Throwing Marshmallows

where I have been…I have been helping plan this:

VaHomeschoolers Homeschool Enrichment Seminar

Science Museum of Virginia
2500 West Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia

April 26, 2008

There is still time to register online so if you are in the area, be sure to stop by. Walk-ins will be accepted as well.

There is something for everyone for both new and experienced homeschoolers. Speakers will be myself, Celeste Land (VaHomeschoolers Government Affairs Chair), Parrish Mort (VaHomeschoolers Pres) and Jeanne Faulconer (VaHomeschoolers Newsletter editor). I can tell you that my fellow speakers are wonderfully inspirational and definitely worth coming out for.

If you do come out, be sure to grab me during a break and introduce yourself! Most of the fun of these seminars is getting to meet folks in real life. Not to mention the fun we have being surrounded by people who “get” what we are doing and why.

Hope to see you there!

Stephanie (who is still working on getting all her files (including my signature file) moved over to my new laptop and probably won’t have time until after the seminar!)

I know, not very original and there definitely has been lots of talk about the California court homeschooling ruling. But since there is so much information floating around, I kind of felt like I needed to pull some of it together in one place, at least for my own sake. It has been amazing the amount of speculation going on about what this means, both for homeschooling in California and for homeschooling nationwide.

One thing you will see is that I am not going to link to any news coverage. Most reporters really do not understand homeschooling in general and there are so many subtleties to this case that media just can’t seem to get it right and has been full of dire predictions and misinterpretations.

VaHomeschoolers has put out a statement for Virginia homeschoolers who might be worried about the larger implications of this case. It is very unlikely that this will affect us here because, unlike California, we have a specific home instruction statute and in order for us to loose our rights, the General Assembly would have to pass legislation to remove that language from the Code of Virginia and the Governor would have to sign it. VaHomeschoolers closely monitors legislation every year to ensure that this does not happen.

I have found that the best place for information has been the California state homeschool organizations. They are the ones most familiar with the state laws and the political climate (not to mention the ones with the most vested interest in the outcome!) and will be posting frequent updates as things go on.

• Homeschool Association of California
• California Homeschool Net

There was an informative podcast interview with Debbie Schwarzer,HSC Legal Team Co-chair. She talks a little about what they know about the case, what they are doing and reassures folks that right now what they need most is for everyone to sit tight and let them work on it.

National Home Education Legal Defense (NHELD) has issued a Bulletin about the ruling in which they talk a lot about the legal issues involved. I found this to be a good overview of the legal intricacies.

As far as the petition being circulated by HSLDA, HSC has said the following:

Dear List Members

We have seen a post forwarding a letter from HSLDA that addresses the recent court ruling regarding homeschooling in California. Their letter offers a link to a petition, saying that you can help stop this threat to homeschooling by signing the petition. While we believe there is no harm in signing the petition, we do not feel it is necessary.

We believe that it is important to remain calm and allow the Legal Teams of the various homeschooling organizations to address the issues appropriately through legal channels. We certainly understand that you will want to stay informed and be involved in any ways that can help in resolving threats to homeschooling freedoms, and we will be keeping you closely posted as things arise that can be impacted with your help.

So while we do not discourage you from signing the petition, we also see no benefit in signing it either.

We encourage you to read our position recently posted on our website at http://hsc.org/Appellatedecision

Thank you so much for all your patience and support.

Sincerely,
HSC Board of Directors
HSC Legal Team

I find this good to know as I have many issues with HSLDA’s political stances on issues outside of homeschooling and prefer not to give them my personal information (although I would have if it would have helped). It does look as if HSC and CHN are taking donations for their legal funds so that is another more direct and effective way of helping.

One lesson that I think can be taken from the situation in California is that it is is vitally important to support your statewide homeschool organization, if your state has one. California is lucky to have several active groups who already had networks and relationships in place so they were able to mobilize quickly.

Virginia is lucky as well to have two statewide organizations and it is for this reason that I donate both my time and money to VaHomeschoolers. VaHomeschoolers has been working for over 10 years to promote homeschooling, developing good working relationships with both the Virginia Department of Education as well as state lawmakers. VaHomeschoolers believes that all homeschoolers’ interests are served when government, news media, and the public see us as a diverse people united in our love of our children and in our valuing freedom to teach and learn at home.

Education is the key to keeping our homeschool freedoms.

