SanTanValley.com

As a home educator, you may not realize that dozens of retailers are willing to extend their educator discounts to you!  In many cases, your home schooled children will also be eligible for discounts on software, books, art supplies and other educational materials.

Part 1

This is part 1 in a 4 part series about exposure.

Weeding through all the Choices

I'm asked all the time--how can I choose the "right" photographer for my family? There are a lot of factors that go into selecting a family photographer. In this age of internet and affordable digital cameras, we've seen an influx of photographers....some great and some not, some serious business people and some hobbiests, and so on.

Check out Vertuccio Farm's Website for more info!!

Are you home schooling your kids?  If so, you can save big during Sea Life's Home School Week event, May 7th through 11th!  Get more information, download activity packets and purchase your discounted tickets here.

I call myself a “home eductor” for many reasons.

The first is that there is somewhat of a stigma attached to the (not-really-a-)word “homeschooling.’ I’ve heard one too many times: “Oh….you hooooomeschooooool…” Then the barrage of questions start. Fellow home educators are probably all too familiar with these questions!

When I was in college, I worked in a small-town ice cream shop. One of my co-workers was a 16 year old girl who was home schooled–as well as her five siblings. They seemed so “normal” (not at all like the images I conjured in my head when hearing the phrase “home schooled”) and their dad was actually our little city’s police chief! I was fascinated with their family and this concept! I decided that once I had children, I would probably home school them! School had been a miserable existence my entire childhood–as a sensitive, introverted person I just never quite fit in. I’d been teased, sexually harrassed, threatened and worse. Part of my issues may have come from the fact that we’d moved so often that I'd  attended twelve schools by graduation. There were times I did fit in (I even was a cheerleader–twice!) but more often than not, school was a nightmare.

Since all states have their own laws and regulations regarding home schooling, it's important to know one's legal obligations as a home educating parent in Arizona.  Happily for Arizona parents, AZ is one of the more home school friendly states in the US.

Other than submitting an initial document (called the "Affadavit of Intent to Home School," which must be notarized and delivered with an original birth certificate to your County's Superintendent of Schools) there are no other reporting or documentation requirements of AZ home schooling parents.

IHS is a secular parent-centered support group for home educating parents in the Florence-Queen Creek-Apache Junction triangle, including San Tan Valley.

Being a homeschooling parent can be challenging and isolating, but you don't have to feel alone!