Mid-year Withdrawl From Public School

After receiving a phone call about helping a mother to begin homeschooling mid-year, I realized I did not know much about the subject. I asked HSLDA for an article with details on how to begin homeschooling mid-year in compliance with Louisiana law. They have never written an article with the details outlined step-by-step but assured me that is was completely legal. They advised that if anyone was interested in beginning mid-year, HSLDA would be more than willing to walk them through the process.

In my discussion with HSLDA about the whole process, I have developed a "frame work" of the steps to take. The first place to begin is with an HSLDA membership. The online enrollment form can be found here. I pray you never find yourself in a situation where you need legal representation but it is nice to know you always have the option of saying "call my lawyer". You can call HSLDA at 540-338-5600 and ask to speak to the membership department. They will be able to not only process your membership application but also answer questions about what you should do next.

From what I understand, after you remove your child from the public school system, the main point to cover is the truancy officer. A letter needs to be sent within ten days to the school your child attended telling them your child has been enrolled in another school. It is not necessary to tell them it is your own private homeschool. The only information needed in this notification letter is the child's legal name, date of birth, gender and race. There is a great article here that covers this topic and others that are important for homeschoolers to know about. Once the local school has been notified you need to register with the state as a private school. You can find more information on doing that here.

After you've done these three things you are all set. Just as a side-note, it is probably a good idea to keep a copy of your state registration letter with your HSLDA membership card and have them both with you anytime you go out with your children during public school hours. Also, make a copy of you membership card and put it by your telephone so if you ever need their phone number and your membership number in a hurry.

Even though what I've written up is not a legal document, I hope it will be helpful to someone. If you have any questions or need any help, please just ask.

:) Vicki

*****POST UPDATE******JULY 29, 2014****** Some links in this post have expired so a FAQ page is being constructed. Every effort will be made to keep the new page updated for an easy, one-stop location for current information on state requirements.

Common Core Discussion

Many educators have been discussing the Common Core issue lately. I must admit I had never followed the details of it closely and considered it a public school issue. Then providers of homeschool curricula began to "align". This got my attention and I thought I would post links to articles giving details on how homeschoolers are or may be affected. I hope you find it helpful.
:) Vicki

HSLDA article on Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

Popular Homeschool Curricula and the Common Core

Here is a link for The Educational Freedom Coalition (TEFC). This group exists for homeschool parents who seek to maintain educational freedom from CCSS.

****POST UPDATE****JULY 29, 2014****** The Educational Freedom Coalition link provided above has been redirected to The Homeschool Resource Roadmap website. Their common core information can be found here.

Great Article I Found

If you need encouragement in your homeschooling journey you may want to take a look at this article from Forbes magazine. I don't particularly like the title but I love the message. I will be saving this article on my computer and reading it again on the hard days! Hope it helps you, too.
Blessings,
:) Vicki


http://www.forbes.com/sites/billflax/2013/01/22/want-to-tell-the-state-to-stick-it-homeschool-your-kids/

Still Plugging Away

WOW! Is it just me or did the holidays fly by!? They seem like such a long time ago! I guess that is what happens when schedules are just so full. I couldn't believe I had not updated you on the happenings of our wonderful group since November! I'm really sorry! Here's a quick recap. December was our "regular" events with a skate party and a Christmas movie the week before Christmas. (We always love the skate parties!) January was also the "regular" routine with the added bonus of a trip to the Children's Museum. We weren't able to be at the museum trip so I am excited to see the pictures and hear about all the fun the kids had.

I am looking forward to getting caught up on my visiting next week at our Valentine skate party. (Did I mention we LOVE skate parties!? :) As a bonus this year we've added in a contest for the kids. There will be prizes for the best decorated Valentine boxes. I hope to post pictures of the winning boxes next week so everyone can see what talented kids the Lord has blessed us with!

Speaking of talent, not only are the kids creative they are also very smart. How smart? So smart they've requested a spelling bee! How fun is that!? Even better is the fact that we've had a mom to volunteer to put one together! So, this April we will have our 1st annual Spelling Bee! I can't wait to see how great the kids do! Also in April we will have our standardized testing. Even though it's a lot of work getting it together, I look forward to testing simply because it is an end-of-the-year event. It's a motivator for me to know that SUMMER IS COMING!! It helps me to just keep plugging away with the end in sight.

