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News & Commentary April 28, 2004
In This Issue:
Not Homeschooling at All
Not Homeschooling at All, Part 2
A Terrible Distance Learning Model
The Comfort of Home
Blurring the Lines - Pennsylvania Style
Blurring the Lines - Washington Style
South Carolina Tax Break Proposal
Virginia Amendment Rejected
Patrick Henry College - Viewed From the UK
Home-schooling Population Decreasing Dramatically
Homeschooling More Popular Than Ever
Home School Popularity Is Difficult to Gauge
The Rewards and Challenges of Homeschooling
A Fundamental of Compulsory Attendance
Winning Kids
You Don't Know Boring!
Ready for College?
May Conference Dilemma
Words to Ponder
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Not Homeschooling at All
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headline: Religious Materials Banned for B.C. Home Schooling
Vancouver Sun, British Columbia, Canada, By Janet Steffenhagen, April 22
http://www.canada.com
"Home-schooling parents are fuming after the B.C. Education Ministry ordered thousands of them to stop using faith-based materials -- or any other 'unofficial' resource -- when teaching their children at home. Many parents, including some who aren't religious, say they will cut their ties with the school system rather than obey the directive.... 'I'm definitely not going back and I don't know anyone who is,' said Anita Kosovic, who has two children in U-Connect. Although her family isn't religious, she said she doesn't want to be held to B.C.-approved resources, some of which she says are awful.'... 'If a district receives full funding for a student, the student is not being home-schooled,' [the BC Education Ministry] stated."
Ann: The Education Ministry is right - this is public school in the home, similar to charter school at-home programs in the US. Calling such programs "home schooling" - as this reporter does and as the schools providing the service have done - is confusing at best and at worst a potential danger to the rights of those who homeschool privately under homeschooling or private school laws. To further explore the risks posed to homeschoolers by public at-home programs, visit www.westandforhomeschooling.org
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Not Homeschooling at All, Part 2
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headline: Company to Run Free Pilot Scheme for Home Schooling
St. Albans Observer, UK, By Aaron Bateman abateman@london.newsquest.co.uk, April 22
http://www.stalbansobserver.co.uk
"A COMPANY based in Wheathamstead that is at the forefront of a revolution in home schooling is offering parents the chance to trial [sic] its system for free.... The company wants to run a 100-pupil pilot with 25 children from each of the four key stages each receiving half an hour a week of free education in mathematics and English. At the end of a four-week period parents will be asked what they think of the system and there is no obligation to buy....[Managing director Peter Burrows] said: 'We want some market analysis and it would suit us to have local parents and children taking part in the pilot.'"
Ann: UK parents considering this option might want to read the following story first.
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A Terrible Distance Learning Model
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headline: A Terrible Distance Learning Model
Education News on the web, by Donna Garner, March 29
http://www.educationnews.org
"What does the e-student experience? He is basically sitting in front of a computer watching a video and has no interaction with the e-teacher whatsoever. Since the microphone which is placed in the e-teacher's classroom is ineffective, the e-student cannot hear classroom discussions. The two robotic cameras are not quick enough to respond and don't pick up the activities going on in various places in the classroom. The camera on the cart which televises the teacher's presentation is so close to the teacher's face that the e-student viewing the tape sees a bigger-than-normal teacher's face on his screen....Before spending taxpayers' money on distance learning programs, the Texas Legislature, the Texas State Board of Education, and the Texas Education Agency need to seek answers to [a list of fifteen] questions."
Ann: This report evaluates an experimental Texas program in which an audio-video feed of classroom activity is sent to distance students. Overall, it was an expensive and frustrating experiment for students and teachers alike.
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The Comfort of Home
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headline: School, in the Comfort of Home: Young adults taught by parents reflect on what they missed, and what they gained
Tri-Valley Herald, California, By Melissa Schorr mschorr@angnewspapers.com, April 25
http://www.trivalleyherald.com
"I'm really glad I got to homeschool,' says [Chad Keith], a self-described 'kindergarten dropout' from Redwood City. 'You get to study what you want, when you want, and don't have anybody telling you what to do. I think that's why I'm flying helicopters now.' Once considered a fringe activity only for fundamentalist Christians or crunchy-granola liberals, homeschooling is beginning to win loyal adherents among the mainstream community - and grudging acceptance from the state educational department."
Ann: An upbeat homeschooling story featuring several homeschooled students. The reporter accurately describes what California homeschoolers call "the four ways to homeschool in California," including two private (setting up a private school or hiring tutors) and two public (charter school enrollment or home based public instruction) versions of education in the home. California homeschoolers also say (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) that "there is no such thing as homeschooling in California" since California law does not include the term "homeschooling."
