Meet our newest Board Member.
www.californiahomeschool.net
Family Expo at the Great Wolf Lodge.
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Finding Your Community.
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Upcoming Homeschool Days.
August 2018
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20
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CHN Fall Camp Out.
join today!
CHN continues to monitor legislation to ensure that homeschooling remains a legal option in California. Monitored bills include: AB2756, AB2926, SB972, HR610 & HR899. For updates on these bills visit: http://www.californiahomeschool.net/legislation/
WE DID IT!
Together the homeschooling community defeated TWO bills in April. Being in Sacramento was truly moving. An estimated 2,000+ homeschoolers stood in line for hours to state their opposition to AB 2756. It was hot and so very crowded, but the atmosphere was inspiring! The kids were troopers and represented our community in all ways. Without the unwavering dedication of all of those who showed up to stand in line as well as all of those who called, emailed, and visited with their representatives, this would not have been possible. As a community, you encouraged and supported each other and we are truly grateful to have been able to stand with all of you. Thank you, California Homeschool Network HomeSchool Association of California Real CA Homeschool
Legislation
More than 37,000 people signed the "Preserve Homeschooling in California" petition in opposition of AB2756 and AB2926. Thank you, everyone, for signing, writing, calling and showing up and helping to protect California's freedom to homeschool.
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New to homeschooling? Start by downloading our step-by-step guide to starting your homeschool!
Thinking About Homeschooling Because of SB277?
We encourage every homeschooler in California to become part of our united effort to keep homeschooling legal in California so that everyone can choose the option that is best for their family.
Thinking about homeschooling because of SB277? SB 277 eliminated the vaccine exemption for children who attend public and private schools. An independent study homeschooling exemption was written for children who are not receiving classroom-based instruction. The independent study exemption gives parents three educational options to consider if their child is not fully immunized as required by the new law and their child did not have a personal beliefs exemption filed prior to January 1, 2016 (see code for grade span limitations). Those options are to: File a Private School Affidavit (PSA) and teach your own child at home. Enroll in a PSP and teach your own child at home. Enroll in a public ISP or Charter that does not require classroom-based instruction and teach your child at home. In California, children six and over must be enrolled in a legal school. If you wish to homeschool with a vaccine exemption, your legal options remain the ones above, with your child being taught at home with the family, not a group of unrelated children.
JUST THE FACTS
Homeschooling is a special journey through learning that we gift our children with. It is holistic, empowering, and can profoundly affect the entire family’s relationship with learning. This sounds great, doesn’t it? There is something I left out that homeschoolers also have. We are all part of a community. All of us, children and parents alike, are a part of the large umbrella community of homeschoolers. This community is formed around a group of people who chose to pull our children out of the traditional school setting, to give our children an innovative journey through learning that honors the individuals that they are. We all also belong to smaller sub-groups within our large homeschool community. These are the homeschoolers whose reasons for homeschooling or parenting styles often mirror our own. We identify and connect with them, even if it is sometimes solely online. I make it sound as if this smaller community where you feel most connected is easy to find, even though I often hear from others that is not the case. “A true community is not just about being geographically close to someone or part of the same social web network. It's about feeling connected and responsible for what happens. Humanity is our ultimate community, and everyone plays a crucial role.” Yehuda Berg. Being a part of a community that fits your family’s particular niche is something I know a thing or two about. Three years ago, I was looking for my community. I am an eclectic, academic homeschooler. At that time, there wasn’t much discussion about being an eclectic homeschooler with an academic focus. My family’s homeschooling style is too relaxed to make us classical homeschoolers, and we have always followed structure too closely to be considered unschoolers. To further narrow the community I identify with, I am a scientist and secular academic homeschooler, two things that in my case go hand-in-hand. I was looking for a community where I could discuss innovative academics using exclusively secular materials and programs. I put a query out on a Facebook group, thinking I was going to get a small number of people (less than 100 for sure) who also wanted to talk about this. Well, I was so very wrong! The group I formed now has over 35,000 participants across all its platforms. I believe that one of the reasons for the success of this group Secular, Eclectic, Academic (SEA) Homeschoolers is its strong focus on community.
