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Alice
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We're in 20121. The hubby takes the bus and the metro, so that makes the commute longer. It's worth it for a little more room. Springfield is nice. Stay away from the Springfield Mall area - a kid was stabbed in the mall a year or so ago (some gang activity, if I recall). Good luck! DC is wonderful for homeschooling families. So much free stuff to do!

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  • 2 weeks later...

DH expects to make a choice today, between a house in Annandale (inside the beltway) and Herndon. The Annandale house is closer to work, but smaller, older, and has no master bathroom, lol. The Herndon house is nicer, a bit larger, the rent is less expensive, and not a terrible commute.

 

I think right now (in this 5 minutes) he's leaning towards Herndon, but I've heard that Herndon is not a good place to live. Any opinions/knowledge?

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Guest Shanna
DH expects to make a choice today, between a house in Annandale (inside the beltway) and Herndon. The Annandale house is closer to work, but smaller, older, and has no master bathroom, lol. The Herndon house is nicer, a bit larger, the rent is less expensive, and not a terrible commute.

 

I think right now (in this 5 minutes) he's leaning towards Herndon, but I've heard that Herndon is not a good place to live. Any opinions/knowledge?

 

I.think.it.depends.on.where.in.Herndon.

 

Parts.of.Herndon.are.really.nice.

 

My.husband.commutes.to.Herndon.

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...before moving out to Gainesville/Warrenton. We LOVED it. One thing to note, however: in the area you're talking about, it gets QUITE congested. Centreville Road, which is 8 lanes wide, turns into Elden Street when it crosses the Toll Rd, and Elden Street squeezes down to two lanes each direction and then ONE lane each direction. We liked living on the OTHER side of the Toll Rd (in one of the THOUSANDS of McTownhouses there) to avoid the squeeze.

 

When you hear about seedy sections of Herndon, well, they're on the side that you're talking about. However, there are also really nice sections on that side of town!

 

Herndon is only 15 minutes from Tysons Corner, which is essentially the center of Western Fairfax County. That's, um, 15 minutes during nonrush hours, of course. My husband and I both commuted and had reasonable commute times because, barring an accident, the toll road just doesn't (didn't? It has been 5 years) get backed up like 95/395/495/66. But we also both left for work VERY early, my husband at 5 AM and me no later than 6.

 

Prepare to dish out big bucks on tolls, too. The toll road's just TOO convenient to avoid. :001_smile:

 

Best of luck!

Layla McB

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...that my DH is the captain of Fire Station 31 nearby. He's been in various stations in and around Herndon/Reston for most of the past 10 years, so he knows the area WELL. If your DH has a specific address (street and/or complex or neighborhood name), lemme know and I'll run it past him. :001_smile:

 

Layla McB

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  • 1 month later...
Guest hannahbanana

Was so excited to see that you are near where we are coming in mid August.....are there any good homeschooling groups in the Norfolk area? thanks....

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  • 4 months later...

My son will be in WDES until Christmas break, but after that we'll be homeschoolers. If there's anyone from King George or Warsaw or any other surrounding counties, could you email me? All I can seem to find around here are unschoolers and I was hoping to find my son some friends that use a similar curriculum.

 

Also, what do all the "hive" references and ds de dd, etc, mean?

 

Thanks,

Julie

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Is it still ok to submit the CAT as my end of year testing? Dd has dyslexia and dyscalculia and I want to test her at home in a setting that's comfortable. In WV we had portfolio eval's done by her tutor. I wanted to do a test this year to get some idea of where she is and also to expose her to testing.

 

thanks,

 

Lisa

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Is it still ok to submit the CAT as my end of year testing? Dd has dyslexia and dyscalculia and I want to test her at home in a setting that's comfortable. In WV we had portfolio eval's done by her tutor. I wanted to do a test this year to get some idea of where she is and also to expose her to testing.

 

thanks,

 

Lisa

 

We are in Fairfax county and have submitted the CAT for the last two years, no problem. We got it from Seton -- very fast & efficient.

 

Good luck!

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  • 1 month later...

I live right outside the front gate of Quantico. (Marine Corps Base)

 

I am in Manassas every Thursday.

 

My sister lives in Westmoreland county and just pulled my 15 year old niece out of school to homeschool her.

 

They live at Ebb Tide Beach. I am down there at least once a week. Anyone in the area that would like to get together let me know.

 

During the summer my kids and I will travel all over VA, so if you have something fun near you, let us know and we will come visit. We especially like historical places and national parks.

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I live right outside the front gate of Quantico. (Marine Corps Base)

 

I am in Manassas every Thursday.

 

My sister lives in Westmoreland county and just pulled my 15 year old niece out of school to homeschool her.

 

They live at Ebb Tide Beach. I am down there at least once a week. Anyone in the area that would like to get together let me know.

 

During the summer my kids and I will travel all over VA, so if you have something fun near you, let us know and we will come visit. We especially like historical places and national parks.