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Blurring the Lines - Pennsylvania Style
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headline: District Considers Cyber Schooling Benefits
Pocono Record Writer, Pennsylvania, By Erin Doolittle edoolittle@poconorecord.com, April 26
http://www.poconorecord.com
"Tom Schmitt, founder of Right Reason Technologies, an East Stroudsburg company, outlined the plan for the district's school board Wednesday night. It would expand a pilot program already under way for the district's homebound students.... By expanding the program to all district students, the district stands to save $6,500 per student who chooses the district program over a cyber charter school. The district is required to pay the student's tuition for the cyber charter school. There are 91 cyber charter school students in the district. Another 200 are home-schooled. If a home-schooled student joins the district's cyber program, the district gains $3,000 in state reimbursement."
Ann: Cyber schooling benefits? Benefits for what - the district coffers? It certainly doesn't benefit the taxpayer! The possible $600,000 those students would bring to the district by enrolling in this program would come out of taxpayer pockets. However, if those 200 homeschooled students continue to homeschool privately, they SAVE TAXPAYERS $600,000.
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Blurring the Lines - Washington Style
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headline: Parents as Partners
The Columbian, Vancouver, Washington, Columbian editorial writers, April 26
http://www.columbian.com
"The Vancouver School District is about to launch a stepped-up service to home-schooled children, further proof that the parents-as-teachers phenomenon is not a passing fancy. The Vancouver School District is calling its new effort the Parent-Partnered Program.... It'll also mean state money to the district for each student in the program."
Ann: It'll also mean that students are no longer homeschooled as public school is brought into their homes. The Columbian's editorial writers seem intent on continuing the tactics of Washington state educators, who have aggressively pursued a policy of blurring the lines between private independent homeschooling per state law and public school at home.
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South Carolina Tax Break Proposal
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headline: Private School, Home School Students' Parents Could See Tax Break
Yahoo News, April 21
http://news.yahoo.com
"The South Carolina General Assembly will debate a new measure this week that would give tax breaks to families that send their children to private schools or home schools. The Put Parents In Charge Act, proposed by Gov. Mark Sanford, would give income or property tax breaks to families that have combined income of less than $75,000 a year, up to 80 percent of the tuition -- around $4,000.... Families with home-schooled students could get breaks for money spent on tutors, textbooks and school supplies, among other things." Read Gov. Sanford's Release About The Put Parents In Charge Act Read The House Bill ory&u=/ibsys/20040421/lo_wyff/2103779
Ann: Sounds like a good deal to you? Wait a sec - listen to an opponent of this bill. "'If public money is being used, the public has the right to know what is being taught, how the money is being spent,' Greenville County School District trustee Tommie Reese said."
Ann: I hope South Carolinians note well the lessons of our northern neighbors in Vancouver, BC.
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Virginia Amendment Rejected
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headline: House Rejects Amendment to Home-schooling Bill
DailyPress.com, Hampton Roads, Virginia, Associated Press, April 21
http://www.dailypress.com
" RICHMOND, Va. -- "The House voted 62-37 Wednesday to reject [Gov.] Warner's amendment to the bill, which would eliminate the requirement that home-schoolers have a college degree unless they claim a religious exemption or meet other criteria....Del. Richard Black, R-Loudoun, said Warner's amendment defeats the bill's purpose of treating all home-schooling parents the same. 'We should treat people equally. We should not treat them differently just because they don't ask for the religious exemption,' Black said. The bill now goes back to Warner, who can either veto it or allow it to become law."
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Patrick Henry College - Viewed From the UK
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headline: The Bible College That Leads to the White House
The Independent, United Kingdom, By Andrew Buncombe, April 21
http://news.independent.co.uk
"For all the warm welcomes, for all the smiles, for all the openness, there is something a little unsettling about Patrick Henry and the cultish devotion of its students. This is, after all, an establishment that claims to challenge its students to think for themselves, and yet establishes a fixed, rigid framework - both culturally and intellectually - in which they are to operate."
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Home-schooling Population Decreasing Dramatically
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headline: Charter Schools Continue to Grow
The Times-Standard, Arcata, California, By Sara Watson Arthurs
http://www.times-standard.com
"Today there are 170,000 students in California enrolled in 471 charter schools in 47 counties, [Humboldt County Superintendent of Schools Garry Eagles] said. Of these, 70 percent are brand-new schools and 30 percent conversions of existing schools. Eagles said 31 percent of the charter schools are non-classroom-based, such as independent study programs. About 7.5 percent of Humboldt County students are attending charter schools, up from 4 percent in 1998-1999, Eagles said. During the same period, he said, the home-schooling population in the county has been decreasing dramatically."
Ann: This pro-charter story includes many statistics from the Superintendent, but oddly, no statistic is cited to back the amazing claim of homeschooling population decrease. Where does this statement come from - the reporter, Eagles, or some other source? Is it a statistical fact, informed speculation, or a wild guess? Inquiring minds want to know.
