[Sample] Religious Exemption Letter Homeschool

A comprehensive guide on writing religious exemption letters for homeschooling is explained in this article in detail. 

If your children have previously attended public school in Virginia and you want to homeschool them by the religious exemption clause, you must write a letter to the local school board expressing your desire to homeschool and/or asking for authorization. 

This not only enables one to teach their children by biblical principles but also frees one from any government intervention with testing and curriculum clearance. 

Read: Eagle Scout Letter of Recommendation Religious [Sample]

The letter I sent to my local school board to request a religious exemption in the state of Virginia may be seen below.

[Date]

[Contact & Name]

[Address]

[City, State, Zip]

Dear [To Whom It May Concern]:

In compliance with the religious exemption legislation 22.1-254(B)(1), we are writing to inform you that we want to homeschool our children. Tommy and Jamie, our kids, had previously attended public school. 

Lately, we have sensed the Lord urging us to turn from this behavior and make amends. We think that the Bible, the Holy, Living Word of God, commands us to be in charge of our own education.

Verse 22:6 Bring up a youngster on the correct path so that he won't stray from it when he gets older.

It is our responsibility as parents to provide the intellectual and spiritual groundwork necessary for our kids to develop into well-educated, successful, and devout men.

Leviticus 6:5-7 It is required of you to love the LORD, your God, with all of your heart, soul, and strength. And you are to keep these words in your heart, as I tell you to do today: you are to teach them to your children with diligence, and you are to speak about them while you sit in your home, when you walk along the road when you lay down, and when you get up.

Teaching God's Word and moral values to our children throughout the day is one of the home education strategies He gives us. 

According to the words above, we are to impart knowledge when we gather for meals or fellowship as well as throughout our everyday tasks. The final line of the passage explicitly tells us to include family education in our morning and evening prayers.

6:2-4 in Ephesians The first commandment is to honor your parents, with the hope that things will go well in your life and that you will live a long time on this planet. Fathers, nurture and admonish your children under the guidance of the Lord instead of inciting them to anger.

2 Corinthians 8 Watch out that no one follows Christ, but rather the customs of mankind, the basics of the world, or philosophy to the point that they ruin you.

It is the responsibility of children to respect the customs and values of their parents. God assures children who learn this lesson that they will live long, abundant lives. Many of the concepts and customs our children were taught in public school ran counter to the values we were instilling in them at home. They found themselves in a situation where they had to decide whether to believe the instructors or the Bible. You can only imagine how unpleasant this was for them.

Particularly children shouldn't be forced to choose between eternal salvation and academic achievement. However, this is precisely what was occurring with them.

1 John 4:16–18 Little children, you are of God and have triumphed over them because the one who is inside you is bigger than the one who is outside of you. Since they are a part of the globe, the world will listen to what they have to say. We belong to God; he who knows God hears us; he who does not know God does not hear us. We may so discern the spirit of error and the spirit of truth.

Our kids understand that God is their Savior and that it is their duty as Christians to tell people about their beliefs.

They knew right away that "the spirit of truth" was not being taught by the professors when they heard them impart worldly beliefs. They were listening to statements that had a "spirit of error." They were aware that they were to honor their elders, especially their professors, but they were also aware that what they were being taught sometimes ran counter to God's Word. They were really frustrated as a result of this. Their spiritual views were a strain to reconcile with the curriculum of a public school.

Colossians 3:19. When it comes to God, the knowledge of this world is folly.

This indicates that God views public education as a stupid use of our intellectual resources, even though it may seem to be a gateway to worldly understanding.

God also tells us that we are supposed to be different from the world as Christians. Although we are supposed to have distinct lives with Christ at our heart, we still live in the world.

Pauline Letters 6:17 Thus, go from their company and keep yourself apart, declares the Lord; do not come into contact with anything filthy, and I will welcome you.

The notion dictating our distinct existence is shown in this text. God requires us to "come out from among them, and be separate" before we may be accepted. We believe that while attending public school, our children cannot possibly have different lives.

Paul 12:2 And do not conform to this world; rather, allow the renewing of your mind to change you so that you might demonstrate what God's good, acceptable, and perfect will is.

1:16–17 in 1 John The worldly desires, such as the lust of the body, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, are not of the Father.

And the world and its lusts pass away, but the one who follows God's will remains eternally.

We want to experience God's complete will as Christians. We are effectively squandering our time when we let the world and its sexual lusts, temptations, and vanities impact or even devour us. God forewarns us that the joys of this life are fleeting. They are going to die. However, we actively invest in our eternal when we refuse to adapt to the world. For our family, eternity definitely has more significance than the fleeting lures of this earth.

144:11–12 Psalms Please free me and liberate me from the strange children's grasp, whose tongue speaks deception and whose right hand is full of deceit: That our girls be polished like cornerstones, like a castle, and that our boys be like young plants developed to maturity:

youngsters in public schools are forced into contact with "strange children" who do not share their biblical ideals. These other kids unintentionally expose our kids to evil that they are ill-suited to deal with. Educators can't be everywhere at once, even administrators. Errors, hilarity, and unsuitable objects brought from home are overlooked. 

Lastly, we think that education and faith go hand in hand.

34 Psalms 11 Come, kids, pay attention to me. I'll teach you to fear the LORD.

Verses 4:4 He imparted knowledge to me as well and added, "Let my words stay in your heart; obey my commands, and live."

2:15 in 2 Thessalonians So, brothers, whether by word or our epistle, stay faithful to the traditions that you have been taught.

We are filled with a desire to learn more about God via His Word when we surrender our hearts and will to Him as we know Him. The separation of religion and state prevents public schools from providing our kids with this kind of all-encompassing instruction.

We need to educate ourselves at home so that we may instruct them in the manner that God has ordained.

Sincerely,

You may like:-

• [Sample] Letter of Medical Necessity for the Caregiver

• Letter from Doctor for 504 Plan Anxiety

Does a religious exemption letter come with example letters that pastors or friends may use?  

While further letters of support from friends or pastors endorsing their ideas are not required by law, they might be useful while a school board is deliberating. 

Regarding the acknowledgment of a parent's religious exemption, HEAV does not currently offer example letters for pastors or friends, but we can provide some background on the rationale for the extra letters.   

Parents should make sure the letters they provide contain facts that will help the school board recognize their serious religious convictions if they choose to include letters from friends or pastors with the material they send to the board. 

The parents' claim that they are genuinely opposed to their children attending school due to real religious convictions or serious religious training should be backed up by the letters.   

The pastor may write a letter without being legally obligated to openly endorse home-schooling for himself or his church. Friends don't need to have the same values as their parents. 

Supporting letters are meant to attest that the parents' objections to their kids going to school are grounded in their "bona fide," or sincere, religious beliefs.  

The letter writer may include information on how long he has known the family, that he is writing to confirm the family's religious views, and that the family's beliefs are real or true.

Also read: Religious Exemption Vaccination Letter for school