A recent headline in the Ohio Dayton Daily News states, “Home schoolers say religion main drive for teaching kids themselves”. (you must register to access this article. Once registered the link will work)
The article offers an explanation of some of the state requirements for Home Education and also explains the headline here:

“Local officials said home school families cite one reason more than any other for teaching their kids at home: to pass on their religious beliefs along with the other lessons.”

Many home educators may educate their children at home for relgious purposes, but the reasons remain as diverse as the individuals making the choice. Some decide to home educate due to their frustration with public schools, some make the choice because they want their children to have ample time to pursue their interests or passions and some have a combined reason for staying outside of the public education system.

The article goes on to say:

“In Ohio, there are about 80,000 students being taught at home, according to the state, about 4 percent of the student population statewide.”

The reason the state cites “about 80,000 students” is because home educators in the state of Ohio notify their local district, not the state, so the number is a guestimate by the Ohio Department of Education as they do not keep official tabs.

The article also points out:

“Local home school parents said providing a quality education at home is difficult, but they have lots of support from other parents and lots of community resources to tap.”

Indeed, home education is a committment, but I have rarely heard it described as difficult, except when it is being used as a marketing tool for public virtual schools. Sure enough, the next sentence in the article reads:

“Jennifer Martin worked alone the first year, but this year she contracts with Ohio Virtual Academy, a Web-based charter school. Martin does the instruction, but gets lesson plans and materials from the academy, which also organizes field trips and activities.”

Is it a Freudian slip that caused these two sentences to end up next to each other? For the record, if a home educating family chooses to *contract* with a school such as the the Ohio Virtual Academy, they would be enrolling in public school and would no longer be home educating. It is a viable choice, but it does not exempt one from compulsory attendance as home education does. It does take place in the home, but it brings the child under the public school umbrella.

Again, to access the article, you may have to register at: http://www.daytondailynews.com/

Tags: Compulsory Attendance, Ohio Virtual Academy, public education system

This entry was posted on December 28, 2006 at 10:30 am and is filed under Articles About Homeschooling, News-Commentary, Public School at Home, State News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.