Newscomm for September 07, 2004

In this Issue:

Pennsylvania Lawsuit Update - Seven Counts, Not One
Michigan Battle Over Daytime Curfew
Homeschoolers in the News
Interscholastics: Kids Can Play in West Virginia - For Now
Interscholastics: Kids Can't Play in North Carolina
Interscholastics: Kids Can Play in South Dakota - Conditionally
California: Private Homeschooling Clarified
Pennsylvania and Virginia: Pushing Public School Standards
Kentucky: Child Support Approved for Homeschooler
Minnesota: Public Support for Homeschooling
Washington: Natural Learning in The Spotlight
Wales, UK: Avoiding Bullies
New Brunswick, Canada: Heed Homeschooling Innovations
Homeschooled Youth Speak Out
Why We Homeschool: For Citizens with Imagination and Creativity
Why We Homeschool: To Bypass Preschool Pressure

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Pennsylvania Lawsuit Update - Seven Counts, Not One
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headline: Christian Family Fights to Home School Without State Oversight
Agape Press, By Jim Brown, September 01
http://headlines.agapepress.org
"A Pennsylvania family has filed a lawsuit against their suburban Pittsburgh school district challenging the state's home-school reporting requirements. Claiming the government has exceeded its authority, the Newborn family has invoked Pennsylvania's Religious Freedom Protection Act. MaryAlice Newborn, who has five children and is currently home schooling four of them, says she does not object to the state's burdensome paperwork, but rather to the necessity of seeking the public school superintendent's final approval over her children's education...." Most press reports focus on the controversial first Count of the lawsuit involving the Religious Freedom Protection Act. The lawsuit actually included seven Counts: Counts II, III, IV deal with violations of the Fourteenth Amendment; Counts V, VI, and VII, violations of the First Amendment.
Pennsylvania Home Educators Association
http://www.phea.net

Ann: It will be interesting to see if the case is decided on The not-so-press-worthy counts.

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Michigan Battle Over Daytime Curfew
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headline: Battle Creek Considers Curfew for Children Ages 6 to 15
MLive.com, AP, September 06
http://www.mlive.com
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) - A daytime curfew in the city soon could be established in an effort to help keep children in school.... The ordinance would require children ages 6 to 15 to be in school or face the possibility of being charged with a misdemeanor. City officials say they are looking at the ordinance as a means of intervention, not prosecution.... The curfew would be in effect on school days from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There would be exceptions for students who are out of school legitimately, including for open-campus lunch hours and home-schooled children. Opponents say the measure violates children's basic rights and could traumatize home-schooled children picked up by the police."

Ann: While a daytime curfew is a pathetic solution to truancy and deserving of citizen outrage on its own (lack of) merits, it is unthinkably abhorrent to steamroll the rights of other children - children who are otherwise educated and exempt - who will surely be presumed guilty in curfew sweeps.

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Homeschoolers in the News
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headline: Home-schooled Teacher Starts New Year in Public School
Grand Forks Herald, North Dakota, By Andrea Domaskin, AP, August 22
http://www.grandforks.com
KENSAL, N.D. - "Sara Erickson never played her flute in the pep band or sang in the school choir. She never even went to high school. This fall, she will be a high school teacher. Erickson, who was home-schooled through 12th grade, will be teaching music to both high school students and elementary students in the Kensal public school. 'It was just something that I wanted to do since I was 7 years old,' she said."

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headline: There's No Place Like Home(school)
Virginia Connection Newspapers, by Brian McNeill, September 02
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com
Fairfax County -- "While learning about Central America last January, sixth-grade student Bobby Haase didn't just read in a textbook about the region's culture, geography and history. Rather, Haase and his family traveled to Guatemala for a two-week educational excursion, observing poor villages and seeing the struggles faced by developing countries. 'I learned how poor people can be,' Haase said. 'Like sometimes, their huts were made out of cow poop. And I noticed that almost nobody has a pet because they're so poor that they're just trying survive themselves.' Haase's journey to Guatemala was made possible because he does not attend elementary school like the other children in his Fairfax neighborhood. Haase is one of a growing number of children in Fairfax County who are homeschooled."

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headline: Home-schooled Jazz Band Brings Swing to Fly-In
The Sun, Bremerton, Washington, By Chris Henry, September 03
http://www.thesunlink.com
"Peter Adams is an upstanding, homeschooled student of Christian persuasion. He studies the Gospel according to Mathew, Mark, Luke and John ... and the gospel according to Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. He's learned his lessons well. Adams, 17, plays keyboards for dot.Swing, an intergenerational septet to be featured Saturday at the Bremerton Blackberry Festival's eighth annual Fly-In at Bremerton National Airport.... It's the first public gig for this group of young men and two very hip dads."

