this family sounds so sweet -- and they represent a trend the whole country should be encouraging.

Its not a race thing. Parents who love their kids are willing to make sacrifices to insure they have the education they need to go to College.

I always wondered about parents that save to send their kids to College but send them to inferior schools.

I sent 4 to private schools.

agreed. I have close friends who homeschooled up to 8th grade, then inexplicably sent the oldest boy to public h.s. -- because he wanted to play football(of all the dumb reasons, IMHO). Now, the mom reports, "he never tells me anything", gets 1 AM phone calls from strange girls the family has never met, and has no time for anything but the team.

I always wondered about parents that save to send their kids to College but send them to inferior schools.

Good point.

Fortunately our 3 children (all now grown and married; two with children of their own) went through a public school system that was better than most. In addition to their schooling we were able to supplement their education with input from our own experiences and learnings.

If we had it do over again however, we would homeschool and we are thrilled that our daughter is homeschooling her children.

Until such time as public schools provide an honest and unbiased education...the only way to guarantee quality is teach them yourself!

Not only encouraging, but subsidizing. Parents who stay home with their kids aren't bidding down pay in the job market and aren't generally producing juvenile dilenquents which need further tax funds to deal with.

A home schooling tax credit of, say, $1000 per child would save at least four times that amount in public expenditures.

This family *does* seem sweet. Did you notice the respect and consideration given to the mother by the children? Very typical of homeschool families.

Thanks for posting this article. 8o)

**Until such time as public schools provide an honest and unbiased education...the only way to guarantee quality is teach them yourself!**

Quote of the day!

We have 3 years before high school and are weighing the cost of private high school...financially and otherwise.

Good news from The Home School Legal Defense Association:

                       Military Enlistment of Home
                       Schoolers Rising

                       Home School Legal Defense Association's
                       amendment to the Defense Reauthorization Act
                       over two years ago changed the ranking of home
                       school graduates from a Tier 3 status, a ranking
                       that included high school dropouts, to Tier 1, the
                       same ranking high school graduates receive. This
                       favorable change in status dramatically increased
                       enlistment opportunities for home
                       schoolers—particularly in the Air Force and
                       Marines Corps, two branches that accept only
                       Tier 1 applicants.

                       Christopher Klicka, HSLDA's Senior Counsel,
                       recently contacted the Center for Naval Analysis
                       and asked for a report on this pilot project.
                       During the 2000 enlistment period, 400 home
                       school graduates joined the Army, 650 joined the
                       Navy, 300 the Air Force, and 200 the Marine
                       Corps.

                       The military is still conducting an analysis of
                       home school enlistment retention and the pilot
                       study results will be released in 2003.

                       Just a few years ago, less than 100 home
                       schoolers were admitted in all four of the Armed
                       Services together! HSLDA has heard from many
                       home school graduates who are thankful they
                       have finally been given the opportunity to serve
                       their country in the military.

                       If you have any questions regarding local
                       recruitment misunderstandings of the home
                       school graduate enlistment law, do not hesitate to
                       call HSLDA.

I know one homeschooling family personally (close friends of my wife) who homeschooled their son from a very young age. Their son (highschool age), at last report, has a drinking and drug problem and is extremely rebellious.

We have another homeschooling family that we're good friends with (my wife's sister's brother-in-law) who have 7 kids and they homeschool them all (5 boys and 2 girls). Their 2 oldest sons became so rebellious at one point it nearly drove this family to ruin. They weren't doing drugs or abusing alcohol - they were simply out of control in their attitudes towards their parents.

When we moved into the house we currently live in we learned that 2 of our neighbors homeschooled. The ones to the left of us were nice people. In fact their six-year-old boy, on the day we moved in, informed us that our 11-year-old daughter was a babe and he wanted to marry her. However, their home was a total wreck. They cleaned absolutely nothing in their home. Their kids rooms were so littered with debris that they slept in the living room. Now I had seen the living room - I can't imagine what the kids room looked like cuz the living room was horrible. Note: I never saw what looked like unsanitar conditions. The kids were always clean and there was never food or organic filth on the floor. It was literally papers, books and clutter.

