Homeschooling regulations and requirements

Amy Foster

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Apr 2, 2015
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We are considering moving to DR and are currently homeschooling our youngest two children. I would like to know what laws there are concerning homeschooling and what the requirements are to be legal. Are there areas of the country more or less favorable to homeschoolers? Where are there active homeschooling organizations? Any information is appreciated!

AF
 

amp

Bronze
Oct 5, 2010
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I don't know anything legally about this but...

You probably wouldn't get in trouble if they didn't go to school and weren't homeschooling.

This is the DR, education unfortunately is not a priority.
 

La Rubia

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Jan 1, 2010
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Amy, the lawyer that moderates here may take awhile to give you the definitive answer.

There is likely nothing that addresses this, nothing that prohibits it. The government has rules that private schools must follow, though. The reality, as amp says, is that the system is not effective in ensuring that Dominican students are in school. So a foreigner that's "homeschooling" would fall off the radar. You wouldn't be required to register etc. I'd venture to say if you tried, you'd be met with one blank stare after another.

Most posters will likely confirm this.

The real question, although not a legal one, will be your support group. Your best bet is to do what you are doing now--reaching out online. You will likely find some missionary families that are out there, on their own.

If you are enrolled in an online program, I'd suggest you continue with that. You'll need to be prepared to be on your own curriculum wise. Public libraries aren't common, but if you have flexibility in where you can live, an area like Las Terrenas that has an international expat community might be right for you. The older your children are, the more you'll be dependent on the internet.

My disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, I didn't homeschool, and I don't live in the DR!

BUT because this is the legal forum, I quickly skimmed the Dominican law that relates to education. The only two things that I saw that might relate are that parents have the right to decide for themselves the type of education for their child (I think it refers to which school) and a paragraph that says distance learning is acceptable (but that is together with paragraphs that refer to adults): LEY 66-97 Ley General de Educaci?n http://www.oas.org/juridico/spanish/mesicic2_repdom_sc_anexo_7_sp.pdf

There are a few posters who have more experience with the regular school system, and hopefully they will chime in with their thoughts. You may want to repost the question about the logistics of homeschooling (as opposed to the legal) in another forum for more answers to that part of your question.

Good luck to you.
 

rfp

Gold
Jul 5, 2010
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Ha , this countries underclass (85 % of population) could care less about their children's education. They are worried about clothes, drinks, drugs, cell phones, flat screeens and SUV's. You will be just fine homeschooling your kids here. You do not want them to enter any level of school system here outside of upper echelon private schools
 

drSix

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Oct 13, 2013
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Where are you coming from? When we did it, we followed the state of Wisconsin's rules, and filled out paperwork there.

When we stopped homeschooling and enrolled our kids in the private school, I just printed up an excel spreadsheet with the courses they took, and their grades. They got in.
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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Ha , this countries underclass (85 % of population) could care less about their children's education. They are worried about clothes, drinks, drugs, cell phones, flat screeens and SUV's. You will be just fine homeschooling your kids here. You do not want them to enter any level of school system here outside of upper echelon private schools

Depends on what the goal is. If you are in a place like Jarabacoa if you don't mind the religious indoctrination Doulos Discovery is a fully accredited American style school. I believe there are equivalent schools in a number of other locations closer to the beach. I would contact the local home school association in whatever area you are coming from so your child/children will be getting the same curriculum as they are likely to go back to at some time. Here in the DR, it is true that you would be able to stay off the radar, but should you decide to send the children to a Dominican school, there are some decent choices that will not cost you an arm and a leg.
As far as quality of education; We have many children from our little school go to the states or Europe and other than having to learn more English many of them do quite well in the American school systems. The ones I know that have gone to Holland and Spain have done well also. I know a number of children from Doulos and Jarabacoa Christian school that are attending University in Canada or the USA, and one in England. More Dominican parents than you think care about their childrens education.
I would not put a child in a Dominican Public school.
 

Dolores1

DR1
May 3, 2000
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As explained above… no problem. I know the case of two children who were homeschooled here (the parents brought in tutors from abroad) and then they returned to the US to complete their grade school and high school education. I think it all will depend on the system you follow… If at some point you decided to enter the Dominican formal school system, the children would have to take a lot of extra subjects in Dominicans schools to qualify for passing here (convalidacion).
 

