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 12^th 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