From Indiana. An alert reader sent this in (thanks). In effect, the court is saying the state is responsible for children’s education; parents are subordinate to the state. If you read the article, the law is very unclear on this matter.

The two women believed they were adequately home-schooling their children – using age-appropriate books and a computer with Internet access.

But according to the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office, Lila M. Ferguson, 38, and Molly M. Williams, 42, committed a crime – neglect of a dependent – by depriving the children of an education. According to court records, the offense was largely characterized by a failure to provide records on the children’s educational progress as they claimed to home-school their children.

And in spite of their court-appointed attorneys’ wishes, the two women pleaded guilty to a Class A misdemeanor version of the charge and were each sentenced Tuesday to a year on probation. Read more…

Amar Mahallati asked:


First, let’s get one thing straight. Homeschooling is completely legal.

Many parents have concerns regarding homeschooling their children and any legal restriction that may arise. They fear that homeschooling is either illegal or that the homeschooling parent must jump through a series of complicated hoops in order to meet governmental requirements. To some this degree, these fears may be founded, but for the most part, the legal side of homeschooling is simple, at least more simple than the homeschooling itself.

The Constitution does not mention education and on a federal level there is no interference. Education and the laws that govern it falls to the power of the states. Individual states’ rights dictate how education is handled, how large a part the Department of Education plays in the process and other legal details. With this being said, homeschooling laws can and do vary from state to state.

Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, but some states make it easier to homeschool your children than others. For example, Idaho and Texas place very few restrictions on parents who elect to homeschool their children. Other states such as Massachusetts and New York are more heavily regulated. These states require that the curriculum used in the homeschooling setting must be approved by the state. The parent must submit achievement test scores and social workers may even perform home visits. Pennsylvania requires that all teaching materials used for homeschooling be submitted to the local school district for review.

Lobbyists and advocates continue in their legal efforts to quash attempts to pass bills that would increase the power of the state to enter the home, interfere too extensively with homeschooling or compel public school attendance. In 2006, many of these efforts were defeated, but most parents need never to worry about their right to educate their children in the way they see fit to ever be taken away. Court decisions regarding education and these types of issues have enjoyed an upward trend that is strongly in favor of them for many years.

Even as early as 1925, the Supreme Court ruled in Pierce v. Society of Sisters that the care and education of the child was not only the right, but the duty, of the parents, not the state. In 2000, Troxel v. Granville made it to the Supreme Court and garnered a landmark decision. Though it was an issue regarding visitation, not education, the principle force driving the decision has been successfully used by homeschool advocates. The Court reaffirmed the rights of parents as fundamental.

The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) was established in 1983 to provide legal resources for homeschooling parents and to fight for the rights of parents who seek to homeschool. The HSLDA tracks legal issues related to homeschooling and has fought many legal battles on the behalf of parents who homeschool. They publish an annual roundup of legislative acts and track any changes that are made by Congress as well as the individual states.

Although the states try to chip away at the rights of parents to homeschool and the federal government even gets in on the game from time to time, the majority of cases that have been brought to court have been settled in favor of parents.

While albeit rare, there have been cases of over zealous social workers who feel it is their duty to “protect” children from parents. Unfortunately, they may do so, even when there is no evidence of parental abuse or neglect. That possibility and social as well as legal issues sometimes make their way into the homeschool arena. HSLDA and others provide resources to parents to ensure that they do not have to deal with such issues.

Parents considering homeschooling their children would be best served to first research the paperwork, supervision and other legal requirements of their individual states. When homeschooling their children, the first schooling needs to start with the parents.



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

The Carnival of Homeschooling is hosted this week by Life Nurturing Education with a Winter in Idaho theme.

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling! If you are unfamiliar with this weekly event, let me introduce you.

A carnival sounds fun, right? It is! Each week homeschool bloggers are asked to submit a post to share. Then the host reads, organizes, and presents them to the community.

I offered to do this in August, but we were in the middle of selling our house in Texas and moving back to Southern Idaho. This carnival features a few of our adventures since we arrived. Read more…

Our friend Wayne Walker has been a frequent contributor to the children’s book reviews on this site. Now Wayne has decided to strike out on his own with a new website devoted to homeschool book reviews. We wish Wayne the best of success in this new venture. Here is his recent press release:

Wayne S. Walker is a homeschooling father and a book reviewer. His book reviewing began several years ago when his older son, then probably ten or twelve, picked up a book at the library and asked if he could read it. It was written by a modern author but said to be based on a famous series of children’s books from the earlier part of the twentieth century that they liked, and it had a recommendation on the back from a well known children’s author. So Wayne and his wife said yes. Well, after their son read it, Wayne picked it up to read it and found that it was NOT for children (or should not be for children) because it had a very vulgar scene in it with quite explicit language. Therefore, he determined that he would preview every book that their children read (unless they had specific recommendations fromtrusted sources).

