Homeschooling in New York State: Fulfilling Middle School Practical Arts
People are often fearful of homeschooling in New York State due to the seemingly stringent regulations. When you enter the middle school years the stipulations become more specific in nature. One of the things that is special for middle school is Middle School Practical Arts. What does that mean? How do you fulfill that requirement?
The New York State Regulations State:
For grades seven and eight: English (two units); history and geography (two units); science (two units); mathematics (two units); physical education (on a regular basis); health education (on a regular basis); art (one-half unit); music (one-half unit); practical arts (on a regular basis) and library skills (on a regular basis). The units required herein are cumulative requirements for both grades seven and eight.
Having already been through this once, and beginning this again with my second child, I thought I would share with you what we do to fulfill our middle school practical arts requirements and offer a sample of how that looks on our IHIP (Indiviudalized Home Instruction Plan).
What to Include in Middle School Practical Arts
When it comes to practical arts I would include them in the life skills category. Life skills are things that are necessary to participate in everyday life such as cooking and cleaning. Practical arts fall withing in this and are practical skills to acquire such as keyboarding, carpentry, and sewing. To me these two represent an example of blurred lines, with so many general skills falling into these categories. To define a little more all these things would fall into the Home Economics and Shop Classes of old.
Middle School Practical Arts
- Operate a sewing machine
- Hand sewing – buttons, minor repairs
- Knit or crochet
- Organization of personal belongings
- Managing money – budgeting, keeping a check (or money) ledger, saving
- Babysitting and child care skills
- House cleaning – dusting, vacuuming, moping, bathroom cleaning, window washing,
- Washing dishes – loading/unloading/running a dishwasher
- Table setting and clearing
- Pet care – feeding, grooming, walking
- Bike care and maintenance
- Meal planning
- Basic cooking skills
- Laundry – washer, dryer, sorting, hand wash, iron, fold
- Resume writing
- Keyboarding
- Word processing
- Minor fix-it jobs around the house
- Basic tool skills – hammer and nails, screwdriver, saw
- Household painting
The suggestions above are some major examples, I am sure there are more. When my daughter wanted to paint her room, I had her participate. When we wanted a large bird house, we built it together, Need to change a light bulb? Teach your child. Are you doing a spring cleaning? Give your kids tasks to do. Any and all things that you are doing in and around your house as well as specialized skills can fall under practical arts.
Life Skills on Pinterest
Including Practical Arts on the IHIP
Here is sample wording for the IHIP:
(Students Name) _______________ will engage daily in activities of a practical arts nature including, but not limited to: meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, personal finance, household care and maintenance, and child care.
He/She will also participate in computer keyboarding, maintaining her own blog, using photo editing software, basic computer skills including basic programming, safe Internet usage, and various library skills for research and aide in other subject areas.
More New York State Homeschooling Help
August 6, 2015 @ 9:44 pm
I don’t live in New York state, but if I did this would be so valuable. I love how you are breaking things down for your state. Thanks for sharing #Mom2Mom
August 7, 2015 @ 12:54 pm
Thank you! Since NYS is viewed as a stringent state, people are often looking for the nitty gritty of it. Given that I have been doing it for 10 years I thought I might be able to help someone else out! 🙂
January 11, 2016 @ 3:51 pm
This has been so helpful, thank you! I just pulled my daughter out of 8th grade, so I’m new at this. Would you be able to clarify the term “units” for me a bit more? I see that 8th grade requires 2 units of math, etc – but I’m unclear on whether that refers to 1 math class per year or the actual number of hours in a school year in a subject?
January 11, 2016 @ 4:24 pm
Jessica I am so glad this is helpful to you! If you look at the regulations it states that a unit is equal to 6,480 minutes. That is 108 hours, and for a 40 week year that would be 2.7 hours a week (or adjust accordingly based on how many weeks you plan on schooling). Your child needs to complete two units over grades 7 & 8, which is equivalent to one math class each year.
August 5, 2016 @ 12:06 pm
Thank you so much for this!
August 5, 2016 @ 12:35 pm
You’re welcome!
August 6, 2016 @ 2:44 pm
This was the first site to pop up in my search for trying to find out what to write for this section! First time with this IHIP. Can you tell me why there is no foreign language requirement? My son will be doing a foreign language and I want to note it somewhere.
August 6, 2016 @ 7:30 pm
I don’t know if I can tell you why there isn’t one, but I can tell you that colleges like to see at least 2 years. I actually included it on my son’s middle school IHIP and quarterlies, even though it isn’t required. I just added it in my list just like I would for math, English, history, science, etc. With my daughter we used her foreign language as one of her high school electives. (And will do the same with my son when he is in high school) Hope that helps! 🙂
May 5, 2017 @ 2:13 pm
I can’t even begin to tell you how helpful your posts are. My son just started homeschool for 8th grade in NY and you break it down so simple. Thank you!!
May 10, 2017 @ 8:54 am
Thank you so much Jeana! I am so glad what I have learned along the way can be of help to you!
May 11, 2017 @ 9:22 pm
MAJOR help! Thank you! We have a high-functioning autistic daughter who is graduating from elementary school, but is still socially completely unprepared for middle school (6th grade). We have decided to homeschool her the first year and organize it to help her better prepare for 7th. It is SO overwhelming and this really helps!
May 12, 2017 @ 8:49 am
Thank you Jess! I’m so glad you found this helpful! Good luck on your homeschool journey!
January 26, 2019 @ 2:55 pm
Thanks for listing these Practical Arts suggestions out. I found it really useful when I was writing up Quarterly Reports. I am def. bookmarking your page so I can refer back to it.
January 28, 2019 @ 2:49 pm
Becky, I’m so glad this was helpful to you! I find that people are often put off by the NYS Regulations, but if you break them down they aren’t as bad as they first seem!
January 25, 2022 @ 11:27 pm
Hello! I’m so happy to have found your website. It’s my first time homeschooling my 7th and 8th grade girls. I’m having trouble writing out the quarterly report. I’m not sure where to put library skills or practical arts or foreign language at. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you
January 27, 2022 @ 11:52 am
I usually include practical arts in with either PE/Health or Visual Arts/Music depending on what it is. And library skills within Reading/Writing/Spelling/English Language