Counting Down to Christmas

We can talk about Christmas now.  It's after Thanksgiving and therefore okay to move into the Holiday Season.  As I've mentioned before, I'm one of THOSE people who can not stand to be bombarded with all things Holiday when my calendar still says October.  Call me crazy, but I really don't want to listen to Nutcracker music while I'm out buying Halloween costumes. And is it just me, or does it seem like every year the "Holiday Season" starts earlier and earlier?

Giving Thanks and Weekend Links

Many things that I've read or overheard lately have mentioned how the Thanksgiving holiday is becoming increasingly overlooked. Plenty of people are up in arms about the encroachment of Black Friday shopping hours which, for many stores, now begin almost immediately after the turkey is served. Much of the world does seem to look past Thanksgiving toward Christmas once the calendar page turns to November.

Because Sometimes Everyone Gets Sick

You know the kind of day I'm talking about. You wake up one morning, drag yourself out of your nice, warm bed and downstairs to start your day as usual.  Maybe enjoy a hot cup of coffee after throwing some breakfast at the children.

But then you look up from checking Facebook reading important education related articles to see the baby throwing up everywhere.  A short time later, the older child starts complaining of a tummy ache and it's not long before he is also getting sick on every surface between the couch and the bathroom. It is at this moment when you realize that today is going to be dramatically different than you had planned. And not in a good way.

The “08″ Homeschooling Option

There was a recent conversation in a group I belong to about a second, and lesser-known notification option for homeschoolers in Ohio.  Interest levels were raised quite bit in this discussion, so I thought I’d write about it here.

Now, before I go any further, let me state for the record that I am NOT an expert and probably have as much understanding of state laws regarding homeschooling as the rest of you.  Possibly even less.  Reading any kind of legal documentation just makes my eyes glaze over and my brain hurt. However, based on my own research and the experience of others, I wanted to at least pass along what I do know.

Most of you are probably familiar with the first option for complying with the state law in Ohio regarding homeschooling. You provide annual notification to the superintendent for your district documenting your intent to educate your children at home. This notification includes names and ages of kids, curriculum outline and copies of standardized test scores or portfolio review. That’s the very simplified version, but detailed information on this can be found here.

And if you’re a more visual person, like me, and want a summary of the education options for Ohio, then you might like this chart.

What is this “08 School” option that many homeschoolers don’t know much about?

From the HSLDA website, “Alternative ways to privately educate children: Ohio Administrative Code 3301-35-08 allows schools with truly held religious beliefs to be established without a charter from the State Board of Education. These schools, officially “non-chartered, non-tax-supported schools,” have come to be known as “08 schools.”

This is an option if you:

• Are comfortable citing religious beliefs as a reason to seek private education for your children.
• Have a Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized University
• Are able to submit notification before September 30th of the new school year
• Do not wish to take advantage of any “auxiliary services”

What is the process for this type of notification?

Each school year you would submit a form to the treasurer (NOT the superintendent) of the board of education where you reside by September 30th.

What are the differences in these two options?

The main differences with the “08 school” are:

• Much LESS paperwork to submit. No curriculum outline or book list is needed and there are no requirements to submit standardized test scores or a portfolio review each year.
• You must submit your form by September 30th for the school year (so it’s too late for this school year). If you’re deciding to homeschool in the middle of a school year, then this option would have to wait until the next school year.
•  Each family operating as an 08 school should be aware that the Department of Education maintains a list of all non-chartered, non-tax supported schools which may be obtained by request from the Department. Families that desire to protect their privacy may wish to operate under the homeschool statute rather than as an 08 school.
• Each non-chartered, non-tax supported school has to comply with state and local health, fire, and safety laws.  The courts have concluded that the only health, fire, and safety laws that apply to single-family private schools are those which apply to single-family residences.
• As a non-chartered, non-tax supported school you ARE eligible for Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO); a program permitting high-school students to earn college credit or high school graduation credit through college coursework. More info on that can be found here.
• Ability to participate in school sports appears to be at the discretion of each school district, the exception being if you are enrolled part-time in the high school – then you are automatically eligible.  It is my understanding (someone correct me, if I’m wrong!) that the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) controls participation.

Are you more or less confused now?

Me too.

Basically, the “08 School” option is not available again until the 2012/2013 school year, so if you still need to submit notification for the current school year, then you’ll need to go with option one.  This is the option that I’ve used for the last two years, but until recently, I was unfamiliar with the second option. The families I’ve come across who are registered as an “08 School” have had a positive experience with it, so it’s certainly something to consider.

Do you have experience registering as an 08 school that you can share? Are there other questions you have about this option? Did reading this article only leave you more confused and wishing you’d made better use of your time?

Please share in the comments! (Maybe not on that last one, though).

~ Dori

This, That and Things To Do

It's starting to look like winter here in Cleveland today. My boys were so excited to see snow! They just wish there was more of it to play in.  Soon enough, boys, soon enough...

Just thought I'd take some time to highlight a few things happening in the homeschooling community. Please chime in with a comment if there's anything you'd like to let people know about or contact me anytime.

Check out the Homeschool Freebies website today for a great deal! Over $300 worth of items for only $11 - only today, so check it out.

Lego KidsFest 2011

I woke up yesterday feeling like I'd been run over by a truck in my sleep. I'm pretty sure this had at least something to do with spending most of the previous day at the Lego KidsFest. Did you go? If you were there, I was the harried-looking mom surrounded by her many boys.

Oh, wait. That describes pretty much everyone there.

At first, I wasn't going to write about an event that's over (hey, everyone - I went to this really great event in Cleveland over the weekend! Let me tell you all about it even though you can't go anymore!).  But then I decided that I wanted to write about it anyway. Maybe you didn't go and would like to know what it was all about? Maybe it will be in Cleveland or a nearby city next year and instead of trying to rack my mommy brain for the details to share with you I can simply refer to this post?

As I've mentioned before, I have four boys, so our house is approximately 80% covered in Legos at any given moment. After their schoolwork is done or we've come home from being gone for the day, my boys always immediately retreat to their Lego areas to play. So when a friend of mine told me about the Lego Fest coming to Cleveland, my husband and I decided that we HAD to take our boys. We bought tickets but didn't tell them where we were going - we really wanted to surprise them. And it was worth it to see the looks on their little faces when they saw the huge Lego Kidsfest sign as we neared the I-X Center.

Inside was Lego pandemonium!

Sometimes You Need a Schedule of Sorts

Last year our homeschooling was sporadic at best. We added a new member to our family, so school was put on the back burner for awhile as we took the time to really welcome and enjoy our newborn.

But now he's one and so there's really no excuse, is there?

Except that I forgot how much time you can spend each day just trying to keep a one year old out of trouble!

Once the baby was finally taking somewhat regular naps, I decided we needed to buckle down and resume some kind of consistent school routine.  After a few days of throwing books at each kid throughout the day and trying desperately to divide my attention between the four children I gave up. For awhile. (You can read this post about our "typical" day trying to fit in school with a newborn if you want a good laugh).