D.C. Homeschooling

Everyone, from a parent just considering homeschooling to the veteran homeschooler, has questions. To help, we've compiled the best resources, support, information, and ideas available to help you make your decision to homeschool and to successfully home educate your children. There are so many resources in D.C. that you can use to make homeschooling fun and enjoyable for every member of your family! Here are some common questions:

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District of Columbia Public Schools
This is the internet presence for the District of Columbia Public Schools.
Central Maryland Unschoolers
This is list for unschooling families interested in connecting with other unschoolers in DC and central Maryland (Prince George’s, Anne Arundel and surrounding counties). They have casual monthly get-togethers that offer support, conversation, socializing, and playtime for adults, teens and children.
Bike the Sites
Bike the Sites offers guided bike tours and rentals in Washington, D.C. This is a unique and fun way to see our nation's capital. The tours combine history, interesting facts, and a love for the city with a safe, enjoyable, and easy bike ride. Visitors who prefer exploring on their own may rent mountain bikes, child trailers, and strollers. They are conveniently located at the Old Post Office Pavilion, just a block from the National Mall and Smithsonian museums.
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail is a 2,180-mile footpath along the ridgecrests and across the major valleys of the Appalachian Mountains from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in northern Georgia. It traverses the scenic, wooded, pastoral, wild, and culturally resonant lands of the Appalachian Mountains. Conceived in 1921, it was built by private citizens and completed in 1937. The trail traverses Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl...
Culture at Home
Culture at Home is an African American homeschool support group in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area with an emphasis on the older homeschooled student. Culture at Home is a support group for families concerned with the healthy well-being and academic guidance of the African-American child. The purpose of this group is to provide an educational outreach support program and to supplement the curriculum of homeschoolers with children ages 10-18 (grades 5-12), but they also provide ...
§ 38-209. Court jurisdiction.
The Family Division of the Superior Court is hereby given jurisdiction in all cases arising under this subchapter.
Capital Area Christian Communicators (CACC) Debate Club
Capital Area Christian Communicators (CACC) Debate Club is a parent-run debate co-operative. CACC exists as an organization to provide our youth with life skills that will prepare them to articulate truth and defend their beliefs.
District of Columbia Home School Laws
The Home School Legal Defense Association provides a brief summary of the homeschooling laws in the District of Columbia. Includes a link to a legal analysis of laws relating to homeschooling in D.C.
Bolling Area Home Educators (BAHE)
BAHE is the largest home schooling support group in Washington DC, located in the backyard of our nation's capital on Bolling Air Force Base. Their purpose is to provide support to military home education families in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and the Maryland area. Membership into BAHE is granted to military families that pay annual dues and comply with the EMP (Every Member Participates) in-kind volunteer requirement. They offer classes, field trips, speakers, fellowship, information, and su...
§ 38-205. Report of enrollments and withdrawals.
The principal or head teacher of each public, independent, private, or parochial school, and each teacher who gives private instruction, shall, in accordance with the rules adopted by the Board pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2, report to the Board the name, address, sex, and date of birth of each minor who resides permanently or temporarily in the District who transfers between schools or who enrolls in or withdraws from his or her school.
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park
The C&O Canal follows the route of the Potomac River for 184.5 miles from Washington, D.C. to Cumberland, MD. The canal operated from 1828-1924 as a transportation route, primarily hauling coal from western Maryland to the port of Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of original structures, including locks, lockhouses, and aqueducts, serve as reminders of the canal's role as a transportation system during the Canal Era. In addition, the canal's towpath provides a nearly level, continuous tr...
United States Capitol Guide Service
The United States Capitol is a monument, a working legislative building, and one of the most recognizable symbols of Democracy in the world. Visit the new Capitol Visitor Center, located under the East Front Plaza, which provides a dramatic educational experience for all visitors, an experience enhanced through exhibits, displays of historic documents, and documentary presentations.
§ 38-203. Enforcement; penalties.
An accurate daily record of the attendance of all minors covered by § 38-202 and this section shall be kept by the teachers of each public, independent, private, or parochial school and by every teacher who gives instruction privately. These records shall be open for inspection at all times by the Board, the Superintendent of Schools, school attendance officers, or other persons authorized to enforce this subchapter. It shall be the duty of each principal, head teacher, or school administ...
§ 38-202. Establishment of school attendance requirements.
Every parent, guardian, or other person, who resides permanently or temporarily in the District during any school year and who has custody or control of a minor who has reached the age of 5 years or will become 5 years of age on or before December 31st of the current school year shall place the minor in regular attendance in a public, independent, private, or parochial school, or in private instruction during the period of each year when the public schools of the District are in session. This ...
§ 38-206. Penalty for failure to provide correct information.
Any parent, guardian, custodian, principal, or teacher of a minor who has reached the age of 3 years who willfully neglects or refuses to provide the information required by §§ 38-202 through 38-206, or who knowingly makes any false statement, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
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Classical Education & The Home School
Classical education is an idea whose time has come again. When parents see the failures of modern education, they look for better solutions and classical education is one that has been tested in the past and found to be good. For the Christian home e...
They're Your Kids: An Inspirational Journey from Self-Doubter to Home School Advocate
For many people, their schooling was uncomfortable, tedious, and sometimes a waste of time and energy. This book offers the idea that the public school system is tragically flawed and that we are able to do better for our own children. Sam Sorbo, mom...
Christian Unschooling : Growing Your Children in the Freedom of Christ
Is unschooling incompatible with Christianity? Elissa Wahl and Teri Brown argue that they are not incompatible, but complementary. Unschooling offers a different path to learning. This book explains what unschooling is (and isn't) and offers support ...
Shurley English
Shurley English maintains that effective instruction in English must be founded upon an understanding of how the parts of speech work together in a sentence. A good grammar foundation gives students the skills to improve writing. Grammar is the struc...
Guiding Your Catholic Preschooler
There can be no greater delight in parenting than passing on the Faith to the next generation. To help with that glorious responsibility comes Guiding Your Catholic Preschooler, a parents handbook to home-based religious instruction for the youngest ...
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If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain.

Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.