Like most states, Washington has its own rules for registering homeschooling. To qualify for homeschooling you must have earned 45 quarter units of college level credit, attend a parent qualifying course, work with a certified teacher and be considered sufficiently qualified to provide home teaching. All prospective homeschoolers must fill in and submit a "declaration of intent to provide home based instruction" form annually. This form can be obtained from your school district's superintendent. You must include 11 compulsory subjects in your curriculum. These are reading, writing, spelling, language, math, science, social studies, history, health, occupational education, art and music. Testing can be done in two ways. The first way involves a certified teacher assessing your child's academic progress and the second involves your child taking standardized tests.
Since Washington legalized homeschooling in 1985 the standards of education have been researched by the Washington Homeschool Research Project. The analysis of SAT scores shows that scores of homeschooled children were above average. The state ensures homeschooled children are regularly assessed by certified teachers. These factors demonstrate the state takes homeschooling seriously.
The state has a wide number of support groups aimed at helping homeschoolers. These support groups provide invaluable assistance for what can seem like a purely solo endeavor. The Washington Homeschool Organization divides the state into 11 regions. They also provide a list of national and statewide organizations that can help homeschoolers. These include organizations geared towards different regions, religions and social groups.
Homeschoolers do not need to miss out on national events. They can still take part in spelling bees and other national or statewide events. There are also a number of events in Washington aimed just at homeschoolers. For example, The Washington Homeschool Organization sponsors a Student Expo each year. This allows homeschooled students to show off their skills during the Annual Homeschool Convention in June. There are also organizations offering volunteering programs and other conferences such as the Northwest Inland Homeschool Conferences.