Your Homeschool Roadmap : IHIP

After you submit your letter of intent to homeschool, you will need to create your Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP). The general consensus online is to keep it simple and broad (unless your district has specific guidelines). Since you are submitting this at the start of homeschooling, it is likely that plans may change to adjust to your child’s needs.

You do need to include specific items on your IHIP, which can be obtained from your state’s website under homeschooling. You will want to list any items that you definitely will use. For example, if your child is in 3rd grade and already began a homeschool curriculum that was a great fit in 2nd grade, you are likely to continue with that. List it! If you are newer to homeschool you may want to be more broad on your IHIP, if possible. This gives you flexibility to find what works for your child and family. You can also add a line on the IHIP about additional items or subjects based on the child’s needs and interests.

Still stuck? Consider your purpose for homeschooling and philosophy of education. That will help when you are selecting materials. While you do not have to replicate the exact state standards, these may be a useful resource, especially for math. Typically the standards list specific targets by grade level which will help you ensure your child is progressing through home instruction. It will also help to determine what kinds of information should go on your quarterly reports.

This brings us to the section of the IHIP for quarterly reports. We will dive into what can be included in these in a future post, but you will need to list the dates you will submit your quarterly reports on your IHIP. It may be helpful to look at your District’s calendar for suggested ways to break up the year, however you can of course modify anything you choose around your family’s planned schedule.

For a FREE template on drafting your IHIP, see the customizable copy on this site under RESOURCES>>HOMESCHOOL>>TEMPLATE GALLERY. Happy Homeschooling!