In an article title The Homeschool Movement’s German Lesson Joy Pavelski reports in The American, the Journal of the American Enterprise Institute, on the German homeschooling family which moved to the U.S.:
On January 26, a Tennessee judge granted political asylum to Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their five children, three years after German police forcibly transferred the three eldest children—then aged 9, 8, and 6—from their home in Bissingen to state school. The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appealed the Tennessee ruling a month later, placing the case in limbo. If the appeal is rejected, more foreign homeschoolers may seek asylum in the United States, where roughly 2 million children homeschool.
“The United States granted roughly 1 in 5 of its more than 47,000 political asylum requests in 2008. This was the first reported such case predominantly linked with foreign restrictions against homeschooling.”
Read the entire article at the link above.
Tags: American Enterprise Institute, foreign homeschoolers, foreign restrictions against homeschooling, German homeschooling, Hannelore Romeike, homeschoolers, homeschooling, homeschooling families, Joy Pavelski, Reasons to Homeschool, restrictions against homeschooling, The American, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Uwe Romeike
A good roundup post of mainstream news articles by Amy Wilson on the VA Homeschoolers site, titled Positive Press for Homeschooling:
It seems that the back-to-school season has inspired some recent media coverage of homeschooling. “Not everyone is going back to school” is the basic theme that VaHomeschoolers has noticed, accompanied by a human-interest angle that dispels stereotypes of homeschoolers as isolationists on society’s fringes and portrays us as a cross-section of the general American population that has chosen a different educational approach. Since VaHomeschoolers’ mission is to serve Virginia’s diverse homeschooling population, which includes families of all ethnic and national backgrounds, religious beliefs, and educational styles, we are pleased to see reporters for local and national media outlets portraying the diversity of the homeschooling community in their coverage.
Amy shares links to recent articles from CNN, MSNBC, and NBC News at the link above.
Tags: Amy Wilson, diversity of the homeschooling community, homeschoolers, homeschooling, homeschooling families, homeschooling in Virginia, news about homeschooling, Positive Press for Homeschooling, Reasons to Homeschool, stereotypes of homeschoolers, Unschooling, VaHomeschoolers
The Mississippi homeschooling family of Robert and Debra Shinn is facing every homeschooler’s – no, every family’s – nightmare. In a post aptly titled When Hell Came to Our Home the homeschool blogger mom known as Lioness writes “a story that gets scarier and more bizarre the further along it goes.” She implores readers, “Please repost this story far and wide. One forum already refused it as being too “troublesome”, but I am terrified as to what will happen to my children and myself if no one knows.”
An excerpt:
What with all the upset, it’s nightfall before I get around to mentioning to dh that the internet went down right before this started. Dh teaches computer building and maintenance classes. He gets out his kit and checks the line. He reports back that there’s 1/10th volt on the line, and the only thing that could have caused that would be if it were deliberately switched off at the relay station.
Dh goes over to Good Buddy’s house to make phone calls. He calls the cops. They say, “Get out. Get out now. It’s not safe.” He calls a relative in another county for shelter.
Sunday Morning.
We throw everything in the car and leave for the relative’s house.
Then things start getting scary.
Sound a little over-the-top? Read Lioness’s multiple posts and decide for yourself, and read the updates she’s posting to continue following the developments. And share her story far and wide, not only to help Lioness and her family, but to help others who might face similar situations and be wondering what they can do.
Tags: Debbie Byrd Shinn, Debra Shinn, homeschooling, homeschooling family in trouble, homeschooling in Mississippi, Lioness, Reasons to Homeschool, Robert Shinn
A group of home school students from Sequim and Port Angeles are defying teenage stereotypes by getting involved in local politics. Over the course of the 2010 primary and general election season, about 30 home school students have campaigned for political candidates in state and federal elections, attended debates and candidate forums and organized their own campaign events.
They have no established organizational structure, no name other than “the home-schoolers” and most are not even old enough to vote in November’s election. But this group is making a statement nevertheless.
