Homeschooling News Links
Loudon Times-Mirror
School Board debates letting home-schoolers take PSAT
The LaPorte Herald Argus
Home schoolers may soon sit in LaPorte classrooms
NewsNet5 (Cleveland)
Home-Schooled Girl Kicked Off Volleyball Team
Sun Herald
Lit class registration to begin
Modesto Bee
Truancy ruling on home-schoolers creates confusion
Worldnet Daily
Parent-directed education
Houma Courier Today
HOME & FAMILY: Homeschoolers find their niche
Miami.com
Home school to high school
Houma Courier Today
More parents opting for homeschooling
Pantagraph.com
Academy supplements home schooling efforts
Cape Cod Times
From classroom to living room
MidValleySunday.com
Who watches the home-schoolers?
Nunatsiaq News
The Homeschool Experiment
NorthJersey News
Cancer patient, high school at odds
Vancouver Sun
Community hall an alternative to long bus ride, homeschooling
Saturday, September 21, 2002
Saturday, September 14, 2002
Homeschool News Links
My San Antonio: Cartoons about homeschooling
Nacho Guarache #1
Nacho Guarache #2
Nacho Guarache #3
Nacho Guarache #4
Nacho Guarache #5
Houston Chronicle
Teens making the grade in medical school
Christianity Today
The little school in the living room grows up
Tech Central Station
Teach the children well
The State
Homeschooling new niche market
femai.co.uk
The Class Divide
The Dominion Post
Pennsylvania school board denies sports to home-schoolers
Daily Herald
Home, school one in same
The Republican Journal
Home-schooling up, SAD 3 enrollment down
The Washington Times
Online Instructors Conduct Classes
Herald Times Reporter
Students plug in to regional virtual school
Press Democrat
Simon Stumps in Sonoma
Newport News Times
Early enrollment shows loss of Eddyville Students
My San Antonio: Cartoons about homeschooling
Nacho Guarache #1
Nacho Guarache #2
Nacho Guarache #3
Nacho Guarache #4
Nacho Guarache #5
Houston Chronicle
Teens making the grade in medical school
Christianity Today
The little school in the living room grows up
Tech Central Station
Teach the children well
The State
Homeschooling new niche market
femai.co.uk
The Class Divide
The Dominion Post
Pennsylvania school board denies sports to home-schoolers
Daily Herald
Home, school one in same
The Republican Journal
Home-schooling up, SAD 3 enrollment down
The Washington Times
Online Instructors Conduct Classes
Herald Times Reporter
Students plug in to regional virtual school
Press Democrat
Simon Stumps in Sonoma
Newport News Times
Early enrollment shows loss of Eddyville Students
Sunday, September 8, 2002
The perils and pitfalls of definitions
It is the nature of definitions that they limit.
How ironic, it seems, that trying to pin down a definition of homeschooling could impinge on our freedom to homeschool. But that is, in fact, exactly what defining it in law does.
Let's examine, for a moment, the alternative. If we don't define homeschooling, then anyone and everyone can call themselves homeschoolers. It seems a little silly to invite that possibility, yet trying to prevent it by defining homeschooling in law brings certain regulation.
If a state does not allow homeschoolers to self-identify — and by self-identify, I mean that they decide for themselves that they are homeschoolers, rather than having the state determine for them whether they are or not — then the state is regulating homeschooling in some way. In other words, if the state is not simply taking a homeschooling parent's word for it that they are educating their children, then the state is requiring homeschoolers to jump through one or more regulatory hoops to demonstrate or prove that they fit the state's definition of homeschooling.
We can't have zero regulation if homeschoolers are not allowed to self-identify. It's a messy reality.
It is the nature of definitions that they limit.
How ironic, it seems, that trying to pin down a definition of homeschooling could impinge on our freedom to homeschool. But that is, in fact, exactly what defining it in law does.
Let's examine, for a moment, the alternative. If we don't define homeschooling, then anyone and everyone can call themselves homeschoolers. It seems a little silly to invite that possibility, yet trying to prevent it by defining homeschooling in law brings certain regulation.
If a state does not allow homeschoolers to self-identify — and by self-identify, I mean that they decide for themselves that they are homeschoolers, rather than having the state determine for them whether they are or not — then the state is regulating homeschooling in some way. In other words, if the state is not simply taking a homeschooling parent's word for it that they are educating their children, then the state is requiring homeschoolers to jump through one or more regulatory hoops to demonstrate or prove that they fit the state's definition of homeschooling.
We can't have zero regulation if homeschoolers are not allowed to self-identify. It's a messy reality.
