I firmly believe that homeschoolers across the country do best within community. Rather than needing government oversight, homeschoolers naturally form support communities for the marathon of teaching and raising one's own. So, to support, encourage and help homeschooling and homeschooler growth- Homeschoolers need to form a buffer between government oversight and individual families. Some States in the USA have very little regulation and a state watch group may be all you need. Other states have more regulation- and in those states a homeschool organization that helps families navigate those regulations should be encouraged. In Fact, I believe the state should be flooded with such groups.
For the State of Maryland, we have support of a specific nature called umbrella groups or education ministries. These groups perform the required compliance regulations and inform each county of their participating families compliance. We need MORE Umbrellas!! In order to really support, encourage and help one another- fellow homeschoolers ought to be reviewing and confirming other homeschoolers- not county or state governments. My desire is to help YOU create an umbrella for your county or region- keep the administration of such a group as easy as possible so YOU can concentrate on being a community of encouragers. MOre Umbrellas will naturally promote and support MORE independent homeschooling- and that's the GOAL. Contact me for HOW to start and run an umbrella!
