I tried to sell this site so I could move on… do something else with my life. I run a large family rights website that keeps me pretty busy in my available online moments. However the site didn’t sell, and I’m glad because after taking a few months off, I’m motivated to do something with this site again. Why not? I still care about homeschooling independently.

I’m like many independent homeschoolers – I get frustrated by the lack of understanding many homeschoolers show. Partly they’re just frightened by the oppressive laws we deal with here in the USA these days, in many states. Some parents are victims of misinformation. They think they have to do what the public school establishment demands.

But no, we are the parents and we have the God-given right and responsibility to make decisions for the benefit of our children.

Our government has become a behemoth of red tape and statutory requirements. There are very few states where true independent homeschooling can be done. This is what I’d love to see changed in the future, but it is very, very hard. Once a law has been established limiting the rights of a parent to homeschool independently, it is very difficult to go backwards and delete the law from the books. You can count on more than half the legislators in any state being old stuck in the mud stogies who aren’t going to budge on a law overseeing the activities of homeschoolers. Any move toward independence, now that it has been sucked away, will be met with resistance.

So why do I bother? Well, there are a very few states where parents can homeschool relatively independently. I want people to know this freedom does exist in various places, and that in a natural common law society we’d have the rights to educate as we feel is best.

Meanwhile, even in states where there are a lot of restrictive requirements regarding homeschool activities, there’s still room for creativity in curriculum planning. There’s nothing more loving a parent can do than to take into consideration the needs and desires of their offspring and give them an education designed just for them.

I absolutely love this father who wants his children to learn in freedom. He wants us to call him “One” and so we shall.

He’s got six children and allows them to choose whether or not they want to attend school. The youngest – a son – is legally homeschooled – which in Australia means taking part in a government school program run by a “registered home educator”. The youngest daughter is slightly older. She attends primary school because she enjoys it. It is kind of the parents to allow their children the experiences they desire.

The family’s legal problems came with the two teenage daughters, Jemirah, 14, and Alisha, 13. They haven’t been in school for a few years because they don’t want to be there. Apparently they tried the government’s home schooling program and found it didn’t meet their needs.

One believes that children should be able to learn in freedom. He is quoted as saying, “Children are being denied their freedom by keeping them in schools as batch numbers for society.” He also doesn’t like that the children must “put poisons on their skin before being allowed in the sun.” I don’t blame him! He must be talking about sun screen, and who knows what that is made of? I use a sunscreen that is vegan… but I’m getting a bit off topic here. Still I have to say I totally agree with everything this article says this man believes. I think he is my newest hero…

One is a disability pensioner. I hope he gets enough money to pay the fine of $1000 per child. I hope the kids still get to learn in freedom.

I really like the part of the article where One says he is blessed to spend time with his children. The reporter put “blessed” in quotations as if it were a weird thing to say. Indeed, the attitude of many people in the world today is that the only blessing is to get the kids out of the house, corralled in school, so parents can work or goof off all day without any responsibilities toward their offspring’s education and happiness.

Okay, it looks like I’ve touched on one of those topics that I could write-on about all day long, so I’ll cut it off here. I just want to say, “Three Cheers for ONE!!!” and . . . is there anything we can do to help you, sir?

Source article: Father to face court for letting kids miss school by Bethany Hiatt, published July 5, 2009 in The West Australian, at http://thewest.com.au.

I love freedom. I love letting children learn in freedom. Therefore I love unschooling. In theory it makes more sense than any other type of education.

Unschooling is child-directed learning. Unschooled children are free to decide what interests them, just like you and I have that freedom as adults. When they study topics that interest them, they are better motivated to learn. Learning happens naturally. All children love to learn. They don’t have to be coerced into it in a structured situation. They don’t need to be corralled into classrooms for learning to happen. Learning is a natural process in human life. It should happen naturally – and that’s essentially what unschooling allows for.

I’m not crazy about the term, ‘unschooling’. Why should we have to mention schooling at all? How about calling it ‘natural education’ or ‘natural learning’ instead? I like how Sara McGrath calls it Whole Life Learning.

Who ever decided that schooling was best for kids? Schooling forces unwanted and often, unnecessary information into them as if they were cups waiting to be filled with facts and figures. As soon as they tire of the topic the information washes over the sides and runs onto the floor.

Children may be cups, but they should be filled with the information their hearts tell them is needed for their own unique development. Why should children be subjected to someone else’s ideas of what they should learn when they are quite naturally learners who are curious about the world and how to do things?

Letting children choose their own topics for study allows each child to develop his or her own unique potential. For example one child may choose to study engines and motors. Another may be fascinated with mathematics. Yet another may want to spend all day reading novels. Each of these children is developing skills he or she will need for doing whatever they’ll do for a living later in life. The child who is fascinated by engines grows up to be an auto mechanic. The one that loves math grows up to be a scientist. The reader grows up to be a writer. Each one trains himself/herself in all the skills needed for the chosen preoccupation. And what’s wrong with that? — Nothing!