My how the time has flown. I honestly had not planned on taking quite that long of a break. Between the VaHomeschoolers Conference, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and company joining us here at the beach I have not had a spare moment until now.

The Conference was an absolute blast and loads of fun. All the hard work really paid off this year (of course the fact that I did not have the stomach flu this time around helped too!) Our keynote speaker, Thomas Armstrong (author of In Their Own Way and many other books on learning styles) was incredible. He pulled no punches and definitely shared his views on many things. Of course it helps that I agree with about 95% of what he said! His keynote, Awakening the Genius in Every Child, was very thought-provoking and I am very glad to have gotten to hear him in person.

I presented several sessions this year, starting with an hour-long Beginning Homeschool session on Friday afternoon. It went really well and was a wonderful warm-up for the next day. On Saturday, fellow board member Celeste and I talked about the legal issues related to homeschooling in Virginia in our Navigating the Legal Waters session. I followed up with So What Do I Do On Monday? which covered the more practical aspects of homeschooling…how to decide what and how to teach, how to find support groups, how to find activities and classes, how to deal with common new homeschooler worries (including the dreaded “S” word!). This was the first time that we had split the beginning homeschool information into two sessions and I think that it helped to have the extra time. I finished up with a session on Blogging and Homeschooling, which talks about how blogs can add a new dimension to homeschooling.

I personally find talking with new homeschoolers to be such an uplifting experience! It really helps keep me in touch with the reasons that I started homeschooling in the first place. It is also rewarding to see the excitement that many new folks get when they start to realize that maybe they are not quite as crazy as they thought the might be for considering homeschooling and that they might actually be able to pull this thing off.

Often I get questions from people whose child was struggling in school and this may be the first time that anyone has not questioned their decision to homeschool their child. Or validated that it is ok for their child to have needs that could not be met by the school. That it is not necessarily that their child has the problem, but that schools are often just not set up to be able to handle the individual needs of some children…especially if they fall outside the norm. The relief on their faces is wonderful to see.

I also got to hang out with my friend and right brained learner guru Cindy which was a treat as always. And I am sure that she was glad that I did not spend the whole weekend nauseous again. We had loads of fun gabbing well into the evening and most of Sunday morning/afternoon as well!

Well, I have promised myself that I would not stay up too late, so I need to sign off. It is good to be back and I hope to get back into a more regular posting schedule. And many thanks to those who made it out to Richmond to the Conference…it was great to meet so many people that I had previously only known online!

Which is why I have been so quiet around here! We are putting on the finishing touches and I can’t believe that it is almost here. You can read more about the Conference here.

I am so excited…I get to hear Thomas Armstrong talk…get to see Cindy again. Get to hang out with hundreds of other homeschoolers who get what we do and why we do it. Not to mention the shopping!

If you are going to be anywhere around Richmond next weekend, be sure to make it over. Walk-ins will be accepted and it should be a whole lot of fun for the whole family.

Now to go finish my outline for my “Homeschooling and Blogging” session I am doing (yup…that is my topic (one of them anyways…I am also doing several beginning homeschooling sessions) Wonder why they choose me to lead this one?)

So after next weekend, I should be able to get back to more regular posting. I have all sorts of things that I have been wanting to write about (like the new Harry Potter movie) and more pictures to post. Oh yeah…but when I get back from the conference, first order of business will be to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! Jason and I have been really looking forward to it (poor Kyle will have to wait a bit…we are only on Book 2!) Ahhh…so much to look forward to…

The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers

2007 Conference and Resource Fair

www.VaHomeschoolers.org/2007conference/

Science Museum of Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

July 20 – 21, 2007

Family Programming sets the VaHomeschoolers Conference Apart!

The VaHomeschoolers Conference and Resource Fair is not designed around families but for families. We begin by choosing a location that has built-in family fun and learning - the Science Museum of Virginia.

Then we add exciting activities and sessions to entertain kids of all ages. This year’s program includes Passport to Adventure, an interactive “tour” of countries around the world “visited” through displays, crafts and games.

In addition, families can experience the cultures of other countries through both musical and dance programs, as well as a professional puppet show by Barefoot Puppet Theatre.

Register now! www.vahomeschoolers.org/2007conference/registration.asp

Friday Evening – The Fun Begins!

“Tropical Treats” Talent Show, Art Exhibit and Ice Cream Social

Friday, July 20th 7 p.m.– 10 p.m.