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Homeschooling More Popular Than Ever
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headline: Bringing the Classroom Home - Homeschooling More Popular Than Ever
The Ellsworth American, Maine, By Jennifer Osborn, April 22
http://www.ellsworthamerican.com
Ellsworth - "Homeschooling is on the rise in Maine. This year, the number of Maine children schooled at home will reach 5,000. Last year, the figure was closer to 4,500, according to data from the state Department of Education.... The reasons for homeschooling are varied. For Colleen Prescott, the decision to homeschool her four kids was simple: 'These are our golden years with the kids,' she said. 'If we have the ability to have them around us, why send them off for eight hours a day?'"
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headline: Homeschool Shows Rising Popularity in Area
Sentinel and Enterprise, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, By Lisa Guerriero lguerriero@sentinelandenterprise.com, April 26
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com
"...When Nancy Clark decided to teach her children rather than enroll them in public kindergarten, she was the only person she knew who homeschooled. A decade later, Clark said there are at least 20, and as many as 50, homeschool families in Gardner, where she lives.... Carol Arnold of Lunenburg, the founder of Montachusett Area Christian Homeschoolers, said the number of families in the support group swelled from about six to nearly 35 in the past 20 years."
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Home School Popularity Is Difficult to Gauge
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headline: Home School Popularity Is Difficult to Gauge
The Lincoln Courier, Lincoln, Illinois, BY Nancy Rollings Saul, April 21
http://www.lincolncourier.com
"Jean Anderson, regional superintendent of schools, said 19 families have registered in her office as home schoolers, this year, but 'a lot have not.' 'I'm sure there are way more than that,' Anderson said. 'Probably at least three times that many.' Some estimates are much higher. Anderson said since this is her first year as regional superintendent, she is unable to determine whether the home schooling phenomena is becoming more or less popular in the area."
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The Rewards and Challenges of Homeschooling
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headline: Home Is Where the School Is
The Lincoln Courier, Lincoln, Illinois, By Nancy Rollings Saul, April 21
http://www.lincolncourier.com
"Recently, three area mothers discussed the reasons, as well as the rewards and challenges, of their choice to home school their children. All of them described their children as avid readers who are above the expected educational levels of public school children the same age. 'I think it's a whole lot easier,' said Michelle Squaire of Lincoln. 'I can't even imagine getting them up and out the door by 8 o'clock every morning.'"
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A Fundamental of Compulsory Attendance
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headline: A SHOCKER!!!
Homeschool and Other Education Stuff, By Daryl Cobranchi, April 22
http://www.cobranchi.com
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald
(the Herald archive has expired) Daryl, blogger extraordinaire, found a real gem - that is, a gem if you like hyperbolic junk. Daryl writes, "This Op/Ed out of Canada is the worst piece of anti-homeschooling trash I think I've ever seen. It is also out there in la-la land regarding what the g-schools are like."
Ann: It WAS bad, though I wasn't as shocked as Daryl was. The teacher/author said: "...the simple truth is that kitchen-table education is inferior to the one offered in public schools." This is the PREVALENT opinion of public school teachers. That belief is the teething ring on which educators cut their public schooling "wisdom" teeth, a belief they pass down unexamined to the next generation of frustrated students. That fundamental cultural belief is one that the majority must buy into for parents to continue to submit their children to compulsory schooling as they have for a hundred years.
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Winning Kids
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headline: Home-schooler Earns Purple and Two Blue Ribbons at the Mohave Education Festival
Kingman Daily Miner, Arizona, By Terry Organ, April 17
http://www.kingmandailyminer.com
"Jesseca Organ...who is home-schooled and a senior living in So Hi Estates, exceeded her ambitions by picking up a purple ribbon for a purse she crocheted in the home arts category and blue ribbons for social studies and baking category entries."
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headline: Homeschooler Holds Own at KU Relays With Second in Discus
The Wichita Eagle, By Duane Frazier
http://www.kansas.com
"[Rachel Talbert] is homeschooled.... A junior, she finished second in the girls discus competition with a throw of 144 feet, 10 inches, best among the Kansas athletes....Talbert already has the state's best throw this season at 147-5."
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headline: Home-school Confidential
The Fresno Bee, California, By John Branch jbranch@fresnobee.com, April 22
http://www.fresnobee.com
"Aubrey Fast never played high school softball. That didn't keep the Clovis 17-year-old from earning a Division I softball scholarship....[to] Cal State-Northridge in the fall.... She would have loved to play high school softball. Just not at the expense of being home-schooled."
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headline: Crawford, Nichols Are Essay Winners
Bradford County Telegraph, Starke, Florida, April 22, 2004
http://www.zwire.com
"Abigail Crawford and Zachary Nicol were this year's local winners of the Veterans of Foreign Wars 'Voice of Democracy' and 'Patriot's Pen' essay contests, respectively. Crawford, a home-schooled student... received a $100 United States savings bond for her audio essay addressing the theme, 'My Commitment to America's Future.' ... Nicol was awarded a $50 United States savings bond for his written essay addressing the theme, 'My Dream for America.' ...Zachary is also home-schooled."
