D.C. Homeschooling
Everyone, from a parent just considering homeschooling to the veteran homeschooler, has questions. To help, we've compiled the best resources, support, information, and ideas available to help you make your decision to homeschool and to successfully home educate your children. There are so many resources in D.C. that you can use to make homeschooling fun and enjoyable for every member of your family! Here are some common questions:
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The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the Department of Defense and is one of the world's largest office buildings. Tours of the Pentagon are available to schools, educational organizations and other select groups by reservation only.
Bike the Sites
Bike the Sites offers guided bike tours and rentals in Washington, D.C. This is a unique and fun way to see our nation's capital. The tours combine history, interesting facts, and a love for the city with a safe, enjoyable, and easy bike ride. Visitors who prefer exploring on their own may rent mountain bikes, child trailers, and strollers. They are conveniently located at the Old Post Office Pavilion, just a block from the National Mall and Smithsonian museums.
DCPS Policies
Listed here are answers to the most commonly asked District of Columbia Public Schools policy questions.
Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail
Five trails are currently recognized as segments of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail:
- the 70-mile Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail between Ohiopyle and Seward, Penn., managed by Laurel Ridge State Park, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources;
- the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage between Cumberland, Md., and Ohiopyle and between Pittsburgh, Penn., and Ohiopyle, managed by an alliance of organizations and agencies;
- the 184.5-mile C & O Canal Towpath betwee...
The Handel Children's Choir
The Handel Children's Choir has an enrollment of 60 boys and girls, ages 8 to 18. The program emphasizes classical music, multicultural music, contemporary music and folk songs. Special attention is placed on healthy vocal production and training in musicianship. Above all the program is designed both to be substantive and enjoyable for the children. Each season the Children's Choir presents winter and spring concerts and performs outreach and special events in the community. Past activities hav...
Home School SportsNet
This sports league is mainly for homeschoolers in the Washington, D.C., northern Virginia, and Maryland area. There is also information about starting your own team, college recruiting, scholarships, and more.
Capital Area Christian Communicators (CACC) Debate Club
Capital Area Christian Communicators (CACC) Debate Club is a parent-run debate co-operative. CACC exists as an organization to provide our youth with life skills that will prepare them to articulate truth and defend their beliefs.
Baltimore-Washington Home Educators (BWHE)
This list is designed for Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia homeschoolers as on-line community for open-minded homeschoolers in the region who are interested in participating in a community that represents a diverse range of religious, political and philosophical beliefs.
Baltimore-Washington Parkway
Opened in 1954, the parkway is a 29-mile scenic highway that connects Baltimore, Maryland with Washington, D.C. The part of the parkway from Washington, D.C. to Fort Meade, Maryland is managed by the National Park Service. Although the first concept of Parkway design was envisioned by Pierre L'Enfant in his 18th century plan, the concept of a parkway in Washington, D.C. was not approved until 1902. At that time, Parkways were designed for use by bicyclists and horse-drawn carriages.
District of Columbia Home School Laws
The Home School Legal Defense Association provides a brief summary of the homeschooling laws in the District of Columbia. Includes a link to a legal analysis of laws relating to homeschooling in D.C.
§ 38-209. Court jurisdiction.
The Family Division of the Superior Court is hereby given jurisdiction in all cases arising under this subchapter.
§ 38-205. Report of enrollments and withdrawals.
The principal or head teacher of each public, independent, private, or parochial school, and each teacher who gives private instruction, shall, in accordance with the rules adopted by the Board pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2, report to the Board the name, address, sex, and date of birth of each minor who resides permanently or temporarily in the District who transfers between schools or who enrolls in or withdraws from his or her school.
§ 38-206. Penalty for failure to provide correct information.
Any parent, guardian, custodian, principal, or teacher of a minor who has reached the age of 3 years who willfully neglects or refuses to provide the information required by §§ 38-202 through 38-206, or who knowingly makes any false statement, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Culture at Home
Culture at Home is an African American homeschool support group in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area with an emphasis on the older homeschooled student. Culture at Home is a support group for families concerned with the healthy well-being and academic guidance of the African-American child. The purpose of this group is to provide an educational outreach support program and to supplement the curriculum of homeschoolers with children ages 10-18 (grades 5-12), but they also provide ...
§ 38-202. Establishment of school attendance requirements.
Every parent, guardian, or other person, who resides permanently or temporarily in the District during any school year and who has custody or control of a minor who has reached the age of 5 years or will become 5 years of age on or before December 31st of the current school year shall place the minor in regular attendance in a public, independent, private, or parochial school, or in private instruction during the period of each year when the public schools of the District are in session. This ...
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Featured Resources
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Not So Fast: Parenting Your Teen Through the Dangers of Driving
Most driving literature for parents focuses on how to teach a teen to drive, without explaining why teen driving is so dangerous in the first place or giving parents a plan to preempt the hazards teens face. By contrast, Not So Fast empowers and guid...
Guiding Your Catholic Preschooler
There can be no greater delight in parenting than passing on the Faith to the next generation. To help with that glorious responsibility comes Guiding Your Catholic Preschooler, a parents handbook to home-based religious instruction for the youngest ...
More Charlotte Mason Education: A Home Schooling How-To Manual
After providing an important work in explaining the Charlotte Mason method for homeschoolers, Catherine Levison goes deeper into the use of this method in the home with her subsequent work. This book expands the information from the first book and of...
Classical Education & The Home School
Classical education is an idea whose time has come again. When parents see the failures of modern education, they look for better solutions and classical education is one that has been tested in the past and found to be good. For the Christian home e...
The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education
This classic homeschool resource is intended for teens who are ready to take charge of their own education. Written by Grace Llewellyn in the '90s, it is still relevant today. Teens will be empowered by claiming their natural ability to teach themsel...
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I believe that school makes complete fools of our young men, because they see and hear nothing of ordinary life there.
Petronius