Holiday Inn Crossroads – Host Hotel

2000 Staples Mill Road

Grab your passport, your grass skirt and come to the tropics where we will enjoy the talents of the Virginia Homeschooling Community. Along with the entertainment, you can enjoy the ice cream sundae bar, which includes dairy and non dairy choices as well as gluten free toppings.

Come relax with your homeschool friends from across the Commonwealth, including the Board and Conference Committee from The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers. If your kids or your family has a talent to share, be sure to sign up for the talent or art portion of the evening. To participate, you must register with the party coordinator, Kelly McCants by emailing party@vahomeschoolers.org.

There is no fee for this party, but tax deductible donations are welcome and an RSVP is required.

www.vahomeschoolers.org/2007conference/tropical_treats.asp

Saturday - Prepare to Tour the World!

Family Programming Schedule: www.vahomeschoolers.org/2007conference/family_programming.asp

Passport to Adventure

Ongoing from 9 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Grab your passport at the VaHomeschoolers Booth and visit Japan, India, Ghana and many other countries as you travel around the world through games and crafts.

Throughout the museum, various countries will be represented at different stations. Each country (station) will share information on the culture of that country with a game and/or craft. After completing the activity in a “country”, your tour guide will stamp your passport and you can move on to visit another country. Upon traveling completely around the world (visiting all stations), return to the VaHomeschoolers passport office to receive an acknowledgement

of your world travel and to be entered for a grand prize drawing. All entries for the drawing must be in by 4:30 pm and the winner will be posted at the Passport Office at 4:45 pm.

Sessions, Sessions, and more Sessions

Check out the family programming sessions we have lined up for you!

International Dance Performance and Workshop - Session 2 10:20 – 11:20 am

Tour the world of dance! Professional dancers Will Sterling Walker and Lawanda Raines, will be joined by homeschooling dancers Marisol, Antonio and Nicolas Betancourt-Sotolongo and Lauren Mort in performing dances from India, Africa, Spain, France, Brazil, the Caribbean and the United States. Audience members will be invited to participate and learn various steps throughout this world tour.

Trickster Tales – Puppet Show – Session 3 12:40 – 1:40 pm

This session does require pre-registration

Anansi the spider is up to his old tricks again in this show that brings to life two traditional West African stories: Tug-of-War and A Story, A Story. Colorful scenery, original music and lots of puns create a wonderful backdrop for the antics of these expressive rod and hand puppets. It’s a high-energy show with fun for all ages!

Following the performance, audience members will have an opportunity to see the puppets in action, ask questions of the puppeteers, learn how the Rugg family combines touring and homeschooling and hear a bit about using puppetry in your homeschooling.

Stomp, Clap or Tap World Rhythms! – Session 4 2:00 – 3:00 pm

Take an interactive journey, exploring African, Caribbean and Latin rhythms and instruments. Learn, see and hear the difference between bongos and congas, and many other hand drums as well as the traditional rhythms performed with them. Everyone gets to be a part of the fun in this show where participants will stomp, clap or play various instruments throughout this presentation.

Snickerdoodle Storytime – Session 5 3:45 – 4:15 pm

Fun in a nutshell! Former kindergarten teacher and award-winning Virginia author, Clare Grosgebauer will share her “Snickerdoodle” stories (for kids 3-7) about a tiny superhero who thinks big and uses humor and imagination to solve giant-size problems. Kids can also hear the “Snickerdoodle Rap” on the CD and create their own rhythms. Free stickers for kids and lesson plans for parents.

All Day fun in the Science Museum of Virginia

Every registration includes free admission to the museum where you can see rats play basketball, “walk” on the moon, or form crystals.

In addition to all the permanent exhibits at the museum, visit the traveling exhibition, Savage Ancient Seas which features more than 50 prehistoric marine skeletons, including actual specimens and casts mounted on the floor and suspended from the ceiling.

Peer into the mouth of the largest aquatic reptile known to man – a 45-foot-long Bunker Tylosaurus. Walk under the Lock Ness Monster’s ancient ancestor – a 42-foot long plesiosaur. Check out Archelon – a 17-foot-wide sea turtle. Hang out with a school of vicious carnivorous fish called Pachyrhizodus.

With the purchase of a separate ticket, you can see the Dinosaurs Alive! Or the newest Harry Potter at the awe-inspiring IMAX experience in the Ethyl Corporation IMAX DOME & Planetarium, the biggest movie screen in Virginia.

