Crosspost:What is like to hs in Washington DC area?

[SAMom]

Dh just called me. He wants to know how I would feel about moving to DC area. This would probably happen by September.

What is it like to hs in that area? What are the requirements? What about housing and cost of living? We would probably rent.

I can imagine that there would be tons to do. We only have 2dc ages 11 & 13. I'm excited and nervous.
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/images/misc/progress.gif

[Heather in VA]

Depends what you mean by Washington DC area... You have two states and a district that all differ on their regulations. Assuming you won't be living in DC itself you would probably live in Virginia or Maryland. My understanding is that Maryland is more strict than Virginia but doable. I live in VA so I can tell you about that. Each year you have to send the school people a letter declaring your intent to homeschool - just something like 'I intend to homeschool X who is grade Y and teach subjects on grade level or above'. VERY generic. Then at the end of the year you have to do testing. I choose the CAT test because it's cheap, fast and I can do it myself. You just send the test scores in with the next year's letter of intent. They require that your students are about 20th percentile or something like that (it's so low I didn't even pay attention). If you don't then you are on "probation" for a year after which if the scores don't improve they have the right to intervene. It's very painless. They are VERY slow about sending their 'you are approved" letter but it isn't required to start homeschooling. Last year I got mine in May LOL.

As far as cost of living - it's very high. Even with the decline in home prices it's still very high. If you give me an idea of what you'd like to rent and where you might live I could give you ballpark figures. Feel free to email me if you wish.

Heather (hgunraj@yahoo.com)

[Catherine]

A yearly letter is also required here, and you must have reviews of your program by either the county ps system, or a state-approved umbrella. Theoretically, umbrellas must be religious, but if you are secular there are umbrellas to meet your needs. Reviews by the umbrella are quite forgiving, and as classical hsers, we've had no problem whatsoever. That's it. Umbrellas have yearly fees, but some are as cheap as $50 per child per year.

Maryland's cost of living is probably considerably less than suburban DC which is pretty costly, uniformly. In Baltimore, housing is rising, but still far less than the DC area. I have a number of acquaintances who commute to DC, so that is an option (by train especially).

[SAMom]

This is exciting!!

Thanks again.

[Kathie in VA]

From what I understand, when you declare you will homeschool you will also choose
-Religous Exemption (no checking at end of year)
or a choice of a few others depending on YOUR level of education (which only need to be proven once).... this does require some end of year check each year and a new Notice of Intent (NOI) to Homeschool each year.

The end of year check can be:
-testing with the schools, at home or in a co-op
-portfolio to the school (?)
-evaluation of the students work by a qualified evaluator to ensure the student has met or exceeded the states requirements for their grade/age.

I've done both evaluations and home-testing.

There are plenty of homeschool groups, co-ops, and classes all across the DC area. There are a few homeschool conventions also.

Lots of opportunities for field trips, if you're into that.

hth

[Heather in VA]

I did forget that things vary based on YOUR education level. I have a college degree so I don't know what the requirements are for those without.

[DawnUK]

We lived in Calvert county MD for three years, and it was very easy. We had to have a review twice a year, but they were very pro-homeschool. Mostly retired public school teachers and they always said things like, "Oh, you actually teach geography as separate subject?!? They don't do that in school anymore....it's not exciting enough I guess. Good for you!" It was very easy. There were people in our homeschool group that lived in St. Mary's county, and they did phone in reviews. I thought that it was a great state to homeschool in. Good luck.

--Dawn

[Lenora in MD]

I currently live in Frederick County in Maryland and used to live in Montgomery County. My umbrella group does not charge a fee. Most umbrella groups are offered through churches. Reviews are fairly simple. I have always been reviewed by my umbrella group, but I have not heard any negative comments from people who have been reviewed by the county. There are some great support groups and co-ops here. The cost of living is very high anywhere in this area. You should be able to find a rental pretty easily, however, because of the housing downturn. Feel free to email me if you are moving to Frederick County.

[Chris in VA]

VA just changed their requirements--you can have a high school diploma now instead of a college degree, and still homeschool under the "testing" provision.
VA is really easy!
Here's a link to HEAV, with regulations.
Beginning to hs in VA (http://www.heav.org/basicinfo/howtobegin/index.html)