

If you want help, you have to seek it out somewhere else. The government isn’t going to help you figure things out with the private school option.

But that’s also why it’s such a good thing in the FREEDOM we have in this! The government is also not going to meddle in our private schools and tell us how our schools should be run. WE get to decide how our children are educated.

OK, so on to the tutorial…click on page 2 below to continue…

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