Peaceful Worldschoolers

Peaceful Worldschoolers is a bilingual non-profit organization that organizes weekly field trips and events for homeschooling and unschooling families around the world. We started out as a homeschool umbrella in Maryland in 2023, and now we have Peaceful Worldschoolers groups in over 20 states and 3 different countries. If you are interested in starting a Peaceful Worldschoolers group in your area, please fill out the Community Coordinator Application. Peaceful Worldschoolers is also a registered homeschooling umbrella in the state of Maryland which means that we will be responsible for supervising your homeschool instead doing portfolio reviews with the county. When completing the Notice of Intent to Homeschool Form, just select “Option B – Peaceful Worldschoolers Umbrella, 3701 Spruell Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20902.” Homeschooling families that live or plan to live in other states should enroll in PAX Academy.

Homeschooling laws vary state to state. In order to determine the laws in your state, please visit the HSLDA website.

If you live in Maryland, homeschooling here is as easy as 1-2-3!

1. Complete the Peaceful Worldschoolers Homeschool Umbrella Registration Form and pay the $100 annual registration fee per family.
2. Submit the Notice of Intent To Homeschool Form (select Option B – Peaceful Worldschoolers Homeschool Umbrella, 3701 Spruell Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20902) to your county’s homeschool coordinator or superintendent at least 15 days before beginning your homeschool program.
   • Allegany County
   • Anne Arundel County
   • Baltimore City
   • Baltimore County
   • Calvert County
   • Caroline County
   • Carroll County 
   • Cecil County
   • Charles County
   • Dorchester County
   • Frederick County
   • Garrett County
   • Harford County
   • Howard County 
   • Kent County* 
   • Montgomery County
   • Prince George’s County
   • Queen Anne’s County
   • Saint Mary’s County
   • Somerset County*
   • Talbot County
   • Washington County
   • Wicomico County
   • Worcester County
3. Complete the Annual Review via one of our 3 review options: Group Review, Peer Review, or Individual Review via phone with a member of our leadership team. See below for more information about each option.

*=This county may not have a specific homeschool notification form, so this is the generic Maryland Intent to Homeschool Form.

While we welcome families of different homeschooling philosophies, personally, we are unschoolers, which means that we promote self-directed, child-led, passion-driven, purpose-full education.

We believe that your child is your curriculum, so while we can recommend various resources to support you and your child’s education, we do not promote any particular curriculum.

We also believe that part of being a homeschooling family means that we focus on the “home” before the “school.” For this reason, we provide online and in-person courses/events for children AND parents.

As Peaceful Worldschoolers, we believe that the WORLD is our biggest and best classroom, and as such we are proud to host weekly field trips and events that are open to all so feel free to invite your family and friends to join in on the fun!

Be sure to join a Peaceful Worldschoolers group in your state or country so you can participate in all the incredible field trips and events that are happening near you! 

If you have questions about our self-directed educational philosophy, we invite you to join our founder, Angela, for a FREE Unschooling Q&A held via Zoom on the last Wednesday of the month in English and on the 2nd Wednesday of the month in Spanish. Discover the joy of learning as you embrace educational freedom!

We ALL have so much to learn and grow – and it is a blessing that we can do so together!

To learn more about unschooling or worldschooling, check out the Peaceful Worldschooling Podcast or Angela’s  TikTok or Instagram where she discusses concerns about the current education system, answers questions about alternatives like unschooling, and shares inspiration for families to live and learn with fun and freedom!

It costs only $100 per family per year to join the Peaceful Worldschoolers homeschool umbrella in Maryland.

You must register all family members at once. If you did decide to add additional family members later in the same year, you will need to complete a separate enrollment for them and pay the annual fee again.

Families with high school students or that would like additional support, resources, and discounts should join PAX Academy so that they are able to receive transcripts and diplomas from our registered and accredited PreK-12 Private School rather than a parent-issued transcript or diploma. However, you are welcome to use our umbrella from K-12 if you desire and get additional support as needed for parent-issued diplomas.

You, as the parent, have the right to remove your child from school at ANY point in time. It does not matter if it is the 2nd day of school or the 2nd to last day of school. 

As a result, we offer year-round open enrollment per school year (not calendar year).  We will open enrollment for the following school year on June 1st. And our (un)school year runs from August 1st until July 31st of the following year. If you enroll later in the school year, you are still required to pay the Annual Fee of $100 per family per school year which will cover you from the date of enrollment until July 31st.

We do not require you to keep or maintain a portfolio. This will allow you to focus your time and energy on the things that matter most to you and your family. Yay!

Of course, if you want to keep a portfolio for your own records, you are more than welcome to, but it is not required.

As homeschoolers in Maryland, we are required to conduct an annual review with our families each year. This is a great opportunity to reflect on your year, to share informally about the things you have done, and to ask any questions that you may have. You can choose to do your annual review in one of three ways:

•  Group Zoom Review: We conduct our Group Review via Zoom during the first full week of April. This is a great opportunity to connect with other homeschooling and unschooling families in your county.
•  Peer Review: If you have a friend in our umbrella, you are welcome to conduct a peer review with one another and then submit the Annual Review Verification Form prior to May 1st.
•  Individual Review: If you are unable to attend any of our Group Zoom Reviews and you do not have a friend in our umbrella (yet), you may conduct your annual review via a one-on-one phone call with someone from our leadership team.