Please note the latest in the Harry Potter series, “The Order of the Phoenix” will be playing at SMV ’s IMAX theater on the conference weekend. These and all IMAX showings require an additional ticket purchase. The Group Rate is available for conference registrants — be sure to request it, if you pre-order your tickets. Tickets for “Harry Potter” will go on sale June 15. For more information, visit www.smv.org.

www.vahomeschoolers.org/2007conference/smvfree.asp

The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers
www.VaHomeschoolers.org
Your Resource. Your Voice. Your Association.

Lots of interesting stuff going on in the Virginia homeschool community lately so I have been spending a lot of my online time on my email lists…which means that I have not had much time to post here!

For those of you in Virginia, be sure to check out the new information on the VaHomeschoolers website. There have been some issues with some superintendents questioning the “description of curriculum” that homeschoolers need to submit with with their NOI and it looks like Nelson County is going to start offering K12 to homeschoolers for free…the catch? You have to put your kids back in public school. Needless to say, VaHomeschoolers will be keeping our eye on developments…

Read the VaHomeschoolers Legislative Report

Read All About Curriculum Descriptions - guidelines on what to include with your NOI

Read Filing Your NOI - more information about what is required

And if you want to stay up to date on homeschool happenings in Virginia, be sure to join the VaHomeschoolers Announce list!

~Stephanie

If you are going to be in the Northern Virginia area on Monday, be sure to stop by!

~Stephanie

VaHomeschoolers Free Homeschool to College Seminar

A limited number of seats are still available for the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers FREE Homeschool to College Seminar.

Schedule and Topics:

9:45 - Sign in and pick up info packet

Registration required due to space limitations.  Please send name, number attending and a contact phone number to Homeschool To College Seminar. 

~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~.~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~

Please feel free to forward this message to other homeschoolers and homeschool groups or email lists who might find this information useful. If this message was forwarded to you, be sure to join the VaHomeschoolers Announce List to receive future updates directly. 

 Join online or via email.

Another artcle came out about the VaHomeschoolers Conference. This one was in the Midlothian Exchange (in Chesterfield County, outside of Richmond), Taking Charge of Education.

I was really impressed that she got the law stuff right! So often newspaper accounts either don’t really explain it well, or get it wrong (how many times did I have to read that the new law that went into effect in July “allowed parents with only a high school diploma to homeschool”. It did nothing of the sort…folks with a high school diploma have always been able to homeschool…the new law just reduced the paperwork required…but I digress) It looks like Elizabeth did her homework (we did not talk much about the law specifics although she did sit in on my Beginning Homeschool session) which is nice to see.

I was surprised to see myself quoted so much! Yikes! How weird. Actually it was more of paraphrased…as I remember talking about these things with her, but not saying exactly these things. I guess that it must be hard to get an exact quote when you are just talking and taking notes. I do think that she did a good job of catching the essance of what I was saying, so I can’t complain!

Overall, I am really impressed with how many good points she was able to include…it was more in depth then I expected and did present homeschoolers as a diverse group. She also interviewed a Chesterfield family at the Conference and had some good quotes including this one:

The couple looked into private schools as an option, but the decision to homeschool the boys became an easier decision after talking with other parents. “It was an easy jump. There is a more diverse group to homeschoolers now. It’s a new movement with more options,” she said.

Whew. I get really nervous talking with “the press” and always wonder how it will turn out. This one turned out pretty dang good!

~Stephanie

Tags:virginia homeschool homeschool conference

Finally got home tonight after being stuck on I95 for way too long. I am exhausted so won’t write much other then to say that I LOVE VAHOMESCHOOLERS CONFERENCES! I can’t tell you how much fun I had and how great it was to meet so many folks that I know online.

I will write more tomorrow, but did want to say that I survived another bout with the stomach flu that hit Saturday morning (what is it with this thing?? It seems to come back in the morning and evenings…still not feeling 100%). Luckily Parrish (my wonderful friend and conference chair) was able to jump in and cover my Beginning Homeschool session for me. I was feeling much better by the afternoon and was able to do the panel session “Won’t Your Child Grow Up To Be Stupid?”. And I was feeling fine enough to do my Beginning Homeschool session on Friday afternoon…so at least I got one chance to do it!

And I got my first chance of dealing with the press! We had two reporters and photographers come by the Conference on Friday. You can read the article that ran Saturday morning in the Richmond-Times Dispatch (and yes, they misquoted me (my first!)…I did say that the percentile cut-off for the standardized testing is the 23rd percentile, not the 25th).

