Homeschooling in PA ? (Allentown, Bethlehem, Bangor: to rent, co-ops, school district)

[austere]

A job offer has come though, and we are flying next weekend to start looking in the Allentown area for a home.

We homeschool (ages 12, 10, 5) and live in Minnesota which is a homeschoolers paradise! We are involved in a co-op, community sports, have a homeschool family accross the street (I'm crying to have to leave them) and relaxed laws. In our community (our town and the close surrounding area) we have over 600 families who homeschool.

I've heard the homeschool laws in PA are confusing and restrictive. How accepted culturally is homeschooling? Are there classes and co-ops in the area we will be moving to? Is there one community you would recommend over others? Are there any churches in the area where there are other homeschooling families?

Any help would be so appreciated~ This will be a hard move for us and I want to be as prepared as possible to make this transition easier for my children.

~Kerri

[karen_s]

Congratulations on deciding to make the move! While I don't homeschool, I have many friends who do. They told me to have you visit this website: Homeschooling in Pennsylvania

Also, with the way your family lifestyle sounds, you might want to check out mothering.com - there is a huge homeschooling community there as well as many other Lehigh Valley moms on the "tribal area" forums.

I'm not sure on the cultural acceptance part, as my children attend a small nondenominational Christian school and I'm constantly being asked "why" by people who have only known public schooling and think my kids must be missing out on something

[toobusytoday]

We have a lot of home schoolers in my school district and they are welcome to participate at many school activities such as instrumental music and performing arts and I'm pretty sure the sports teams as well. It seems to be more common to homeschool up to High School. I see homeschooling families in our local library where I work on an almost daily basis. If I were you I would stop in the Districts offices in areas that you are interested to see what their policy is for home schooled kids.

[austere]

Karen S. and Toobusy,

The realtor sent us a lot of homes over e-mail from Upper Macungie. Thoughts on that area at all?

SOOOO happy to hear that there are homeschoolers in that area! We will be friends with any good people (whatever school choices they make) but it's nice for the kids to meet and be with other kids who share some of the same experiences.

My next step is to check out private Christian schools in the area just in case we change our educational plans in the future: I want to make sure that there are choices in the area.

Thanks for your help,
Kerri

[toobusytoday]

I was talking to a homeschool Mom this weekend and she told me that there is a Homeschool center just north of Bethlehem where her kids go a couple of days a week for a few classes. They are taught by parents that have a strong interest/knowledge in different subjects. It sounded pretty nice.

[KristyLiz]

We are moving to lower Macungie next month, and so far, what I know of the area I like. I don't think you can really get a sense until you live there.

Good luck!

[austere]

Thanks, Toobusytoday.

There have been so many ups and downs this week regarding this move, and knowing that there are some groups/classes available in the area provided a lift for me

[mawipafl]

We homeschooled our daughter during the middle school years (lived in the Bangor Area School District). Paperwork-wise, it was a piece of cake really. When withdrawing her from public school, we had a couple of forms to fill out, and that was about it. At the end of the year we had to meet with a qualified evaluator who looked at our daughter's portfolio to make sure she was actually learning - again, that wasn't a major deal at all. If you join a co-op or support group, they can recommend evaluators.

Our school district let us use the textbooks - we knew our daughter would be returning to public school, so we wanted to somewhat follow their curriculum (with our own enhancements of course!)

There's a great co-op near Bethlehem - it may be the one toobusytoday mentioned - but for the life of me I cannot remember its name ... it began with S and they used to rent space at the Lehigh Valley Church of Christ on Brodhead Drive in Bethlehem. They offered all sort of co-op classes as well as lots of activities for students, moms, families. They also sponsored the required state testing (PSSAs etc).

[karen_s]

One of my online friends from down near Bethlehem recommended this group: HEYS Group (http://heysgroup.org/index.php - broken link)

[austere]

Hmmm,
someone left me negative feedback due to this thread strictly because I homeschool. While I understand that there are great misconceptions out there regarding homeschooling, rest assured that for the most part it is not the homeschool kids who end up with anti-social behaviors. Also, statistically the ratio of kids who are homeschooled who complete at least a 4 year college degree is much higher than public school. I'm not anti-school, but pro-choice that everyone should have the liberty and freedom to choose the best educational fit for their children and family. So, in response to the person who chose to leave such harsh comments, I simply say you are misinformed as to what homeschooling is. The whole world out there and all the many people in it can provide a hands-on education and great community experience that cannot be found in the walls of an institutional system. God bless this country where we have the freedom to persue happiness and raise our children as we see best.