Homeschool Attendance Records - adding "extras" to fill up time for state requirements

I am not required to report to the state of TN or my local school district until the fall. Tennessee requires that homeschooling parents file a form of intent with the local school district along with curriculum and subjects. I think at the end of the year, I’m supposed to provide an attendance record of at least 180 school days with four hours of schooling for each day. My daughter will only be in Kindergarten and her work will not fill up four hours. We do K-4 now and each day’s lessons take less than two hours and that includes the extra stuff I add (sign language, reading and memorizing poetry, learning phone numbers and our address, etc.)

I hope to add in some extra curricular activities in the fall such as violin lessons (which will count for music) and soccer (physical education). I figure I can also add in supervised computer instruction (starfall and a few other sites I’ve found). Would it be a stretch to add in a “class” called life skills which include her chores and learning to help me with cooking and cleaning? I would also add in field trips. Does anyone else have any other ideas?

I would definitely include Life Skills. You could even include things like Sunday School. Kids are always learning something; it’s not like their minds shut off once “school time” is over. :smile:

Just curious, are you required to report for kindergarten? I am in NY and even though kids are expected to attend an all-day kindergarten, we aren’t required to report for them (not yet, anyway). It’s completely inconsistent, but I’m not arguing! That’s one less report I have to do!

I have hs for 13, 12 of those years in CA where the state is very hands OFF😀
Now we are NY, I’m finding our local district leaves me alone 100%, but…there’s certainly lots of paperwork to fill out and reports to turn in! Would you mind if I asked you a few questions about that? Could you private message me? Thanks!

I didn’t think about Sunday School! The only thing is that for a day to count as a school day there must be a minimum of four hours for that day. Occasionally, I will do a little bit of school on Sunday nights (less than 30 minutes), but I don’t think I can come up with four hours to make Sunday count.

Tennessee compulsory attendance is for ages 6 through 17. My daughter’s birthday is in January, so she will be six in the middle of the year. I will be erring on the side of caution and sending in the intent to homeschool form and then keeping up with the attendance. I’m not sure if I have to send in the attendance at the end of the year or just have it available for them to check.

I don’t know if I can be of any help to you, but I’m more than happy to try. This is my first year of homeschooling (with K-4). I will private message you…as soon as I figure out how!

Edited: I think you meant that for Julie. Sorry!

I have a 14 year old son and was told doing his animal chores could be counted as hours. we also breed pigs and he helps out with that and is counted.
Two days a week my daughter(9) has a cooking lesson with me. She is actually a really good cook now! She can follow a recipe, decorate cakes and cookies, and she makes a yummy meatloaf! :smiley: Also 1 day a week for 2 hours she takes a sewing class. So all that counts towards her hours. I think anything where they are learning can be counted!

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I live in a state that does not have a minimum hour requirement for a day. Which is good because by bookwork standards most of our days run around 2 1/2-3 hours for a first grader, second grader and preschooler. Technically my town didn’t even put a requirement on the number of days we do school. I just assumed that we would do 180 like schools do and put that in my letter of intent.
However if I were you I would count outdoor playtime (recess, phys ed), anytime your daughter helps you with cooking or cleaning (life skills), anytime you read aloud to her, when she is cooking, library time, grocery shopping (life skills again), park days, museum trips, etc. Does she do any computer games or play on a tablet? Use educational aps or games and that is technology. Coloring time or other crafts? That is work on her fine motor skills.
Its amazing to see how easy the time really does add up when you stop thinking of school only as the bookwork and seatwork you do.
Because honestly, with a homeschool, the idea of making a kindergartener do “school work” for four hours a day is going to be rough on the kid and the parent for most kids.

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