I found an article which addressed homeschooling, and it was a bit of a shocker:

The Corporate Sovereignty of Home School Education

Home-schooling; the wave of the future; the practical design that allows you to prepare your child’s education within the modern world by the standards long cherished and protected as family values. Taken up in the 1960′s as a counter cultural movement toward early levels of higher education, the practice has caught on with the basic appeal of choosing your own environmental settings and allowing the child to explore academic potentials at his or her own pace. On March 17th., 2009, a custodial decision by Judge Ned Mangum of Raleigh, North Carolina suddenly turned media attention to the home-school community.

The case involved Venessa and Thomas Mills, a recently divorced couple. According to the father, Venessa has been home-schooling her children for four years, under the guide lines of the Sound Doctrine Church, which provides the educational material and spiritual guidance for its members. He states he originally agreed to home schooling, although only as a temporary structure, however it was her ties to the Church that had initiated their divorce. He stated that, “She became unrecognizable as the person I married, and, in the name of her religion, she distanced herself from me.”

That just was the beginning of it. After taking the reader through her overview of HSLDA’s work she presents:

No Quarter – No Compromise – No Retreat – No Regret (Statement at the web site for Sound Doctrine Church)

The necessity to separate Church from State is self-evident. Discriminatory laws attacking blacks and Native Americans, and which continue to be an issue today among those who successfully evaded the Civil Rights campaigns of the 1960′s, are founded on a Christian dogma that claims these racial distinctions are punishment of a vengeful God for past sins. The Monroe Doctrine; the biggest stain on American Democracy; sought to expand its Christian ideology through territorial invasion and forced religious education.

She pulled no punches in her overview of the current state of affairs. For those eyeing regulating homeschoolers she offers this advice:

Home schooling, which broke ground as an alternative to public education by producing college accredited students, should not be crippled by a political agenda based on religious motivations.

This is a real tough read. My sensibilities have always longed for a broad base of support for homeschooling (unattainable through a non-homeschooling agenda and a narrow base of support) and this issue is not going away. So, in the end, I welcome the exploration.

Reader Warning: Don’t go here if you do not want to read an article with the description: Without secular academics, we have an abolition of science, free religious expression and free speech.

The Corporate Sovereignty of Home School Education By Karla Fetrow

In formal remarks at James C. Wright Middle School in Madison Wisconsin, President Obama outlined the federal government’s 4.3 billion dollar Race to the Top awards. His presentation defined “four challenges that our country has to meet for our children to outcompete workers around the world, for our economy to grow and to prosper, and for America to lead in the 21st century.”

These are defined on White House blog as:
• transforming our lowest-performing schools
• using timely information to improve the way we teach our children
• outstanding teachers and principals in our classrooms and our schools
• higher standards and better assessments that prepare our kids for life beyond a classroom

Excerpts from his remarks:

America’s national mission: improving our schools not in unrealistic ways, not in abstract ways, not in pie-in-the-sky ways — in concrete ways we are putting our resources behind the kinds of reforms that are going to make a difference.

~~
And I want to get into some details about this because I want you, as parents, as well as the educators, to understand what the data and the science and the studies and the research show actually make a big difference in terms of school improvement — because that’s what we are basing this stuff on. We didn’t just kind of make it up, didn’t just do it because it sounded good, this is what the research shows is really going to make a difference.

~~
The first measure is whether a state is committed to setting higher standards and better assessments that prepare our children to succeed in the 21st century. And I’m pleased to report that 48 states are now working to develop internationally competitive standards — internationally competitive standards because these young people are going to be growing up in an international environment where they’re competing not just against kids in Chicago or Los Angeles for jobs, but they’re competing against folks in Beijing and Bangalore.

~~
I also challenge states to align their assessments with high standards — because we should — we should not just raise the bar, we should prepare our kids to meet it. There’s no point in having really high standards but we’re not doing what it takes to meet those standards. And I want to be clear. This is not just about more tests, because I know that in the past people have been concerned about, you know, is this about standardized tests, or are we going to have our young people being taught to the test? That’s the last thing we want.

