What to teach in Washington

The subjects Washington requires

• occupational education
• science
• mathematics
• language
• social studies
• history
• health
• reading
• writing
• spelling
• appreciation of art and music

Quoted from the statute or regulation cited on the law page. Requirements for Grades K–5 are listed where the state sets them, but this site teaches Grades 6–12, so only those are matched below.

Courses that cover them

Washington's list touches all four subjects taught here. Each course below is a full year.

Mathematics

English

Science

Social studies

Each is planned as a 36-week year of about 180 sessions, five a week — the year 20 of the 21 course guides set out explicitly. How long a session runs is yours to set.

Does this meet the hours?

Hours equivalent to the annual program hours required of approved private schools (180 days, or a school-wide annual average of 1,000 hours; 450 hours for kindergarten).

Each course here plans a 36-week year of about 180 sessions, five a week — the year 20 of the 21 course guides set out explicitly. The length of a session is left to you, because a Grade 6 session and a Grade 12 one are not the same thing.

At 45 minutes a session — an assumption, not a rule — that is about 135 hours a course, so four courses come to roughly 540 hours. Against Washington's 1000 hours that leaves about 460 hours to account for: independent reading, the subjects below that this site does not teach, projects and field trips. Longer sessions close the gap quickly — at 60 minutes the same four courses come to 720 hours. Work it with your own session length rather than ours.

The four high school years

Washington reviews the work each year, so the high school record matters twice: once for the annual assessment and again for whoever reads the transcript afterwards. A full sequence of these courses looks like this.

Four subjects across four years is 16 full-year courses. Credits, grades and the diploma itself are Washington's business, not this site's — what Washington says about diplomas and transcripts.

What this site does not teach

Washington requires 3 subjects that these courses do not cover: health, art, music. Saying so plainly is more use than a page implying full coverage. Families commonly meet these through sport clubs, instrument or art lessons, a language app or tutor, and documented family activity — all of which count where the state asks for a log rather than a transcript.

Evidence for the annual review

Washington asks for testing or evaluation, so the year has to leave a paper trail. These courses produce four things that serve as evidence, without any extra work:

• Printable lessons. Every lesson has a print view holding the full teaching text, worked examples and practice — dated pages for a portfolio.
• Exams with answer keys and marking criteria. Each course has a midterm, a final and a sample exam, each question carrying response criteria an evaluator can read.
• A 36-week pacing table. The parent guide for each course lists the week-by-week assignments, which is the planning document most evaluators ask to see.
• Exit tickets and checkpoints. Short written responses through each lesson, showing work over time rather than one test score.

Each year, either (a) a state board-approved standardized achievement test given by a qualified individual, or (b) a written assessment of academic progress by a certificated person currently working in education. No passing score; if results show the child is not making reasonable progress, the parent must make a good-faith effort to remedy it. Results are kept by the parent, not submitted to the district. Homeschoolers are not required to take state assessments.