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Anita Mellott's column, Homeschool Encouragment looks at "Blessings" as we approach Thanksgiving.

MUNICH, Germany - Increasing custody cases in Europe are proof that officials there have declared war against home schooling and parental rights, according to some residents. In Sweden, police burst onto a plane and took 7-year-old Dominic Johansson from his parents as they were about to leave the country. Months earlier, they told school officials they were going to home school Dominic, prompting officials to open an investigation. In a similar case in Germany, the government abducted 7-year-old Dan Schulz while the family was sleeping. He can be heard on tape screaming that he doesn’t want to leave his home....

Other than taking time for the Lord on a daily basis and learning to abide in Him, what else is important? As promised, here’s my list: 1. Time for my family: Yes, I homeschool, and yes, my kids are with me 24/7. So how much more time do I want with them?

A well-known University of Minnesota–Morris professor who has a history of hate speech against creationists-especially Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum[1]-inadvertently admitted recently that we were not wrong. This was kind of a blessing in disguise and also reveals much about his character. Professor Paul (P.Z.) Myers said: ...

O’Reilly told Dawkins” you insist you can’t even mention it, that is fascism, sir. Was he right? Is it constitutional/scientific to insist that only materialistic evolution can be taught? See: O’Reilly vs. Atheist Author Richard Dawkins...

For teachers and students at the Hempstead school named after Barack Obama, the surprise Nobel Peace Prize bestowed upon the president was right on time. After all, like the Nobel committee that picked Obama, the school board acted quickly to honor the president by renaming the school Barack Obama Elementary School just after he was elected in November. "When you see the way the world reacted to his presidency, I don't think he represents just the presidency," said second-grade teacher Rosetta Langlois. "I think he represents a new model of harmony, peace and hope." Principal Jean Bligen said some people...

Oct 7, 2009 — Saturn has a newly-discovered ring to add to its decor – the largest of all. It’s so big, it makes Saturn look like a speck in the middle of it. The ring, located at the orbit of the small outer moon Phoebe, is inclined 27 degrees and revolves backwards around Saturn. This was announced today by...

Nature has recently published an interesting paper which places severe limits on Darwinian evolution...

Commentary: Behemoth cuts prices on its Kindle e-book reader SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Amazon.com Inc. cut prices on its Kindle electronic book reader for the second time in three months, gearing up to stave off the looming competition from a host of new e-readers about to descend on the market.

Storming the Beaches of Norman Norman, Oklahoma, that is. Okay, so there aren’t any real beaches in Norman, Oklahoma. But when Steve Meyer and I went there recently, the Darwinists who have installed themselves as absolute dictators at the University of Oklahoma (OU) made our arrival feel like D-Day. On September 28, Steve gave a talk on his best-selling book Signature in the Cell at the Oklahoma Memorial Union on the OU campus. The following evening, September 29, Steve and I answered questions after a showing of the new film Darwin’s Dilemma at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History,...

The church is not the only place our children should be taught biblical truth. Parents can do many practical things to combat the evolutionary indoctrination their children face...

The official government data about literacy in America are dreadful: 32 million adults can't read printed material more challenging than a children's picture book; another 18 million are walking around with high school diplomas, but can't read above the sixth-grade level and have considerable difficulty making simple two-step calculations. Together, these groups comprise about 25 percent of the adult population. America has so many illiterates and near illiterates, and their number grows by more than 2 million every year, because 3 in 10 students never finish high school and 1 in 4 graduates come away with the equivalent of an...

Dinosaurs are a popular topic of study, whether in the public imagination or in scientific research. The scientific community, however, has a dirty little secret regarding the manner in which that research is handled. If dinosaur DNA doesn't "look like chicken" (or a crocodile), it will most likely be discarded as "unreliable data" prior to publication--and thus be effectively censored from public access. Why? Because evolutionary scientists are committed to only publish dinosaur DNA data that match their naturalistic tale of origins. Despite the amazing discoveries of soft tissue from dinosaur bones,[1] dinosaur DNA research results (and other dinosaur "connective...

Sept 27, 2009 — What would Darwin do? Just in time for the 150th anniversary of The Origin of Species, his magnum opus has been reprinted with an introduction not by a scientist or historian, but by a Christian evangelist. He and a Christian movie actor are trying to get their special edition to students at major universities. Talk about brashness. Darwin’s defenders are stepping on themselves to condemn this – well, blasphemy...

Free Republic Homeschoolers’ Forum 2009-2010 A spot for homeschoolers on Free Republic to share information The Free Republic Homeschoolers’ Forum is an annual thread where homeschoolers share tips and talk about curriculum. Included on this year’s forum: GET STARTED HOMESCHOOLINGThis year, in response to requests from other parents, we have put together a guide for anyone interested in homeschooling. (See below.) HOMESCHOOL RESOURCES (in alphabetical order) Scroll down for the latest list of educational resources recommended by homeschoolers on Free Republic. Corrections and updates were made to the previous list. Links to any product or website no longer available were...

