Some Things Never Change

I went to my 25 year high school reunion this weekend.

Everyone was older, fatter and balder exactly the same. Seriously, even the same high school issues have carried on through the years. At least none of the cheerleaders did cheers on the dance floor this time! Please everyone, repeat after me — guns and alcohol do not mix. Class dismissed.

July 23, 2007 | Filed Under Rants, Moods and Attitude | 6 Comments 

Northern Virginia Homeschool Statistics

The following is a summary of homeschool statistics that I compiled from the Virginia Department of Education’s website. The state separates out counts of homeschooled children and children whose parents have declared what is known as Religious Exemption (RE). The compulsory attendance law of Virginia states that a school board may excuse

any pupil who, together with his parents, by reason of bona fide religious training or belief is conscientiously opposed to attendance at school. For purposes of this subdivision, ‘bona fide religious training or belief’ does not include essentially political, sociological or philosophical views or a merely personal moral code

I’m going to assume that the RE kids are homeschooled, though to be honest nobody really knows what is happening to those kids, as the state has no requirements for them once the RE is declared.

For the public school (PS) enrollment totals, I only included grades K through 12, and not pre-K.

I’ve included only counties/cities in Northern Virginia (NOVA), because that’s what I was interested in. However, I added a line showing how NOVA compares to the statewide totals. Technically, I probably shouldn’t have included Fauquier and Stafford counties, but I did. They skew the numbers just a bit (the overall percent goes down to 1.42% if you remove them), but that wasn’t my intention. I included them because more and more people from NOVA proper are moving out to these areas and commuting to DC. They are insane, but they do it. That’s why I included them even though they aren’t technically in NOVA.

Northern Virginia Homeschool Statistics
School Year 2006-2007

County/City HS Total
K-12		 RE Total
K-12		 Total HS
Enrollment
K-12		 Total PS
Enrollment
K-12		 Total
Students
K-12		 % HS
Students
K-12
Alexandria 66 0 66 10,143 10,209 0.65%
Arlington 117 0 117 17,618 17,735 0.66%
Fairfax 1,776 371 2147 161,395 163,542 1.31%
Falls Church 16 4 20 1,867 1,887 1.06%
Fauquier 441 103 544 11,058 11,602 4.69%
Loudoun 955 26 981 49,713 50,694 1.94%
Manassas 128 13 141 6,415 6,556 2.15%
Manassas Park 15 0 15 2,473 2,488 0.60%
Prince William 1,083 27 1110 70,195 71,305 1.56%
Stafford 473 234 707 26,274 26,981 2.62%







NOVA 5,070 778 5,848 357,151 362,999 1.61%







STATE 20,240 6,691 26,931 1,200,856 1,227,787 2.19%
             

I checked some of the previous years, and the overall totals for NOVA are going up by about a half percent per year. That’s pretty significant sounding to me. Especially given that the NOVA homeschooling population is already about a third of the catholic school population for the Diocese of Arlington (which includes Winchester, Culpeper and Spotsylvania counties as well as the NOVA counties listed above).

According to a document titled “Virginia School Enrollment Trends” published in August 2006 by the University of Virginia’s Cooper Center for Public Service,

the number of home-schooled students is growing more rapidly than either public or private enrollment–although it has a long way to go before it could constitute a significant segment of the educational landscape.

We are certainly more than just a blip on the education radar! These numbers go a long way in supporting learning at home as a viable educational alternative that is becoming quite popular (in NOVA anyway). It would be great if we could get similar data nationwide, but that is not going to happen. (If you know of a source of recent data, please point me in the right direction.)

July 18, 2007 | Filed Under Homeschool Issues | 2 Comments 

My Chipmunks and Men’s Gymnastics

Apparently, men’s gymnastics isn’t what it used to be. My dad was a gymnast in college (even captain of the team), but things are different now. The feats are more difficult and dangerous, and there isn’t much scholarship money to be found.

There used to be numerous men’s teams and scholarships available for college gymnasts. Sometime in the 1970s that all changed. Colleges and universities started putting all their money into head count sports such as football and basketball, and men’s gymnastics fell by the wayside.

Men are now left with only 17 NCAA division I teams. The only full-ride scholarships still available are in division I. The NCAA only allows those schools to offer 6.3 scholarships for men’s gymnastics (as compared to 12 for women at 65 division I colleges). That’s about 100 scholarships for men compared to nearly 800 for women.

So, my little gymnasts will have to be damn good to “make it” in gymnastics. This week, Theodore was invited to try out for the boys USAG team, and he made it.

Mushroom Boy

Looking toward a scholarship is just plain silly given that he won’t be in college for at least 12 more years. I’m a bit dumbfounded by the cost involved. I’m thinking perhaps we should save all the money we spend on his training and give it to him as college money. It’s nuts. Seriously nuts. I’m wondering how parents financially support activities like this.

But they’re good.

Simon Arch

Really good.

alvin pommel horse

So what’s a mother to do?

July 14, 2007 | Filed Under Rants, Moods and Attitude, Parenting | 8 Comments 

Video Games Live!

I keep forgetting to post about our trip to see the National Symphony Orchestra perform Video Games Live! last week.

What an amazing performance.

Here’s a snippet from their website:

Video Games Live™ is an immersive concert event featuring music from the most popular video games of all time. Top orchestras & choirs perform along with exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists, live action and unique interactive segments to create an explosive entertainment experience!

It was so much fun to watch. They showed video game footage on a huge screen above the symphony orchestra and had lots of audience participation and interaction. We enjoyed it so much, my husband wants to go see it again. They have performances scheduled all over the country. However, you can’t beat hearing our own National Symphony Orchestra perform it. Every part of the show was amazing.

And here’s a sample of a different orchestra playing that I found on You Tube:

And remember: Never wrestle with a pig. You both get all dirty, and the pig likes it.

July 10, 2007 | Filed Under Fun Stuff | 2 Comments