Why should these children be forced to do repetitive tasks involving subjects that bore or confound them? That’s what happens in traditional schooling. So the gear-head child is forced to read and loses self-esteem because it is so very hard to do due to dyslexia. And the math genius is forced to study Egyptian history and write term papers about it, and never totally develops to true potential because too much time was wasted with subjects that weren’t of interest. And the reader is jerked away from a fascinating stack of books to do page after page of boring math problems, and learns to hate math and feels inferior because it is such a difficult skill for this particular child.

Well, if the reader NEEDED math skills, then the reader would want to learn. And if the dyslexic mechanic-in-training NEEDS reading skills, the motivation to learn will come naturally. And if the mathematician CHOOSES to learn more about history I’m sure that will happen.

. . .

Now a word about my own homeschooling of two precious children for nine years. I was an undercover wannabe unschooler because I was a single mother. I already had the traumatic experience of having a CPS agent remove one of my children because I was being battered by her father. I separated from him and fought in court to get my child home again when she was eight months old. It wasn’t easy, and forever after I was fearful of having CPS again interfere with my parenting. I turned into one of the most cautious parents ever, educated myself, got a paralegal degree at the local community college, and eventually started what is now one of the best known child welfare help websites on the web, FightCPS – also known as ‘Fight CPS and Win’.

Because of that experience and my lack of a husband, I was very cautious about unschooling and worked hard to try to be an eclectic homeschooler instead — one who chooses from a variety of curriculum materials with which to educate my children. I didn’t want anyone to think I wasn’t providing my children with a proper education. I know this sounds terribly paranoid and my hope is that homeschoolers in the future will never have to go through that!

Most of what I brought into the house to share with my children went along with their own interests, so in a way I was following the unschooling philosophy of child-directed learning, and there were months that went by when I allowed my children to follow their own interests and learn at their own pace. I would love to have been an outspoken unschooler, but it didn’t seem feasible for us at the time.

. . .

Therefore — I have a lot of respect for unschoolers who come right out and announce to the world that they have abandoned the traditional educational model of choosing subjects, books, and worksheets for their children… and trying to stuff that education down unwilling throats. I’m sure many of us who have homeschooled can see this would be a difficult thing – a total power struggle – anyway. But some parents are so domineering they’re able to maintain control that way anyhow, or so it seems.

So this posting is in praise of unschoolers, and I’d like to include some videos found on YouTube showing unschoolers telling what they believe about education and why they chose unschooling. And I thank these brave and adventurous parents who are on the cutting edge of unschooling — giving their children an educational experience that is sure to turn them into the amazing adults they were born to become.
…
Sandra Dodd has a wonderful series of videos about unschooling plus a site devoted to this kind of education: Sandra Dodd – Radical Unschooling.

I identify with what she says about worrying that someone would come to the door and demand to know what we were doing. And in fact, that’s exactly what happened to us in 2001…

Perhaps I should leave that for another posting . . . maybe next week. I’m on a new schedule for this blog, by the way. I’ve decided to post here every Tuesday. More about my new scheduling attempt here: Schedules! Do they work for you?.

More from Sandra Dodd on YouTube:
Unschooling & Real Learning
The Universe Inside Your Head

Sandra’s daughter, Holly, is on YouTube too! She’s been unschooled her entire life.

I love Holly’s enthusiasm and would love to see more videos with her views on unschooling and what she’s learned this way.

Another outspoken unschooler on YouTube is Dayna Martin (no relation to me.) I love her videos! Her website is Unschooling America.

More of Dayna’s videos: Dayna Leigh Martin… at this time she’s got 22 videos and they’re all about unschooling!

This young woman, Kate Cayley, is a writer, theatre director and teacher who was unschooled. In this interview she talks about what it was like and what unschooling did for her.

I have to admire someone who is able to achieve so much early in life! Unschooling allows children and teens to focus on their goals and develop their interests.

One more! Idzie is an unschooling blogger: I’m Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write. In this YouTube video she says “unschooling is definitely my primary passion” and talks about unschooling books she recommends.

I haven’t read most of the books she recommends — but I have read several John Holt books and loved them. She’s right, they start out slow and are hard to get into, yet his observations of how children learn are absolutely fascinating and sold me on unschooling even though he didn’t use that word. When I started homeschooling, the John Holt books were the only unschooling books available (that I was aware of.)

. . .

