Yes Virginia, you can homeschool without a college degree

Well the misinformation is starting again. A new bill has been introduced into the state legislature that would remove a couple of extra hoops that parents who do not hold a college degree need to go through. This would be a great improvement in the law, because it really is unfair to require more info from those parents who do not have a degree. Holding a college degree does not make you any more or less qualified to teach your children. I have so many friends who do not have a college degree who do an absolutely awesome job homeschooling their children.

What is required is not a degree, but rather a love of learning and a love of your children. Sounds a bit corny, but that is what it takes. You do not need to be up on the latest teaching trends because most of that does not apply when you teach your own children. And what is great is that what you need to teach your children is out there…on the internet, on homeschool email lists, in the libraries. Half the fun of homeschooling is learning right there with your kids.

I do hope that this bill passes. It will definitely make taking the first step and filing your Notice of Intent (NOI) much less intimidating for first time filers. It will make the law more equitable for all homeschoolers. What it will not do is give parents the right to homeschool if they do not have a college degree. They already have that right.

And herein lies the biggest problem with this bill…the newspapers keep getting it all wrong and spreading the misinformation that homeschoolers without a degree can not homeschool. And that is a shame because I wonder how many people will read that and not look further into homeschooling because they think they would not be allowed to.

My friend Barb's blogpost gives a great synopsis of the Virginia homeschooling law and what this new bill would and would not do, so I won't take the time to rehash that here. It will be interesting to see if this bill gets any where. It came very close two years ago. I guess we will wait and see what happens this year and hope that some reporters will get it right.

And for those who want more information on homeschooling in Virginia without a college degree, check out this great article.