It’s a shame Pennsylvania has such oppressive homeschool regulations.  This Daily American Online article lays out the time spent and tax money that could be saved, if only Pennsylvania homeschoolers had more freedom.

Meyersdale weighs impact of alternative schools By Alyssa Choiniere

[Curriculum director] Kretchman works with homeschool parents on curriculum and signs off on portfolios completed by parents and students at the end of the year.

“We’re very involved in the curriculum,” he said. “I’m working beside them the whole time.”

Homeschooled students are required to take regular standardized tests to ensure they are on the same level as their peers in brick-and-mortar schools.

He said he spends about three or four weeks each summer working with homeschooled students and their parents.

The above activities are proven non-necessities in so many states for millions of homeschoolers.  Public schools do not need to be involved in homeschooling.  They tend to just get in the way.  Look at what Pennsylvania homeschoolers do all by themselves without all that ‘help’. (more…)

Senator Andrew Dinniman created a frightening call out in legislative form.  His first sponsorship memo states this:

Child Protection Task Force County Notification Act – Senate Bill 32 of 2013

While most students are seen by a teacher during the school days many non-traditional or home-schooled children are not.

This bill would require a school district to notify the county Children and Youth Agency when a child is enrolled in a home-schooled or cyber-school program. The County Agency would then be required to do a risk assessment to determine whether or not a risk of child abuse exists.

This legislation would directly address recommendations made by the Task Force on Child Protection established by Senate Resolution 250 of 2011.

(more…)

Homeschooling, community college aided high-achieving Moorestown family By Susan Snyder
Philadelphia Inquirer

[Father] Charlie said they [3 homeschooled sons] weren’t specifically seeking the Ivy League.

“The real issue is finding a good fit, and that’s what we were able to do with the older two sons so far, with academics as well as extracurriculars,” he said, noting that Jake was captain of Yale’s skeet and trap team and Tom a “walk-on” to Harvard’s fencing team.

Ryan said it was “nerve-wracking” when he began taking college classes at 14. He wasn’t sure how people would react, but he quickly became comfortable. He decided to tutor, he said, because he wanted to help others.

Susan Ryan blogs about educational freedom at Corn and Oil:

“Some Americans are disturbed that Swedish homeschooling families are losing their right to educate their children at home. What a depressing notion turning into a reality, that children can and will be taken from their homes because they’re learning at home with their families.

“In Sweden – a country oft considered a progressive’s dream- and Germany, families were torn apart when their homeschooled children were forced from their homes. But here in the US, states such as Pennsylvania and New York bear down on homeschoolers with oppressive rules, regulations and bureaucratic paperwork having little and nothing to do with learning.”

It’s a good post, worthy reading for anyone interested in educational freedoms – and, of course, we all should be.