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headline: School Year Starting at Home for Some
Hamilton Journal News, Ohio, By Linda Ebbing lebbing@coxohio.com September 06
http://www.journal-news.com
"[Debbie Anderson] said she prefers home-schooling because it is 'family-centered, faith-based and individualized to each student's giftings and challenges. Your goals are the same whether you are home-schoolers or whatever school option you chose. With home-schooling it is just a little bit more intensified because you incorporate the schooling into your family life,' she said. '...it's neat to see the kids grow toward adulthood and for the family to have the biggest impact it can for preparing children for adulthood.'"

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Interscholastics: Kids Can Play in West Virginia - For Now ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

headline: Home Schoolers Can Play Sports Pending Court Case
The Charleston Gazette, West Virginia, September 04
http://www.saturdaygazettemail.com
"Children taught at home can play sports for West Virginia's public schools until the state Supreme Court rules on the issue, the state Department of Education has concluded. The department acted after the parents of 12-year-old Kristan Lambert filed suit last week to force the state to allow her to play soccer for Shady Spring Middle School in Raleigh County."

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Interscholastics: Kids Can't Play in North Carolina
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headline: Home School Vs. Public Schools A Tough Choice
NBC 17, North Carolina, September 06
http://www.nbc17.com
"RALEIGH, N.C. -- Karsten Rabe, a 13-year-old pitcher, would like to play baseball for his local middle school. But officials in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro district won't let him. In fact, last week they responded to his request to play ball at McDougle Middle School with a blanket policy that forbids Karsten and youngsters like him from having any involvement with the school. Karsten is home schooled. And in North Carolina, unlike some states, local districts can prohibit children who aren't enrolled from taking part in public school activities. While many home school families prefer the separation, some, such as Rabe's mother Inger Evans, believe their children are entitled to the same opportunities as students enrolled in their local public schools."

Ann: One side of the entitlement argument is that all students are entitled to partake in school offerings on a menu basis.

Another view comes from the school district: 'It's a carrot for attending our services,' says Kymm Ballard, a consultant who helps oversee sports programs at public middle schools. 'It's an entitlement of being in public schools in North Carolina.'"

Ann: Rabe's mother is thinking of suing. Rabe's recreation league coach, Mark Marcoplos, may have the best answer: "I'm thinking about starting a home school baseball team."
Just do it, Coach.

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Interscholastics: Kids Can Play in South Dakota - Conditionally
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headline: Mitchell Board OKs Plan for Home-school Students in Activities
Aberdeen News, South Dakota, Associated Press August 24
http://www.aberdeennews.com
MITCHELL, S.D. - "The Mitchell School Board approved a plan on Monday to let home-schooled students join district activities. But the students will need to meet certain guidelines before that happens. They must enroll in at least two classes per semester - including a core course in science, math, social studies or English - and maintain a passing grade."

Ann: Similar to that "carrot" thing in North Carolina?

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California: Private Homeschooling Clarified
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headline: Homeschool students: Studying at Their Own Appointed Pace
The Lompoc Record, California, By Mark Baylis mbaylis@pulitzer.net September 05
http://www.lompocrecord.com
"While the harsh reality of 6 a.m. alarm clocks and the Pythagorean theorem jolted area students out of summer vacation bliss and back to buzzing bells last month, a couple hundred area kids continued to study at their own privately appointed pace as homeschooled students.

Casey Hartmann, 14, is These students. His family is part of the Lompoc Valley Home Educators, one of two home school support groups in Lompoc that operate independent of the Lompoc Unified School District.... Under California law, families may opt to home-school their children by registering with an independent study program at a sponsoring public, private, or charter school or by registering as their own private school. Any individual can create a private school in any location without a teaching credential as long as the level equals that of a public school and records such as attendance and curriculum are kept."

Ann: Heads up, California reporters. This article is both helpful and interesting: an explanation of homeschooling options, including the private R-4 approach, is laid out early, along with a resource for more information (should have included actual contact information, but at least the organizations were named.) After getting those basics down, Mr. Baylis went on to discuss public home-based options, including independent study programs and charter schools, then closed on his original topic, private homeschooling. A casual reader would come away from this article with a better understanding of homeschooling and no misinformation. (Baylis could include group contact info next time for an A!)

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Pennsylvania and Virginia:
Pushing Public School Standards
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headline: Homeschooling: State Standards are Necessary to Maintain Quality and Fairness
Daily Courier, Connellsville, Pennsylvania, Editorial reprinted from The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News September 01
http://www.pittsburghlive.com
"But homeschooling, like organized public and private schooling, is not perfect and it is up to the Department of Education to make sure that homeschooled students are equipped for the challenges of college or career that follow. To ignore this responsibility or to permit a parallel system 'for homeschoolers only' would be unfair to students and their families and an absolute nightmare for college admissions."