You Are Not Alone: Finding or Forming Your Community
By Blair Lee
SEA Homeschoolers’ community focus comes about because I know that homeschooling, even in areas with a large homeschooling community, can be isolating. I do not want anyone to feel isolated or without support. We often hear that socialization is something we need to make sure happens for homeschooled students. It is important for most students and homeschooling families to feel connected and supported. This makes it important to create and maintain community in a way that works for your family. Finding an existing community is easier than ever with platforms like Facebook. It is okay to go into a large Facebook group and ask if anyone knows of an existing group to meet your specific needs. When doing this, you are best doing this in a group that has some things in common with what you are looking for. For instance, if you want to find a secular homeschoolers’ meet-up group in your area, a large secular homeschooling group would be a good place to ask if anyone knows of one. Whether you find your community in a large online group like SEA Homeschoolers, a small local co-op, a charter school, a book club, or a blend of wherever you feel at home, know that while your homeschool journey is unique, you are not on this journey alone. “I love the idea that it doesn't take one person only to achieve your potential. It takes a village; it takes a community, a street, a teacher, a mother.” Mira Nair If you can’t find what you are looking for, you can even start your own community! Blair Lee M.S. is the founder of Secular Eclectic Academic Homeschoolers and author of The Science of Climate Change: A Hands-On Course and for the critically acclaimed R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Series. Blair has been handcrafting the education of her non-linear thinker for over 11 years. During that time, she has learned as much about how learning happens from him as he has learned from her. Blair is a passionate advocate of innovative academics using secular materials. Through her speaking and writing, her goal is to empower homeschoolers to dare to be innovative and create something unique and academically-rich when handcrafting their child’s journey through learning. Blair is a featured speaker at this year's CHN Family Expo.
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Tips for Creating Your Community Group
Still not sure how to find or form your community? Contact someone who has successfully done it and get their advice.
Is your group going to be online or in person? If you start by forming online, it might start with no people who live near you. If it grows large enough, though, that will change. Have a set of guidelines that distinguish your community to help people understand why it is or isn’t for them. SEA Homeschoolers is founded on three core principles. Our group formed to discuss innovative academics using secular materials and programs. Our differences are our strength. It is okay and expected that there be a high level of diversity in our group, and we value and promote that. We are homeschoolers; homeschooling by its very nature is about diversity. Because all homeschoolers pull their children out of school to give them an education that is unique and different, we all start out by choosing to take a different and unique path. This is reflected in the homeschooling community. The best approach to handling this is tolerance. Focus on areas you agree on instead of those you do not. If you do not have anything positive or constructive to say, scroll by. There is no flaming allowed. These guidelines help people know if we are the right community for them. The clearer you are about your guidelines the easier it will be to form or find your community. Be true to yourself. If you honestly need a secular community, for example, find one or form one. Make sure how key (and often divisive terms) are being use. For example, different teaching methodologies can be defined many ways. If you are forming a group around one of these methodologies, define how implementing that methodology should look for community members. At SEA Homeschoolers, we have had to do this for the term secular academic. Some argue that secular means anti-faith. SEA Homeschoolers is not an anti-faith group, it is a pro-secular academic group with a clear set of definitions for what that means posted on our website and in our Facebook group. Be willing to flow and morph as your community grows. A sign of a healthy community is one that can grow as members come and go to accommodate who is there participating at that time. For example, the Facebook group I formed has grown to include many smaller sub-groups, a convention, and a website. We are also on Twitter and Instagram. SEA Homeschoolers was founded to discuss innovative academics. It has morphed to be a place to discuss any and all secular academics in a positive way, including how to homeschool in a way that looks a lot like traditional school.
CHN Fall Camp Out
2018-2019 Teacher & Student ID Cards
For more info and to register, please visit us online at http://www.californiahomeschool.net/events/campout/
Carpinteria State Park October 14 - 18, 2018
It's time to order your Teacher and student ID cards for the new school year. Available with or without the CHN Logo. ID's can be found in the CHN Store located here: http://www.californiahomeschool.net/chn-store/
Group Camping at Carpinteria State Park on Sunday, October 14 until Thursday, October 18th (4 nights). Members Only Camp Out: $45 per person (under 3 is free). Price includes all 4 nights. There is an additional parking fee of $10 per vehicle, per night.
California Homeschool Network was founded in 1994 by a statewide group of homeschooling families. We are an inclusive group, which means we serve families from all religious and ethnic affiliations that practice all homeschooling styles.
What sets us apart from other homeschool conferences? California Homeschool Network is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization. The CHN Family Expo is organized and run entirely by volunteers who work throughout the year to build an exciting and enriching homeschool conference. Our goal is bring together the community of California homeschoolers to learn from one another and provide a fun and educational conference for the entire family, from toddlers to grandparents.
