Not Finished with Curriculum. Help?

    Q: My son is not done with his curriculum and won't be done by his deadline. Can I get an extension? Change his deadline somehow? Should I turn the evaluation in late? I'm panicking. Can you help?
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A: No need to panic. You are worrying without cause.
Did you know that schools practically never finish their curriculum? They cannot require of us what they don't do. And they don't try to--nowhere in Florida law does it require anyone to finish materials.
Or think about it this way--state-mandated testing is the public-school version of an evaluation. The public schools do not wait until the last day of school to do their testing. Sometimes they do them months before the end of the school year. Likewise, we don't have to be finished either.
As long as your child has been learning and you've kept records of that learning, passing the evaluation should not be a worry. Do NOT WORRY about not being done. The evaluation is meant to show that you are educating your child--not that you've finished.
In fact, if you are worried about it, I would urge you to get the evaluation done early--rather than trying to get an extension; then, if the student doesn't pass, you have time to regroup and get another one done before your deadline. But that shouldn't happen if the child's been learning and you have records.
Cheryl Trzasko--homeschool mom and evaluator for 17 years
FLHomeschoolEvaluations.com
Facebook.com/FLHomeschoolEvaluations
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