stbmomof1plus2

As a future homeschooler (since my kids are not yet of school age), the blurring of terms is scary to me. VS just hit my state an dare starting to catch on. Thank God our Govenor homeschools his kids, so the creep isn't possible. But I do fear when we get a new Govenor, creep may start to happen and VS will be expected of homeschoolers in the future. Especially with some of the language in NCLB as well as some of the rhetoric from current Presidential candidates regarding mandatory preschool. When the federal government starts making mandates, states tend to panic and in that panic I can see things begin to get restrictive.
I think we have to remain vigilant in what homeschooling means. This is very important to us because we have a PG child and having to follow government school rules trying to educate him would be a disaster.
I think VS is a GREAT idea. My cousin will be sending her 2 kids to VS next year. Just having them out of the public school environment will be wonderful, but she is not homeschooling.
I also think some strings might start to be attached that say you can't do X, Y, or Z unless you VS (for instance, in some states homeschoolers can take part in public school special activities - will they begin to say you can only do it if you attend VS).
It definitely makes us nervous and I am pretty close to joining HSLDA now in anticipation.