The world’s most prestigious universities have begun posting entire curricula on the Web—for free. Is there such a thing as a free higher-education lunch? I enrolled to find out. I was not screwing around. When I took the first physics class of my life, at age 35, it was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and my professor was Walter Lewin, one of that institution's most respected instructors. Lewin is a man so comfortable with his vectors that he diagrams them in front of a classroom audience while wearing Teva sandals. OK, I wasn't really "at" MIT. And "took" the...

Pacific Justice Institute president Brad Dacus San Francisco, Calif., Sep 18, 2009 / 06:12 am (CNA).- A homosexual activist group is claiming that groups at dozens of high schools and middle schools in California, including at least one Catholic school, have signed up to show and discuss its explicit films. The films include one in which a boy “comes out” by wearing his mother’s bikini.Another film uses Native American spirituality to depict lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people as being “two-spirit” people.Parts of the discussion materials encourage students to question whether religious and cultural celebrations such as bar...

Sept 16, 2009 — This month finds us two thirds of the way between Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of his Origin of Species. Taking advantage of the extra attention Darwin is getting this year (as if he needed more), three films on his life and ideas are being released from three different companies...

Seattle Public Schools may do away with a nearly decade-old requirement that all students earn a C average to graduate, and an even-older policy that athletes maintain a C average to play on school teams. If the School Board approves recommendations endorsed by Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson, as well as most district high-school principals and counselors, a D average will be good enough to earn a high-school diploma. Student athletes would need to pass five of six classes with D grades or better. District officials understand there are concerns about relaxing standards at a time when everyone from President Obama on...

Here is video of the Liberal Americans United for Separation of Church and State arguing that students and parents should be warned the children do not have to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag in school. In essence, they want kids to be given a "Miranda-type" warning - "You have the right not to say the Pledge." . . . (VIDEO)

Millions of Americans are marching, blogging, calling Congress, E-mailing friends, and writing to newspapers to say that President Obama and Congress are expanding government too far, too fast. We need to do more, because it’s clear that they’re not getting the message. The latest example: the House of Representatives is preparing to put the Department of Education into the business of creating educational curriculum for American students. This week the House is scheduled to approve H.R. 3221, an education lending bill that CBO reports will increase the deficit by $50 billion. The bill includes a little-known provision to give...

Dropouts Seek a Boost From Equivalency Exams Numbers Seeking a Degree Swell -- But Gains May Be Limited A growing number of Americans are taking high school equivalency tests in their hunt for any leg up in a bleak labor market. Adult-education centers across the country report backlogs and waiting lists for prep courses cramming dozens of topics and years of lessons into weeks or months. But the potential for a better job and pay that drives many to seek a General Educational Development diploma comes with a caveat: The certificate generally is of limited value unless students use it...

President Obama's choice to monitor school safety once boasted that he introduced homosexual advocacy into the school system in Massachusetts by manipulating the message presented to lawmakers. The revelations about Kevin Jennings, who was named assistant deputy secretary for the office of Safe & Drug Free Schools in the U.S. Department of Education, come just as several of Obama's "czars" have come under scrutiny for their actions, opinions and affiliations. Environmental adviser Van Jones resigned last weekend after revelations of his links to communism and his advocacy for the movement that contends the U.S. government conspired to allow or cause...

Within the past year Sarah Schupp has hired five new employees with freshly minted college degrees. She fired one on his first day for inappropriate sexual comments to a co-worker. Another lasted a week before getting a pink slip. ..." you can't call in sick at 7:45 a.m. just because you don't want to come to work at 8 a.m." Jeanne Achille also was disappointed with the hiring of a recent college hire, promoted by a university professor as a "superstar" and fired after three weeks when it was discovered she spent hours online at work visiting a dating site....

Pretty cute.

Holly Hackett (name changed to protect her privacy), a member of HSLDA in northern West Virginia, homeschooled her daughter several years ago. Although her daughter made enough progress to satisfy state law, a local official pressured her into putting her daughter back into public school. After several years in public school, and with middle school looming, Holly decided to homeschool her daughter again. She filed a proper notice of intent. But she received a letter from the local superintendent saying: “As you will recall, I denied your homeschooling request for the 2005–2006 school year due to the fact that your...

Christian girl ordered to attend public schoolMom's religious views ripped by court By Julia Duin A New Hampshire court ordered a home-schooled Christian girl to attend a public school this week after a judge criticized the "rigidity" of her mother's religious views and said the 10-year-old needed to consider other worldviews as she matures. Ever since the judge's ruling came out in July, the case has aroused the interest of home-schooling groups nationwide, whohave asked why a court has the power to decide whether someone's religious views are too extreme. The girl's mother, Brenda Voydatch, has engaged the Alliance Defense...

