Back in the homeschool classroom: Support group versus co-op

Encore article from 2010....

As a member of the SWAC area homeschool support group for 10 years, I watched as other homeschoolers around the state started co-op groups and some eventually lost their support groups as a result. It was a concern at the time because each provided something different for the families involved.

A friend in the PEACH (Parent Educators of Augusta County Homes) group sent over the following from this month's newsletter because it mentioned that while president of PEACH, I advocated the importance of preserving the support group. It seems that is still relevant today:

A Bit from the Board

The other day, I received a phone call from a homeschool mom in Fluvanna County. She was inquiring about PEACH Skate and was anxious to be able to attend with her children. They had re-located from North Carolina several years prior and were still missing all the benefits of their support group back home. In the course of our conversation, not only did I learn that there is no skating rink in the Charlottesville area, but that it’s also lacking a homeschool support group.

I was flabbergasted. After the initial shock, a mix of sympathy and gratefulness sprung up within me. Sympathy for the home educators of Charlottesville and surrounding counties and a sense of gratitude for what we’ve been blessed with here.

I recalled what a former PEACH president, Lynn Mitchell, had passionately written about in her newsletter address to PEACH members more than once. She urged us all to support our support group and to not let our dedication be trumped by our participation in a co-op.

I felt that to be a timely reminder for this day as well. As you peruse through our needs for volunteers and coordinators on the front page, please remember the mom in Fluvanna county. Without the many hands of PEACH members making light the workload, we would be in her shoes. --Kim, PEACH Newsletter Editor

The reasons are all still there why it is good to have support groups in addition to co-ops. While co-ops offer a structured learning environment, support groups provide a less-structured social network for parents and students.

Many thanks to all the homeschool parents who volunteer their time for the good of the group. Without them nothing would run, nothing would be provided, nothing would be available. Without volunteers, PEACH would not exist.

The homeschool community is a special group of friends and I thank them for inviting me to be their keynote speaker at the recent PEACH Senior Banquet. More about that in a follow-up post.
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Lynn Mitchell educated her children at home for 16 years and was part of leadership in North Carolina's Iredell County Home Educators (ICHE) and Virginia's Parent Educators of Augusta County Homes (PEACH). Her son graduated from Harrisonburg's James Madison University (JMU) in 2007 with a BS in Computer Science and a minor in Creative Writing. Her daughter graduated from Staunton's Mary Baldwin College in 2012 with a BS in Sustainable Business and Marketing. Lynn and her husband live in Augusta County located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The story of how she began her homeschool journey can be found here.

Congratulations PEACH Class of 2011

It's a journey they have traveled together ... congratulations to the SWAC area home school PEACH Class of 2011 and their parents.

Megan Andes
Ellie Bohlman
Anna Colvin
Calvin Conley
Joel Deaton
Jonathan Freesen
Seth Heerschap
Victoria Kearney
Molly Kiers
Hanna Kingston
Anna Kocka
William Krassoi
Bethany Labrecque
Marius Mello
Rachel Robacker
Talitha Shank
Nate Smith
Joshua St. Clair
Joanna Valentine
Travis Wells

Frontier Culture Museum ... it's a small world

What a small world we live in. While attending my first Board of Trustees meeting today at the Frontier Culture Museum, one of the staff members and I discovered we not only grew up in the same area of Chesterfield County but we graduated from the same high school a year apart.

As if that wasn't enough of a coincidence, while talking with another new trustee from Northern Virginia, a retired USMC Lt. Colonel, I asked if he by any chance knew Jim Riley, my "boss" at the Virginia Virtucon blog. He smiled and said Jim was one of his precinct captains in Prince William County. Small, small world.

Great and exciting things are going on with the FCM and I expect to be writing about much of it over the years. It has presented a great hands-on learning opportunity for the local home school students and, in October, the Museum will host the Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV) home schoolers from throughout the state -- close to 1,000 of them.

Local home educated students from PEACH (Parent Educators of Augusta County Homes) and other groups volunteer at the Museum, and one of the PEACH students built the wheelchair ramp to the school house as his Eagle Scout project.

After a morning meeting and afternoon meeting, finally arrived home late in the day just in time to get dinner going. Now I've got lots of writing to do for the Washington Examiner and for this blog.

SWAC Husband has the American flags ready to fly first thing in the morning to honor the ninth anniversary of 9/11. May we never forget....

National Spelling Bee: Yay! Sarah Anne moves on....

Just before noon, SWAC home school student Sarah Anne Allen finally was called on for her spelling word and she got it! With only two Virginia students left in the competition -- both home schoolers -- Sarah Anne is left alone to represent the Commonwealth with the elimination of the Centreville home schooler.

After Round 4, there are 32 spellers left. They have now begun Round 5. Go, Sarah Anne, go!

National Spelling Bee: SWAC home schooler advances to semifinals

"Sarsaparilla."

That was one of the spelling words local home school student Sarah Anne Allen was required to spell correctly on Thursday to advance in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC. I had to check behind myself typing "sarsaparilla" to be sure I had spelled it correctly on this post.

Congratulations to Sarah Ann, one of only two Virginia students to advance, as she moves into today's semifinals from 10 a.m until 1 p.m. to be broadcast on ESPN, followed by tonight's final round which can be seen on ABC.

