As more and more families across the nation decide it’s time for change and bring their children home for school, so goes the way of military families as well. There is no set number carved in stone but the numbers have risen substantially in the past few years. Many families are lost in a sea of Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) memoranda and can’t tell heads or tales of the hoopla they are trying desperately to decode. I have been there and done that! Literally! We are a military family and have been in DoDEA base schools in the states, DoDDS base schools in Okinawa Japan, public schools, charter schools, and homeschool. I want to help you sort it all out as best as possible!
Let’s get on with a bit of the regulation info first.
Then we can move to some information that will help with the everyday fun stuff rather than just the nuts and bolts of it all! The Constitution of the United States puts the responsibility of education squarely on the shoulders of the states. This includes dependent children of military members, too. Sometimes it gets confusing with home of record, state of residence, and so forth but simply put, you home educate your children according to the regulations to the actual state you live in. Here is a bit of what the DoDEA website says:
It is DoDEA policy neither to encourage nor discourage DoD sponsors from home schooling their minor dependents. DoDEA recognizes that home schooling is a sponsor’s right and can be a legitimate alternative form of education for the sponsor’s dependents.
A host nation, state, commonwealth, or territory where a DoD sponsor is stationed may impose legal requirements on home schooling practices. DoDEA encourages DoD sponsors who wish to home school their dependents to communicate their desire to their commanders to determine if there are any command policies or other rules ensuring that home schooling practices meet host nation, state, commonwealth, or territory requirements. Sponsors are responsible for complying with applicable local requirements.
DoDEA-run schools on bases within the United States are becoming a rather rare site in recent years due to the cost effectiveness of sending military dependents off base to the local community schools. As a matter of fact, there are only 7 states currently that have these schools within their bases. This may be confusing to many people as many bases still have schools aboard the installation but they are completely run by a local authority. This happens to be the case where I live here in Arizona. A local call to the school should clear the confusion right away if you aren’t sure.
Bases with DoDEA-run Schools
If you happen to be assigned to a base that does still have a DoDEA-run school, and live on installation in base housing, then you have options available to you that you may want to consider. You are allowed to use both auxiliary services as well as academic resources equal to what a child enrolled in the school would receive. Auxiliary services include access to the school library, after hours use of school facilities (comparative to what other enrolled students are allowed), and participation in music, sports, and other extracurricular and interscholastic activities. Academic resources include the loaning of textbooks, workbooks, library books, scheduled standardized tests, software, and so forth. DoDEA schools also offer a wide range of extracurricular activities which vary from school to school. Possible activities include drama, public speaking, Model United Nations, cheerleading, music, and Future Business Leaders of America. The military sponsor should contact their local school to obtain a current listing of what is available. It is not necessary to contact your base commander but it is an option if you should choose to.
Living Overseas
Do you live overseas? These same options and more apply to you as well though they will greatly depend on where you live. Depending on your circumstances, you will probably have one of three choices available to you for homeschooling. The first is homeschooling as a parental preference and you pay for everything out of pocket as you more than likely do already. The second option is to utilize the DOD schools as stated above just like you would if you were stateside. This only pertains to you if you are a sponsored family. That means you are on the orders with your military member and fall under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). You can borrow textbooks from the school, participate in extra activities or sports, take standardized testing, and so forth.
Worldwide IDEA Program
Lastly I want to share with you a program called Worldwide IDEA. In the past this was a program funded through grants that allowed military homeschool families to be reimbursed for their school materials. Considered an e-school, with resources for record keeping and teacher sponsorship, as well as reimbursements for materials and internet service, this was a great option for many families. Unfortunately the grant funding has been cut and the reimbursements are no longer available. However, Worldwide IDEA has not given up the fight and is working to have the DOD recognize homeschooling as a viable, legal, GOOD choice for military families and are working with the folks in Washington to make that happen. There are still pay options available for families and the peace of mind makes it well worth it!
How and what you qualify with for Worldwide IDEA will depend on several things. First, if there are DOD schools available at your base then you will have to pay for your children to be enrolled in the program as if it was a private school. However, if there are not any DOD schools available, then you qualify under the Non DoD School Program (NDSP) and can be reimbursed for your school costs if you are homeschooling your children. I encourage you to visit the Worldwide IDEA website at http://www.worldwide-idea.org/index.html to find out your eligibility status if you are in an overseas location.