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headline: Local Student Receives Congressional Bronze Medal
The Eureka Reporter, California, by Christine Bensen
http://www.eurekareporter.com
"Sixteen-year-old Nicole Dame said she found out about the Congressional Award program while reading a magazine and that it fit her life so well already that she applied and was accepted to participate in it... Dame said she plans to complete her silver medal requirements in November and her gold by the time she graduates high school. '...It teaches you how to plan long-term and short-term goals,' she said." 'The Congressional Award is a public partnership created by Congress to promote and recognize achievement, initiative and service in America,s youth,' The Congressional Awards Web site states. For more information visit http://www.congressionalaward.org
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headline: Season Recap: Saline County Homeschool Warriors
The Benton Courier, Arkansas, April 23
http://www.bentoncourier.com
"The Saline County Homeschool Warriors basketball teams completed the 2003-04 season with a successful finish. Despite finishing 1-9 in conference play, the junior girls won first place in the Private School Holiday Tournament and first place in the State Homeschool Tournament. They went on to win second place and received the team Christian Character award at the National Homeschool Tournament Division II in Oklahoma City. Kara Carlton, Karis Miller, Kimberly Arledge, Nikki Raynor and Carrie Clark were named to the State Homeschool Tournament team, and Carlton was the MVP."
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headline: Education Briefs
The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi, April 25
http://www.clarionledger.com
"WEATHER WATCHERs: Three Mississippi students are statewide winners in an essay competition sponsored [in part] by the National Weather Service...Winners include... Lydia Burns, who is home-schooled in Collinsville, second place..." "DUCK STAMP DESIGNS: ...in the 2004 Mississippi Junior Duck Stamp Art Competition sponsored by the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, first-place winners ... include Rhianna Benson, who is home-schooled in Brandon, grades K-3... and Elizabeth Benson, home-schooled in Brandon, grades 7-9"
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You Don't Know Boring!
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headline: Readers' Letters - Home Schooling Can Be Too Protective
The Portland Tribune, Oregon, by Justin Morton, Arlington, Virginia
http://www.portlandtribune.com
"As a former student home-schooled in North Portland, allow me to fill you in on the dirty little secret of home school: It is dreadfully boring... When I was home-schooled, my two best friends were a scrawny apple tree in the back yard and the mailman. Oh, how I loved the mailman."
Ann: Boring? You call homeschooling boring? You don't know boring until you've tried public school, Justin! Justin writes a witty letter - good evidence of a rounded education.
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Ready for College?
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headline: Getting a Jump on College Ways
Subheadline: Students at Arlington school gain discipline to work on their own
Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas, By L. Lamor Williams llwilliams@star-telegram.com, April 24
http://www.dfw.com
ARLINGTON - "Aaron Brown, 17, has been home schooled for most of his life. But to make sure he will be ready for college life, his parents sent him to Grace Prep, where students attend classes for several hours a week and must develop discipline to use an abundance of free time to do homework."
Ann: Which bugs me the most? Is it the fact that this article about a prep school is more advertisement than news? Or is it the subtle implication throughout - highlighted by the juxtaposition of the subheading and lead sentence - that homeschoolers lack the discipline to make it in college and need special training so they can succeed? Definitely the latter.
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May Conference Dilemma
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Ann: A homeschooling conference can be a fantastic boost for homeschoolers of every persuasion. If you haven't been to a conference lately, there are two to choose from on Memorial Day Weekend. Both offer an outstanding schedule of speakers, activities, and vendors for the whole family. Whether you attend every session or enjoy the "conference between the conference" because of a restless four year old - meeting new people, visiting, and wandering around, you are in for a treat! Which will you attend?
Learnapalooza, A Homeschooling Experience Kansas City
www.kclearn.org
The 8th National Rethinking Education Conference Irving, Texas
www.rethinkingeducation.com
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Words to Ponder
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headline: Harper's Index
Harper's Magazine, May 2004 issue
http://www.harpers.org (not yet been updated)
"Chance that an American adult believes that 'politics and government are too complicated to understand': 1 in 3; Chance that an American who was home-schooled feels this way: 1 in 25"
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Final Words
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E-mail addresses of reporters or their editors are now included with their stories when available. Please send feedback to reporters who make you think, who tell a great story, or who have wrong information. A pat on the back or a respectful correction is usually appreciated. As always, keep me in mind as you find and make the news. Please include a link if possible and a sentence or two of your own that summarizes the homeschooling aspect of the story. Thanks to all who contributed to this and past issues.
Ann Lahrson Fisher
News and Commentary Email
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