Wayne began posting his reviews of books on a homeschooling e-mail list and people started to express appreciation for them. He was editing (and still continues to edit) a free e-mail homeschooling newsletter called Biblical Homeschooling ( biblicalhomeschooling-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biblicalhomeschooling ) and began including his reviews, along with those of others, in the newsletter each month. This led to his being asked to provide reviews for several homeschool-related publications and websites, such as The Old Schoolhouse and Home School Enrichment magazines, and Homeschoolbuzz. Then, for the last couple of years, he has been a regular book reviewer for Stories for Children Magazine, an on-line web-zine for young people ages 3-12.

Recently, SFC has closed its book review/library donation program for the time being. However, because of Wayne’s interest in and love of good children’s literature, and because he is a homeschooling father who understands the fact that homeschooling families love to read, he therefore wants to bring to the homeschooling community information about new children’s books and other good children’s literature, so he has started a book review webblog which will be entitled Home School Book Review at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolbookreview/ . He plans to continue the book review/library donation program of SFC.

The way the program works is that when Wayne finishes reading and reviewing a book that is donated, he will post the review on his weblog ( http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolbookreview/ ) and also send an e-mail with a copy to let the author/publisher know that it has been posted, along with permission to go ahead and use any part or all of the review for marketing efforts. He will also post it on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble if the book is available from those sources. Finally, he will donate the book to the children’s section of their local library, the Bryan-Bennett Public Library of Salem, IL.

Therefore, if any authors, publishers, literary agents, etc., want Wayne to review any children’s books and post the reviews on the new blog, he will be happy to do so. You can contact him at homeschoolbookreview@gmail.com for more information about the program and how to participate. You may also feel free to add this e-mail address to your list of those to receive notices about new books to review.

Any books for children, ages 3-12, and for teens, whether fiction or non-fiction are welcome (including picture books, adventure, fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, mystery, and biography); also books on topics related to homeschooling or parenting and to apologetics will be accepted. Please be advised that all books will be reviewed from a Biblical Judaeo-Christian worldview. Again, the contact e-mail address is homeschoolbookreview@gmail.com.

The underlying assumption of this proposal seems to be that the citizen is somehow subject to the standards set by the state. Or perhaps that the state has a more compelling interest in the well being of the child than the parent. As any homeschooling parent can tell you, we don’t need a test to tell us how our child is doing. They are not a name on a roster, they are our focus of attention.

In a new article in the journal Theory and Research in Education, professor Robert Kunzman proposes a small step to improve homeschooling: Require states to mandate a basic skills test at key intervals to ensure that students are able to meet appropriate academic benchmarks in subjects such as math and reading.

Unlike in the public system, many homeschoolers are not subjected to frequent assessment tests — however imperfect they may be — to ensure that students aren’t left behind as grade levels progress. While many, perhaps even the majority, of homeschoolers have been shown in (perhaps controversial) studies to perform better than their public school counterparts, others can just as easily be left behind by poor teaching. Read more…

Amar Mahallati asked:


Homeschooling is a special type of education, a do it yourself education, if you will. So, if it is a do it yourself education, just who is the “you?” Parents have hectic lives with work and other pursuits that benefit their children and family. It is somewhat of a challenge for many parents, particularly single parents, to find the time to devote to giving their children a full time education. So, what is the answer?

There I good news. Parents have a wide variety of homeschooling options. More than a million children are home schooled every year so it is obvious that parents are finding ways to make it work for them and their families. Those ways are as diverse as the parents themselves.

Often, in the case of a traditional, two parent family, they have an arrangement where one parent works outside of the home and the other works in the home. The one who works in the home also assumes the primary responsibility for homeschooling the children.

Many parents choose homeschooling for their children because they are dissatisfied with the quality of education as well as the values that are taught, implicitly or otherwise, in public schools.

However such traditional arrangements, one parent, usually the man, works, the other, usually the woman, cares for the home, is not the only option and certainly not the only choice that parents can make. The options have expanded exponentially since the 1960s. With the introduction of role reversals, same sex couples, extended families and many other less conventional families are emerging; alternatives in homeschooling education are presenting many more choices.

Many families, regardless of family structure, are making creative choices in selecting someone to educate their children. Some may invite an older relative or a friend into the home. This is an arrangement that actually goes back to a much older tradition. Whether it is an older aunt or uncle, a grandparent or a friend, that person can bring to the table valuable experiences and can often be exceptional homeschool education providers.

As the homeschooling movement has come to a point where second generation education is possible, children who were homeschooled are often homeschooling their own children. They are also often the best choices in providing homeschool education.

On the other hand, those who endured public school education also have many valuable contributions. They have many valuable life lessons to impart but they should take care to avoid falling back on public school methods.

Neighbors can provide homeschooling as can stay at home moms. These moms provide childcare services as well as incorporating homeschooling. Another option is to find a family who is already homeschooling their own children and have them take on your children as well.

