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March's Top Pick - Save More than 20%!
The Socialization Trap
- by Rick Boyer
Reviewed by Vicki Bentley, mom of 17 homeschooled students, speaker, and author.

While most of us like to think that schools exist to teach children the "Three R's" over a twelve-year period, did you realize "John Holt has found that it only takes about thirty hours for a person to learn to read," and "John Taylor Gatto claims that plenty of evidence exists that people can learn to read, write and do basic arithmetic--in other words, learn to be self-educators--in about one hundred hours"? So what is the purpose of the other 11½ years of compulsory "education"? Rick explains why you, as a homeschooling parent, should still be concerned about what is taught in public schools, and how society's paradigm still affects your family.

Read the rest of the review and order your copy today!

For the month of March, we are offering The Socialization Trap for only $6 (members)/$7 (non-members), plus shipping. That's a savings of more than 20%!

Hear Rick at the Convention!
Rick is one of the early trailblazers of the home-education movement. He and his wife, Marilyn, have taught their 14 children at home, kindergarten through high school, since 1980. You will love his practical wisdom and folksy, humorous style! Here are his workshop titles for this year:

• Teaching Character Through History
• Things I Wish I'd Known - A Session for Teens
• What's a Dad to Do?
• Homeschooling--Educating for Eternity: Clarifying Your Vision and Passing It on to Your Children

View the workshop descriptions online!

Free 45-Minute Online Science Seminars For Students and Parents
- "There's Life in the Blood"
- "God's Incredible Creation - the Pancreas"
- "Top 10 Academic Homeschooling Mistakes"
- "SAT and ACT - Strategies and Information"
- "What I've Learned from Human Cadavers"
- And more! Visit their site to register for free.

http://www.HomeschoolScienceAcademy.com

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Calling All Facebook Users!
Help Us Spread the Word...and $ave Money
HEAV now is now on Facebook! If you are on Facebook, please tell your friends about HEAV by joining our new Facebook page and group and by marking your convention attendance on the Facebook convention page. Facebook also makes it easy to invite your friends to the convention--there's even a built-in "Invite People to Come" feature!

This year, by using the Facebook, blogging, the Internet, and PDFs, we're looking to keep costs down so you can have a FABULOUS convention with no price increases.

If you've chosen not to do the Facebook thing (which we understand COMPLETELY), there are lots of other ways to let your friends know about HEAV and the convention! Consider forwarding an Update to someone you know who's considering homeschooling or new to the state, e-mailing them a link to the HEAV convention page (www.heav.org/convention), or mentioning the convention next time you see them. We'll also have church bulletins and fliers on the website soon.

Together, we can help impact lives for eternity!

Last Chance Until Next Fall
Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner
Hear the Author THIS Thursday!
Kathy Kuhl, author of the brand-new book, Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner, is scheduled to give a seminar THIS Thursday (March 5) in Richmond! If you are the parent of a struggling learner, this is a wonderful opportunity to get the encouragement, support, and practical ideas you need in a small-group, friendly setting.

Kathy's new book "brings together the stories of 64 families who are working with struggling learners,'" says experienced home educator, author, and speaker Janice Campbell. "...If you find yourself overwhelmed by a particular stage or task, it's likely that the book will have just the helpful hint you need to succeed. The other parents quoted in the book have been generous and honest with their advice and encouragement, and their experiences can help you face each day with your struggling learner." Read the entire review on Janice's blog. If you think the book sounds good, you won't want to miss the opportunity to spend an afternoon with the author!

Preregister today and let us know you're coming by calling the HEAV office at 804-278-9200 or using our online system. You'll also find more details on HEAV's Homeschool Success Seminar page.

Supercharged Science Camps!
Prices Increase After March 15 - Be Sure to Register Today!
Richmond, Monday through Wednesday, June 15-17, 2009

Enjoy three wild days of hands-on science at these camps co-sponsored by HEAV and Richmond Regional Home Educators and led by real mechanical engineer, airplane pilot, astronomer, university instructor, and rocket scientist Aurora Lipper.