And I got to meet Cindy! Who is just as wonderful in person as online. Her presentations on right brained learners and learning style were great to see in person. And we had just so much fun gabbing and talking and comparing notes. It was also fascinating how much her presentation overlapped and complemented that of one of our other featured speakers, Jeanne (who is also one of my favorite people). The two of them really hit it off at the conference and all three of us ended up talking for almost four hours over breakfast and on the sofas of the hotel lobby this morning before having to head for home.  I think the awesome homeschooling conversations you end up having have to be the best part of any conference. How wonderful to be surrounded by people who get what you do and why you do it.

Ok..this is getting way longer than I meant to write tonight and I have not even touched on the main conference part…or all the neat stuff that I got at the resource fair…or all the people I finally got to meet in person…or the fun we had…or how great all our volunteers were…or how incredible our conference chairs Parrish and Traci are…or how I can’t wait to do this again…or how much sleep I really need…

~Stephanie

Can’t believe that the VaHomeschoolers Conference is here finally! We have all been working like crazy to pull this thing off and it is finally coming together. I can’t tell you how much I have been looking forward to this.

Of course things can not go too smoothly for me…that would be too easy. Yesterday morning, Jason woke up throwing up around 1am. He seemed to have it worse then Kyle as he continued to throw up off and on again (well, mostly dry heaves, poor kid) until about 8am or so. And then I started throwing up around 6am or so. What fun - not!

I was supposed to drive from Ocean City back home to Virginia yesterday…had everything lined up…I would do some antique shopping on the way home (I usually can’t because we have animals and kids in the car and no room to put whatever I find) and then get my hair cut. Had to cancel that and leave later then planned as I was just hoping to be able to survive the 3 hour car ride. I also felt bad leaving Jason feeling so bad, but Jeff is with him and I know that he will be fine. Now we just have to hope that Jeff does not catch whatever this bug is!

The good news is that I did survive the drive home and actually managed to hold down a few crackers along the way. I went to bed early last night and feel 100% better this morning, thank goodness! I have a few things to take care of here and then I am off for Richmond! And I get to meet Cindy today! WooHoo! And I get to hang out with all sorts of neat and fun homeschoolers! And talk non-stop about homeschooling for 2 days! And shop at our awesome resource fair! I Just.Can.Not.Wait!

If you are anywhere around Richmond, be sure to stop by! Walk-ins are more then welcome and we would love to have you. And if you happen to see me, make sure to say Hi!

~Stephanie

I can’t believe that it is almost time! We have been working on the VaHomeschoolers Conference and Resource Fair since before Christmas and it is going to be so much fun! If you are going to be anywhere around Richmond, Virginia the weekend of August 25th and 26th, you need to come! Or if you are not anywhere near, you should come and make a weekend out of it. Very affordable and family friendly (registration includes admission to the Science Museum of Virginia - how cool is that!) Register now!

The sessions are great (and there is plenty of interest to non-Virginian homeschoolers), the speakers are awesome (you can even meet Cindy Gaddis from Apple Stars! If you do come, be sure to track me down too and say Hi!). We have sold out the exhibitor’s hall and I am looking forward to picking up some awesome stuff. One of my favorites, Fun Books will be there! And if you order online they will bring your order to the conference and you can save on shipping.

Friday is a FREE preview sale and a great time to check out the exhibitors and get your shopping done early so you have more time to mix and mingle on Saturday! I will also be giving a free Beginning Homeschool session at 4:30pm.

Don’t Miss It!

Tags: homeschooling homeschool conference Virginia VaHomeschoolers

Things are starting to get a bit busy…we are flying out to Chicago on Friday for the weekend for an Elms Family Reunion. It should be a lot of fun…the boys are really looking forward to the airplane ride. They have not been on a plane since Jason was 3 and Kyle was 6 months, so neither one really remembers it…

And then we are into the final month before the VaHomeschoolers Conference and Resource Fair! I just realized that I have not even mentioned it here on my blog before now…and I am the PR Chair! How could I have forgotten!!

Anyways, if you are going to be anywhere near Richmond, Va on August 25 and 26, you really need to come. Richmond is a great place to spend the weekend! It is going to be so much fun! We are a smaller conference, but one thing that we really do well is provide a varied and interesting line-up of sessions. Truly something for everyone!