~~
And that’s why the fourth measure we’ll use in awarding Race to the Top grants is whether a state is focused on transforming not just its high-performing schools, not just the middle-of-the-pack schools, but the lowest-performing schools. (Applause.) We’ll look at whether they’re willing to remake a school from top to bottom with new leaders and a new way of teaching, replacing a school’s principal if it’s not working, and at least half its staff — (applause) — close a school for a time and then reopen it under new management, even shut down the school entirely and send its schools — send its students to a better school nearby.

These remarks are about public schools but that gives little comfort that homeschoolers will not get swept up in this reform. For homeschoolers, assessments and data collection are the broom and dustpan of this reform. Homeschoolers have seen many reforms and survived, but, not without study, understanding and effort.

Some reading:

The Common Core State Standards Initiative

Forty-Nine States and Territories Join Common Core Standards Initiative

Homeschooling in the Age of Obama

Common Core Standards In The News

It would be one thing if the cartoonists managed to draw something that actually showed a familiarity with homeschooling, but (so far) they just seem to equate it with sloth and ignorance.

USA Weekend, 2002, McLean, Virginia

Drawing of balding, bearded man lying on a couch, and and elderly couple speaking to him:

“Rodney, we think perhaps it’s time you graduated from your home schooling.”

Perhaps the magazine is recycling cartoons, because the Google alert was dated the 18th of June, the URL has 06 2007 as part of its coding, but the page says “2002.”

Whatever.

In any case, I know there are many cartoonable homeschooling moments that parents would recognize (‘in my dreams’ I’d like either Bill Waterston — Calvin and Hobbes, Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott — Baby Blues, or Jan Eliot — Stone Soup, to try their hands). Too bad none of the ones who’ve tried it so far have done anything other than take cheap shots.

posted by Valerie

The push for more preschool continues in Virginia. Despite Virginia’s recently being named the state where a child has the best chance for success in life, those in political and education ranks used the publicity to lament the Commonwealth’s low score on preschool enrollment.

“It’s a timely reminder that we must ensure that more children have access to high-quality preschool,” Kathy Glazer, director of the Governor’s Working Group on Early Childhood Initiatives, said in an e-mail.

“Virginia has much to be proud of in terms of the excellence of its educational system,” Glazer wrote, “but the zero ranking we received on enrollment in preschool is a sobering reminder that we’re not tapping the full potential of early education.”

Emily Griffey, director of research and advocacy for Success by 6 at the Greater Richmond Chamber, agreed.

“Of course preparation for success in life begins with preparation for success in school,” she said. “We’d like to see increased access to preschool programs, both public and private, and even before preschool it’s important that all parents understand their role as their child’s first teacher.”

That’s from the Jan. 4, 2007 Richmond Times Dispatch article Virginia Best for Child’s Chance for Success by Lindsay Kastner. I guess it doesn’t occur to anyone that some of the other factors that contributed to the state’s high scores allow many parents to choose private pre-schools or to provide high quality care for their own children in their own homes. In fact, what if the “zero” score on the preschool enrollment number — in the midst of a study about how successful the state’s children are compared to every other state in the nation — is actually an indicator of how not going to preschool benefits Virginia’s children? Maybe the low enrollment in preschool is in fact a REASON for Virginia’s high employment rate, relatively high rate of family income, and high percentage of post-secondary degrees. Perhaps all those children nurtured at home during their early years have gone on to do well creating jobs, working, and getting college degrees. No one knows and there is no way to know, but policy continues to be proposed based on the assumption that people believe more preschool is better for all children.

The Universal Preschool website has some excellent information about this issue and why it is important for homeschoolers and at-home parents to monitor public policy that is proposed for preschools.

Meanwhile, Examiner.com says this about the politics of Virginia’s preschool proposals:

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine’s administration is finally admitting the real reason he wants his taxpayer-financed preschool proposal to be universal ” and it has nothing to do with children.

“Public programs for just at-risk students don’t have the broader constituency of support as one that includes all children,” Secretary of Education Tom Morris told a Charlottesville public forum last month.