The Obama administration late Wednesday withdrew a recommendation that school children who watch a video featuring President Obama next week write about how they might "help the president" as part of a classroom assignment. The decision came after conservative critics attacked the plan by federal education officials that teachers supplement the speech with a special curriculum that was designed in concert with the White House.

Compared with other students, homeschoolers scored higher than the national average on this year’s ACT, a national standardized test used to gauge educational development and college readiness. Like the SAT, ACT scores are used in the college admissions process to evaluate applicants. Virtually all colleges accept either test, Ed Colby, spokesman for the ACT, told CNSNews.com. Scores are based on the 1.48 million students who graduated in 2009, Colby said. Among those students were 11,535 homeschoolers, he said. Homeschoolers are further prepared for college because they must take initiative to accomplish projects, Slatter said.

Parents across the country are rebelling against plans by President Barack Obama to speak directly to their children through the classrooms of the nation's public schools without their presence, participation and approval. The plans announced by Obama also have been cited as raising the specter of the Civilian National Security Force, to which he's referred several times since his election campaign began, but never fully explained. "He's recruiting his civilian army. His 'Hitler' youth brigade," wrote one participant in a forum at Free Republic.

The Yellow Prison Bus and the Future of American Healthcare Wednesday, August 26, 2009 Conservatives are up-in-arms over the Democratic healthcare scheme. From town hall meetings, to talk radio, to the internet, the voice of the people is being heard. However, I am not at all convinced that the voice of the people will ultimately make a difference in the long run. My pessimism has less to do with the sinister motives of those seeking to take over the healthcare system. On the contrary, my pessimism stems from the hypocrisy of those shouting down their representatives and claiming to be...

Friday, August 28, 2009 BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS The insanity of the right Exclusive: David d'Escoto asks why conservatives continue to turn kids over to the left Posted: August 29, 2009 1:00 am Eastern Most likely you've heard Einstein's definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Nowhere is this more obvious today than with political and religious conservatives, the so-called right. What do I mean? Next month the right will send millions of their own children to public schools that are literally controlled by the left – meaning that it is only the...

Amanda Kurowski is a 10-year-old homeschooled girl who performs well academically and is socially well-adjusted. But her strong Christian beliefs were reason enough for a New Hampshire court to order her out of homeschooling and into a public school. The daughter of divorced parents, Amanda has been homeschooled by her mother, Brenda Voydatch since first grade. Her father, Martin Kurowski, is opposed to homeschooling, arguing that it prevents "adequate socialization" for Amanda with other children. He requested that she be placed in a government school. In the process of renegotiating the terms of a parenting plan for the girl, the...

A 10-year-old homeschool girl described as "well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising and intellectually at or superior to grade level" has been told by a New Hampshire court official to attend a government school because she was too "vigorous" in defense of her Christian faith. The decision from Marital Master Michael Garner reasoned that the girl's "vigorous defense of her religious beliefs to [her] counselor suggests strongly that she has not had the opportunity to seriously consider any other point of view."

A 10-year-old homeschool girl described as "well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising and intellectually at or superior to grade level" has been told by a New Hampshire court official to attend a government school because she was too "vigorous" in defense of her Christian faith. The decision from Marital Master Michael Garner reasoned that the girl's "vigorous defense of her religious beliefs to [her] counselor suggests strongly that she has not had the opportunity to seriously consider any other point of view." The recommendation was approved by Judge Lucinda V. Sadler, but it is being challenged...

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has asked a New Hampshire court to reconsider its decision to order a 10-year-old home-schooled girl into public school. "Parents have a fundamental right to make educational choices for their children," said ADF-allied attorney John Anthony Simmons. "In this case, the court is illegitimately altering a method of education that the court itself admits is working." The parents of the girl are divorced, and the mother has been home-schooling her. In the process of renegotiating the terms of a parenting plan for the girl, the guardian ad litem concluded that the girl "appeared to reflect...

A Christian homeschool girl in New Hampshire has been ordered into government-run public school for having "sincerely held" religious beliefs. An attorney working with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has filed motions with a New Hampshire court, asking it to reconsider its order to send the 10-year-old homeschooled girl into public school. According to ADF allied attorney John Anthony Simmons, the court acknowledges that the girl in question is doing well socially and academically, but he adds that the court went too far when they determined that the girl's Christian faith was a "bit too sincerely held and must be...