As I plug away and try to stay motivated during these winter months, I have to keep reminding myself that even when I can't see the sun it is still there. The days may always seem to be gray and overcast with low hanging clouds but I can't focus on just what I see with my natural eye. The same is true spiritually. Even when everything seems cold and dark in the world the Son is still there. Jesus is constant. He is the light. He shines through all the darkness to be a lamp for our feet so we can clearly see the way to go. I hope that as you find yourself indoors with your children more than usual you will take the opportunity to just enjoy them. Hold them close as you teach them diligently. Show them how to walk in the "Son-light" of Jesus, no matter what the weather is like.

Love and blessings to you and your sweet babies!
:) Vicki

Fun Times For All !!

Whew! This little homeschool group has been BUSY!!! Activities that packed October were the "School House Rock" musical performance, a fiddlin' good-time at the Hadley Castille Show, lots of 4-H activities like the photography club and playing bingo with our friends at the nursing home. We also had a great time at the zoo. What a perfect place for our kids to act like monkeys! The kids loved it and I hope the parents did, too. We used our box-top money to pay for the trip and I really appreciate all those who help collect all through out the year. Everyone doing a little adds up to a lot!

Coming up in November, we have just a few events. We have scheduled a performance of "Pride and Prejudice" and a wild trip to the safari park. Those events, along with all the regular 4-H meetings and the holiday, should keep us plenty busy.

But, if you need more activities, there are also some events in surrounding areas that you may want to include in celebration of Veterans Day. Chennault Aviation & Military Museum will be displaying the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall. Information on dates and times can be found here. Historic Jefferson College will be hosting a free Civil War reenactment and the details can be found here. If you happen to be heading to the Civil War reenactment you may also want to catch the Cotton Pickin' & Ginnin'. Look for details here.

No matter how busy you may find yourself this month, I pray you will not be too busy to take the time to truly celebrate this Thanksgiving season. We have so much to be thankful for and I encourage you to take the time to count your blessings. As the words of one of my favorite songs says - "Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done."

Have a wonderful Holiday,
:) Vicki

Back In Full Swing!

I am not going to go into great detail about how sorry I am to have missed posting the details of our back-to-school-blast-off in August. Needless to say, I am sorry if you missed attending because I didn't get the word out. (It was great fun, by the way!) But, never fear, it is not too late to get in on the September action. We have a great adventure planned for the 25th of September and it involves a museum, plantation home and an Amish buggy shop!! Wow, what a combo! In October we have two field trips planned. The first, which will be on October 4th, involves kids and music; the second, which we are trying to get scheduled for the 19th, involves kids holding many different species of animals - YIKES! If you are interested in more information on these upcoming activities just let me know.

Also, there is an event I thought some might like to attend. It isn't part of our homeschool group field trips but looks like great learning-fun. The Historic Jefferson College (16 Old North St., Natchez, MS) will be hosting their community event "Pioneer Days" on September 20th and 21st. The event is free to the public and has over 20 demonstrators who present information about Pioneer life. Topics include furniture making, quilting, story-telling, fiddling, pioneer toys and much more. More information and a map can be found at http://www.visitnatchez.org/includes/events/index.cfm?action=displayDetail&eventid=15988 . If you go please come back to this site and tell us how you liked it.

Don't forget, if you'd like to become a member of our group the annual fee is $25 per family until October 1st. After that it is $30. If you'd like a membership form just let me know.

Blessings to you,
:) Vicki

How Goes The Summer? FAST!!

Well, as usual things are moving at the speed of light around here and doesn't show signs of slowing. I hope all our homeschoolers out there are enjoying their summer. It's been a while since I've seen some of you so I hope all is well. The May skate party was great fun but seems like it was a million years ago! One of the things we've been busy doing here at my house is finishing the yearbook. We are glad to say it is done and we are now taking orders! The yearbooks cost $25 and the order deadline is July 13th. After the deadline they will cost $30. We do have a link where you can view them online before you buy. If your interested just drop me an email. Thanks to all those who sent pictures to put in the yearbook. I think it all looks great.

We are planning to have our back-to-school bash again this year as a skate party sometime in August. I imagine it will be after the public school begins. Anyway, go ahead and be thinking of what field trip you'd like to plan for next year. We will have a sign-up sheet at our first meeting for each mom to pick a month in which they'd like to put together a fun activity. It doesn't have to be fancy, just something your kids are interested in doing. If your kids like it our kids probably will, too!

If you know of anyone who is new to homeschooling or just needs encouragement/fellowship please share our group information! By God's grace we can help and be a blessing!

:) Vicki