Read the rest of this article, Home-schooled Politics, from the Sequim Gazette, Sequim, Washington.
Tags: homeschool socialization, homeschooled kids and political action, homeschoolers, homeschoolers and politics, homeschooling, homeschooling and politics, kids and political campaigns, kids and politics
Interesting article from ESPN:
“With action sports now an estimated $20 billion global business, and sponsors providing substantial salaries to young talent in an effort to lock up the next generation of stars, a growing number of athletes in surfing, skateboarding, BMX, motocross and snowboarding have discovered that their career aspirations conflict with school. For those who don’t drop out altogether, home school has become an increasingly handy option.”
Read the entire feature-length article (with photos) at the link above.
Tags: homeschool sports, homeschoolers, homeschoolers and sports, homeschooling, homeschooling and professional sports, homeschooling and sports, Reasons to Homeschool
3StoryFilms is working on an upcoming documentary entitled:
Class Dismissed: Education And The Rise Of Homeschooling In America.
Class Dismissed will be the first full-length documentary devoted to exploring homeschooling as a viable alternative to the industrial school model. This film will show how homeschooling is not only rapidly growing in popularity, but how it crosses all social and economic boundaries and covers a wide spectrum of the population. It will answer the questions that many people have and break down the myths that surround homeschooling.
Class Dismissed will challenge its viewers to take a fresh look at what it means to be educated, the difference between education and schooling, while offering up a radical new way of thinking about the process of education.
For information about the filmmakers, to see videos, read their blog, or donate to the project, visit the link above or check out their Facebook page.
Tags: 3StoryFilms, Class Dismissed, film about homeschooling, homeschool video, homeschooling, homeschooling families, Jeremy Stuart, Reasons to Homeschool, Roy Robles, videos about homeschooling
A very interesting article titled Homeschooling way to go? by Monica Cheru-Mpambawashe, appears in in the October 9 edition of The Herald:
In Zimbabwe most homescholars use a syllabus designed in South Africa. A pro-homeschooling blogger claims that as of May 1, 2010 South Africa had more than 100 000 students on homeschooling. SA has developed its own syllabus which is closely aligned to the one followed in formal institutions in that country but with the methodology basically borrowed from the American system.
Another excerpt:
A parent who is homeschooling her children in Harare says that her son is learning Afrikaans and doing very well on the written tests.
“When we went to SA and spoke in Afrikaans, it was hilarious as everyone looked at us in obvious bewilderment and we could not understand a single word they said.
“Homeschooling works for some subjects but maybe for a foreign language, you really want to have a group and live experience with a competent speaker,” she said.
Of the more than 20 parents homeschooling their children in Harare interviewed for this article all felt that it was much better than formal learning and they would only take their children to proper schools if they were forced.
Writer Monica Cheru-Mpambawashe includes information about homeschooling elsewhere in the world:
Internationally, homeschooling is most prevalent in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the US while Germany and Brazil, have outlawed it. China allows it for foreigners. Kenya is the only other African country beyond Zimbabwe and SA to carry out homeschooling in appreciable numbers.
Read the entire article at the link above.
Tags: homeschoolers, homeschooling, homeschooling families, homeschooling in Africa, homeschooling in Australia, homeschooling in Brazil, homeschooling in Canada, homeschooling in China, Homeschooling in Germany, homeschooling in Harare, homeschooling in Kenya, homeschooling in New Zealand, homeschooling in South Africa, homeschooling in the United Kingdom, homeschooling in Zimbabwe, international homeschooling, Monica Cheru-Mpambawashe, Reasons to Homeschool, The Herald
In an increasingly bizarre situation a school district in Texas is “seeking to bankrupt” a now-homeschooling family. Writing for the Houston, Texas FOX News channel, reporter Greg Groogan explains the case in an article he titled School District Seeks to Bankrupt Disabled Student’s Family:
In May, 2007, after learning that their son Chuka was not receiving the help he needed from the local school, Kenneth and Neka Chibuogwu filed a procedure called “due process” where a sort of education judge listens to all the evidence and decides the issue. But instead of seeking compromise, the school district launched a full-blown legal counterattack against the family:
“These people had been railroaded, these people had been maligned,” says special education advocate Jimmy Kilpatrick who represented Chuka and his parents.