And now for a quote from a time management book I’m reading this week:

“…work that holds our attention and allows us to use our creativity may actually make us feel energized and exhilarated by the flow of our own intuitive resources.” — Ann McGee-Cooper

This is essentially what homeschooling is about. It allows children to explore their individuality and personal interests, and encourages deep learning by getting out of the way rather than distracting the learner with things he or she doesn’t need to learn about.

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One more thing I have to share with you this week: I started a Squidoo lens with homeschool tips and information, and there’s a place for you to leave a link to your blog there too. Please come by and see what homeschoolers are doing on Squidoo.Com: Homeschooling Tips.

Homeschool parents don’t need to track their children using a system of credits because we know our children and can tell whether or not they’re learning anything of value. I preferred the portfolio method of creating documentation for high school aged homeschoolers. With that method the student’s best work is kept in a file, eventually to be organized in a looseleaf binder that could be shared with college counselors.

Homeschool parents can also create a transcript but don’t expect your high school to accept credits just because you say the subjects were covered.

Today I’m happy to see I’m not alone in rejecting the system of credits set up by public school administrators. Homeschoolers in Missouri are fighting against a 2009 state House bill, 43-116, which would require high school dropouts to earn 16 credits in a half-day program while they work part-time in a “skilled profession” (I’m not sure what they mean by ’skilled’.) The Missouri homeschool support group, Families for Home Education, monitors legislation and takes action to protest any pending bills that could interfere with homeschool freedoms.

Families for Home Education formed in 1983 and brought a class action lawsuit against the state department of child welfare (Division of Family Services, aka. DFS) for taking homeschooled children away from their parents. They fought against typical CPS injustices by having parents keep a journal of all DFS contacts. The parents then learned to write affidavits documenting harassment, threats, and unjust actions by DFS agents.

Also sued in the class action lawsuit were three school superintendants, the Commissioner of Education for the state of Missouri, twenty DFS employees, and the juvenile court. (Ellis, et al., Plaintiffs, vs. O’Hara, et al., Defendants.) This resulted in a judicial decision that the Missouri legislature should create a homeschool law for the state.

There’s no doubt that the group, Families for Home Education, has clout because they represent hundreds of member-families throughout the state. If any homeschool familiy wants legal protection, there’s no better way than to join a state homeschool advocacy group.

Credits can stay in the public schools… as something special for public school employees who can’t remember who’s completing worksheets and who’s not any other way. Homeschool educators know their children well enough to dispense with the credit concept entirely.

The word is out – New Hampshire State Representative Judith Day seeks to further regulate homeschooling, making it a difficult, cumbersome and uncomfortable experience constrained by red tape regulations and fear.

This is the antithesis of independent homeschooling. Parents should be able to educate their children in freedom, with joy and inner peace. Being forced to comply with state regulations of paperwork, portfolios, public school oversight, and testing is not conducive to true home education.

Homeschooling is a form of private education. Public school officials should not be involved any more than they are involved with any private school.

Homeschooling teaches children to learn independently and with joy – by seeking information about topics that intrigue them. Forcing parents to “teach to the test” will not help children any more than the ill-conceived No Child Left Behind law does. Teaching to the test forces children into rote memorization of facts which interferes with true home education, intended to allow children to love learning because it is fun, mentally stimulating, and truly educational.

Here’s the text of the bill as it currently stands:

2009 SESSION

09-0491

04/05

HOUSE BILL 367

AN ACT relative to procedures for evaluation of home schooled students.

SPONSORS: Rep. J. Day, Rock 13

COMMITTEE: Education

ANALYSIS

This bill revises the procedures for evaluating a home education program.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

09-0491

04/05

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine

AN ACT relative to procedures for evaluation of home schooled students.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Home Education; Records and Evaluation. Amend RSA 193-A:6 to read as follows:

193-A:6 Records; Evaluation.

I. The parent shall maintain a portfolio of records and materials relative to the home education program. The portfolio shall consist of a log which designates by title the reading materials used, and also samples of writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials used or developed by the child. Such portfolio shall be preserved by the parent for 2 years from the date of the ending of the instruction. A credentialed educator shall review the portfolio at the end of the school year and shall submit a report of this review to the resident district superintendent or nonpublic school principal who shall retain such reports on file.