Our featured speakers this year are Jeanne Faulconer (an incredible home-grown speaker who is absolutely fabulous), Cindy Gaddis, my good friend over at Apple Stars (who I finally get to meet in person!) and Judith Waite Allee, author of Homeschooling on a Shoestring. I will be giving 2 sessions on Beginning Homeschooling (but don’t worry…the sessions are not all geared towards Va homeschoolers…there is tons there for all homeschoolers). Check out the website for all the details…but hurry! Sessions are filling up fast!

I am going to try to keep up with blogging on a regular basis, but if you don’t hear from me for a few days, you will know why!

~Steph

This article was published on the National Governors Association webpage. Virginia is one of the states included in the article:

“With the enactment of recent legislation, any parent with a high school diploma may now homeschool their children in Virginia. Previously, a parent was only allowed to homeschool a child in Virginia if the parent held a bachelor’s degree, was a certified teacher, enrolled the child in a correspondence course approved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, or provided a curriculum based on state standards in arts and mathematics and evidence that the parent was able to provide an adequate education for the child.”

Of course this law change is more of a paperwork change then an “easing of standards” as the accountability part of the homeschool law (proof of progress is what they call it here) has not changed and has always been the same for parents with or without a college degree.

The first sentance is also misleading: “With the enactment of recent legislation, any parent with a high school diploma may now homeschool their children in Virginia.”. Parents with a high school diploma have always been able to homeschool their children. The extra hoops that they had to jump through may have made the school officials feel all “warm and fuzzy” but it really did nothing but make the NOIs (Notice of Intent) for those folks a bit longer.

The article also contained this statistic:

“Nationally, the homeschooling rate for students with parents whose highest educational attainment was a high school diploma or less increased from 0.9 percent in 1999 to 1.7 percent in 2003, according to NCES.”

I also found it interesting that this article did not really express an opinion of whether this statistic and the “easing of the homeschool rules” was a good thing or not! Of course I know what I think…

~Steph

My friend Barb and her family were highlighted in this tv news piece on unschooling. Be sure to click on “Leaving Normal School Behind” to see the news clip.

Barb and her boys did a wonderful job at representing homeschoolers. I love some of her quotes even if the reporter did misrepresent a few things (he said that her kids will not receive a diploma and would have to take the GED or take an online course to get a certificate of completion…while it is true that her kids will not receive a diploma from the state of Virginia, she can issue her own diploma. And yes, homeschooled kids without a state issued diploma can and do get into colleges but that is the subject for a different post).

It was fun to see Barb’s boys…what I want to know is where the piles of books and papers and the overflowing bookcases were…at least that is how my house looks!

Update: Barb has posted more information about the interview on her blog. I find it really interesting that even with a story on unschooling they had to have their obligatory “mom teaching kids at the kitchen table” shot. Too funny.

~Steph

Well the misinformation is starting again. A new bill has been introduced into the state legislature that would remove a couple of extra hoops that parents who do not hold a college degree need to go through. This would be a great improvement in the law, because it really is unfair to require more info from those parents who do not have a degree. Holding a college degree does not make you any more or less qualified to teach your children. I have so many friends who do not have a college degree who do an absolutely awesome job homeschooling their children.

What is required is not a degree, but rather a love of learning and a love of your children. Sounds a bit corny, but that is what it takes. You do not need to be up on the latest teaching trends because most of that does not apply when you teach your own children. And what is great is that what you need to teach your children is out there…on the internet, on homeschool email lists, in the libraries. Half the fun of homeschooling is learning right there with your kids.

I do hope that this bill passes. It will definitely make taking the first step and filing your Notice of Intent (NOI) much less intimidating for first time filers. It will make the law more equitable for all homeschoolers. What it will not do is give parents the right to homeschool if they do not have a college degree. They already have that right.

And herein lies the biggest problem with this bill…the newspapers keep getting it all wrong and spreading the misinformation that homeschoolers without a degree can not homeschool. And that is a shame because I wonder how many people will read that and not look further into homeschooling because they think they would not be allowed to.

My friend Barb’s blogpost gives a great synopsis of the Virginia homeschooling law and what this new bill would and would not do, so I won’t take the time to rehash that here. It will be interesting to see if this bill gets any where. It came very close two years ago. I guess we will wait and see what happens this year and hope that some reporters will get it right.

And for those who want more information on homeschooling in Virginia without a college degree, check out this great article.