Letter Of Instruction Family Care Plan: Fill & Download for Free

Caveat: this varies based on individual homeschoolers!But here’s a summary.In New York State, homeschoolers are required to submit paperwork to the local school district - usually via a “special programs coordinator”.In addition to an IHIP (Individualized Home Instruction Plan, basically stating your intention to homeschool that year), homeschoolers need to submit quarterly reports to the district. Those get saved and kept on file - and presumably, the homeschooler maintains an identical file!The idea is that those quarterly reports contain some sort of grade. For elementary work, that’s generally along “satisfactory” lines. For high school work, a letter grade would be applied. So already, you have 4 officially recorded grades per year.Then comes the end of the year standardized test or evaluation. The results of that become a permanent part of your child’s record, as well.Combine those 5 grades and you have a very accurate summary of the child’s grade each year, officially recorded and archived within the local school district as well as the homeschooler’s records… ideally both digital and in print.Now, I can hear it coming - and presumably this is more of what you’re asking:How do those quarterly grades come to be? What is daily record keeping like?Well, most homeschoolers tend to use some sort of formal curriculum for the “big” subjects - math, high school science, history, etc. - and those curricula include unit tests and reviews.So an accurate snapshot of the student’s grasp of the studies can be grabbed from those unit tests. That, in my experience, is what lands on quarterlies.Where does that unit test score get recorded? Well, some homeschoolers would log all of that in their planner or record keeping book. But quite honestly most of the homeschoolers I’ve ever known, including us, simply had a folder where all those reviews and tests would land. Quarterly time simply meant opening the folder and grabbing those grades - and if reviews are being factored in as well as unit tests, taking an average.If all else fails, or one feels the need to grade more accurately, there should be a notebook with each day’s work and a grade on it. Averaging those is certainly possible.As long as at the end of the year the district has five numbers or letters in front of them, you have met their requirements in New York State.As for receiving a diploma? Well, homeschoolers will not receive that from any state officially. Homeschoolers working with an umbrella school can receive a diploma from the umbrella school; that may or may not be officially recognized by the state.Any homeschooling family can print off a diploma. I do not know of any district in New York that would require a certain GPA; what is required for each year is hours of instruction. Provided you’ve met the required hours of instruction, that school year is complete - including your senior year.What most homeschoolers who want an official diploma do is go take the GED, or whatever they started calling it in the last few years. That becomes an official grade, and in my experience is all that most colleges and employers want to see.But a transcript of the yearly scores, quarterly scores, and GED results could definitely be used to find a final GPA. Serious homeschoolers will maintain that; those without college plans (many homeschoolers opt for college, while many more go straight into the workforce or opt for higher vocational education or another non traditional path) will probably not care as much about the GPA.But to the school district? It’s just about hours of instruction.

