Homeschooling in the DC area

[LoriK]

This is our first year homeschooling. We live in California, but my husband just heard that he might be transferred to his company headquarters in Alexandria, VA by years end. We were not expecting this.

 

California is pretty homeschool friendly. I simply had to withdraw my daughter from PS and in October I file an affidavit declaring we are a private school and then I keep all her attendance and grade records. I don't have to show them to anyone or turn them in anywhere. I would need them if we chose to enroll her somewhere else.

 

As a homeschooling family, which area of DC would you choose to live in? Virginia or Maryland? Is one state better to deal with over the other, when it comes to homeschooling? Or would DC itself be a viable option?

[delaney]

Va is pretty easy. Letter of intent, list of subjects, take a test like the CAT and turn it in by mid August.

[athena1277]

VA has the best homeschool laws in the DC area IMHO. There are 4 options in VA, but the one most people use is easy. You have to send in a letter of intent each August and have your dc take any "nationally normed test" (it can be one that you can administer yourself, such as CAT5) and send in a copy of the test results (also in Aug). Your dc only have to score above the 4th quartile (25%) in language arts and math.

 

Check out HEAV for more info. They are the state hs assoc. They have lots of helpful info on their website and would be happy to help you if you called.

[LoriK]

Thank you so much! I am leaning toward Va, simply because we could live closer to Dh's work.

[WIS0320]

VA requirements are easier than MD's. There are a lot of very active homeschool groups in NoVA.

[LaxMom]

I think MD laws are easy. You send a form and either review with the county or with an umbrella group. There are no attendance, testing or approval requirements. And there are lots of very active groups in the metro area (particularly Montgomery and PG counties).

 

State of being is pretty comparable in NoVA and the MD metro area, too, as far as I can tell. ;)

 

I would *definitely* go for close to work, all other things being relatively equal. Commuting on either side of the beltway is not fun. (Think LA rush hour.)

[Classical Country Mama]

I would *definitely* go for close to work, all other things being relatively equal. Commuting on either side of the beltway is not fun. (Think LA rush hour.)

 

:iagree:

 

I'm safely in the sticks now, but ooohhh those awful long hours sitting on the Beltway. NO THANKS.

 

State of being is pretty comparable in NoVA and the MD metro area, too, as far as I can tell. ;)

 

On the other hand, them's fightin' words... :D

[Farrar]

On paper, DC's laws look like MD's but in reality they're the easiest of the bunch because there's zero enforcement ever. It's basically notification only. MD's not that onerous though. I would say don't decide based on the homeschool laws. Pick where you want to live instead.

[ZooRho]

Also VA has to other options for hsing not really a part of the hsing law.

 

there is the Tutoring section where a certified teacher can hs with no other requirement other than the teaching certificate. I do know some who do it with out a VA but I didn't try with my certificate,

 

There is also the Religious Exemption for those hsing for Religious Reasons.

 

 

Also testing isn't the requirement but showing proof of progress. Some people choose to do it by other methods than testing, but testing is probably the easier one to do.