In other words, it’s all about the politics: The more you expand a program, the more support it will generate .” even though it will cost taxpayers a lot more.

The article goes on to note that there are studies that have shown how preschool is beneficial to a small segment of especially disadvantaged children, but that the same benefits have not been found to exist for other children.

Still, the Jan. 17, 2007 Examiner.com article Universal Preschool More about Politics than Education by Chris Braunlich explains, preschool-for-all continues to be advocated:

. . . the pilot (program) simply assumes that universal preschool is desperately needed by everyone.

Why should homeschoolers care? Well, the amount of tax dollars that preschool-for-all would require is breathtaking. But more than that, acceptance of the concept that children must be universally placed in institutions during their tender years further undermines the understanding that children are well-nurtured within their homes and families. Keeping children at home, living and learning in a family, when society is placing the rest of its children in institutions, will take homeschoolers further out of the mainstream (okay by me) and possibly subject to more scrutiny and proposed regulations (not okay by me).

Finally, it’s a vast experiment with our country’s children. In Virginia, if we give credence to the recent study, we can believe that children are likely to do better than children in any other state in the country, despite the fact that Virginia was awarded a “zero” for its rate of preschool enrollment. But it sounds like the state’s policy-makers are willing to risk this status, proposing vast changes in how early-years children are nurtured, even though, as Examiner.com says, “. . .there’s never been a study of Virginia’s current preschool program to determine whether it’s actually accomplishing what it’s supposed to do.”

by Jeanne Faulconer

This article is from back before “the holidays,” so maybe you missed it like I did.

Pantagraph.com tells us in Home School: A Growing Trend that while homeschooling works well for many (get ready for it), “not everyone is an unabashed fan of home schooling.”

This is largely an article that emphasizes the role of evangelical Christians in homeschooling, and it also gives public educators the opportunity to mention the advantages of diversity in their schools.

One of the people interviewed said,

“They get a richer experience when around other kids, a setting you can’t duplicate in a home school.”

I’m always surprised by the assumption that homeschooling families aren’t able to provide rich, diverse experiences with a variety of cultures. This just hasn’t been an issue for our family, which has regularly had many experiences with people of different religions, ethnic backgrounds, races, and nationalities.

I also get a little miffed at this kind of thing:

“Barry Reilly, assistant superintendent of human resources for Bloomington’s District 87 whose three children go to public school, said the quality of home schooling ‘comes down to the quality of instruction and curriculum as well as the dedication of the kids.’”

Quality of instruction? Curriculum? Dedication of the kids? I’d have to say in the hundreds of homeschooling families I know, the “quality” of homeschooling comes down to the quality of the relationships. In a warm, trusting, loving environment where children’s individual traits are appreciated, lots of learning happens.

This is yet another reason why it is difficult to compare homeschooling and institutional education. Educational authorities most often do not even mention “relationships” — one of the biggest factors that homeschool parents recognize as integral to the education of their children, and surely one of the ingredients of homeschooling most difficult to imitate in many government schools.

by Jeanne Faulconer

Chelmsford Independent, Concord, Massachusetts, 21 December 2006, Home for the holidays

The Baxter family probably doesn’t have too much left on its Christmas wish list because they got everything they wanted when Lt. Col. Brent Baxter returned home from Afghanistan a couple of weeks ago.

Brent, who had been overseas for about five months, reunited with his family on his son’s, Josiah, 14th birthday.

…

Brent and his wife, Lisa, have seven children, from Elise, 2 1/2, to Lindsey, 15. All of the Baxters’ children are home-schooled.

“[Home-schooling was] something that Lisa had her hands full with when I was gone,” said Brent.

But, Lisa was always able to turn to Friends of Grace, a home-schooling group based in Chelmsford, for help.

…

And, although he may not have been at home, Brent still lent a hand.

“I helped with homework, from 8,000 miles away,” he said. The Baxters’ oldest son, Josiah is studying biology. Their oldest daughter, Lindsey, 15, is studying physics. Six of the children are learning to play the piano on a Yamaha upright; Brent is also learning to play.

The Baxters found that home schooling fits the military lifestyle, because they have to move every couple of years.