Great Wolf Lodge
Thursday is FREE
REGISTER NOW
September 6 - 9
New to homeschooling? Want to try a day at Expo before you commit to four? Not able to enjoy all of Expo? Join us on Thursday, for a free taste of what Expo is all about. (Register here to attend Thursday only.)
CHN's Family Expo in Garden Grove is the homeschool conference for everyone, from beginning homeschoolers, to veterans, young and old - there is something for everyone! The CHN Family Expo is a locally produced, all-inclusive event. We are here to promote the "community" in the homeschooling community. In addition to featured speakers, this homeschool conference features sessions on all aspects and styles of homeschooling. There are also dedicated rooms for teens, tweens, kids, toddlers and families. Some of the featured activities during the day may include a project fair, art room, video game tournament, air powered rockets and more! There are also many activities in the evening such as live entertainment, teen and family dances, talent shows, open mic, video gaming and movies. We hold a used curriculum sale and also feature a vendor hall where you can discuss, examine & purchase curriculum, supplies, books, games, toys and services from many vendors who specialize in the homeschool market. Our Expo always ends with a very special high school graduation ceremony - bring your hanky!
See the Schedule here.
Family Village
Game Room
KIDS
The Art Room open art studio is created for you and your family to relax and be artful. High quality art supplies will be at your finger tips to explore and create with. The Fiber Arts Room will have open stations available for you to explore at your leisure. There will also be many demonstrations and classes you can choose from including spindling, weaving, looms, dying, knitting and more.
Come in and play! Our swashbuckling themed Family Village will have activities for all ages. Listen to a story, join in on some Neverland Karaoke, play Buccaneer Games, learn to identify native plants and animals or make rope and corn husk dolls. Games, activities, crafts and fun designed for the whole family.
Art & Fiber Arts
The game room is back with all of your favorite console, PC & card games. Join a Magic: The Gathering draft game, participate in the Super Smash Bros or Mario Kart tournaments, play on the Minecraft LAN or compete in the Minecraft creative build contest. There's always something fun going on in the game room!
CHN's Teen Dance
CHN's Teen Planning Committee
Register to Graduate
The Teen Planning Committee (TPC) is working hard at creating a fabulous teen program for Expo! Long time favorites like Werewolf, Assassin, Dodge Ball and Speed Greeting will keep your teen entertained. And some new events like Picture Battle Royale, Human Table Races & Nerf Battle are sure to be a hit!
The CHN High School Graduation Ceremony is like no other. From our inspiring commencement speech to the personalized presentation each graduate receives, it's an event not to be missed. If you have a teen graduating and would like to be included in this once in a lifetime event, please click below.
Calling all Teens! This year's epic CHN Teen Dance is themed Mystery Forest. What beings and creatures roam the forest and dance throughout the dark of night? You decide! Teens and young adults are welcome, ages 12-21. This dance is FREE to all teens registered for Expo. 12yo's Expo attendees can purchase a wristband for $5. Those not attending Expo and just coming for the dance are $15.
TEENS
CHN's Extraordinary Graduation Ceremony
The Teen Homeschoolers of SoCal Discord server is ready to welcome your teens! Discord is a social messaging platform that can be accessed by app, browser, or computer download. Come join us in the fun! Create an account, and use this link to join! https://discord.gg/QpeSPtn
Not Back To School Day at Disneyland!