Drained and discouraged, Kenneth and Eka dropped their due process case and Chuka never returned to class.
The conflict could have ended there, but Alief Superintendent Louis Stoerner and then board president Sarah Winkler had other plans.
The District sued the economically distressed parents of a special needs child for every penny of the district’s legal expenses, an amount, at the time approaching $170,000 dollars and now estimated at close to a quarter million.
“What I feel is that they are trying to bully me for asking for a chance for my son¿s life,” says Kenneth.
Reporter Groogan continues:
Those who represent special needs families suspect a larger more sinister scheme.
“What they are trying to do is send a chill down parent’s spine about advocating for their children,” says Louis Geigerman, president of the Texas Organization of Parents, Attorneys and Advocates.
“Lets set some examples, lets hang a few of them at high noon right out here in the middle of the town square and show you what we do to people who want to advocate for their children,” adds Kilpatrick.
“If I don’t fight them, you know they are going to do it to other parents,” says Kenneth Chibuogwu.
Read the entire article at the link above. Discussion of the article is taking place on the HEM Networking discussion list:
“I suspect too, that that school district doesn’t care if they win or lose (they’ve lost so far) that lawsuit. They are sending a message with the use of local, Texas and federal tax monies. LOTS of money.” ~Susan Ryan
Tags: Attorneys and Advocates, Chuka Chibuogwu, Greg Groogan, HEM-Networking, homeschoolers, homeschooling, homeschooling families, Jimmy Kilpatrick, Kenneth Chibuogwu, Louis Geigerman, Louis Stoerner, Neka Chibuogwu, Reasons to Homeschool, Sarah Winkler, Susan Ryan, Texas homeschooling, Texas Organization of Parents
The last of three articles on local homeschooling families is a positive, upbeat article from the Oct. 7th issue of the Dansville-Genesee Country Express in Dansville, NY, titled Homeschool Gives Choice to Students, Parents:
The freedom to pursue what a parent deems best for their child is still allowed in America.
That’s the feeling of Heather DeNee of Sparta, who feels “very blessed to have the opportunity and choice to homeschool.”
This mother of three (soon to be four) added that she understands that homeschooling is not for everyone, but, “there’s an opportunity for those who have that desire.”
Read the entire article at the link above.
Tags: Heather DeNee, homeschool socialization, homeschoolers, homeschooling, homeschooling families, homeschooling in New York, Parenting, Reasons to Homeschool, Socialization, Tourettes Syndrome
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Homeschooling Goes Mainstream
Recently two homeschool advocates were guests on the Kojo Nnamdo radio show titled “Homeschooling Goes Mainstream.” The discussion centered on the history of homeschooling and the diversity of the greater homeschooling community.
The guests were Celeste Land, Director of Government Affairs for the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers, and a member of the board of directors; and Michael Donnelly, a member of the Staff Counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association.
On October 14th Amy Wilson, also of VaHomeschoolers, reported on the program for the VaHomeschoolers Connection:
Read the rest of Amy’s good post at the link above. Also very interesting are the comments and questions posed for the two guests, available at the link for the free podcast of the program.
Tags: Amy Wilson, Celeste Land, diversity of homeschooling, diversity of the homeschooling community, history of homeschooling, Home School Legal Defense Association, homeschoolers, homeschooling, homeschooling families, Homeschooling Goes Mainstream, homeschooling in Virginia, Kojo Nnamdo, Michael Donnelly, news about homeschooling, Positive Press for Homeschooling, Reasons to Homeschool, stereotypes of homeschoolers, Unschooling, VaHomeschoolers