Busy parents also have a somewhat newer facet to homeschooling but is centuries old and that is finding a tutor. In many other countries, tutors are often the primary education giver. In fact, the public school system which is modeled after the Prussian system of the 1800s is a relatively recent endeavor which has, for the most part, failed.

Tutors come is all varieties with a wide range of backgrounds. Some may specialize in a certain area such as music or languages while others have a broad background. Some are even former public or private school teachers who were unhappy with the system, yet love teaching.

Parents often mistakenly believe that they can not afford a private tutor to homeschool their children. However, they soon realize after research that this is simply not so. The cost of a tutor is somewhat nominal when the quality of the education is considered. They may even elect to start a home based business so that they can still be a part of their children’s lives while the tutor carries the bulk of the educational load.

Often parents will discover that children who are fairly motivated and independent thrive well in a homeschooling environment and the time required for schooling is actually less than anticipated. When a parent or tutor provides a child with guidance and resources the children largely teach themselves. This in itself makes tutoring far less expensive. One of the greatest benefits of homeschooling is that homeschooled children are usually at the top of their classes in college because their love for learning is self generated.

Before discounting homeschooling as a venture that will not work for you, take some time to explore all of your options.



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

Mimi Rothschild asked:


The concept of homeschool has fast been catching up with the local population. Since it is a relatively new model of education, it is bound to be embroiled in controversy. There have been certain accounts and statements written in the media that have been meant to tarnish the image of homeschool, so that the public schools continue to receive government funding and private schools maintain their profits. However, things do not remain the same when people aspire to change, and homeschool is a sign of a new revolution in the world of education.

One should not forget the fact that homeschool is a reputable organization that has boldly been able to break the shackles of dependence and neglect that are rampant in local schools. A recent study sought to divide homeschooling into two groups: believers and inclusives. Believers tend to put homeschool parents on a pedestal, and the mother specifically is given a high status. Inclusives follow the children’s lead in learning. In other words, the former group is parent-centric while the later one is homeschool child-centric. In reality, this is a misrepresentation of the concept of homeschool, because one cannot divide a family that believes in unity in functioning.

It is also another wrong conception that people choose to homeschool their children only if they have had a bad experience with a public or private school. This is not entirely true. A parent may choose to homeschool not because of a bad experience with a public school, but because he or she believes that homeschool is the best way to give wings to his or her child’s overall academic and extra-curricular development. It does not matter if the public school is bad or good; it is a question of choice rather than circumstance.

Homeschool is known to spread positive feelings among families. Not only are religious values instilled in homeschool children, they also become socially conscious and contribute to the betterment of the family. There are many elements in the freedom that homeschool provides. The most important component of the freedom of homeschool stems from parental rights and the spirit of private education. The second component is the ability and the enthusiasm of homeschool children and their parents to work cohesively as a team. The third is the way in which people are, by and large, accepting the fact that the concept of homeschool is the welcome change in which education is imparted and knowledge shared. There are, and always will be, mouths which may keep on rattling about the perils of homeschool education, and the only way they can be silenced is to experience for themselves the winning crusade for education-the homeschool!



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

I ran across this huge collection of printables via delicious popular links. I don’t know why it’s free and I don’t know for how long but it’s a huge collection of all kinds of educational helps.

This collection of ready-to-use graphic organizers will help children classify ideas and communicate more effectively. All of our free, printable graphic organizers are designed to facilitate understanding of key concepts by allowing students to drill down to the basic points and ideas. By using graphic organizers across all subject areas, you will be empowering your students to master subject-matter faster and more efficiently. We have graphic organizers for reading, science, writing, math, and for general use. We also have put together slideshows of our favorite graphic organizers in each subject, to save you time. Read more…

The carnival is hosted this week at A Very Nearly Tea, who bravely (or naively) took on the task of hosting on in the midst of selling a home.

Way back when, it seems like ages ago now, Henry Cate asked if I’d be willing to host the carnival this week. “Sure!” I said, perhaps too enthusiastically. I love hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling. It gives me a chance to connect with other homeschoolers, and find a few new blogs in the process. Nothing much is ever going on around here around the holidays. It’s all quiet and peaceful, like Let a Woman Learn’s Celebration of Winter. So stop by Lesson Pathways for some free Christmas Printables, I thought, or make some activity kits with Minds Bloom. Maybe even make a Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer with Peanuts are Evil. You know, something to keep them occupied while I was occupied. Maybe if I was feeling particularly schoolerish, I could set them down with a Christmas Break book list like Seaside Tales. Read more…

Via OnMilwaukee.com

“Homeschooling is difficult to explain, because every family does it differently, and there are so many prejudices against it,” says Sam Flood, 21, who was home-schooled for elementary and high school. Sam is currently an English and theater major at Lawrence University in Appleton. His sister, 19-year-old Ariana also attends Lawrence. Their youngest sibling, Clara Margaret, 14, is currently learning at home.

“A lot of my friends at college don’t believe me that I was home-schooled,” says Sam. “They say ‘but you’re not weird!’” Read more…