September 5, 2018
To celebrate homeschoolers NOT returning to brick-and-mortar school this year! We love learning at many venues, including Disneyland!! The main meet-up is the group photo in front of California Adventure at 2pm. Families are responsible for their own admission to the parks. View the official event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1790625024580200/ The event is Hosted by Celebration Education, offering amazing classes for homeschoolers since 2006: https://www.celebrationeducation.com/
Advice for Joining New Park Days
By Jackie Geist
Get there early! It’s much easier to get to know a person or two at a time as they start to show up than it is to come in after everyone is already sitting and chatting with their longtime friends. That goes for your kids, too. Let people know you’re new and feel free to ask questions, but understand that this is prime social time for parents and kids alike. They most likely have been anticipating conversations and activities with particular people all week. This does not mean they don’t want to get to know you, but the burden ultimately is on you to join in. It’s okay to just sit with the group and listen. It’s okay for your kids to just sit with you. It may feel awkward, but we’ve all been there and no one is going to think you’re weird for not jumping into conversations or activities right from the start. It’s probably going to take some time for you to feel comfortable. Your kids may not want to come back. You may have to drag yourselves there weekly until you make connections. Unless the group is obviously not a fit for your family (no kids near your kid's ages, deep philosophical differences, etc.), you should give it a few months. Some people may only make a park day sporadically and you could miss out on that perfect connection by giving up too soon. Some people just take a bit of time to get to know. If you meet someone you or your kids click with, get their contact info. Park days usually have a core of people who show up every week and others who come less frequently. If you’ve made a connection, you can plan ahead of time to meet at the park. It’s so much nicer when you know you’re going to have a friend there. Don’t be afraid to suggest an activity. Send out an email saying something as simple as, “We’re bringing our Yu-Gi-Oh cards today”. If any of you are introverts, be patient with yourselves. Bring a book to read or some project to work on (knitting and crocheting are popular) and just enjoy doing it out in the sunshine. We travel a lot and have been newbies at many park days over the years. Even for pros like us, it can take awhile to feel comfortable in a new group. But the effort has always been worth it. Best of luck, Jackie
Perseid Meteor Shower
The most popular meteor shower of the year will be viewable as Earth passes through the path of comet Swift-Tuttle from July 17 to August 24th. We will pass through the densest, dustiest part of the comet and reach peak meteor viewing on the night's of August 11th & 12th. Paired with a near new moon that sets prior to midnight, you should be able to see a lot of activity in the night sky. To learn more about the meteor shower, see videos, learn how best to view it wherever you live, find out what planets will be visible at the same time and more, visit: https://www.space.com/32868-perseid-meteor-shower-guide.html
Curriculum Review: Draw•Write•Now•
By: Ann Ryan www.learningoutsidethelines.com or find me on FB at Learning Outside the Lines Podcast
Draw Write Now is one of the few homeschool programs I’ve used consistently over the last 10 yrs. It’s a wonderful product to encourage handwriting and drawing. It’s marketed for ages 5-10 and I think that’s accurate, though the targeted age is 5-8 in my opinion. There are 8 books in the series, each costs about $9.95. You can buy them individually or as a set. They can be purchased from Rainbow Resource or Amazon. Each book covers a different theme of a geographic area or historical period. You can do them out of order, they are not sequential. The themes covered make a nice supplement or a jumping off point to study the theme further. The books themselves are not workbooks, you do not write in them. You do the exercises on your own paper or they sell a workbook in the same format for $2.95 you can use. We like the workbook and have always used them, though they certainly aren't necessary. It starts with the drawing lesson. This is a great way to engage any child, especially a reluctant one. It uses a foundation of simple shapes and lines to create animals, historical figures, and other figures. My kids were always so shocked when they did the steps and then saw a really nice drawing at the end! I remember my now 18 yr old using this when he was around 7, He said he was a terrible artist and hated drawing. We tried this program and he was suddenly liking art and still draws today. I honestly think this program influenced this skill for him! Next they copy the sentences given. There are typically 4 sentences. They are related to the drawing and are simple sentences for the early reader. The key is to encourage their best writing and use this short lesson for practice but not overwhelm them with long passages. If you have a more advanced student, you might ask them to add their own sentence or two. This is a deceptively simple program but yields big results. It encourages confidence and makes learning fun. I highly recommend Draw Write Now and think it’s a great program for a new homeschool parent since it’s easy to use and fun for the kids.
Has your son or daughter expressed an interest in sewing? Many local fabric stores and sewing shops offer workshops for kids. My daughter, and two homeschooled friends, recently took a four-day sewing camp to make a duffel bag. The store also offers classes for beach bags, jelly roll rugs, quilts, etc. The class was only three hours each day and the finished product was impressive. Beginners welcome! My daughter Daphne was hesitant about the class because she didn’t have any sewing experience, but was excited to try something new with her friends. The girls had fun picking out their fabric choices in advance... mermaids, crabs, and flowers! Day one nerves soon vanished and they were all so proud of their finished product. Zoe, age 11, has an older sister in costume design and was happy to use her prior experience to help the other kids. We attended the duffel bag course at Mel’s Sewing and Fabric Center in Anaheim. They have a second location in Tustin. The class fee was $89, and we were provided with a supply list of items to bring to class…fabric, peltex, thread, a specific pattern book, scissors, pin cushion, etc. Sewing machines were provided. Joann Fabric also offers sewing camps for kids.
