Mary Nix has an excellent post on The Informed Parent: Enrollment Data on Homeschoolers:
Some states gather data on homeschoolers, some do not. I live in a state that does not, so I’ve been curious about the numbers that some in the media and elsewhere throw out occasionally about homeschooling’s continued explosive growth.
There hasn’t been a lot in the news about this homeschool family’s ordeal, in fact these are the first articles I’ve seen in our local papers since the incident occurred on December 4th. The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote, Manna Storehouse asks court to rule sheriff’s search illega Lorain-
The food co-op searched by the county earlier this month asked the Lorain County Common Pleas Court Wednesday to block any more interference with the business.
The Manna Storehouse and owners John and Jacqueline Stowers asked the court to declare the entire Dec. 1 search unconstitutional and to order the county to return more than $10,000 in food seized.
They also asked the court to rule that the law the county cited for the search - one requiring retail food businesses to be licensed and inspected - does not apply to Manna.
And:
According to the suit, the search interrupted eight small children in the middle of a home-schooling lesson.
The Stowers have eight children with the oldest serving in Iraq and the rest living at home, the suit says. A daughter-in-law and three grandchildren also live there.
There is another article in the Lorain Morning Journal,Duo suing over armed raid: Experience ‘traumatic’ for Manna Storehouse owners
The Stowers are being represented by The Ohio Buckeye Institute where you can read a press release on the situation. The Stowers explain what happened in the raid in this you tube interview.
Jackie and John are good, good people. I know– I am a member of their coop. — Mary Nix
From the Chicago Tribune:
Parents hoping to emulate Barack and Michelle Obama
By Vikki Ortiz December 14, 2008
Tamar Williams, 28, of Bronzeville said interviews of Michelle Obama speaking about her children inspired her to begin home-schooling her own children.
“When you look at the Obamas, you can tell that they spend a lot of one-on-one time with their children, even in the midst of their careers,” Williams said. “It made me want to put my children first.”
~Susan Ryan
It’s not often that a homeschooling dad can share homeschooling experiences, as Wisit Wangwinyoo did in a Bangkok Post interview.
AN ALTERNATIVE FATHER December 4, 2008 SUPAWADEE INTHAWONG
Wisit Wangwinyoo is not an ordinary father.
A thinker and writer in philosophy who has translated the works of prominent Buddhist spiritual leaders like Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama, he chose to home-school his son and wrote about it in the book Home-made School, released in 2005.His son, Isara, 18, and a music student at a college in Russia, also published a book that is a sequel to his father’s, telling the stories about the alternative education experience from his perspective.
The painful transitions in losing his wife to brain cancer 12 years ago seem to have helped solidify perspectives about his son’s childhood and education.
Wanting to spend as much time as possible with his son, he started the “unschooling” process for the then-six-year-old Isara.
His so-called “home-made” education method was based on the natural child-led learning with some influence from the ideas of US writer John Holt, the author of the books How Children Fail and How Children Learn.
John Holt’s research and philosophies seems right in line with what Wisit Wangwinyoo did for his son. He chose a home for his son that would be conducive to nurturing and learning.
He chose Ashram Wongsanit, a community of NGO developers and alternative educators in Nakhon Nayok, as the home and school for their child, convinced that the natural surrounding and thatched home would provide a greatest learning opportunity for the boy.
The father and son later settled in Chiang Rai, following the family of Wisit’s brother. The northern province was also an ideal place for the learning and growing of his son, according to Wisit
The in-depth article covered a good deal of Wisit’s thought process about education, along with Isara’s childhood journey and accomplishments. Isara shared some thoughts about his father and life so far, which parents always hope to be positive. Wisit shouldn’t be disappointed.
On Wisit’s birthday, Isara wrote to thank his father for arranging him home-school education so that he did not have to “put up” with things he would not enjoy learning.
He said Wisit is a role model who works with passion and joy, and not for money or fame.
An image Isara has remembered since he was young was his father waking up early each morning to write books or translate works.
