Student:Teacher Ratio in Albemarle County

I found it interesting to look at other data reported at the Virginia DOE website I wrote about earlier.

This one here is the Discipline report.
Page 65 has number of students, number of schools/centers, and number of teachers for our region:
Albemarle County: 12,803 / 25 / 1,194

If you just look at the numbers, there is about a 10:1 student:teacher ratio in Albemarle County. That's not bad; not great, but not bad. If they could actually have classrooms with just 10 kids each, it would be a start. Wonder what other interesting data can be found in these reports. Let me know what you find!

Va Dept of Education's Enrollment Numbers

Here's the Virginia Department of Education's reports and statistics page, if you are curious about enrollment numbers and numbers of homeschooled kids and those filing under the religious exemption. You can choose the year, back to 1999-2000. In their report for this year's homeschooled/religious exemption data, the column titled "12-Sept" should actually say "9-12," which would be the grade levels.

At any rate, the number of homeschooled kids being reported this year are 396 for Albemarle County, with another 90 under religious exemption. The city of Charlottesville has 76, with no kids under religious exemption. The religious exemption numbers are hard to report accurately, in my opinion, because after filing for religious exemption to the compulsory attendance law, those families do not need to report to the school district anymore. They could have more children reach compulsory attendance age, or have children turn 18, or move out of the county/city, and the school district would not necessarily know.

New Unschoolers' Gathering

I received this email recently:



GBHL 2010 ExTrAoRdInAiRe!


To the magnificent Great Big Happy Lifers:

Finally- the email I have been hoping to write for a few months now...

Great Big Happy Life 2010 is ON!

Here are our tentative- almost firm plans:

It will likely be in May....

It will likely remain in NJ....

It will probably be at a camp-ish type place again, not a hotel....(maybe at the beach?? wouldn't that be cool?)

We, Great Big Happy Life, are happily partnering with the Enjoy Life Unschooling Conference this year to co-host this non-con conference(yes, that is not a typo)/unschoolers gathering/retreat....so it will be a bit different from last year, but even better and stronger....

We don't have exact dates or locations but should have that by end of January the latest. With a website to follow very quickly so people can get in and get registered!

Thanks to all who offered a hand in helping- once we have more details squared away we should be able to put people to work :)

Please, as we plan this unique event, I need your input! Post about what you loved, generate discussion about what you want to see again...no more sleepy list- now is the time to speak up! From the evaluations we got back this summer, people loved the food and the fact that we catered the event. Are those of you who hated the food just hiding your evaluations? People also loved the 8 minute dating, the talent show and the location. What about you????

It would be great if you could post your answer to this question: What are you hoping to get out of a conference experience?

Thank you all for your patience and support and excitement!

With love and delight:

Jennifer and Chris


I'll be sure to post any updates I get.

Explaining Unschooling to Strangers

Emily and I were at the dentist yesterday, and in between breaks while gouging between my teeth with a very pointy metal pick, the dental hygienist would ask me some questions, make small talk. She asked if Emily was on break--and had already asked if we still homeschool. So I said that, well, "We don't really take official breaks (cause we don't _need_ to), but yeah." And kind of let it go at that.




Then she asked, "how's that work?" I wasn't sure exactly what she was talking about (how does homeschooling work from a legal standpoint? what does the parent have to do? do you take official breaks, etc?), but I just said that we don't do text books or specific programs of study.












So then I had a brilliant (in my mind anyway) thought of how to explain it without explaining. :) I had started telling her that the kids learn about what they're interested in. THEN, I said, "They basically are doing independent study." I LOVED IT! Doesn't it just sound so easy when you put it that way? And nobody is going to really question what that means--I mean, independent study sounds so schooly, right? More like college I guess, than elementary/middle/high school stuff, but still. Ok, some people will ask for more information, but if they're really that interested, I don't mind going into more detail. But saying independent study sort of takes the parent-as-teacher out of the picture.

So, that's what I'm going to say from now on when I'm asked--we're unschoolers--and if they dig a little--they do independent study. :)

Ok, what do you guys say when you're asked??

Public Libraries vs Public Schools video

I enjoyed this one.

East Tennessee Unschooled Summer Camp!

My friend Laura is starting the East Tennessee Unschooled Summer Camp!!! Here is some basic information:

ETUSC is a 6 night summer camp for 13-18 year old unschoolers. There will be activities such as sandcasting, soapstone and plaster & vermiculite carving, round table talks, camp and camper run workshops, jam sessions, bonfires, swimming, rock climbing, kayaking, counselor mentoring, dancing every night, and much more. It will be a place to make new friends, learn new things, and enjoy the beautiful East Tennessee outdoors.

Looks like it will be held in August. To keep up to date on this new camp, you can join the Facebook page for it.

Poem--The Layers

The Layers
By Stanley Kunitz

I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,
and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being
abides, from which I struggle not to stray.
When I look behind,
as I am compelled to look
before I can gather strength
to proceed on my journey,
I see the milestones dwindling
toward the horizon
and the slow fires trailing
from the abandoned camp-sites,
over which scavenger angels
wheel on heavy wings.
Oh, I have made myself a tribe
out of my true affections,
and my tribe is scattered!
How shall the heart be reconciled
to its feast of losses?
In a rising wind
the manic dust of my friends,
those who fell along the way,
bitterly stings my face.
yet I turn, I turn,
exulting somewhat,
with my will intact to go
wherever I need to go,
and every stone on the road
precious to me.
In my darkest night,
when the moon was covered
and I roamed through wreckage,
a nimbus-clouded voice
directed me:
“Live in the layers,
not on the litter.”
Though I lack the art
to decipher it,
no doubt the next chapter
in my book of transformations
is already written,
I am not done with my changes.


I just read this on Ren's blog and wanted to repost it on my own. Thanks for introducing me to this poet, Ren!

QOTD--Liberty

Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom and dignity. It is not enough, as communist systems have assumed, merely to provide people with food, shelter and clothing. Human nature needs to breathe the precious air of liberty. - His Holiness the Dalai Lama