Learning Opportunities
So, now that we have the basic facts out of the way, let’s move on to some fun ideas! Why not take advantage of the uniqueness of the place you live and work for everyday school learning? There are many opportunities for learning through field trips that others in your homeschool community might not have. For instance, one of our sons absolutely loves airplanes and helicopters. Dad, who just happens to be an “air-winger” worked it out through contacts on the flightline to have part of his birthday party be a tour of one of the birds. You just can’t get better than that for “cool points” with a then 6 year old! Because of that first experience of being up close and personal with a helicopter, our son was interested in furthering his learning by finding out what the call signs on a plane mean, what the different sounds are so that he can pick them out just by sound even if he can’t see them, what the shapes are and more. This is everyday learning and most importantly, it is real life learning.
Maybe you are doing a unit study on fruits and vegetables. The commissary is available for tours usually 30 minutes prior to opening. You just have to call the manager and set it up! Or maybe your child has an interest in film or journalism. Why not give the base paper, theatre, or public affairs office a call to set up an interview and tour of the process? These are all great opportunities for you to take advantage of so why not utilize them as part of your school routine?! And don’t forget your base library has free internet access on top of all the books and videos you can check out. I love that!! I saw an advertisement for a piano video online, I went to the library to see if it was there and it was. Just consider it a try before you buy opportunity.
Are you Navy or Marine Corps? How about taking a Tiger Cruise? These are space-available cruises from an outer port back to homeport for certain age groups of your family when your service member is deployed aboard ship and returning home. Imagine the excitement for a 12 year old boy (or girl) to be aboard a real naval vessel and getting to watch the ins and outs of typical navy life. Just think of the essays you will get after an experience like that!!
The opportunities for learning are all right there in front of you. You have to be willing to go search them out for your own base though. You probably aren’t going to find a list of “things to do” for homeschoolers but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. If you live overseas, learn the language, eat the food, shop in the stores, and collect the change for a coin collection. Just do stuff! I know once you realize the potential of what is there just waiting for you to reach out and grab hold of it, there will be no looking back. SMILE! ENJOY! LIVE! LEARN!
Special Thanks goes to: Tonya Brewer at WorldWide IDEA and Lorna Dennison at Department of Defense Education Activity for their help with providing the most up to date information and navigation through their respective websites.
Sallie is an off-again, on-again homeschooling mom to her 4 children, ranging from elementary to high school. In her writings, she discusses the challenges of homeschooling a child with disabilities and offers insight to those who sometimes feel all alone in a round hole world. Please visit her at Seaside Tales
I am not sure where you are getting your info that the Constitution places the responsibility for education on the states unless it is the 10th amendment that you are referring to. Otherwise it is not addressed in the constitution at all. The 10th amendment reserves all powers not specifically allocated to the federal government to the states or to the people. The states do have a right to regulate homeschooling within their borders so laws vary dramatically. The concern that I have with the DOD rules is that there are several countries that outlaw homeschooling and that would violate the rights of our soldiers and their families to chose that option for their children. Germany is one place that comes to mind. How do they handle that kind of situation?
This is a very informative article and I am certain that many people will benefit from it! I am no longer in the military but would have found this even more valuable if I were. Great article.
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Jessica S Reply:
June 29th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I am a new homeschool mother of four and we are also a military family. Concerning the above article and the comment made by Christin Berger….we are stationed overseas and we live in Germany.
The process I had to go through was not complicated at all. I will have a 6th grader, 3rd grader, and Pre-K. I had to register with DoD school, but also had to mention and ‘withdrawal’ them as HOMESCHOOLERS. The Student/School Liason does not even take our name/number/information for his office. Policy has change, I suppose, but I would not know for this is our first experience.
I was told that yes, I am able to use the school facilities–SAS building (during school hours), school library, school tech lab, and I will also have my boys take the standardize testing for the 6th and 3rd grade (this coming school year).