By Desiree Hayes
Learning to Sew
By: Maura Mikulec
Something's Happening In There.
When my kids were young, and I was learning about homeschooling/unschooling, there were certain things people shared with me that stuck with me, that I'd "pull up" throughout the years to inform what we were doing, or share with others to explain what or why we were doing what we were doing. Sometimes these little tidbits gave me comfort or reassurance in times of self-doubt. They were often just little nuggets, or a simple story about their kid, or maybe even just the way a parent viewed something in a way that was new to me. So, I wanna share something - nothing profound - just a little thing that recently gave me some validation for things we've done over the years. Maybe it'll be one of those nuggets for someone. The other day my now 20 year old son went kayaking with a friend to "Seal Rock," a local place offshore known for, you guessed it, the pinnipeds who frequent it. Sea lions, actually, but was named, I guess, before the difference was widely-known. He enjoyed himself, and this mom is always happy when he finds "good clean fun" in a summer with too much free time. Later that night he said, "I think it's good when you do stuff with your family when you're little, because then later you're more likely to say yes to doing it again. Like I probably would not have said, 'yeah, I'll go kayaking' if I had never done it before." In response I said, "Is that you saying how you appreciate all those kinds of things we did for you over the years?" And he said, "I guess?" (Basically, yes posed as a question.) That's still a big endorsement coming from this one. We've always tried to give our kids lots of diverse opportunities, and, yes, sometimes applied a little pressure to try and do things they maybe weren't jumping at. We gently twisted some arms sometimes, and every once in a very great while, maybe even "made them" do things, or go places they didn't want to go to. (We saved these occasions for important things. Never pushed them way outside of their comfort zones and pretty much always got some kind of "buy-in.") We often didn't see the "reward" - like gratitude or enthusiasm - at the time; in fact, sometimes we endured endless griping or sulking. BUT, here you see one example of how these things can pay off for them down the road. Another quick example is with our 16 year old son who we've dragged on several family trips. He recently chose to go on a super-valuable trip to Japan with some friends. I'm certain he would not have been open to doing that if he had not suffered through a couple horrible, painful, terrible, boring, international trips with his annoying family. So, it's important to know that these things we do with and for our kids are actually doing stuff "in there," forming them, influencing them, even when there's zero evidence of it at the time. There are myriad invaluable experiences that come with homeschooling our kids. We have a lot of fun, and we get to enjoy ourselves, and watch our kids enjoy themselves, but it's important to remember that even when we're not getting that kind of immediate feedback, it does not mean we're not doing important work. (Critical caveat: I hope no one will take this as an endorsement of using a lot of force in their homeschooling life. In terms of this, I've always felt like when we have good connections with our kids, we know them well, and we're honest with ourselves that this is for them or really important to the family, we can know when it's ok to challenge them to another level. We know they're ready. We know they'll either like it, or appreciate it, or will greatly benefit from it. We must know it won't break them, and it won't damage their love of learning or the activity, or their trust in us.)
Irvine Aug 18 & Sept 15 10am - 5pm $6 per person Click for info.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Pretend City
homeschool days
Vallejo November 12 11am - 6pm $27 per person Click for info.
Long Beach September 12 & 13 9am - 12pm $7 per person Click for tickets.
La Brea Tar Pits and Museum
Los Angeles Various 9am - 5:30pm Free Click for info.
Valencia October 16 10:30am - 6pm $35 Click for info.
Sacramento October 19 10am - 12pm Discounted Click for info.
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Los Angeles Natural History Museum
Aquarium of the Pacific
CA State Railroad Museum
Santa Rosa October 17 10am - 12pm $6 per person Click for tickets.
San Diego August 28th 10:30am - 6pm $25 Charter Accepted Click for info.
San Jose November 2 10am - 5pm $8 per person Click for tickets.
Fresno Oct 4, 5, 11 or 12 9am - 12pm Free Click for info.
Padres Homeschool Day
Crocker Art Museum
Sacramento October 9 12pm - 2pm $3 - $5 Click for info.
The Big Fresno Fair
Buena Park November 13 10am - 1pm $28 Click for info.
Children's Discovery Museum
Kids Free October - San Diego
San Diego October-entire month For kids up to 12yo Free Click for tickets.
Charles M Schulz Museum
Medieval Times by Excellence in Education
Homeschool Discounts
Special pricing offered to homeschoolers for local activities when public school is in session.
Know of one we missed? Let us know!
