Homeschooling Community/ Tutorials on STX?

I suggest looking on Facebook for different groups.  I'm not sure if there is a specific homeschool STX facebook page, but there are probably pages for moms or parents.  I know there is a mom page for STJ which is a great way for moms to connect and share info and goods.   You will also want to register your child or children with the VI department of education as being homeschooled once you are here.  I'm pretty sure you can find that form on their website.  

Please join Us Virgin Islands We Homeschool and Home Educate VI-Hub on Facebook

Is home school the best option?

@julianmcgrath

In general-That totally depends on the family. Homeschooling is a very personal choice and a commitment that only you can decide to go through with. 

If you're asking about the island in general- the public schools (from what I hear) are very under funded and many are still being rebuilt after the hurricanes. The majority of children are on the free or reduced lunch/ financially assisted program.  Most stateside people (also info gathered from here and convos with people I know thru FB on the island) who elect to put their kids into schools opt for private schooling on the island. The private schools are closer to the caliber of education you'd find on the mainland. (again- that's what's been communicated here. Don't shoot the messenger people. lol) 

We're still stateside currently but I've been researching this move for about 11-12 years now. LOL

Hubs is on board now and we're just waiting for our much older parents.... well, you know. Estate sales when the time comes and all... 

We personally choose to homeschool due to unnecessary covid restrictions placed on children and an inability for our own local school system (which is one of the best in the country) to get it together. Our school superintendent is making up his own rules and his seat has been threatened to be challenged many times.

Regardless, no matter where we live we'd homeschool because of the freedoms it provides. I have no idea what covid restrictions look like in schools there but in our opinion they're unnecessary so we just won't bother with them. Homeschooling is one of the great things the pandemic gave us as a family. At first I was terrified and didn't think I would be able to do it, and now I'll never go back unless she decides she wants to go back to school. I also work full time and I'm building a business so if you're dedicated to being successful at it, anyone can do it. Even if you have early readers like I do. 

We just moved to St Croix this week, and we are home schooling our children. We may not do home school later during the High school level years. That’s what we did for our older children, and it worked out great. 

One of the biggest negatives of home schooling is the lack of social interactions. 

That’s why being involved in groups, church, and sports is great for homeschoolers. 

I think it is an excellent idea for fellow homeschoolers to get together every once in a while. It’s great for the kids to see other kids, but it is just as important for other parents to be able to talk to other parents to. 

Once we get settled in we will start looking at  Facebook. 

Outdoor tutorials are great. We call them field trips!!  Even our older kids did outdoor learning all the time at the private school we put them in later on. They loved it. 

I think it’s a great idea. 

@40isthebetter20

Your comment:

 "We personally choose to homeschool due to unnecessary covid restrictions placed on children and an inability for our own local school system (which is one of the best in the country) to get it together. Our school superintendent is making up his own rules and his seat has been threatened to be challenged many times."

 Leaves me thinking that perhaps the VI may not be the best place for you to relocate as the majority of places still have mandatory mask wearing policies in effect, including air travel and proof of negative covid test results upon arrival in VI.

Posted by: @40isthebetter20

@julianmcgrath

In general-That totally depends on the family. Homeschooling is a very personal choice and a commitment that only you can decide to go through with. 

If you're asking about the island in general- the public schools (from what I hear) are very under funded and many are still being rebuilt after the hurricanes. The majority of children are on the free or reduced lunch/ financially assisted program.  Most stateside people (also info gathered from here and convos with people I know thru FB on the island) who elect to put their kids into schools opt for private schooling on the island. The private schools are closer to the caliber of education you'd find on the mainland. (again- that's what's been communicated here. Don't shoot the messenger people. lol) 

We're still stateside currently but I've been researching this move for about 11-12 years now. LOL

Hubs is on board now and we're just waiting for our much older parents.... well, you know. Estate sales when the time comes and all... 

We personally choose to homeschool due to unnecessary covid restrictions placed on children and an inability for our own local school system (which is one of the best in the country) to get it together. Our school superintendent is making up his own rules and his seat has been threatened to be challenged many times.

Homeschooling is going great for my kids. I was scared of doing it at first, but I couldn't be bothered with the Covid-19 pandemic problems anymore.
Now I feel like it was the best option I could choose. Kids love it, they get excited about it, and I think they're more interested in the things they're learning now.
I want them to like what we're doing, but it's not all fun and games. You have to get serious about it too. We're doing 2nd grade reading passages for our next lesson. You should still follow their curriculum to make sure they're learning the right things. It's going well so far.

Thank you kindly for this answer!

@alana33 

Seems like the reason why they are choosing to homeschool IS to minimize how much time their child must wear the masks and to make it as easy as they possibly can in ways they are able to. Many places are still requiring masks, the USVI only being one of them. There are some things that can be avoided here and some not so much, but in order to make it easier on those who can choose where and when they can control some things in their lives especially when it comes making choices for own own children, then why not make those choices you do have control over? It’s kind of being rule telling someone they shouldn’t move somewhere just because of this when this is pretty much still everywhere and have that be the sole basis as to why they shouldn’t move there.
Obviously covid has become inconvenient for everyone everywhere, but at least allow those who want to make their choices to make their lives easier without making them feel like it’s the wrong choice. Realize that MANY parents pulled their kids out of schools this past year because of the inconvenience of all this! Homeschooling rates have gone up higher than ever before! It doesn’t mean that they don’t have to follow the other covid rules around them when doing other things in life right now that are beyond their control. It just means that they prefer not to deal with the extra crap involved where and when they don’t have to if they don’t have to. The mask requirements are no doubt a pain and with them are posing a lot of other issues for our children which some would beg to argue that they are going to leave our children far worse off than any threat of a virus with such an extremely high rate of survival. If parents don’t want to deal with that then they shouldn’t have to and should be able to choose to opt out-in this case it’s only by choosing to not send their child/ren to school so, again, where and when they can possible. These mandates hopefully won’t last forever and people shouldn’t put their whole lives on hold because of it all even if that means they wish to move to the USVI.