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Homeschoolers attend art fair at park
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
| Article published on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/020708_par-09.jpg) |
| Photo by THOMAS MICHALSKI |
| Jacinta Sousa of Florida Homeschoolers and her daughter, Audra, 9. |
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PINELLAS PARK – Homeschooled children and their parents on Jan. 30 attended an art fair that seconded as an exchange of information between participants.
Held at Helen Howarth Park, the outdoor event was sponsored by the Florida Homeschoolers, an organization that offers parents and children an opportunity to meet their counterparts from other sections of Pinellas County and the state.
“There are thousands of home schooled children in Florida,” said Jacinta Sousa of Seminole, a Florida Homeschoolers representative. “Florida is a very homeschool friendly state.”
Parents can teach their children at home simply by taking them out of public or other schools and register them as homeschoolers. A letter of intent must be sent to the Pinellas County School Board.
Homeschooled children are evaluated annually by a certified teacher to ensure that they are advancing. The teacher, who is paid about $40 for the service, performs a standardized test or reviews the portfolio to evaluate the child.
An option to homeschooling is to enroll children in a private or “umbrella school.” They are then officially registered with the state as private school students. Parents are not usually required by an umbrella school to maintain a portfolio or evaluations, but it is recommended. There also are mandatory attendance issues, health forms, and immunization record requirements.
Some families are turning to virtual Internet public schools. Children must maintain a public school status as they use the school’s Internet courses. Some programs are free when a child has been a public school student for at least one year.
“People turn to homeschooling for different reasons,” Sousa said. “Some lack confidence in the public school system or have curriculum, religious or safety issues.”
Sousa has two homeschooled children, Audra, 9, and Kaley, 2.
“I will homeschool them until they are ready for college,” Sousa said.
Contact Sousa at jknsm@hotmail.com for further information.
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Article published on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008
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