Jen Garrison Stuber

Some Homeschool Math

In WA, we have a requirement of 1,000 hours for homeschooling. (In a school, this is generally 180 5.5 hour days, more or less). This includes everything that happens in school — lunch, recess, lining up, Johnny can’t find his pencil, Susy’s acting up, every fieldtrip, field day, every substitute teacher blow off, every time

The Law

Email of the Day: In talking in another group, I was discussing why I love WA homeschool laws and was told that WA is too strict and sounds awful. Literally she said “ewww your state is going off my list of places i will ever live”. Talk about a punch to the gut. I love

Super Secret (Anonymous) Heroine of the Day

Super Secret (Anonymous) Heroine of the Day: “Me outside the superintendent’s office to self *be cool, be normal, don’t say anything out of line* . . . Five minutes later, while waiting for paperwork, and hearing them blatantly lie to another homeschooling parent about mandatory testing exclusively through them: “THAT’S NOT TRUE! ACTUALLY YOU DON’T

Homeschooling vs. govt. schooling

Email of the Day: Yikes! I just saw the below message posted on a national homeschool site. Is there anyway something like this could happen in Washington, Jen Garrison Stuber Handweaver? “This was posted in our Indiana homeschool page: As IAHE Director of Government Affairs, I frequently interface with the Indiana General Assembly (IGA) on

Advocacy in Action

Advocacy In Action: WHO received an email the other day from a mom who’d approached her school over the summer to sign her 10th graders up for the PSAT. (You can sign up for the SAT online and then just show up at the school, but you have to sign up for the PSAT at

On diplomas and transcripts

On diplomas and transcripts: 20 November 2015 Under Washington State law, the requirement for compulsory attendance is satisfied in one of three ways: attendance in a public school, private school, or home-based instruction [the legal name for homeschooling in our state] (RCW 28A.200.010). The state makes no distinction in the “legitimacy” of these forms of

Checking the teacher box

Email of the Day: Hi Jen! I have a Letter of Intent question. I spoke with a friend who thinks that taking the parenting course means we are allowed to check the box indicating the home-based instruction will be supervised by a person certificated in Washington state pursuant to etc. I have always been under

K-12 programs

Email of the Day: I hear that k-12 is good but haven’t gotten a chance to look into it. I have several friends who homeschool have recommended it. Answer: Unless you buy it outright, K-12 is enrolling in public school and leaving homeschooling. They’re doing public school at home, and using “homeschooling” as shorthand to

Homeschooling’s Dirty Little Secret

Here’s Homeschooling’s Dirty Little Secret: We are *all* completely terrified that we’re going to mess up our children. We are all totally scared that in choosing this homeschooling thing, they’re going to miss out on something that they would have got in public school, that they’ll have some gap that they won’t be able to

Last Mom Standing (RS questions)

Email of the Day: Hello . Regarding the RS program in WA, I have been told students are eligible up until age 21. My son is a sophomore now. I am unsure weather or not he’ll be ready next year for RS program, as it’s college level work. A friend told me that, if I

DofI questions

Email of the Day: Does the DOI have to be filed mid year (my twins turn 8 in January) or can I wait to file it prior to the next school year? Also, when the DOI is filed/mailed, do you have to submit your college transcripts or teaching cert (I used to be a teacher

CRHE in the news

The Coalition for Responsible Home Education is an organization comprised of formerly homeschooled students who feel (and, in many cases, rightly so) that their parents were derelict in their homeschooling. As such, the seek to see more legislation and regulations for homeschooling, and they’ve started to move toward recommending that homeschooling copy the public schools.