NAME LOCATION DETAILS Sky High Rancho Cordova Mon 1-2pm $6 Ice Palace Aliso Viejo Mon 10:15-11:15am $8 Get Air Huntington Beach Fri 1-2pm $7 Rockin' Jump Santa Ana Mon 1-3pm $10 Rockin' Jump Santa Ana Thurs 1-3pm $10 Circus Trix Mission Viejo M-F 11am-1pm $12 The Rinks Corona (Inline) 1st Mon 2-4pm $5 The Rinks Corona (Inline) 3rd Thurs 10-12pm $5 Epic Rollertainment Temecula Wed 11-1pm $8
This was written about 13 years ago at the end of our first year of homeschooling. I thought perhaps it would encourage others that may be having doubts.
I Don't Even Notice The Bus Anymore...
The first day of school left me with a grip of fear as the bus drove by our house. I had no idea if I had done the right thing bringing my son home for his education. I thought if I called the school soon enough he could still get on the bus the next day. And frankly, my husband had no idea what I was thinking and was not all that convinced this was a good idea. After all, I had an almost 1 yr old crazy baby and a preschooler that did not want to be left out of “doing school” like her brother. How was I actually going to have time to teach?? Panic was ever present that first day and many days to follow. We started our homeschool journey like many others do with the “school at home” type of structure. We had our textbooks and supplies and I tried my best to sit down by 9:30am and “do school”. This lasted about 3 months and while my son didn’t complain too much, I was the one having a hard time with it. I couldn’t stay focused with the other kids needing attention and it was just plain boring! I had been reading some Charlotte Mason materials and decided this was more to my liking with shorter lessons, living books, and nature study. I knew we needed some academics done but not necessarily with textbooks and we certainly didn’t need a rigid “sit at the table and do school” type of structure. So as the year went on we became more relaxed in our routine and more eclectic in our style. Knowing other homeschool moms helped immensely and I was able to see what different families did and what worked for them. Some things resonated with me and other didn’t, but it was a wonderful support system to learn from. We settled into a loose routine of about 2 hours of lesson time each day but we’d also mix in games, read-a- louds, and discussion. I also realized that using a history or science video was not lazy teaching and they often learned more from these resources than books or lessons. We could add in books, discussion, field trips, or other resources and I think I learned as much as they did in many cases!
I would occasionally notice the bus going by and wonder if I was doing the right thing, usually after talking to a friend with a child in school and realizing we weren’t learning the specific things they were. But I also realized my child wasn’t over scheduled or overstressed. And for the first time in a long time, he begged for me to read more Homer Price or other books. I also was so grateful that my son wasn’t in a same age classroom and actually interacted with multi-age groups on a regular basis during homeschool outings and field trips. I saw older kids positively interact and engage with the younger ones and this was really encouraging and awesome! He saw older kids as role models instead of bullies, which unfortunately had been his experience the previous year. We went on a lot of field trips and beach walks with these new friends and it was extremely valuable on multiple levels including learning, social interactions, and friendships. As the school year came to an end, I realized I hadn’t noticed the bus at all recently. I had already started planning for the next year and was excited about buying new books and checking out new programs. My husband even agreed that it was working out and we should continue for another year. My son looks forward to homeschool events and his new friends of all ages and he loves the new Lego Club that we started with other homeschoolers. I’m so glad I let the bus go by now. ************************** My son graduated from our homeschool 12 yrs later and only got back on a bus to ride it to college!