“We don’t have to worry about a child halfway through high school; having to pull them out,” said Brent.

posted by Valerie

Herald-Dispatch, Huntington, West Virginia, 17 December 2006, Renaissance Center holds Christmas music festival

Jamie Hensley of Huntington brought her daughter, Samantha, 5, to participate in the children’s choir performance in the old Huntington High theater. Hensley and her daughter live near the building and come to the choir practice Tuesday afternoons.

“We home-school,” she said. “We heard great things about the program. It’s a way for her to interact with children her own age. It’s nice to have this building.”

Victoria Times Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 17 December 2006, Making a joyful noise: Love of singing keeps youngsters coming back to children’s choir

The group has 11 home-schooled kids in its choirs. Both parents and kids say they were attracted to the performance-oriented choir because it is fun and formative. It also gives kids a chance to socialize and interact with a broad group.

Jennifer Young found out about the choir for her daughter, Hillary, from a home-schooler message board website. She wanted her kids to be able to choose the kind of music instruction they wanted, especially since Hillary wants a career in it.

“I’m more into music than anything else. I want to be an opera singer,” says Hillary, 14.

Heather DeRome says the choir experience only adds to her kids’ already music-filled life. Both she and her husband, Doug Hensley, play several instruments, and he teaches guitar at the Victoria Conservatory of Music.

“I think singing is one of the best ways to develop musically,” says DeRome.

Their kids, Rowan, 11, and Julia, 8, are both interested in a future in music. Rowan’s sights might be set a little farther than the typical 11-year-old. Inspired by the stories of Mozart as a child prodigy, Rowan has already written a symphony — several pages of music at least. He didn’t know how to read music when he started, so he would sing a little tune and his parents helped him to learn to write it.

WKOW, Madison, Wisconsin, 2 January 2006, Homeschool Speech and Debate Tournament

Home school students from a five state region will compete in Speech and Debate. This event is sponsored by affiliates with the National Christian Forensics and Communication Assosciation (NCFCA).

When: January 4, 5, and 6, 2007

Tracy Press, Tracy, California, 2 January 2007, Festival gives musical talent a boost

Nine-year-old Aissa Lee calmly tuned her mandolin, looked to her mom for encouragement and let out a boisterous melody while her fingers picked in beat. A piano, ukulele, fiddle and banjo all her instruments lined the wall behind her while she played one of her favorite bluegrass tunes.

…

Aissa, a third grade home-schooler in Tracy, said the youth festival was a chance to play with others who understood her love of music.

posted by Valerie

In Austin, Texas, homeschooling was one of the factors mentioned as a reason why a police officer was beyond therapy (see video at site).

CBS42, Austin, Texas, 20 December 2006, Former Austin Police Officer Suing The City

(CBS 42) AUSTIN A former Austin police officer is suing the city of Austin, saying he was fired for his religious beliefs.

Officer Raymond Perez says superior officers let him know his fundamentalist Christian beliefs did not fit in with police culture.

…

Perez says this police psychologists report is a smoking gun that proves the department held his religious beliefs against him.

It says Perez, “takes pride in the fact that he is an ordained minister and that he and his wife home-school their children. As admirable as these beliefs may be, they seem to play a role in his defensiveness.”

posted by Valerie

This article reads like John Taylor Gatto in a nutshell.

Arutz Sheva, Israel Broadcasting Network, Bet El, Israel, 13 December 2006, State-Financed Education: Pass or Fail?

And therein lays the universal problem of state-sponsored education in providing an atmosphere where children can learn. The combination of “state” and “education” is something that I contend is an oxymoron, as many Israeli parents are beginning to find out now.

…

… I don’t doubt that the people who set up the Israeli learning system had the best of intentions, most of them anyway. As the beast grew in size and demands, however, good intentions became social engineering, secular propaganda and forced attendance. Taxes increased, yet the students became less interested in what learning still takes place and input from parents was less tolerated. Problems worsened as the state’s funding lessened, supposedly because the system needs more careful management. In actuality, some politicians didn’t want to be seen as pounding sand down a rat hole. When all else fails, slash and burn the other guy’s budget.