The other family on our street has 7 kids. These kids are generally well behaved, very intelligent and great people to be around. They are doing very well and those that have gone on to college are literally averaging 4.0 grade point averages. They are model-homeschoolers.

Overall our general experience with homeschooling families is one of apathy. They keep their kids out for moral, religious or other reasons but in the end they spend far less time educating their kids. On top of that because their kids are around them 24/7 the homeschooling parents are often looking for ways to distract their kids - any way they can. We find that homeschool kids are more often than not generally very nice and sociable - but very disobedient.

Homeschooling does NOT guarantee that a family will succeed or have perfect kids. We homeschooled for 5 years before my wife and I finally realized that it is not a guarantee for anything. Some people are equipped to homeschool and other aren't (not talking about education degrees here peeps). This year we put all of our kids in public school and everyone is so much happier than we had been in the last 2 years.

We've always focused on moral character and finally had to trust that our kids were going to choose to do the right thing. My wife and I also had discussion recently that we were going to accept our kids, their friends and any situation that they find themselves in - no matter how tough or wonderful it may be. My parents modeled that out for me and my 5 siblings and we put them through some interesting things. But their love really made a difference - my wife and I want the same for our children.

I tire of homeschool the arrogent and superior attitude that homeschoolers typically adopt. As much as I tire of non-homeschoolers sneering or appearing to be horrified that a family would dare to think they could do better than a certified public school teacher. The recent rise in the popularity of homeschooling means only one thing - the problems we find in the typical public school system will now become more evident in the average homeschool community. Why? Because the problems with public school do not rest singularly on the values (or lack of) that are taught there - it's in the every day things that permeate so much of the modern families experience. As the old cliche says "garbage in, garbage out."

Homeschooling is not the best alternative. It is an excellent alternative. The best alternative is for families to become families again and to seek that which is ggood, honorable, noble, pure and Holy.

Sorry, when I sat down to write this I only intended to show that just because you homeschool doesn't mean that things are peachy keen. But I just oculdn't stop.

Yes, this is an encouraging story. We've homeschooled for thirteen years and, sad to say, I haven't personally met any "minority" homeschooling families.

Why aren't you sending your kids to private school? Perhaps you have a great public school though in my experience most are permeated by doctrines of low expectations, teaching to the test, social promotion, ritalin doping, PC lessons on the environment and other issues, DARE indoctrination, etc. Please don't be offended but could your happiness just come from the fact that a "burden" has been lifted?

In any case, your sacrifice over the years to homeschool your kids is admirable and probably leaves your kids better equipped to escape the public schools with less damage.

Why not continue homeschooling for high school, too? We did for five and it was amazingly easy and a great blessing. The first was the hardest but is now finishing a PhD. The last was a breeze, graduated with 32 credits and is now a second semester junior in Eng. in computer science with just under a four point. We had our ups and downs and worried so about providing the right experiences and classes, but God just opened the right doors when we needed extra help. I know it is a step of faith, but it is a step in the right direction--the step of faith you take when you send your children off to a public or private school is just too great for me.

bump

My daughter, now 11, has been telling us she wants to graduate at 16 and begin college. Wants her fire science degree or physcial therapy degree. This would certainly call for homeschooling through high school and a bit beyond. We're praying and waiting on the Lord for direction and wisdom.

Thank you for your kind thoughts and encouragement.

I pray this homeschooling is the "wave of the present" until we can get these horrible public schools back on track. Can't imagine a Mother having to birth the child, raise the child with morals and also educate them...YEA MOMS!

I have an e-mail buddy from San Francisco who belongs to a mostly African American homeschool group. I met him at a museum. His dad still teaches in the San Francisco public schools but his mom quit work to stay home and teach her kids. We meet every couple of months in San Francisco during field trips. My friend's mom got other minority parents to homeschool. It's a pretty big group now.

We've homeschooled for thirteen years and, sad to say, I haven't personally met any "minority" homeschooling families.

Look at my post #19. Here in Sonoma County, CA., there are lots of Asian homeschoolers and a handful of African American families who homeschool. Very few Hispanics. They mostly send their kids to Catholic schools if they can afford it. It's not a race thing. I think it's a cultural thing.