Check out the Science Camp (for ages 7-12) and the RoboCamp (for ages 12-18)! The organizers are especially looking for more RoboCamp participants. You can register online, or contact Supercharged Science at 805-617-1789.

Special for HEAV Members: Registration price includes bonus DVD, which contains several additional experiments in aerodynamics, electricity, robotics, and optics you can do after the camp! Limited to the first 100 HEAV members to sign up. (Retail value: $25.)

Reminder - Graduation Packets Are Now Available!
Celebrate this milestone in the life of your student at the HEAV graduation ceremony! The ceremony, held during the June convention, is a wonderful way to include family and friends in a special, God-honoring celebration. Graduating seniors who would like to participate need to contact the HEAV office at office@heav.org, or 804-278-9200, to request a GRAD (Graduation Registration and Details) packet. This year our GRAD packet is also available as a download directly from our graduation page.

To participate in the graduation ceremony in June, you must fill out and return the packet forms to HEAV by April 3, 2009. See www.heav.org/convention/graduation for graduation FAQs.

[ Photo © Seth Fisher, Through My Lens Photography ]

We Need Your Help!
We could use your help both at the convention and as we prepare! Volunteering is easy--simply fill out our online checklist and we'll help you find just the right position. Anyone who volunteers at least two hours at the convention will get to shop early in the UCS--it's our way of saying thank you for your help!

www.heav.org/support-homeschoolers/volunteer/volunteerchecklist.html

Help Needed! Online PR Assistant
Do you love marketing and working with the media? Do you have experience writing effective press releases and developing dynamic public relations campaigns--on and offline? Can you generate radio and television interview opportunities? HEAV is looking for those familiar with online marketing and journalism to work with us in generating media interest in the upcoming convention. If interested, please contact Katherine Loop at kloopheav@gmail.com or 703-352-0681. Please include a synopsis of your experience in the e-mail.

FREE PRACTICE TEST E-BOOK WITH ANY ORDER!
From now through March 9, purchase ANY product from Basic Skills, including the ELO Quick Assessment (see below), and receive a FREE Achieving Peak Performance E-book for the grade of your choice! Achieving Peak Performance is a practice test designed to help your child do his or her best on the standardized achievement tests.

Earlier this year, we evaluated Basic Skill's ELO Quick Assessment and were quite impressed. Parents can administer this easy-to-use assessment tool for grades 1-6 that measures precise learning outcomes and delivers accurate, understandable results at home. It includes a student book, teacher book with answer keys, and evaluation summary forms for quick feedback. Cost is $14/e-book or $22/hard copy. Read a review by Yvonne Bunn!

REGISTER BY NEXT FRIDAY!
Homeschool Day 2009 at New Market Battlefield State Historical Park

Saturday, March 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Register by Friday, March 13, 2009
An HEAV-cosponsored event!

This year's event will include favorites from 2008, as well as some new and exciting activities. See pictures from last year at the HEAV website. Registration is limited to 1,000.

Save BIG! Although admission to the park is normally $9/adults and $5/youth, admission for homeschoolers on homeschool day is only $10 per vehicle containing 1-8 passengers and $20 per vehicle containing 9 or more passengers. Registration is required to receive these rates, so be sure to mark your calendars and RSVP with the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park soon. You can register online at www.vmi.edu/newmarket or by phone (866-515-1864). For more information, contact Stacey Nadeau nadeausr@vmi.edu or Troy Marshall marshalltd@vmi.edu.

Here Are Some Painless Ways to Support HEAV!
Attention Ukrop's Customers - Golden Gift Earning Period in Progress!
From March 2 through March 28, 2009, Ukrop's customers can help support HEAV while shopping! No registration is required--just use your UVC card when you shop. If you need a UVC Card, stop by the Customer Service counter at any Ukrop's retail location. You will earn one Golden Gift Point for every $1 spent. At the end of the program period, a Golden Gift Certificate that details your household's points will be mailed to you, provided you spent at least $100 during the period. To donate your certificate to HEAV, simply send it to the HEAV office at 2248 G Dabney Road, Richmond, VA 23230!