Bureaucracies seems to be bureaucracies the world around.

Is it any wonder that more adults are keeping their kids home these days and providing their own form of education?

… If home-schooling is not for you, then forming a private school with other parents would be a great alternative, as it still lets you control funding and curriculum.

And cultural differences between populations is another world-wide consistency.

Not only has Minister Tamir managed to antagonize whole sections of the population by redrawing the textbook boundaries of Israel in favor of the Arab Palestinians, …

posted by Valerie

The following articles spotlight homeschooling parents who are active in their communities, and beyond.

• WLNS, Lansing, Michigan, 13 July 2006, Questions Raised About School Board Member Home Schooling Children

  While Day will be making decisions she hopes will lead to change, her young kids don’t actually attend the district’s schools. Day has been home schooling her children for the past year.

(One wonders if the same questions are raised about empty-nesters who run for the school board but whose children attend college.)

• Victoria Lookout, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 10 July 2006, Military family moves south for school

  Yanis Greer is taking her home-school skills and her three children out of their Signal Hill home and into a Mexican classroom.

  For a year, she’ll teach Grades 1 through 3 at the Hogar de Refugio Infantil (Shelter for Children) on Mexico’s west coast. For her children, this will be their first introduction to a formal school setting.

• The News Journal, Wilmington, Delaware, 9 August 2006, Rescue group: No more forgotten felines

  After surgically repairing their wounds, the cats were sterilized, vaccinated, tested for feline AIDS and leukemia and treated for parasites. Then the work of calming their fears began. Each cat was placed in a loving foster home to be socialized.

  “They’re so fragile when they come to us,” said “foster parent” Connie Newby, a home-schooling mom, who uses the foster cat program as a combination service project/life cycles course for her children, Jessie, Teddy and Billy Rose.

• Hartford Advocate, Hartford, Connecticut, 10 August, 2006, (article now cached) Up in flame

  Initially, Judy Aron thought the message that popped up on her computer in early July was a harmless nuisance. “I never knew who he was. I didn’t have a clue. It was just some person sending me an e-mail,” Aron said. “I sent a very cordial e-mail back. It seemed to be a laughable thing.” …

  “Are you insane? You are running against Andy Fleischmann and you think you have a viable chance of winning this election,” Kaplan wrote. “For the fact alone that you are crazy enough to home school your kids and 98% of this town sends their kids to private and public schools, you will not have any shot at winning.” …

  In her reply, Aron thanked Kaplan for his interest in her campaign and defended her chances in the election and her choice of home schooling her three children, noting that Fleischmann has publicly stated his support of home schooling. She didn´t receive a response. Later, while speaking with friends, she learned Kaplan was a campaign coordinator for Fleischmann´s reelection effort. …

  To make amends, Fleischmann called Aron, suspended Kaplan from the campaign for two weeks and told Kaplan to write a letter of apology to Aron.

• NHELD transcript of speech at Home Educators Network in the Rhode Island (HENRI) Conference, 12 August 2006, The Reluctant Patriots

  I have never been very politically minded. That is something I must change. I can no longer rely on the freedoms forged by those who came before. The days of quietly homeschooling thinking that we will be left alone are fading away. Our local politics matter more than many of us realize. I would like to share with you the experiences that have led me to spending this lovely Saturday morning with you fine people. …

  At the meetings, we were told things like “How do I know you are educating your children at All?” and “Who polices these homeschooling parents?” The Chairwoman of the SC told the Providence Journal; “We are not telling them what to read, we are telling them they have to read.”

  Some committee members were even angered when other homeschooling parents in the district called to ask them to vote against the proposed policy. These were elected officials who could not understand why they were being called and told callers that the matter was already decided. …

  You know things are out of balance when an assistant superintendent addresses a group family home learning parents saying that he or she is “here for the children” and the subcommittee nods in agreement. How is it that an administrator pulling in salary and benefits in excess of $80,000 a year can have a greater vested interest in seeing strangers children succeed more so than the parents of those children?

Thanks to all.