Isara said his father always avoids answering his questions directly but will try to have him think and find the answers by himself.
Isara is now in Yaroslavl, Russia studying piano in college.
~ Susan Ryan
The Minnesota Daily interviewed University of MN’s Junior basketball guard, Brittany McCoy.
She was homeschooled until high school and talks a bit about her parents’ decision to homeschool. Many homeschoolers can relate to the periodic checking in of the educational choice.
OFF TOPIC with Brittany McCoy 12/6/2008
BM: Well it’s kind of a funny story, it was my mom’s idea to home-school us. I’m the oldest of six kids, and my mom got her teaching degree in school, so she wanted to home-school me, and my dad kind of was unsure…
MH: So you were kind of a guinea pig?
Keep reading at the site, as her mother was persistent.
~ Susan Ryan
Those were the words of Janet Willis, an Illinois homeschool mom, whose family suffered sheer devastation on a Wisconsin highway in November of 2004.
There have been numerous legal actions resulting from this tragedy. Nine people, including the six Willis children, were killed in crashes with truck drivers who paid bribes for licenses when current felon and former Governor George Ryan was Illinois’ Secretary of State. More details are in ABC’s 20/20 Edition; SCRIPT: Those Were Our Children 2/99.
Heartfelt words put Ryan release in context John Kass December 7, 2008
From Mrs. Janet Willis::
On Nov. 8, 1994, I voted to re-elect George Ryan as secretary of state to be in charge of road safety. I am a mother. I loved my children, home-schooled them and, with God’s help, poured my heart into trying to be the best mother I could be. We were very close. A few hours after that vote was cast, I watched as my children were trapped in an inferno. I have had to ask God to help me to forget the sights and thoughts of that day and all that occurred. However, I think now maybe for this one time, if I would be willing to share some things, it might down the road benefit others.
The unfolding story of Illinois political corruption led to George Ryan’s conviction and sentence of 6 1/2 years in prison after he left the governorship of Illinois.
IL Senator Dick Durbin is seeking a favor from President Bush with a request for Ryan’s sentence commutation.
From John Kass in the Chicago Tribune:
Sen. Dick Durbin has written Bush a heartbreaking letter on Ryan’s behalf. Durbin’s Democratic Senate colleague—now President-elect Barack Obama—doesn’t think it appropriate to get involved in the matter.
But you can get involved. This time, you can act.
You can e-mail Bush at comments@whitehouse.gov, or write him at The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20500.
~Susan Ryan
Times-News, Dec. 2: Rep. Steven Thayn wants to give parents another choice for their youngster’s kindergarten year that would come with financial benefits.
Under Thayn’s proposal, which he plans to introduce in the 2009 Legislature, parents could teach their children kindergarten at home. In exchange, they would get part of the state funding that’s saved by not having the youngster attending a public kindergarten class. Parents would only be eligible for funding after their children passed a test showing a readiness for first grade.
Tacoma, Washington. Dec. 4: State auditors contend online programs run by three school districts, including two in the South Sound, might owe the state anywhere from $80,000 to $5.3 million for incorrectly documenting the number of students taking Internet classes.
They say the problems cited by auditors stem from trying to track enrollment, learning hours and academic progress in the expanding frontier of online education.
Auditors dinged Federal Way for not having a form signed by those students’ parents saying they understood their children were not being homeschooled, Federal Way chief financial officer Sally McLean said.
She said requiring parents to sign a form in those cases seems bureaucratic. While tweaking that rule would be easy, she said, “Some of the more challenging discussion might wrap around how you measure student progress in an online academy.”
John Legend has launched his own record label, HomeSchool Records which forms out talent to companies like Sony for distribution. The first artist under HomeSchool banner is British singer and rapper named Estelle. After Estelle, Legend will put the home in HomeSchool with r&b singer Vaughn Anthony.
HEM Editorial: While the public school programs have effectively served the needs of some families, it is unwise to allow the perception to grow that they are equivalent to homeschooling. The very construct of these public school programs runs counter to the ability of families to handcraft an education for their children.
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