LACONIA, N.H. — An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney filed motions with a New Hampshire court Monday asking it to reconsider and stay its decision to order a 10-year-old home-schooled girl into a government-run school in Meredith. Although the marital master making recommendations to the court agreed the child is “well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising, and intellectually at or superior to grade level” and that “it is clear that the home schooling...has more than kept up with the academic requirements of the...public school system,” he nonetheless proposed that the Christian girl be ordered into a...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A new state law gives teachers who feel threatened in their classrooms more rights when it comes to maintaining order. The law gives teachers qualified immunity from lawsuits when they take reasonable actions to discipline students, 6News' Renee Jameson reported. The measure was a key point in the reelection campaign for Gov. Mitch Daniels', who introduced the plan last August. Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is visiting school districts this week to remind teachers and administrators about the new protections. "Teachers will be protected the same way that police and firemen are," he said. "You really can't bring...

Florida is changing its policy on youths who opt for a GED to finish high school in less than four years. Until now, those looking for a shortcut could earn the same diploma as others. But Education Commissioner Eric Smith says that's not fair... So Smith has notified school districts that all who take the General Educational Development test must now receive a high school equivalency diploma, just like dropouts who later go through the GED process.

Indiana 1 Of 3 States With Public School Textbook Rental Fees INDIANAPOLIS -- In the midst of back-to-school season, expenses for clothing, supplies, backpacks, lunchboxes and the like are expected, but some costs catch parents off guard -- such as rental fees for textbooks. Indiana is one of just three states in which parents of public school students pay textbook rental fees, which typically run from about $100 to $400 each year, depending on the school district, 6News' Dan Spehler reported. The additional expense is something that people who move into the area may not be prepared for. Many parents...

Tim Tebow LifeSiteNews.com) - Last week Florida Gators Quarterback Tim Tebow's photo may have graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, the same magazine that is best known for its annual "swimsuit issue," but the contrast between the two cover stories couldn't have been more glaring.At 21 years of age and graced with boyish good looks, Tebow is one of the most talked about rising stars of the NCAA; but the football superstar literally left reporters speechless last week when he answered a question during a press conference about whether or not he is "saving himself" for marriage. quot;Yes I...

Homeschooling is a growing trend in the United States today. Many thousands of parents wary of government indoctrination of their children, not to mention tired of the plummeting level of actual education threatening our kid’s futures, are taking their children’s education into their own hands and setting up homeschools. The trend is also starting to alarm the bureaucrats in government that count on using our children as a device to bring in state and federal tax money as well as teachers unions that relish the power of controlling our progeny. Consequently, state governments are increasingly looking at regulations meant to...

No, really. If you think I’m being hyperbolic, you need to read an article in the latest issue of Time magazine, titled “Summer School: What? No More Vacations?” If Obama’s Education Secretary Arne Duncan has his way, your kids will be in government schools eight hours a day, twelve months a year. Liberals will no doubt portray this as another altruistic “Save the Children” plan, as well as a taxpayer-funded babysitting service for low-income women and moms who have better things to do than raise their own kids. (“Mom isn't waiting at home at 2:30 with a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. That...

This year, I will begin home schooling my two youngest children, ages 6 and 8. My oldest, however, will be entering the 8th grade and for various reasons I am looking into a distance learning school for her. Do any of you have suggestions or input on distance learning schools for kids? I have looked at several, but am hesitant to pull the trigger without additional input.

Oxford, N.C. — Sixteen-year-old Ashton Lundeby's bedroom in his mother's Granville County home is nothing, if not patriotic. Images of American flags are everywhere – on the bed, on the floor, on the wall. But according to the United States government, the tenth-grade home-schooler is being held on a criminal complaint that he made a bomb threat from his home on the night of Feb. 15.

15 Must-Have Web Apps for Students June 28, 2009 in Tips and Tools Welcome! If this is your first time here, you may want to subscribe to get updates in your RSS feed reader. Thanks for visiting! This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer. For more from Karen, check out her blog about Online College Courses, or follow her on Twitter. College students are increasingly reliant on computers – and, for many of us, that means spending tons of money software that we’d rather not use anyway. The reality, though, is that there are a ton of great, free...

The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List 1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it? 2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact...

Ever since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and opened to nations across the world for ratification in 1989, HSLDA has been deeply concerned about the implications of this treaty for U.S. homeschoolers, if the U.S. were to ratify the treaty. We have consistently warned that this treaty could be the vehicle opponents of home education could use to effectively ban or severely regulate homeschooling. On February 16, 1995, when Secretary of State Madeline Albright signed the UNCRC, the United States took a major step along the...

The soaring costs of a college degree are prompting colleges to consider a three-year degree program. Britain has long granted a degree for three years of college. I would like to suggest a one-year degree program. And I don’t mean an associate’s degree. Here are some hard facts most colleges will never tell you and most parents could not tolerate hearing. The general requirements of the first two years at most colleges are what high school should have been. That is what junior should have learned had he not been busy getting high, getting drunk, and being socially promoted. Better...