To learn more about the homeschooling in Maryland, click here.

We support homeschoolers in Maryland in a variety of ways.

1.  Peaceful Worldschoolers of the DMV Facebook Group – We post weekly field trips and events for every region/county in our Facebook Group, and we invite our members to also share your own meet-ups and events so we can build a strong homeschooling community in Maryland. Our field trips are a great way to get connected with other homeschoolers in your area while also learning some amazing things! After all, we are peaceful WORLDschoolers because we believe that the WORLD is our biggest and best classroom!
2.  Monthly Unschooling Q&A – Join best-selling author, Angela Harders, on the second Wednesday of the month in Spanish or on the last Wednesday of the month in English to ask an answer all your questions about unschooling. The meeting is held via Zoom from 8:00 – 9:00 PM.
3.  Peaceful Worldschoolers WhatsApp Community – Join our FREE WhatsApp Community for Peaceful Worldschoolers living in and around Maryland. We have sub-groups for each region/county so you can get connected with people in your area. We also have sub-groups for various topics of interest such as neurodiverse families and families with teenagers.
4.  Educational Consultations – If you would like additional one-on-one support for your homeschooling or unschooling journey, book an educational consultation with certified special education teacher, Angela Harders. Together, we will talk through any issues or concerns that you may have and make a plan so that you can create the ideal educational experience for your child  and for you!
5.  Peaceful Worldschooling Podcast – Listen in as we have conversations with other unschooling and worldschooling families from around the world! If you are an unschooler and would like to be guest on the Peaceful Worldschooling Podcast, sign up here. 
6.  PAX Academy – PAX Academy is a registered and accredited private school for unschoolers. As a private school, you do NOT have to fill out a Notice of Intent to Homeschool, and we are also able to support families both in Maryland, throughout the United States, and even international families. We recommend that any family that would like additional support, access to additional resources or exclusive discounts, or families with high school students consider enrolling in PAX Academy.
7. Care Club - We want to help you create the village that you want and need. Families enrolled in Peaceful Worldschoolers and/or PAX Academy are eligible to participate in our Care Club.

YES!

You are welcome to participate (or not participate) in any Peaceful Worldschoolers field trip or event that your child desires in any state, region, or county.

In fact, as Peaceful Worldschoolers, we encourage you to explore the world by visiting other states, regions, and counties!

As our local groups grow, priority for our field trips will be giving to families that are enrolled in Peaceful Worldschoolers or PAX Academy.

NO!

Our field trips are open to all, however some events may have discounted pricing available for members only.

¡Claro que sí! De hecho es una gran bendición que usted pueda educar a sus hijos en su primer idioma. Si necesita ayuda o apoyo para aprender más sobre la educación en casa en español, recomiendo que:

1. Se inscriba en nuestro grupo de WhatsApp en español .
2. Escuche el segundo episodio de mi podcast, Descubriendo Desescolarización (y todos los otros episodios).
3. Lea los libros  Historias de una Maestra Tóxica y Historia Secreta del Sistema Educativa.
4. Mire los documentales La Educación Prohibida y Un Crimen Llamado Educación.
5. Se inscriba como miembro de HSLDA para tener protección legal. (Las familias inscritas en Peaceful Worldschoolers o PAX Academy recibirán un descuento en la membresía de HSLDA).

If you are already homeschooling in Maryland under the supervision of the county or another umbrella, you are always welcome to change and join our umbrella at any time! You would just need to re-submit the Notice of Intent to Homeschool Form (see How Can I Start Homeschooling in Maryland?) and indicate the change to “Option B” under the Peaceful Worldschoolers Umbrella. Our address is: 3701 Spruell Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20902.

If you are already registered in the Peaceful Worldschoolers umbrella and wish to add another student at a later date, you must complete the enrollment form again for the new student. 

Please note that the $100 per family per school year rate only applies when students are enrolled at the same time. If a new student is added after your initial enrollment, that student must complete a separate enrollment and pay the annual enrollment fee individually.

Only children ages 5-18 in Maryland can be supervised by our homeschool umbrella, but if you are in another state/country and would like to have the freedom to unschool, I encourage you to register in PAX Academy which is our registered private school and will meet the mandatory compulsory attendance requirement for most states.

By registering in PAX Academy, you will have the legal protection of a private school which means that you will be able to receive a diploma and transcript from a private school rather than as a homeschooler.

In fact, we recommend that high schoolers in Maryland register for PAX Academy as well so that you can avoid the tedious process of applying to college as a homeschooler.

Peaceful Worldschoolers (PW) is an unschool-friendly homeschool umbrella for families that live and learn in Maryland.

PAX Academy is a registered and accredited private K-12 school for families that live in all 50 states and almost every country in the world.

PW costs $100 per family per year.

PAX costs $350 per student per year with a family discount of $600 per year.

PW requires an annual review.

PAX does not require an annual review.

PW Students are homeschoolers and receive parent-issued transcripts and diplomas.

PAX Students are private school students and receive transcripts and diplomas from an accredited private school making the transition to college/career easier.

In addition, PAX Academy provides students and families with access to hundreds of resources and online courses, thousands of dollars worth of exclusive student/teacher discounts, and a supportive community for embracing an unschooling lifestyle.

If you have additional questions that have not yet been answered here, you can book a FREE 15-minute phone consultation with Angela. If you believe that your questions will take longer than 15 minutes, I encourage you to register for a full Educational Consultation.