When Lois Curling first considered homeschooling her children, she hesitated for two reasons.
She was nervous about navigating state laws governing at-home education. And, she said, “We believed… that we might feel isolated.”
A click of the mouse, however, eased both of these fears.
“My family’s decision to homeschool came about as a result of visiting the website http://www.VaHomeschoolers.org, and attending a Virginia Homeschoolers conference at the Science Museum of Virginia,” she said.
At the conference, Curling gained a full knowledge of Virginia’s Code of Law for homeschoolers. She also discovered a camaraderie she hadn’t known was available.
“Virginia Homeschoolers helps beginners to find local support groups,” said Curling, “which was how our family first learned about Hanover Homeschoolers.”
Although Hanover Homeschoolers was founded in this county, the organization has grown to include the greater Richmond area. And Hanover Homeschoolers, which welcomes homeschoolers of all faiths and learning styles, boasts a membership of more than 400 families.
That membership is likely to keep growing.
The number of homeschooling families in Hanover County has risen steadily over the past seven years. In 2002, the Virginia Department of Education reported that 308 children, in grades K-12, were being homeschooled here. By 2007, that number had reached 560.
Groups such as Hanover Homeschoolers are meeting the needs of these children by offering both formal and informal opportunities to learn, through field trips, activities and events.
“Members who meet at Hanover Homeschoolers events often form friendships and eventually organize their own smaller groups which meet much more frequently for studying a subject of common interest, field trips, or playing,” said Curling. “In that way, Hanover Homeschoolers acts as a means for homeschoolers with common interests to find each other, and to find out about classes, tutors (and) field trips available in the community.”
Such activities support the reason that many families started homeschooling in the first place.
“We chose to homeschool because of the depth and variety of things we found we could teach our children,” said Janet Kiss, who homeschools her three children, ages 10, eight and four. “Now that we’re in our fifth year of homeschooling, we’ve come to appreciate how it allows our children to follow their interest, and learn a subject fueled by their own curiosity.”
Kiss says that while she follows a planned curriculum that incorporates the Virginia Standards of Learning, teaching her children at home allows her to offer a basic core curriculum, encompassing reading, writing and artithmatic, that is enhanced by the freedom and flexibility to explore topics of interest.
“Homeschooling allows you to develop relationships between things,” she said. “You intend to read a lesson on Christopher Columbus, but may get caught up in astronomy after reading about the stars and navigation.”
Although there may be a perception that homeschooling involves one parent cloistered at home, alone with the children, this simply isn’t the case. Homeschooling can be a group effort.
Every other week, Kiss and her children get together with seven other families to work on projects as a group, such as behind-the-scenes field trips to the fire department or the bank and team-building exercises such as collaborating on the creation of a fictional country.
“When homeschoolers get together, magical things happen,” said Kiss. “People say, let’s get together, and create a fabulous program!”
Membership in Hanoever Homeschoolers is free, and new members are welcome. For details, e-mail
For more information about homeschooling in Virginia, visit http://www.VaHomeschoolers.org or http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Parents/factshee.html