Ann: The reasoning in this editorial escapes me, possibly because I don't agree that state standards must be imposed on homeschoolers for quality or fairness, nor do I think that it is the Department of Education's responsibility to make sure that homeschooled students are equipped for the challenges of career or college. Assuming that a parallel system would be unfair is quite a stretch, I think, and what is fair about public or private schooling systems anyway? As for the "nightmare for college admissions," perhaps the writer does not realize that colleges all around the country have found ways to consider and admit homeschooled students - sans the nightmare.

For more information,
Selective Colleges That Have Accepted Homeschoolers
http://learninfreedom.org

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headline: Home-Schoolers Must Meet State Standards
The Winchester Star, Virginia, By Kelly Cupp September 03
http://www.winchesterstar.com
"They might not be educated in public schools, but home-schooling students still have to meet state standards. State law requires parents to file a notice of intent when they plan to teach their children at home, according to Richard Plaugher, director of pupil-personnel services for Frederick County Public Schools."

Ann: This headline confuses me. Does it refer to Virginia's "standards of learning" or to the fact that homeschooling is regulated by the state? Or both? I checked out Virginia's law here:
Guide to Homeschooling in Virginia, Virginia Home Education Association
source: http://www.vhea.org/guide.html

Ann: As I understand it, only "Option 4" requires families to deal with the state's standards of learning and then only with respect to the curriculum content. Homeschooled students are not tested on those state standards. Was Mr. Plaugher mistating the facts or being misquoted? Was the reporting careless? Or is it just me who is confused?

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Kentucky: Child Support Approved for Homeschooler
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headline: Appeals Backs Support for Home-schooled Child
Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky, By Charles Wolfe, AP, August 21
http://www.kentucky.com
FRANKFORT - "A Caldwell County man was obligated to pay child support until his daughter completed home-schooling, even though she had turned 18, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled yesterday.

A three-judge panel reversed a lower court that refused to extend the obligation beyond the girl's 18th birthday.... The father, Brent A. Francis, contended Tessa Francis was not a 'high school student' under Kentucky law because she was home-schooled under auspices of an unaccredited day school, Christian Liberty Academy of Arlington Heights, Ill...."

Ann: If this student had been self-educating, unschooling, or homeschooling with an eclectic or parent-created curriculum - would the ruling have been different? I wonder.

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Minnesota: Public Support for Homeschooling
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headline: Education Comes Home for Parental Teachers and Students
Anoka County Union, Coon Rapids, Minnesota, By L.A. Jones, September 02
http://www.anokacountyunion.com
"Anoka-Hennepin, unlike a lot of other school districts in Minnesota and even moreso throughout the country, has adopted a supportive attitude toward home educators. And that attitude is reflected in the services District 11 offers on an almost continual basis."

Ann: Those services include "a home school information night," funding for "parts of home schooling, primarily for such things as textbooks, which is limited for 2004-05 to $58.07 per child," and access to "special education and other programs in the district." This sets my mind to wondering, once again - would using these services cause parent-funded, parent-directed sovereign homeschooling to drift at some point into public school in the home?

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Washington: Natural Learning in The Spotlight
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headline: Alternative Schooling Options Abound - Natural Learning
Whatcom Independent, Washington, By Dana Blozis, writers@whatcomindy.com September 3-9
http://www.whatcomindy.com (page 7)
"Students who engage in natural learning, for example, do not attend classes nor do they recognize the grade levels of traditional schools. Instead, these children follow a child-let homeschooling approach where the students choose their own curriculum, learning style, and pace. The philosophy behind this form of learning is that children are naturally curious, leading them to various areas of interest and methods of study. According to Bec Thomas, Executive Director for the Washington Natural Learning Association (WNLA) and a parent who follows this approach, children are independent thinkers and this environment gives children more control over their education."

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Wales, UK: Avoiding Bullies
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headline: Mum to Teach Kids at Home to Avoid School Bullies
The Western Mail, Wales, UK, By Darren Devine, September 04
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk
"A MOTHER-OF-THREE has vowed to educate all her children at home rather than send them to a school where she claims her daughter endured two years of agonising bullying. Karen Cruickshank withdrew her 13-year-old daughter Elisabeth from Glan-y-Mor Comprehensive School, in Burry Port, Carmarthenshire, last July, and has stopped 11-year-old son Charlie starting at the school. Mrs Cruickshank, from nearby Trimsaran, says her daughter was regularly kicked, slapped, spat at and on three occasions had her hands slammed in doors by a group of five pupils. The mother also claims Charlie, who was a contestant on BBC's Junior Mastermind this week, was daubed with paint by bullies during a recent welcome day at the school."

