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Regents exams are an option for a high school diploma equivalent, but they must be five specific exams. There are other equivalents. But often no diploma equivalent is necessary. Only SUNY requires a diploma or equivalent. Most private colleges do not. This might be a more important option if the homeschooled student is NOT planning to go to college, and wants or needs a high school diploma.
SAT exams are college boards. Most colleges expect applicants to have taken either the regular SAT or the SAT and two subject SATs (called SAT II's). For many homeschooled students these scores may be even more important than they are for other students, if other scores or grades are absent. The ACT is another exam that is accepted as a college entrance exam.
For more information, go to About College.
The answer to your question is no. You, as the parent or teacher, do not need any certification, nor does a tutor. You can even test your child yourself if you want to. (See the FAQ: Testing page for details on testing.)
When you write your quarterly reports, if you are using a tutor or instructor, you should include their name by that subject.
If a group of parents hires a teacher for more than fifty percent of their educational hours, then, in the eyes of the law, they have created a school, and are no longer subject to homeschooling regulations, but to another set of regulations that govern schools. But many parents hire tutors for various subjects, and for co-op groups for one or two days a week, and have their children take classes with other homeschoolers's groups or in "after school" classes, and there is no problem with that, nor do those instructors need any certification.
Try Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, by Mariah P. Bear MA and Thomas Nixon
Also available (some titles possibly out of print)
Bears' Guides are recommended by John Taylor Gatto as a way to think out of the box and still do college.
Also, there are many ways of getting a higher level education without attending college or obtaining a degree, beyond the use of local libraries or private tutoring. For example, most of MIT's courses are available free on-line as courseware. In fact, there is a consortium of colleges and universities around the world that have put their courses on-line for free (and some for a fee): www.ocwconsortium.org .
If your sons are being homeschooled neither of them has to take any tests this year! The regulations state that homeschoolers must send in test scores as their year-end assessments every other year in grades 4 - 8 and every year in grades 9-12. My kids tested in grades 5, 7, and 9-12. So your 3rd and 4th grader can each wait until they are in the 5th grade, unless you want to test them sooner.
Your local homeschooling liaison, the person to whom you send your IHIP and quarterly reports, can direct you to city-wide tests offered in the public school, such as standard math and reading exams and Regents exams in high school. Most homeschoolers prefer to test their kids at home, and many choose to purchase the P.A.S.S. test (Personalized Achievement Summary System for Grades 3 through 8), available at Hewitt Homeschooling Resources, (360) 835-8708 . The P.A.S.S. test is an untimed test that a parent can legally administer to their child. It only goes up to grade eight. I used this test and my kids took it at our kitchen table.
After that, the most popular choice is the C.A.T. (California Achievement Test). This is available at Thurber's Educational Assessments, (919) 967-5282. Or you can get it for less at Seton Testing Services in Virginia: http://www.setontesting.com/ The CAT is available for K-12, but you only have to test every other year in grades 4 through 8 (which can translate as grades 5 and 7) and every year in grades 9-12.
Here in NYC most parents administer these tests, but any DoE office can choose to ask for proof that a certified teacher or registered proctor or librarian administered the test. If you like, you can contact your local office and ask if they will accept a test given by the parent or if you have to use a certified teacher. If the certified teacher is a relative or friend that does not matter. They are still qualified.
I know of a parent who found it available (after a long search) at Poly Prep, a private school in Brooklyn.
Yes. You can still teach your child many subjects in your native language, and you can find groups and opportunities in the homeschooling community (try joining NYCHEA.org) for your child to learn in a group of English speaking children. You must address this issue in your homeschooling paperwork, since the regulations list as a required subject “bilingual education where the need is indicated.” So in your IHIP and in each quarterly report you must state how you are teaching your child English when you don’t speak it well yourself. Common suggestions include: participating in organized group activities with families who do speak English well, hiring a tutor (this could be anyone from a certified teacher to a gifted high school student), getting help from a friend, using certain books or videos, swapping childcare, having an English-speaking sitter. Even watching Sesame Street or having a weekly conversation with the local librarian are English activities that could be included in your reports.
I can recommend a workbook series on grammar and punctuation that is self-correcting, where all the answers are on the next page and the child can do most of it him or herself. The series is called Daily Language Workouts and there is one for every grade level. For young children I also recommend a phonics workbook series called Explode the Code.