As for Germany, yes, it is illegal to homeschool in this country. The difference is that my family is protected since my husband is Active Duty service member. Germany has no right to intervene in that department. We also live on (off-post housing) —so for me, I feel safe and have no worries about the German government saying anything about our homeschool. IF we were civilians (working for German government) or Missionaries, then that’s a different subject. German government could and will intervene. I have seen that first hand with missionaries I know.
The thing that got me was that DoD does not give out ‘guidelines’ like States do…but, since ‘we’ plan to retire to Ohio in a couple of years…I have and will go by Ohio standards for homeschooling…but I do not have to contact the State of Ohio until we move to that State.
SO overall the process going from DoD school to homeschool has been fairly easy.
Jessica S’s last blog post..Christmas in the Summer: TOS Magazine special offer!!
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Nanette Todd Reply:
June 27th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Hi Jesssica,
My husband is AD will be stationed in Bamberg, Germany. I have my California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and homeschool all three of my children (elementary, middle, and high school). Do I need to bring all of my educational materials with me? Meaning, are there home school funds avaiable to military families overseas or am I responsible for purchasing textbooks, etc.? Would I simply continue to follw California State Standards?
Any info you have for me would be helpful!
Thank you,
Nanette
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Jessica S. Reply:
June 27th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Hello Nanette,
As for as overseas homeschooling, the parent is responsible for their children’s education. Meaning there is no funds available (because in Bamberg, there are DoDDs schools available). Homeschooling in Germany (overseas) is quite different from the States, because their is no regulation.
As far as my situation: I registered the children in the local DoDDs school and then de-register to ‘homeschool’ –this way I am able to use their resources…. (e.g. – testing, books, library, etc). You may coordinate with the school to use their texts, but that’s if you like them and want to use them….
I prefer to use my own curriculum. I will use the school next year so the children both (7th grade and 4th grade this fall) for the Terra Nova testing. You can register with the school or a class per semester —if you’d like (check with the Bamberg Schools)
As with following which State for requirements…that will be to your discretion. I choose to follow Ohio’s requirements because my DH (we) will retire to this State within the next couple of years.
Hope I have answered your questions, but I would say bring what you really want to have for your homeschool. I would also check into IF you can add your homeschool books to your DH professional/library weight (in case you were over on weight requirement).
Jessica S.´s last blog ..A five minute pep talk to potential homeschoolers
Jessica S. Reply:
June 27th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
I am actually not far from Bamberg! We live in Schweinfurt!
Bamberg is BEAUTIFUL!!!
Jessica S.´s last blog ..A five minute pep talk to potential homeschoolers
Christin — Yes, I am referring to the 10th amendment which says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively,or to the people.” We do not have a federal education system in America and thankfully are still blessed to have our states, and moreover local, authorities sets standards/regulations for education.
Military members serving overseas are under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the United States and the perspective county. I homeschooled in Okinawa Japan and had absolutely no problem whatsoever with it.
The only problem I could foresee as a possible problem for an American military family homeschooling in a place like Germany *might* be if they lived off base and if the family is NOT command sponsored — ie the military member has a short tour of a year or less — and the family chooses to pay their own way to Germany and live off the ecomony but has not been given permission from the military to be there as a family. Jessica’s comment leads me to believe they are there on orders of at least 3 years, and are most likely command sponsored. Most families are like hers and fall into a safe category, so to speak.
The state department has its own provisions for other non-military representatives of the United States. I don’t know positively that they call those agreements SOFA, like with the military, but I’m sure they have something in place.
As for missionaries who choose to serve God in Germany, I’m sure they go there with the thought that if God is sending them, then He will a) either provide a way for them to homeschool, or b) protect their children in the school system they are in. God is always in control and when He calls, He provides.
Have a blessed week!
Sallie
Sallie’s last blog post..Prepping for Hurricane Season Once Again
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Jessica S. Reply:
June 27th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Yes, we are command-sponsored and live off-post. We have not had any issues. I have seen where some contractors bring their families and yes they cannot homeschool…they follow under German law or would have to pay a hefty price to attend the DoDDs school.
As for the Missionaries! Yes, the Lord does provide!!
Jessica S.´s last blog ..A five minute pep talk to potential homeschoolers
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Thank you for the info on Germany and the other follow up on my comment. I have learned a lot from your article and the follow up answers!
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