Friday, September 6, 2002
More Homeschool News Links
Los Angeles Daily News
Home school issue unclear
The Claremont Institute
Home school backlash
Rocky Mountain News
Home schooling on growth spurt
Rocky Mountain News
Q&A: State reveals how to get started at home schooling
Times Record News
Learning curve
World Net Daily
Home-school battle heats up in California
Daily Camera
Women open store for home schoolers
WorldNetDaily
Public education vs. homeschoolers
Cincinnati Post
Home-schoolers worried about online academy
Pacific Business News
Maui-based virtual community targets home-school families
Abilene Reporter-News
Flexibility, control keys to homeschooling
Gates Chili-Post
Home schoolers hit hard by library cuts
Sun-Herald: Moms
Homeschool benefits outweigh public school experience
Education Guardian UK
Opting Out
Ames Tribune
Learning at home
Nevada Daily Mail
Learning in the living room
Greenville Herald Banner
Home school programs mark progress locally
Enlightened path
New school counters MCAS-based mentality
St. Petersburg Times
No place like home
Washington Times
The challenge of cyber schools
Tallahassee Democrat
Remy Shand at home on Motown
Anchorage Daily News
Murkowski speaks on education
Globe and Mail
Edmonton board embraces choice to fight cutbacks
Sun Sentinel
Parents in school groups will help
Modesto Bee
Private schools grow
Boston Globe Magazine
Encounter: Joe Perry
Los Angeles Daily News
Home school issue unclear
The Claremont Institute
Home school backlash
Rocky Mountain News
Home schooling on growth spurt
Rocky Mountain News
Q&A: State reveals how to get started at home schooling
Times Record News
Learning curve
World Net Daily
Home-school battle heats up in California
Daily Camera
Women open store for home schoolers
WorldNetDaily
Public education vs. homeschoolers
Cincinnati Post
Home-schoolers worried about online academy
Pacific Business News
Maui-based virtual community targets home-school families
Abilene Reporter-News
Flexibility, control keys to homeschooling
Gates Chili-Post
Home schoolers hit hard by library cuts
Sun-Herald: Moms
Homeschool benefits outweigh public school experience
Education Guardian UK
Opting Out
Ames Tribune
Learning at home
Nevada Daily Mail
Learning in the living room
Greenville Herald Banner
Home school programs mark progress locally
Enlightened path
New school counters MCAS-based mentality
St. Petersburg Times
No place like home
Washington Times
The challenge of cyber schools
Tallahassee Democrat
Remy Shand at home on Motown
Anchorage Daily News
Murkowski speaks on education
Globe and Mail
Edmonton board embraces choice to fight cutbacks
Sun Sentinel
Parents in school groups will help
Modesto Bee
Private schools grow
Boston Globe Magazine
Encounter: Joe Perry
Monday, August 26, 2002
Homeschooling News Links
Boston Globe Magazine
Encounter: Joe Perry
St. Petersburg Times
No place like home
Times Daily
Enrollment decline costing area schools
Boston Globe
Enlightened path: New school counters MCAS-based mentality
Boston Globe Magazine
Encounter: Joe Perry
St. Petersburg Times
No place like home
Times Daily
Enrollment decline costing area schools
Boston Globe
Enlightened path: New school counters MCAS-based mentality
Sunday, August 25, 2002
Accelerated Unschooling
I have always equated unschooling with simply living one's life in a mindful way, free from the shoulds, oughts, tests, timetables and other prescriptions and proscriptions of the schooling world. So when a concept like accelerated unschooling comes along, I am truly dumbfounded.
Why would anyone want to accelerate life? I snarkily wonder if that would mean you'd end up dying younger. Ha!
Sure, if you or your children are bored, it might be nice to find more interesting things to do. And if you're just not managing to get things done that you really want to do, then arranging some sort of support or schedule to help you focus more on that could be just the ticket.
But the notion of a parent taking over the "motivation" (read "compulsion") aspect of learning because their unschooled child's interests just weren't quite varied enough, and their natural learning pace wasn't fast enough to suit the parent, is altogether different. Not a lot of trust involved there. The only remnants of unschooling in accelerated unschooling appear to be a nod to the child's interests, and maybe a lack of textbook type materials.
More often than not, I find my family wanting to slow down and take everything in, rather than find ways to amuse ourselves more and faster. And the risk is ever present that we might, in our excitement over something, sacrifice depth, understanding, mindfulness, and real connection, for speed and distance traveled.
Accelerated unschooling implies that living and learning is a race. It's not. That concept is totally foreign to our family's unschooling way of life.
I have always equated unschooling with simply living one's life in a mindful way, free from the shoulds, oughts, tests, timetables and other prescriptions and proscriptions of the schooling world. So when a concept like accelerated unschooling comes along, I am truly dumbfounded.
Why would anyone want to accelerate life? I snarkily wonder if that would mean you'd end up dying younger. Ha!
Sure, if you or your children are bored, it might be nice to find more interesting things to do. And if you're just not managing to get things done that you really want to do, then arranging some sort of support or schedule to help you focus more on that could be just the ticket.
But the notion of a parent taking over the "motivation" (read "compulsion") aspect of learning because their unschooled child's interests just weren't quite varied enough, and their natural learning pace wasn't fast enough to suit the parent, is altogether different. Not a lot of trust involved there. The only remnants of unschooling in accelerated unschooling appear to be a nod to the child's interests, and maybe a lack of textbook type materials.
More often than not, I find my family wanting to slow down and take everything in, rather than find ways to amuse ourselves more and faster. And the risk is ever present that we might, in our excitement over something, sacrifice depth, understanding, mindfulness, and real connection, for speed and distance traveled.
Accelerated unschooling implies that living and learning is a race. It's not. That concept is totally foreign to our family's unschooling way of life.
Saturday, August 24, 2002
California home-school fight goes public
Homeschooling father and attorney Will Rogers sent this heartfelt letter to the Washington Times in response to their coverage of California's intimidation of homeschoolers. His closing paragraph says it all:
"The fundamental right of a parent to direct the education of his or her child is older than the United States Constitution; it is older than recorded history. It is so deeply woven into the fabric of what constitutes a family that to deny this right is to do violence to the sacred bonds that unite a loving mother and father to their beloved child."
Homeschooling father and attorney Will Rogers sent this heartfelt letter to the Washington Times in response to their coverage of California's intimidation of homeschoolers. His closing paragraph says it all:
"The fundamental right of a parent to direct the education of his or her child is older than the United States Constitution; it is older than recorded history. It is so deeply woven into the fabric of what constitutes a family that to deny this right is to do violence to the sacred bonds that unite a loving mother and father to their beloved child."
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