http://homeschoolsuperfreak.com/
Watch the International Space Station pass overhead from several thousand worldwide locations. It is the third brightest object in the sky and easy to spot if you know when to look up. Visible to the naked eye, it looks like a fast-moving plane only much higher and traveling thousands of miles an hour faster! To find out when to look up to Spot the Station, visit: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
Spot the Station
Twenty years in higher education did not prepare me for the year my older son applied for college. I have been a teacher, a trainer, a curriculum designer, a graduate student, and a researcher. I’ve seen almost everything higher education has to offer. But I had never seen it from the perspective of a parent. The year my son applied was joyful because after those long teenage years we were a team again; together we faced long drives, complex applications, intensive searches, strained social events. The year was exciting, full of anticipation, and terrifying, because of the risk of rejection and, most of all, because of money. Both of my sons started their k-12 educations at traditional public schools. My oldest was a good student, and the long hours of homework, the organization, and the rigid schedules perfect for his personality and his need for consistency. My younger is a free spirit who struggled thanks to his lifelong learning disabilities. While my children attended school my husband built a small plumbing business and I attended graduate school and then landed a very good job in educational research. We were comfortable on a two family income after the plumbing business started to thrive. Then it all changed. My older son set new, more challenging goals for himself and started to earn grades and test scores that would earn him entrance at the most selective and expensive schools, while my younger son crashed and burned. I quit my job temporarily to try to salvage middle school for my younger son, but soon it became clear that for his sanity and well-being, we had to homeschool. Our second income was gone, college was a year away, and we had very little in savings. The business was running well but we still were not a high income family. The cost of expensive schools would break us, as they’d break most American families. As we toured schools it became very clear that small liberal arts college were better for my son, but the price tags ranged from $60,000 to $70,000. We could afford the University of California, thanks to their middle class scholarship, or the California State University system, but my son was quite sure he belonged at an institution with fewer than 2,000 students. I dove into the financial aid system and learned everything I could. We gained a new vocabulary – demonstrated need, grants, scholarships, merit aid, WUI, unsubsidized, subsidized, need blind, need aware, and, most important, financial safety school. Application time rolled around. As we discussed, refined, and debated, I kept up of the discussion that price could be an issue. I wanted my son to understand. My husband and I did reserve the right to veto any school because of expense, and my son agreed. I was terrified I would have to say no, to shut down his dreams after all the work he’d done to realize them. When we started to get admission decisions, we heard from the safeties first: California State University Long Beach and the University of California at Irvine (with merit aid). Both had acceptable prices and small honors programs.
College Corner
By: Laura Kazan, M.Ed. Website: www.CollegeSeekers.Education College Seekers is a 501(c)3 organization Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CollegeSeekers Facebook Group: CA Homeschool College Seekers
Then my son was accepted to an extremely expensive college that was a better fit than the UC and CSU systems. I called an admissions officer to ask directly about money. It included grants and scholarships and the cost was equal to UCI. I was shocked. I started to think we could find a way to meet our financial needs while fulfilling our son’s dreams. In the end, we had eight affordable acceptances: UCLA, Berkeley, Irvine with merit aid, CSULB, Reed, Whitman, and Occidental. (He had 4 rejections.) My son removed CSULB and Irvine from consideration immediately and, after some thought, also dropped UCLA and Occidental from his list. (Occidental was equal in cost to UCI.) He was left with Berkeley and two Colleges that Change Lives (www.ctcl.org), Reed and Whitman. The most expensive schools, Reed and Berkeley, were almost identical in cost, and Whitman was several thousand lower. After a visit to Whitman, Berkeley was off the list. Yes, he chose an unknown school over Berkeley. He now attends Reed College in Oregon. This year the full cost, including room and board, is $71,000. Our cost is still the same as Berkeley would have been after applying the UC middle class scholarship. So how was this possible? We chose carefully. Reed, Occidental, and the four schools that were rejections were colleges that looked at income and assets and make their financial aid offers based on their calculations of what applicants can afford. Occidental adds scholarships to entice good students. Whitman just wanted him, badly, so they made a similar offer. This was our strategy, based on our income, our family, and my son’s academic situation. Each college-bound student needs their own strategy, based on income, strengths, and dreams; it’s important to look beyond traditional California and top 20 schools, understanding that there are significant opportunities in less familiar schools. My son is certainly benefiting from those opportunities. He’s now a rising junior and will leave college with a strong resume of work experience related to his major; he is waiting to hear if his summer research papers will be accepted at three conferences, including one in Amsterdam, and this is only after 2 years. Who knows what he will gain by his senior year. And now it’s time to start planning for our younger son, which will require an entirely different strategy. As we begin the exploration phase, we are looking at schools that might appreciate and seek out a nontraditional, independent student, and we will go from there. Our past research isn’t too helpful here, but our past experience is. I know now that it is possible to find the right fit, the right school, and the right financial situation for every student and family. I still expect to face some fear and uncertainty, but I know we can weather it.
Anaheim October 27 7pm - 11pm Ages 12 - 19
Join 200 of your fellow homeschool teens for a night of dancing, playing and fun!