First of all, I am sorry so many of you Europeans have a burned &ss about Americans. But I can tell you from experience that there are just as many jerk European managers and executives, they are simply more subtle about it, less blunt, and quieter when they slit your throat. Some might say European jerks are passive aggressive while American jerks are bullies.Yes, there are American managers who are complete jerks, throw their weight around, are demanding, demeaning, and self-centered. This is true everywhere. It is a human condition. These jerks are no less jerks when working in America than they are while working in Europe. Jerks are jerks, no matter where they are. There are also many great leaders and managers in the US.Now here is a story of similar circumstance here in the US. I was working as a Manager of Systems Acceptance Test for a US defense contractor, assigned to a new Command, Control, and Communications system for the US Marine Corps. One day I was called into the office of the VP of Engineering. There was another VP there, VP of Operations if I remember correctly. They were all so solicitous I knew that this was going to be trouble.I was first asked, then instructed, and finally ordered to rig the Systems Acceptance Test so that the system under development would pass. The company could not receive a “progress payment” from the Marine Corps without this. The system simply could not pass and I refused to rig the tests. Without going into details, the entire system had to fit in a single box weighing no more than 50 pounds. The best the engineers had been able to achieve was two boxes of 50 pounds each.Soon thereafter, it was suggested to me that I was no longer welcome there and that I should immediately seek a transfer to a new, wholly owned subsidiary several hundred miles away, but much closer to where I really wanted to be. I went about the process of transferring, did all the paperwork, got all of the signed approvals, etc., and moved my family to the new location. In the new location I was enjoying my job, was liked and respected, and my work was going well. One month later I was called into the bosses office and told I had to report back to the old location by first thing the next morning.When I arrived I was ushered in to the VP of Engineering’s office and there were my two favorite VPs along with a corporate lawyer and an HR rep. I was told that I had “illegally” and without proper approval deserted my job there, that my transfer was invalid, and therefore I was being terminated for cause. They actually believed that I would be seriously upset, crestfallen, and compliant and that I would then agree to rig the system acceptance test.I laughed in their face. They were incensed. I then told them, “No, this is what is going to happen. You will issue me a letter of layoff by close of business today. You will issue me a ‘severance package’ of xyz thousand dollars and will give me a written letter of recommendation that I will write for you and you will sign.” They refused. They were angered. “How Dare you!” they exclaimed. “We will do nothing of the sort,” they said. At which point I explained to them that if they did not, the first thing I would do after leaving the facility is to place a telephone call to the US Marine Corps, explaining what the company was trying to do, how the company was defrauding the US Government, and what I had been ordered to do.Unfortunately for the company, what they were trying to do was seriously illegal. The contract would be terminated for cause and criminal charges could be brought against the executives involved. They immediately changed their tune, agreed to all of my terms, paid me the severance, which was a reasonable one, agreed to cover my moving expenses, signed my letter or recommendation, and told me how wonderful it was working with me to resolve “the issue.”I was of course very careful. There was no “non-compete clause.” There were no conditions placed on my departure, no non-disclosure clauses, there was nothing they could come back to say or do to punish me.I waited several months, then placed my telephone call to the US Marine Corps’ Program Manager, who I personally knew quite well. I explained to him what the company was doing, what they had tried to force me to do, and what their plans were going forward. Shortly thereafter, the company’s contract with the Marine Corps was terminated for cause, costing the company hundreds of millions of dollars — a real Fairy tale ending if you ask me.

We have a very different perspective on what is going on here. You’re paying attention to yourself. I’m paying attention to 150+ people every single day. Imagine a deck of cards. Pull one card and, without looking at it, hide it in your pocket. Now look at the rest and try to figure out which one is missing. Then imagine doing that with three decks. That’s part of my job, except that I have to remember more than just suit and rank.Just because I’m standing in front of you, that doesn’t make me your enemy. I’m on your side, even when you aren’t on your side. When you put your head down because you didn’t get enough sleep, when you didn’t pay attention to instructions, or when you chatting it up with your buddies. My efforts to redirect you aren’t because I’m a jerk. Well… not just because I’m a jerk.I want everyone to pass, but I’m cursed to know that the biggest things I do as a teacher are nowhere near as important to your success as the smallest things you do. I can plan the best lesson in the world, but your inability to keep your cell phone in your pocket will undo all of that.All of the things I do for you after the bell rings are done for free. I don’t get paid for them. From writing you letters of recommendation, tutoring, and make-up tests to answering your emails, grading your essays, and even calling your parents are extras I do because I care. When I do those things, I have to take that time from somewhere else—usually from the time I can spend on my home and my family.I am fallible. I make mistakes. I try not to. When I do, the last thing I need is you pointing it out while I’m already correcting it. I know I have a typo on the screen. You’ve already seen me delete and fix it… so why are you commenting on it? Remember when I had you make a three minute presentation to the class? Remember how awkward you were? How much you didn’t want to do it? I do the same thing most days for full class periods. I feel like that should earn me a little bit of grace.