II. The parent shall provide for an annual educational evaluation [in which is documented the child’s demonstration of educational progress at a level commensurate with the child’s age and ability.] using the California Achievement Test, IOWA, or Stanford test of reading, writing, and mathematics. The evaluation shall be administered and monitored by a credentialed educator using standardized testing protocol. The evaluation shall not be administered or monitored by a parent. An alternative test which complies with the requirements of this paragraph may be used with the permission of the resident district superintendent or nonpublic school principal. The parent shall forward a copy of the evaluation results to resident district superintendent or nonpublic school principal. The superintendent or principal shall retain the test results on file. Under unusual circumstances, the superintendent or principal may grant a waiver to the testing requirement under this paragraph. [The child shall be deemed to have successfully completed his annual evaluation upon meeting the requirements of any one of the following:

(a) A certified teacher or a teacher currently teaching in a nonpublic school who is selected by the parent shall evaluate the child’s educational progress upon review of the portfolio and discussion with the parent or child. The teacher shall submit a written evaluation to the commissioner of education, resident district superintendent, or nonpublic school principal;

(b) The child shall take any national student achievement test, administered by a person who meets the qualifications established by the provider or publisher of the test. Composite results at or above the fortieth percentile on such tests shall be deemed reasonable academic proficiency. Such test results shall be reported to the commissioner of education, resident district superintendent, or nonpublic school principal;

(c) The child shall take a state student assessment test used by the resident district. Composite results at or above the fortieth percentile on such state test shall be deemed reasonable academic proficiency. Such test results shall be reported to the commissioner of education, the resident district superintendent, or nonpublic school principal; or

(d) The child shall be evaluated using any other valid measurement tool mutually agreed upon by the parent and the commissioner of education, resident district superintendent, or nonpublic school principal. The results shall be reported by the parent or the testing agency to such appropriate official.]

III.(a) The [commissioner of education,] resident district superintendent[,] or nonpublic school principal shall review the results of the annual educational evaluation of the child in a home education program as provided in paragraph II. [If the child does not demonstrate educational progress for age and ability at a level commensurate with his ability, the commissioner, superintendent, or principal shall notify the parent, in writing, that such progress has not been achieved.] In this section “educational progress” shall mean a child who, in the superintendent’s or principal’s judgment after reviewing the child’s portfolio and test scores on each area of the annual evaluation, has demonstrated satisfactory academic growth over the course of the school year.

(b) If the child is not demonstrating educational progress, the resident district superintendent or nonpublic school principal shall, no later than 30 days from the date of the annual educational evaluation, schedule a meeting with such child’s parent. The superintendent or principal and the parent shall review the results of the evaluation and determine a plan for remediation, including plans for addressing the child’s specific weaknesses. The remediation plan shall be completed no later than 60 days from the date of the meeting, and shall be reviewed by the superintendent or principal who shall attach a written response and comments to the plan. The superintendent or principal shall retain the plan and the attached response and comments on file.

(c) The parent shall have one year from the date of receipt of the written notification under subparagraph (a) to provide remedial instruction to the child. At the end of the one-year probationary period, the child shall be reevaluated in a manner as provided in this section. Continuation in a home education program shall be contingent upon the child demonstrating at the end of the probationary period educational progress [commensurate with his age and ability]. The parent of a child who fails to demonstrate such progress at the end of the probationary period shall meet with the resident district superintendent or nonpublic school principal to discuss the child’s home education program. At this meeting, the superintendent or principal shall decide whether the child’s home education program will be permitted to continue. If the home education program is terminated, the superintendent or principal shall notify [be notified by the commissioner that] the parent that he or she is entitled to a hearing as provided in RSA 193-A:7, I and II [and that the program will be terminated absent a finding for continuation pursuant to such hearing]. Upon a finding that the program should be terminated, the [child shall be reported by the] commissioner [or] of the department of education shall report the termination of the home education program to the resident district superintendent or nonpublic school principal [to the appropriate resident district superintendent,] who shall, if necessary, take appropriate action to ensure that compulsory attendance requirements are met.

IV. A parent aggrieved by a decision under this section may appeal the decision to the state board of education. The state board’s decision on such appeals shall be final.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

Source: HOUSE BILL 367 – AN ACT relative to procedures for evaluation of home schooled students.

To protest this bill, contact the New Hampshire House of Representatives Education Committee Members.

More articles on this bill:

HSLDA: Homeschool Freedom Under Fire in New Hampshire – “The current New Hampshire law is already more burdensome than most states.”

World Net Daily: Homeschoolers under attack – again! – “In New Hampshire, the existing law already is more burdensome than many other states, because in addition to an annual notice to school districts, homeschoolers must give an annual statement of academic progress and maintain two years’ of records.”

Free State Blogs: New Hampshire–Action Needed to Oppose Threatening Homeschool Legislation – ” Attend the February 10 meeting of the Home Education Advisory Council (”HEAC”). In attendance will be members of the House Education Committee and Members of the Department of Education. This will be a further opportunity to demonstrate opposition and concern about this unnecessary and radical change to New Hampshire’s homeschool law. The meeting will be held in Room 12 at the Department of Education located in the State Office Complex in Concord at 101 Pleasant Street.”

Christian Newswire: Homeschool Freedom Under Fire in New Hampshire – “Representative Judith Day is the sole sponsor of legislation that would radically rewrite the testing and assessment portion of the New Hampshire homeschool law.”