Web site facilitates alternative education: "Tina Jacobi, who heads a Christian home-schoolers' support group and a Frederick cooperative of home-schoolers, said the service is a blessing to busy home-schooling parents who are always searching for resources and information.

'Home-schooling is kind of hard to get into if you don't know where to go,' Ms. Jacobi said. 'The best part of the Web site is it's one-stop shopping.'

The service is also for business and service providers who may want to reach the home-school community, Ms. Thomas said.

So far the site has gotten more than 2,800 hits. Visitors have requested information on home-school events in April, extracurricular activities, curriculum fairs, curriculum options and support organizations, she said.

She plans monthly updates. May's issue will feature an advice column, a two-week history plan discovering Maryland's humble beginnings, and off-the-beaten path summer camp programs.

Home-schoolers can sign up to be notified by e-mail when the newest issue is available.

More than 1,500 home-schooling families live in the Baltimore-Washington area, and more than 1,500 children go to school at home in Frederick County, Ms. Thomas said.

Ms. Jacobi's support group, Training for Life in Christ Homeschool, is one of a number of organizations listed on the Web site. But Ms. Thomas stresses that the site is for everyone, not just Christian families.
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