Homeschool Glossary

Homeschooling has its own vocabulary, and everyone in it talks as though you already speak it. Nobody stops to define anything. So, in plain English, every term you'll run into in a co-op conversation, a curriculum catalog, or a Facebook group at eleven at night.

A

Accredited

A school reviewed by an outside accrediting body. Illinois homeschools are not accredited and do not need to be. You issue your own diploma. Online programs advertising accreditation are selling reassurance more than necessity. See issuing the diploma.

Afterschooling

Supplementing a child's regular school education at home, extra math, reading, or enrichment. Not homeschooling; no legal implications.

AP (Advanced Placement)

College-level courses with an end-of-year exam that may earn college credit. Homeschoolers can sit AP exams without taking an official AP course, but must arrange a school to host them, start calling in the fall.

C

Carnegie unit

The standard high school credit: one year-long course, roughly 120-180 hours. The unit you'll use to build a transcript.

Charlotte Mason

An approach built on short lessons, "living books," narration, nature study, and habit training. See homeschool styles.

Classical education

An approach organized around the three stages of the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) with an emphasis on primary sources and often Latin. See homeschool styles.

CLEP

College-Level Examination Program. Exams that can earn college credit for a fraction of tuition. Accepted unevenly, check the specific college first.

Co-op

Short for cooperative: a group of homeschooling families meeting regularly so children take classes together and parents share teaching and organizing. Distinct from a microschool or hybrid program, which charge tuition and employ teachers.

Compulsory attendance age

The age range during which a child must be receiving an education. In Illinois, from the fall after a child turns 6 by September 1 until age 17. See Illinois homeschool law.

Copywork

Copying well-written passages by hand to absorb spelling, grammar, and style. Common in Charlotte Mason and classical homes.

D

Deschooling

The adjustment period after leaving school, when a family deliberately does little or no formal academic work while everyone recalibrates. A common rule of thumb is one month per year the child was in school. The first weeks will feel unproductive. That's the point.

Delight-directed

Letting a child's genuine interests drive what gets studied. Close cousin of interest-led learning and unschooling.

Dual enrollment / dual credit

A high school student taking community college courses, sometimes earning both high school and college credit. One of the strongest ways to validate a homeschool transcript. See dual enrollment options.

E

Eclectic

Mixing methods and curricula rather than following one philosophy. Where families tend to land once they've used a few programs and kept the parts that worked. See homeschool styles.

Enrichment program

A drop-off or part-time program offering classes and activities, usually without the parent-teaching obligation of a co-op.

G

Gifted

Learning markedly faster or deeper than age peers in one or more areas. Not a guarantee of easy homeschooling, gifted children are often intense and uneven.

Grade level

An administrative convenience, not a description of a child. Homeschooled children are routinely at several different "grade levels" across subjects at once, which is normal and fine.

H

Hybrid school

A program where students attend a campus two or three days a week and learn at home the rest. More structured than a co-op, usually with tuition to match.

I

IEP (Individualized Education Program)

A legal plan for a public school student with a disability. Tied to public school enrollment, withdrawing to homeschool generally ends the district's obligation to deliver its services. See what happens to the IEP.

Interest-led learning

Building studies around what a child is genuinely curious about. See homeschool styles.

ISBE

Illinois State Board of Education. Maintains a homeschool information page and a voluntary, not required, non-public school registration form.

L

Living books

Books written by one enthusiastic author in narrative prose, as opposed to textbooks written by committee. Central to Charlotte Mason.

Loop scheduling

Keeping a list of subjects and working down it, resuming wherever you stopped rather than assigning subjects to fixed days. Survives interruptions gracefully. See rhythms instead of schedules.

M

Mastery vs. spiral

Two curriculum designs. Mastery stays on a topic until it's solid; spiral revisits topics repeatedly across years. Math programs are usually one or the other, and children often clearly prefer one.

Microschool

A very small private school, often a single mixed-age classroom. Not a co-op: a microschool charges tuition and employs teachers, where a co-op is parent-run and charges fees to cover its costs.

Morning basket / morning time

A shared start to the day (read-aloud, poetry, memory work, Bible, art) done together across all ages before children split off to individual work.

N

Narration

A child telling back, in their own words, what they just heard or read. The primary assessment tool in Charlotte Mason homes and a genuinely revealing one.

Notice of intent

A form some states require before you begin homeschooling. Illinois does not require one. If you've read that you need to file one, you were reading about another state. See do I have to tell anyone.

P

Portfolio

A collection of work samples, reading lists, and records from a school year. Not required in Illinois, but useful for placement, perspective, and your own morale. See building a portfolio.

Public school at home

A free online program run by a public school district or charter. Legally this is public school enrollment, not homeschooling, the state sets the curriculum and requires attendance and testing. Easy to miss until you're enrolled and someone is asking about attendance.

R

Rabbit trail

Following a tangent that comes up during a lesson. Often where the real learning happens.

Relaxed homeschooling

Structured enough to have a plan, loose enough to abandon it on a good day. Between traditional and unschooling.

S

Scope and sequence

A curriculum's map of what's taught and in what order. Useful for checking coverage; not something Illinois requires you to produce.

Secular / faith-based curriculum

Whether a curriculum incorporates religious content. Publishers vary widely and don't always say so on the cover. Check before you buy, not on the first day of the unit.

Socialization

The question you'll be asked at every family gathering. See the honest answer.

Spiral

See mastery vs. spiral.

Struggling learner

A child finding a skill genuinely difficult, with or without a diagnosis. See homeschooling a child with special needs.

T

Transcript

The one-page record of high school courses, credits, and grades that you, as the school administrator, create and sign. See building the transcript.

Trivium

The three stages of classical education (grammar, logic, and rhetoric), loosely mapped to elementary, middle, and high school.

Twice-exceptional (2e)

A child who is both gifted and has a disability or learning difference. Frequently missed in classrooms because the two profiles mask each other. See gifted and twice-exceptional.

U

Umbrella school

An organization that homeschoolers enroll under for record-keeping and diploma purposes. Common in states requiring oversight; unnecessary in Illinois, where you may keep your own records and issue your own diploma.

Unit study

Teaching several subjects through one theme, so a wide age range can learn together. See homeschool styles.

Unschooling

Child-directed learning without formal curriculum, with the parent acting as resource-provider. Illinois still requires the six subject areas be taught. See homeschool styles.

W

Withdrawal letter

Written notice to your child's current school that they are being withdrawn. Not a request for permission. Still worth doing carefully, because the truancy scares I hear about almost always trace back to a withdrawal the office never processed. Sample letter on the Illinois law page.

Wiggle room

What every homeschool schedule needs and most first-year plans lack.