Next time you're down here have your niece call my daughter and maybe we can hang out :)

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Well Blessed Family asked how Annandale is turning out. I was just talking with my dh this morning about how much I love my house and neighborhood, the church is great, the libraries are good (though Florida was better), and the cultural activities are wonderful. The only real complaint I have is homeschooling. We haven't found a group nor a homeschool co-op or enrichment classes and the community college is very expensive. ( I am used to free in Fl for dual enrolled and 60 regular price in CA). WE are on a wait list at the closest homeschooling group and we are 17 in line and they usually don't have many openings for my age group (high school and junior high). We tried another group but everyone was younger and almost all by much younger. SOme of the other groups don't have their schedules up yet and while one may work for one girl, it looks a lot less promising for the other. THe girls are doing homeschooled soccer and I thought I might meet people that way but it hasn't turned out. We ended up in the group far away from our house rather than the team right near us where we could meet local homeschoolers.

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Well Blessed Family asked how Annandale is turning out. I was just talking with my dh this morning about how much I love my house and neighborhood, the church is great, the libraries are good (though Florida was better), and the cultural activities are wonderful. The only real complaint I have is homeschooling. We haven't found a group nor a homeschool co-op or enrichment classes and the community college is very expensive. ( I am used to free in Fl for dual enrolled and 60 regular price in CA). WE are on a wait list at the closest homeschooling group and we are 17 in line and they usually don't have many openings for my age group (high school and junior high). We tried another group but everyone was younger and almost all by much younger. SOme of the other groups don't have their schedules up yet and while one may work for one girl, it looks a lot less promising for the other. THe girls are doing homeschooled soccer and I thought I might meet people that way but it hasn't turned out. We ended up in the group far away from our house rather than the team right near us where we could meet local homeschoolers.

 

Have you checked into Harvester Presbyterian Church's homeschool classes?

 

http://www.htslink.org/

 

I proofread the HEAV weekly email newsletter (the Update) and they announce classes and activities a lot. Also, have you joined HEAV? They might be able to direct you to more homeschoolers in your area.

 

www.heav.org

 

ETA: I also found that there is a Yahoo group for Fairfax County Homeschoolers:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fxcovahomeschoolers/

Edited by Kathleen in VA
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There's also a group called (I think) SPARK, which is NOVA homeschoolers. They do lots of really cool field trips and such and often invite otehr HS groups from around the state to join them. One of the biggest is the twice-yearly trip to Colonial Williamsburg. It's pretty much the only time of year we can go and actually see any of the "pay" exhibits, because you get basically everything for less than $10/person.

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Do any of you lovely ladies have any recommendations for public elementary schools in Fairfax County? We may be moving down & putting our kids into ps for a year while I work and my hubby gets his business up and running. I'd sure love to hear some suggestions on where to move & which schools to move near! Thank you so much, in advance :).

 

Looking forward to having me some Baja Fresh after 5 years up here in the North, by the way!

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Do any of you lovely ladies have any recommendations for public elementary schools in Fairfax County? We may be moving down & putting our kids into ps for a year while I work and my hubby gets his business up and running. I'd sure love to hear some suggestions on where to move & which schools to move near! Thank you so much, in advance :).

 

Looking forward to having me some Baja Fresh after 5 years up here in the North, by the way!

 

Laura,

 

I don't know that many elementary schools in Fairfax County, but a friend of mine (an old boss, actually, from my teaching days) is the principal at Great Falls Elementary. He was the principal of Cherrydale Christian School when I taught there twenty-five years ago and is a wonderful guy. Great Falls is a very nice part of the county, too.

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For all of you Virginians:

 

I won a prize at the NoVA conference (yeah!), but we can't use it (boo!). We won 4 tickets to the Wolf Trap Theatre in the Woods on Thursday, July 30. The tickets are good for both shows (the first one starts at 10am). We live in DE, and just can't rearrange our schedule that day to make it work.

 

I will happily mail these to someone who can use them. Send me a pm.

 

Becky

 

The tickets have been claimed. Have fun, Kathleen!

Edited by tenoraddict
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I want to assure you that that is perfectly do-able. You will be able to find the house you're looking for. Since you're home schooling, school districts aren't a big issue for you. This will make your search easier. I live in Norfolk VA, and all of the port cities in Virginia have a mid-range cost of living.

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I live in Fredericksburg, VA. I've thought for a long time that I'd like to homeschool. My oldest is just now preschool age. Instead of sending her to preschool, we've decided to give this homeschooling thing a practice go. From what I understand, my area is full of homeschooling advocates and resources.

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I live in Fredericksburg, VA. I've thought for a long time that I'd like to homeschool. My oldest is just now preschool age. Instead of sending her to preschool, we've decided to give this homeschooling thing a practice go. From what I understand, my area is full of homeschooling advocates and resources.

 

I live in Stafford so am fairly close by. I highly recommend that you check out www.heav.org - there are lots of great articles and links to help you get started. Also, HEAV offers "How to Homeschool" seminars several times each year all over the state. If you subscribe to their free weekly email newsletter you will be aware of the ones that are held near you, as well as be informed about lots and lots of other activities and events that could help you along the way. Feel free to email or pm me if you have any questions.

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Well, it's official: we're moving from Syracuse, NY to Fairfax, most likely on or around February 1st 2010. We're sooo excited, both of our kids were born in Fairfax County and we're looking forward to returning to friends and our church. I'd love to find other WTM families living in the area!

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  • 1 month later...

We're new to VA, my kids & I have been here since end of June '09, my husband's been here since March '09. We live in the Richmond area and are also new to homeschooling. I've homeschooled my youngest since Sept '09, my son since Oct '09, and my two middle girls just started their 3rd week of homeschooling! It's an adventure! :) We're living in the Richmond area and would love to meet up with others here! :)

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