Meemselle

Just A Few Words
Oct 27, 2014
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You will be just fine homeschooling your kids here. You do not want them to enter any level of school system here outside of upper echelon private schools

Agreed. Unless you are willing to put your children in one of the upper echelon private schools (and most, if not all of them have some kind of heavy duty religious agenda, whether it's Catholic or Evangelical), and you want their education to continue in however desultory a fashion, home-schooling is your only option. The local school is not going to have any programs or services to deal with non-Dominican children and the education your kids get will be execrable.

Wherever you're from (Canada, US), your local municipality or state should have curriculum guidelines. Britain has PNEU, which is excellent.
 

linker71

Newbie
Mar 12, 2015
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We are considering moving to DR and are currently homeschooling our youngest two children. I would like to know what laws there are concerning homeschooling and what the requirements are to be legal. Are there areas of the country more or less favorable to homeschoolers? Where are there active homeschooling organizations? Any information is appreciated!

AF

As a teenager, for around 7 years I have been homeschooled in Santiago. No need to worry about any regulations, or laws, nobody really cares.

However, I do have to mention that if you are planning to attend university here, they will not accept whatever documents you provide them form your homeschooloing system, unless it is apositllado from some legal system in the US. In the US you just have to take an entrance exam for University, but here, if you dont have a highschool certificate, they wont accept you.

The way I did it, was joining a private school, in the last grade of highschool, 4to de Bachiller, I managed to get in without much papers, they accepted the homeschooling grades my parents provided them with. Like this I got attached to the local system, and got my highschool certificate, which I can use to study in any university in the country.

My parents tried to get into contact with other homeschoolers, but it wasnt very easy. Maybe if you live in Jarabacoa, Las Terenas, or Punta Cana you may have more luck.
 

Amy Foster

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Apr 2, 2015
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Thank you all for the input! We have homeschooled all six of our children, four of whom have graduated, so the curriculum and daily routines are not new to us. We currently live in Kentucky and previously lived in Michigan with varying levels of government regulation/reporting. I just want to be legal :) Thanks again!
 
Aug 6, 2006
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Ha , this countries underclass (85 % of population) could care less about their children's education. They are worried about clothes, drinks, drugs, cell phones, flat screens and SUV's. You will be just fine homeschooling your kids here. You do not want them to enter any level of school system here outside of upper echelon private schools

I don't think that poor Dominicans want a substandard education for their children, it is more like they are not capable of evaluating the education their kids get, and they do not really have the ability to change their public schools for the better.
It is easy to evaluate TV sets, cell phones and clothing: it is much harder to evaluate education. The parents tend to have only a few years of education that was, in many cases, a lot worse than what their kids have today.

I agree that homeschooling and/or private schools are a lot better than Dominican public schools.
 

violahalle6

Newbie
Jun 26, 2015
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I don't think the state should regulate homeschooling. I don't have a problem with simple registration and a requirement that the child be schooled in some way. People should be free to raise their kids as they see fit, beyond the most basic determination that parents need to provide their kids with an education, as *they* see fit.

By the way, I don't get how Belle's answer relates to your question either. You never said one word about doing this for a school assignment. For all we know you are doing this for a homeschool co-op debate class. Oh well, rants are cool in this thread, as long as they tow the "homeschool is always the best" line and never allow any opinion other than the predetermined acceptable opinion that homeschooling is always the best choice. Wonderful judges we are of what's best for other families, but they can't judge for us. This thread is a great podium for the "right" opinions. It's cool to stereotype everyone who goes to school, but don't dare do that to homeschooled kids or their parents. They deserve special treatment. That leaves a fine impression of homeschooling parents and kids! (not)
 

CoreyH

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Mar 5, 2010
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I know that on the North Coast some missionary families band together to have a homeschool co-op. They also can be a wealth of information if it's your first time around. Just a word, it is very expensive to get physical books here; shipping costs a fortune. If you plan well and need books you can always ask someone to carry them in on their flight for you.
 

Homeschoolmom

Newbie
Mar 28, 2019
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Hi Amy, not sure if you officially moved and how you are doing in the DR but we too are now moving down from PA. I am interested in making connections with other homeschool families. I am already grieving the loss of my co ops and friends. I would love to hear how it is going and ways to connect with other families. I have four kids and have been homeschooling them for a long time. I would be willing to help set up a homeschooling organization.