Earnings depend on the number of Golden Gift points contributed--with enough participation, HEAV can earn up to $4,000!

Food Lion and Bloom customers can also support HEAV while they shop! View more details here. Check out the other ways to effortlessly support HEAV every day!

1) Homeschool Items
View All Homeschool Items
1.1 Chesterfield Christian Academy Open House/Registration Day - Chesterfield - March 6
1.2 Worldview 101 Seminar - North Carolina - March 9 or 10
1.3 School at Sea Cruise - Galveston, Texas and at Sea - September 6-13
1.4 State Homeschool Conventions and Organizations

2) General Interest Items
View All General Interest Items
2.1 (Limited) Free Symphony Tickets - Fairfax - Reserve by March 11
2.2 Upward Sports: Basketball/Cheerleading - Chesterfield/Midlothian - March 14
2.3 Vision Forum Father-Daughter Retreat - Georgia - March 27-29
2.4 Volunteers: Meals on Wheels, More - Richmond/Central Virginia - Ongoing
2.5 Write to Persecuted Chinese Christians
2.6 World Handwriting Contest - Deadline Is June 30

3) Cool Sites for Homeschoolers
View All Cool Sites for Homeschoolers
3.1 Free Lenten Guide
3.2 Purim - Begins March 7
3.3 Eagle Cam
3.4 Pasttimes News
3.5 "Make Better Grades" Free Chart

4) Parting Thought - American Hyphen Society
The American Hyphen Society is a community-based, not-for-profit, grass-roots consciousness-raising/education-research alliance that seeks to help effectuate the across-the-board self-empowerment of wide-ranging culture-, nationality-, ethnicity-, creed-, and gender-defined identity groups by excising all multiculturally-less-than-sensitive terminology from the English language, and replacing it with counter-hegemonic, cruelty-, gender-, bias-, and, if necessary, content-free speech. The society's motto is, "It became necessary to destroy the language in order to save it." Its headquarters are in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (West Coast regional offices are in Walla-Walla, Washington.)
- Modified from an unknown source

5) Worth Repeating
"Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism, and every American public school is a school of Humanism. What can the theistic Sunday school, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?"
- Charles F. Potter, Humanism: A New Religion (1930), p.128.

6) Verse of the Week
And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
- Isaiah 54:13 (KJV)

REASON #20
"Your Family Is Right Where They Ought to Be...Home!"

Written and illustrated by Jim Erskine. Reprinted with permission. Jim Erskine also manages www.HomeschoolFreebieOfTheDay.com, where you can find a new free homeschool resource every weekday.

Submit an Item
Know of an event, contest, or resource that would be of interest to homeschoolers? Please submit it using our online form at www.heav.org/resources/update/submit-event.html.

Note: We compile information for publication at least two weeks prior to send-out date, so please submit items as early as possible (preferably one month in advance). HEAV reserves the right to accept or reject any material submitted.

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Disclaimer
The Virginia Homeschool Update is produced by Kathleen Dillie (copy editor), Chris (editor), Anna Dykhoff (graphic designer), Sarah Kohrs (update manager), Katherine Loop (assistant director of publications & marketing), and Anne Miller (director of publications & marketing).

HEAV does not necessarily endorse the above-mentioned resources, nor guarantee the accuracy of information found on any external resource we may mention. If you find anything wrong on our website, please let us know so we can correct it.

HEAV diligently researches each link prior to publication. However, we recommend you, the parent, fully examine websites before allowing your children to surf them without supervision.

Copyright © 2009 by the Home Educators Association of Virginia. All rights reserved. You are free to pass along all or part of this Update, but please include the following credit line when you do: "Taken from HEAV's Virginia Homeschool Update, a free newsletter for Virginia homeschoolers. You can sign up at www.heav.org." You may modify this credit line if needed, but please credit HEAV and link to the HEAV website (www.heav.org).

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