The Waynesboro News Virginian's Megan Davis is following Sarah Anne -- thank you for taking an interest in academics -- and has a front page story detailing yesterday's proceedings. Stay tuned to what is happening by following updates on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/NewsVirginian and on the News Virginian website.

Spelling ... it's an adventure and Sarah Anne is enjoying the ride. Best wishes from the PEACH (Parent Educators of Augusta County) home schoolers for today's competition ... go, Sarah Ann, go!

National Spelling Bee: Go, Sarah Anne, go!

There will be a Valley girl at Wednesday's Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC, and a home school Valley girl, at that!

Sarah Anne Allen of Waynesboro is part of the PEACH (Parent Educators of Augusta County Homes) home school group and is being cheered on by all the home educators in the SWAC area.

After winning the regional bee in March, she started preparing with her mom and teacher, Sherri, to participate as one of 274 competitors in DC.

The Waynesboro News Virginian wrote about Sarah Anne today and gave the ESPN schedule:

The national competition begins Wednesday with a computer test of 25 words. Competitors will then complete two rounds spelling one word orally each. The preliminary rounds will air on ESPN 3 at 1:15 p.m. Thursday.

About one-fifth of the spellers will move into the semi-finals, which will be broadcast on ESPN at 10 a.m. Friday. The final round is set to air on ABC that day at 8 p.m.

Best wishes to the Allens as they head to DC. Go get 'em, Sarah Anne!

Home school ... support group versus co-op

As a member of the SWAC area home school support group for 10 years, I watched as other home schoolers around the state started co-op groups and some eventually lost their support groups as a result. It was a concern at the time because each provided something different for the families involved.

A friend in the PEACH (Parent Educators of Augusta County Homes) group sent over the following from this month's newsletter because it mentioned that while president of PEACH, I advocated the importance of preserving the support group. It seems that is still relevant today:

A Bit from the Board

The other day, I received a phone call from a homeschool mom in Fluvanna County. She was inquiring about PEACH Skate and was anxious to be able to attend with her children. They had re-located from North Carolina several years prior and were still missing all the benefits of their support group back home. In the course of our conversation, not only did I learn that there is no skating rink in the Charlottesville area, but that it’s also lacking a homeschool support group.

I was flabbergasted. After the initial shock, a mix of sympathy and gratefulness sprung up within me. Sympathy for the home educators of Charlottesville and surrounding counties and a sense of gratitude for what we’ve been blessed with here.

I recalled what a former PEACH president, Lynn Mitchell, had passionately written about in her newsletter address to PEACH members more than once. She urged us all to support our support group and to not let our dedication be trumped by our participation in a co-op.

I felt that to be a timely reminder for this day as well. As you peruse through our needs for volunteers and coordinators on the front page, please remember the mom in Fluvanna county. Without the many hands of PEACH members making light the workload, we would be in her shoes. --Kim, PEACH Newsletter Editor

The reasons are all still there why it is good to have support groups in addition to co-ops. While co-ops offer a structured learning environment, support groups provide a less-structured social network for parents and students.

Many thanks to all the home school parents who volunteer their time for the good of the group. Without them nothing would run, nothing would be provided, nothing would be available. Without volunteers, PEACH would not exist.

The home school community is a special group of friends and I thank them for inviting me to be their keynote speaker at the recent PEACH Senior Banquet. More about that in a follow-up post.

SWAC area home schooler wins regional spelling bee

Sarah Anne Allen has been a smart child all her life and she proved it at Saturday's 63rd annual Scripps Regional Spelling Bee when the seventh grader outspelled her 30 opponents to win the competition. She will now head to the Scripp's National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC, to be held June 2-4. She was featured on the front page of Sunday's Waynesboro News-Virginian.

The Allen family is part of PEACH (Parent Educators of Augusta County Homes), the local home school group that brings several hundred home school families together for support, sports, education, entertainment, field trips, teen activities, and plain old good times together.

Home schoolers continue to prove they can compete with their public/private school peers. Last year PEACH student Andrew Taylor won the regional spelling bee and went on to DC where he made it to the fifth round.

We wish Sarah Anne the best as she prepares for the big event in June.

Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV)
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)

PEACH home schooler wins regional spelling bee

Congratulations to Andrew Traylor with PEACH (Parent Educators of Augusta County Homes) who won the 62nd Annual Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday.

Held at Monticello High School and broadcast on NBC 29, Andrew won out over 32 students from Waynesboro, Staunton, Augusta County, Albemarle County, Nelson County, Charlottesville, Greene County, Peabody School, Miller School, Covenant School, Fluvanna County, Tandem Friends School, and Stuart Hall. He will now participate in the National Spelling Bee to be held in Washington, DC.

I got the call Saturday while in the rural areas of Augusta County collecting assessment petitions for the Wednesday Board of Supervisors meeting ... a fellow home school dad called immediately after the contest concluded to say Andrew had won. Word spread fast.

Congratulations, Andrew! You make all home schoolers proud.

Update: The Waynesboro News Virginian, a co-sponsor of the spelling bee, has a top-of-the-fold front page story with a photo of Andrew.