Homeschooling TnT's 10th Annual Halloween Dance
Live DJ - Dancing - Costume Contest - Cash Prizes - Games - Snacks - Drinks - Activities For more info and to purchase tickets, visit: http://homeschoolingtnt.com/Halloween-Dance-2018.php
Homeschool Graduation Supplies
Homeschooldiploma.com
Board of Trustees
I am very excited to be welcomed to the California Homeschool Network Board of Trustees and I look forward to continuing supporting the homeschool community and personalized education. I am originally from Iowa but Long Beach, CA is now home for my family of three. By day, I am an aspiring urban farmer and homeschool Mom to our science driven 6 year old son. I spend my evenings as a recording artist and singer. I have toured, taught, and performed internationally in 7 countries as well as throughout the U.S., singing at prominent music fests, entertainment venues and private events. Thank you for having me, I look forward to growing with the CHN community! Siri
California Homeschool Network would like to take this opportunity to formally welcome our newest Board of Trustees member, Siri Hirth. We are delighted to have her as a part of the team and are thankful for her volunteer service with CHN. We look forward to working together to serve the homeschool community and ensure it has a strong, vibrant future in California.
Pam Dowling - When I’m not busy with CHN or dabbling in bookkeeping, I’m teaching beginning sewing to homeschoolers! I find it very rewarding and at times very entertaining. The things kids say! I started my homeschooling journey in 2002 and now my son is a college graduate, has a driver’s license and is employed! They do make it. Homeschooling, like parenting isn’t something you do, it’s something you experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to stay connected to this wonderful community through my serving on the CHN board of Trustees. CHN provides me with speaking opportunities that I never thought would be something I would immensely enjoy. Given that public speaking is people’s number one fear. But, after I spoke for over two hours at the 2014 Expo and had a dad come up to me after and tell me that he didn’t think they could homeschool their child. They were afraid since they lived across the street from the school but, now they knew what their rights were and they knew they could do it! Then he asked if he could hug me. I’m hooked. It’s the most rewarding part of volunteering for me. Helping to produce Expo is also very rewarding. Expo brings so much to homeschooling families, new and experienced. I am very proud to serve on the CHN Board of Trustee and help CHN fulfill its mission statement.
Trina Rueber - I live in Northern California with my fun-loving family where between team sports and my endless to do list; there is never a dull day. I'm a homeschool mom of 18+ years for three awesome children, all born almost a decade apart and each with unique interests and talents. I have a wonderful husband who keeps a blind eye to our creative chaos and my "I'll use it someday" clutter, as he navigates through our Bag of Holding of a home. When I'm not teaching you can usually find me outside working on our hobby farm complete with goats, sheep, and chickens, or in my studio, where I'm a Jacklyn of all trades, doing everything from woodworking and painting to stain glass and ceramics. I love life, learning exploring and am inspired by a great quote from Abraham Lincoln who once said, "Most folks are as happy as they make their minds to be". I'm thankful to work with such an amazing group of people as I embark on the journey alongside the other Trustees and I am so excited to see what this next year brings for the CHN homeschool community!
Martin Forte, along with his wife Carolyn, owns and operate EIE Academy and Excellence In Education Resource Center in Monrovia, California. Martin and his wife successfully homeschooled their two daughters for 14 years. Both girls are college graduates and married with children. Martin has been a homeschool spokesman and advocate for more that 20 years, appearing on numerous radio and television programs and speaking at homeschool conventions as well as on of the co-founders of the California Homeschool Network. He is also a certified Learning Style Coach with his wife Carolyn.
Rhonda Hamilton is mom to four great kids: Scott (27), Stacy (24), Sean (18), and Rebecca (16), all who were/are homeschooled. She has many roles within CHN: Board of Trustee Treasurer, 800 # Hostess, Email Hostess, Expo Registration Coordinator, and the Non-Profits and Career Fair Coordinator, besides helping out when needed for other activities to make Expo awesome. Besides the many activities within CHN, homeschooling the kids, and working, she just received her MBA with a Specialization in Human Resource Management. She spends her spare time, whenever that may be, reading and hanging out with her kids.
Submissions & Advertising
CHN Newsletter August 2018
We hope that you have found our newsletter helpful and that it provides information and activities that are useful to your homeschooling journey. We are an all-volunteer organization of energetic and dedicated homeschooling families working to preserve educational freedom. CHN monitors and responds to legislation which may pose a threat to homeschooling in California. We also inform and empower homeschooling families, educate the public, and foster community among home educators in the state of California. Thank you, California Homeschool Network
To submit articles, curriculum reviews, homeschool information or for questions about content or advertising in upcoming issues of California Homeschool Network's quarterly newsletter, please contact our editor at editor@californiahomeschool.net