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New Brunswick, Canada: Heed Homeschooling Innovations
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headline: The Homeschooling Option - Homeschools Work: Study
New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, Canada, By James Risdon tjbath@nb.aibn.com September 06
http://canadaeast.com
"In March, Fraser Forum, a publication of the Fraser Institute think-tank, carried an article by a former teacher who now homeschools her children. In her article, entitled The Choices Families Make, Homeschooling in Canada Comes of Age, former teacher Deani Van Pelt went so far as to suggest provincial education officials should pay more attention to homeschooling. 'The homeschooling model of delivering an effective and cost-efficient education deserves the recognition of policy makers,' she wrote. 'Perhaps education policy makers should be paying more attention to the innovations suggested by this model.'"

Ann: Mr. Risdon makes a strong point that homeschooling is successful. He closes with Van Pelt's challenge to education policy makers to heed homeschooling innovations. Sounds like a challenge.

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Homeschooled Youth Speak Out
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headline: An Education in Extremes, But Still at 'Home'
York Daily Record, Pennsylvania, By Nick Ryan, home-schooled sophomore, teens@ydr.com September 02
http://ydr.com
(NDR Editor's note: Nick Ryan is a home-schooled sophomore member of the York Daily Record/Sunday News' Teen Takeover staff. He and his family will spend the next few months living in England while his father, a Gettysburg College professor, teaches there. Read Nick's reflections on the experience Thursdays in the Living section of the York Daily Record/Sunday News.)

"I had the option of going to school in London and many people thought I should. I made my choice, though, and decided to continue being home-schooled. Almost everything I go to see here in London will count toward my school, so I don't have to work quite as strenuously as I would if I were in Pennsylvania. The beauty of home schooling is that nothing is set in stone and everyone goes about it differently."

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headline: Home-schooled and Involved
Orlando Sentinal, Florida, By Mary Knowles, age 17 September 04
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Maitland -- "The average home-schooling family doesn't offer honors trigonometry, student government, a swim team, a newspaper or a band. This scenario used to frustrate me, because it could deprive home-schooled high-school students like me of many opportunities at a crucial time for honing talents and gaining knowledge. Increasingly, however, we are discovering opportunities beyond home base in Central Florida and the home-schooling community.... With more exposure to the opportunities available to home-schooled students, I've lost some of my annoyance with our 'lack' of options. Academic, extracurricular and work opportunities can be harder to find, but they do exist. With a little persistence, home-schooled students don't need to relegate themselves to a high-school career of isolation or missed opportunity."

Ann: This essay touches enthusiastically on the many learning choices available to homeschoolers as well as some that are available to public schooled students in Central Florida.

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Why We Homeschool: For Citizens with Imagination and Creativity
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headline: Experts Say Children Lack Creature [sic] Thinking
Times Record News, Texas, By Karen MacPherson, Scripps Howard News Service September 04
http://www.timesrecordnews.com
Washington, D.C. -- "As government leaders try to 'institutionalize' imagination as an anti-terror tool, they face another, longer-term challenge: ensuring a future supply of creative thinkers.

In recent years, many child development experts have voiced increasing concern over the fact that children have little time or encouragement to engage in imaginative play.... Sharna Olfman, a psychology professor at Point Park University who has studied the issue of children and imaginative play, notes that thousands of studies have established 'incontrovertibly' that creative play is a catalyst for all kinds of healthy child development, including intellectual and emotional development. 'Many of our greatest thinkers locate their capacity for original and profound thought in their imaginative abilities, first developed through creative play in early childhood,' Olfman says....'I think democracy really needs citizens who have imagination and creativity,'

Ann: Imaginative thinking is needed for democracy to survive? I cannot agree too strongly. [Joan Almon, coordinator of the U.S. Alliance for Childhood] adds, 'Otherwise the tendency is to let the government make decisions for us. Then you've got totalitarianism, not democracy.'" No kidding.

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Why We Homeschool: To Bypass Preschool Pressure
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headline: Pressured into Preschool
Mercury News, San Jose, California, By Michelle Quinn mquinn@mercurynews.com September 07
http://www.mercurynews.com
"'I don't want to say I was keeping up with the Joneses,' [Susan Nell] said. 'But I didn't want him to fall behind.' As kindergarten becomes more like first grade and kids are expected to be ready when school begins, many parents are seeing preschool as Junior's first step toward academic success. Helping to fuel the preschool push are public information TV ads and a host of studies that laud preschool for everything from keeping kids out of jail to stopping teen pregnancy to boosting a child's future earnings."

Ann: If I were compiling a list of the best ways to squelch creativity and imagination, pushing young children, just past the diaper stage, toward "academic success" would be right at the top, surrounded by stars and arrows and Mr. Yuk stickers.

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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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