Happy Holiday Season Everyone
How are your holiday plans going? Is it crazy yet? For us, Christmas is a quiet time, which just means the rest of our year is too busy. As my friend Catherine tells me, "...but you must like it because you keep doing it.
Last week was a mixed bag. I was in a multi-vehicle accident. I am fine but the car is pretty messed up. Thankfully no one was hurt.
On Friday, we found out that my oldest has been accepted to his first choice college. Yeah!
I saw this in the paper:
The University of Richmond will spend $2.5 million a year to fund internships or research opportunities for all of its full-time undergraduate students beginning next summer.This is an important issue because today's job market is so tough, especially for young people. The days of mass mailing of resumes, even on the internet are gone. I today's economy it is all about networking. by providing opportunities for students to interact with people in their field of study gives them both practical experience face time with the people who might hire them. If you were considering U of Richmond or had not really decided but wanted a Virginia School, check it out.
I read in the paper this morning, in the business section, that a lot of young people cannot calculate the amount of student debt they are collecting or what impact it will have on their future. If you are raising a teenager, and I assume most of you are, YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE FINANCIALLY LITERATE AND RESPONSIBLE. If you have not taught them how to make a budget and how to save for the things they want, you have done them a great disservice. We are not here to make all of their dreams come true, we are here to prepare them for the real world. There are a number of programs out their to help you. I would suggest Crown or Dave Ramsey to start. Enough Said.
As this blog is developing, I am working on having regular features. One of those features will be interviews with people who are in or work with the homeschooling community. This week I had a chance to speak with Marquita Sykes, the Norfolk Public Schools Coordinator for Home Instruction. She is your liaison and go to person when working with Norfolk Public Schools.
Interview
with Marquita Sykes, Norfolk Public Schools
Prior to
this appointment, what was your experience or understanding of homeschoolers
and the homeschool community?
I worked in the Compensatory Education
department for Norfolk Public Schools as the Supplemental Educational Services
(SES) afterschool facilitator. This department handles various supplemental
education programs and I attended webinars and meetings where we discussed
different programs such as home instruction, afterschool programs, school
choice and etc. Before I started working with Home Instruction I was trained by
the last person who was responsible and was shared all of the information from
the packets that we send out to parents. Once I became the district home
instruction contact person I attended various homeschool webinar trainings
and researched the home instruction program in Virginia and surrounding states
for information and updates.
A lot of
first year homeschooling families are confused or intimidated by some of the
requirements of state law and local rules. How do you explain it and reassure
parents?
I share with
the parents the information that they will receive in the home instruction packet
and also give them a list of home school tutoring groups in the area that they
can contact and get additional information and support from. Parents are also sent the VA guidelines in the
packet which is a FAQ resource. I encourage parents to speak with guidance
counselors in the school that there child(ren) are zoned for if they need any
guidance on curriculum for the grade level that there child is in. I have a
list of different home instruction test providers if parents need them when it
comes to sending in evidence of academic achievement at the end of the school
year.
What do you
think homeschoolers bring and can bring to the school community in Norfolk?
I think
homeschoolers can bring the same opportunities as regular public schools. Our
students in the public schools do community services projects where they plant
gardens or beautify school or community grounds and they also participate in
many other community service activities such as working with elderly who are
sick or going to the shelters for the holidays and donating can goods or items
of clothing. Norfolk has plenty of events happening where students are invited
to participate. Parents have the right to go to the schools in and out of their communities to see what the other parents/youth are doing and
to participate also.
What do you
wish homeschoolers knew about NPS?
Parent’s
homeschool for various reasons but in the last few months we have had a lot of
students who are being home instructed because of bullying in the schools. I
would like for parents to know that Norfolk is working on the bullying
prevention and it is a huge issue. We
are now working with the Office of Civil Rights when cases are reported. It
will take some time to get all bullying out of schools but now that the issue
is at the forefront we are making strides to get a hold to it. There is
positive behavior intervention support (PBIS) in all of all schools and teachers
and administration have been trained on how to implement this in the buildings.
Guidance counselors are also there as a resource and can put interventions in
place if a child is being bullied. With all of this being said I would like for
parents to talk to the appropriate people to get interventions in place before
pulling students into homeschooling if bullying is the reason.
Between
elementary and middle school, the numbers of homeschooled students drops by
about 40%. From you interactions with families, why does that happen?
I would say
that the numbers drop because when the students enroll in middle school the
foundation has been taught at home during the elementary years and now the
parents feel more comfortable with sending the students to school so that they
can be more social and interact in sports and other activities in a public
school setting. A lot of the students at this age want to be a part of a public
school setting and are mature enough at this age to function highly in a public
school.
State law
allows some participation in school activities by homeschooled students. A lot
of families know that they can play sports, at the discretion of the local
superintendent and the school administrator. Are there other opportunities for
homeschoolers in NPS?
NPS does not
have a school board policy written at this time where students are allowed to
participate in sports or go to class part time in the public school setting and
part time home school. This is a concern for many of our parents as I have
relayed to the Superintendent of Teaching and Learning and it is on the radar
to get a policy written up so that this can start. Our home instructed students
who have an IEP or receive speech therapy sessions can continue to receive
services if parents request this from the Special Education Department. I have
written letters for parents who need confirmation that the child is being
homeschooled to play on a community sports team and do not mind doing this if
requested. I have also written letters to the VDOE for GED testing waivers for
homeschool students once they finish there homeschool program and have submitted
me the evidence of academic achievement for the 12th grade school
year. Students are also allowed to take the PSAT and SAT at their home schools
once they are in high school. They can contact the school guidance counselor
for test dates and how to register.
Looking forward to your comments and responses to everything in my blog. I do really want some interaction.
Happy Holidays!
T
