The home-schooling revolution: Williams asks parents to take children out of public schools

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Saturday, August 17, 2002 | Kyle Williams

[pinz-n-needlez]

Especially the courageous parents who fought HSLDA in state after state when they have attempted to lobby for intrusive, unecessary and counterproductive homeschooling legislation.

Veteran of the 1995-95 Michigan Homeschool War

[pinz-n-needlez]

sorry, the posting page hiccupped.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Though only a small fraction of children are now being home schooled, it is the fastest growing area of primary education today.

What does that tell you? It doesn't have a lot of momentum right now but it is catching on. Good.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Third, homeschoolers have been ruling the academic "bees" for some time now. Year after year, homeschoolers have been in the top placements for the Geography Bee, Spelling Bee and the USA Math Olympiad.

Public educators have grumbled against homeschoolers for winning saying that they spend too much of their time studying for the tests and that it's not fair and unhealthy for the kids! Can you believe their twisted logic?

Their logic is twisted and bogus. You can't cram for a spelling bee or the Math Olympiad, the field of study is too broad. The real truth is that the homeschool kids are getting a better education and the public school socialists hate it, they can't offer adequate explanations, and so all they have to offer is doubletalk and BS.

[uncbob]

All kids really need to know are how to read write and do math

After that anything can be self taught through books

History geography etc etc have been PCed to death in the schools so not having kids have formal courses as taught in our public schools in those subjects is a good thing

[Lizavetta]

The organizers of the National Geographic Bee have set up some new "guidelines" that are obviously designed to make it much more difficult for homeschoolers to paticipate in the Bee next year. The Scripps Spelling bee is considering doing something similar..

I emailed you privately on this. Please let us know where you got this information so we can pass it on.

[Boxsford]

Michigan parents went through hell to be sure. Tell us more about your experience with HSLDA. I've not read anything negative about them in the Michigan cases. I'd really like to know. I do realize that there are folks out there that have some legitimate grips against HSLDA but on the whole they have done more good than anything else. I myself wish they were more aggressive in fighting state regulations but maybe there is an agenda I'm not aware of.

[Arthur McGowan]

Yet, homeschooling is not just about results, test scores and the future business success of a student, but the time spent the way it should be – with families living their daytime hours together.

My siblings and I are all bright people, who COULD have taught ourselves, in three or four years, everything we learned in eight grades of hellish Catholic school. Instead, we were robbed of years upon years of interaction with one another, isolated in separate "grades," later in separate "schools," growing up strangers because of hours of pointless "homework."

Parents: Do not send your children off to the Gulag when they turn six, just because it's been that way for several generations! Life does not have to be hell for children, just because it's been hell for a few generations. Children do not have to be educated in herds; they can be educated by people who love them--their mothers and siblings.

[Boxsford]

Hey girl! Hope all things are well with you!!

[Boxsford]

Ah, bless your heart. I like the way you write. Thanks for encourging homeschooling!!

[Boxsford]

What are the new rules, do you know?

[twyn1]

One of the women in our homeschooling e-mail group (in PA) participates in the Bee each year, here is what she sent to us...

1. Groups "should work through their county or larger homeschool associations and register as a county group"
2. "Interested homeschools must provide the names, addresses and ages of all participating homeschool students." (in bold) *with* their registrations.
3. "All students participating in a homeschool bee must be exclusively homeschooled."
4. "There should also be a contact person that is not a parent of one of the children participating."

At first glance the new guidelines don't seem that bad, but each one sets up roadblocks that were not there before.

[christine]

another excellent article by kyle williams, our resident *home schooled* prodigy!

[arnoldfwilliams]

Good article to post! Bump!
Of course, one other perspective on why public schools are so bad is simply that most of the teachers are there to see if they can learn it this time: it's remedial education for them.

[Alamo-Girl]

Hi there! Long time, no chat. I'm so glad you posted to me! Hugs!!!

[Lizavetta]

After reading the requirements for particpants at the Scripps Howard website, it looks to me that the following rules are the foot in the door to how they will edge out homeschoolers:

(7) they may not eschew normal school activity in favor of preparation for spelling bees; and

(8) they, having once won a Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee championship in Washington, D.C., are ineligible for further competition in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, including spelling bees that are preliminary to the national finals in Washington, D.C. With regard to requirements (1) and (2), spelling bee officials may, at their discretion, set a minimum grade and/or age limit. With regard to requirements (3) and (4), the purpose is to discourage cheating. All sponsors have been notified that their champion speller will be ineligible for the national finals if the 2002 School Pronouncer Guide is used as the word list in their final local spelling bee. With regard to requirement (7), normal school activity shall be defined as adherence to the full school schedule and varied academic course load maintained by a majority of the speller's age-mates and grade-mates.

[4CJ]

Bump for homeschooling. Get government out of the schools.

[Free the USA]

Index Bump

[Artist]

"Parents: Do not send your children off to the Gulag when they turn six, just because it's been that way for several generations! Life does not have to be hell for children, just because it's been hell for a few generations. Children do not have to be educated in herds; they can be educated by people who love them--their mothers and siblings."

Well said.

BTTT

[pinz-n-needlez]

Do you know that HSLDA fought us almost every step of the way in 1996 in Michigan, saying that the new law that was snuck through in the last hours of a session was a great improvement?

It took a lot of months to show people how the status quo was a wonderful place to be.

I chalk most of their activities up to the fact that every lawyer coming out of law school needs to find 40 years' worth of billable hours.

If one is going to be a 'homeschooling lawyer,' having clear minimalist regulations in all 50 states is not a very good way to make a living. :-)

I have friends in several states who had similar experiences in warding off misguided efforts to remedy imaginary problems. Check out what is happening in New York state.

They may mean well (and it's a big 'may'), but for parents who want to avoid institutionalizing homeschooling and are intent on raising their children making their own decisions, HSLDA can be a frustrating interference.

In Michigan, we spent a lot of time convincing our representatives that we were perfectly capable of speaking for ourselves, and had, in fact, NOT invited out-of-state lawyers to come in and speak for us.

Keep reading, investigating and thinking. You may want HSLDA to represent your interests. I do not, and am annoyed that it takes so much energy to keep them from speaking for me.