The Guam Law
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17 GCA Chapter 6, Section 6109
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"Children not attending a private full-time school and who are being instructed in study and recitation for at least (3) hours a day for one hundred seventy (170) days each calendar year by a private tutor or other person, in the several branches of study required to be taught in the public schools of this Territory and in the English language, shall be exempted from attending the public school."
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Monday, January 4, 2010

Homeschooling With Our Son

The decision to home school our oldest son was based upon meeting his needs. Stricken with a severe eczema condition, and despite doctors' visits, laser treatments, etc., he is still experiencing great difficulty, and this has led to school absences. Although we were able to get doctors' excuses for his absences, this still didn't help the fact that we was missing school instruction. In light of this, my husband and I decided that we had to sacrifice and home school our son, so that he does not miss any more instruction. Although we were grateful to the school for its accommodations, we knew that our son needed something even more, and thus we took the steps necessary to ensure that his needs were truly met. This included officially withdrawing him, and to ensure that we carved out at least 3 hours each day, as part of the Homeschool requirement stipulated under Guam Law (17 GCA Chapter 6, Section 6109). It is a schedule we must maintain, and because we want what's best for our son, my husband and I have made every effort to ensure our son receives the best instruction we can provide. Although it's not mandated for homeschooling, it certainly helps that I'm a certified educator, and the fact that my husband is a college graduate who is very knowledgeable. Together, along with my oldest daughter and youngest son, we have changed our lifestyle to center around homeschooling our eldest son. It has not been easy, because we ourselves are busy, but it is something that needed to be done. My son has already submitted his work, as part of a Interdisciplinary Unit we're immersed in. He is quite an intelligent young man, and we've been impressed with the submissions he has provided to us. His retellings are amazing! So far he has met Target, based upon the rubrics we're using to assess his work. We expect nothing less, especially since we're giving him one-to-one attention in his instruction. We maximize every opportunity of every day, even if it's not our official homeschool time. For instance, the other day we watched "Avatar" as a family, and we instructed our son to pay close attention, because he will be tasked to write retellings of the movie, whereby he will be required to write an essay and provide a drawing of environmental factors pertaining to the movie. We all enjoyed watching the movie, and for our son, it was a twofold experience of enjoyment and instruction!

There's no doubt that homeschooling is beneficial, but along with that comes the responsibility to meet the requirements (local mandate and curricular) and extra efforts to truly meet your child's needs. It has been challenging, yet rewarding at the same time. I recommend homeschooling for those who have unique circumstances, such as the condition experienced by my son. It was not an easy choice for us, but we did what we had to do to ensure that we meet the educational and emotional needs of our son. We don't regret our choice to homeschool him. Our oldest daughter remains in private school, and she is striving for the best in all that she does. We are proud of her performance too. Our youngest son will begin his formal schooling next year. At this point, we've decided to allow him to attend the same private school his siblings attended. Although we support homeschooling, we still want him to experience the social aspect with peers his age throughout the day every day. As you can see, we want only the best for our children. We have made sacrifices as parents, but we do it with justification that we know will make a difference in their lives!

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