For 231 years, this nation of freedom, with a government by the people, has remarkably well endured, and that is definitely worth cheering about. But if the culture of freedom of Jefferson and Washington is going to survive even another century, I dare say, it will only be thanks to another revolution--the revolution in education which is homeschooling.
As independent home education becomes more mainstream, our individual successes will be viewed not as a commendable benefit for our children but as a growing collective threat to society. As such, many of us have experienced the efforts of our local, state, and--yes--federal governments to curb our independence as parent teachers in an effort to keep education "standardized" (read "easily controlled" and "mediocre").
Free to fight.Fortunately, private organizations have been created by Constitutional purists aimed directly at protecting our rights and keeping the "Spirit of '76" alive. Veteran
homeschooler and NHELD researcher Judy Aron
tells us more about this organization's efforts and its founder, Deborah Stevenson, at
Consent of the Governed.
Mama Squirrel laments that she
doesn’t feel very free in
Free to be at
Dewey's Treehouse. Describing new insurance regulations that burden her
homeschool group in Ontario as well as conflicts between local and
provincial school authorities, Mama asks," Do we mail in our letter of intent and keep on trusting the good, although awkward, intentions of the school board, hoping that things will never end up here as they are in Europe? Should we just exercise our freedom and walk away, never mind the nosy neighbours?"
Elisheva Levin presents
Neither Left Nor Right... posted at
Ragamuffin Studies, saying, "
Homeschoolers tend to be concerned about the political trends in our country and lately, political discourse has become polarized. In this blog article I discuss the importance of discourse free of labels for preserving our freedom and our constitutional system."
ChristineMM writes about how different state homeschooling laws can impact how a family
homeschools in
Different Homeschooling Experiences Occur Due To What State One Lives In (and about
her experience at a recent homeschool conference) at
The Thinking Mother. In
The Importance of Independent Homeschooling,
Alasandra explains why effective independent
homeschoolers are opposed to regulation.
Free to customize, improvise, and plan.
Right on cue, Summer asks Are you already planning for the new homeschool year? at Mom Is Teaching. And Elena LaVictoire presents Sam's 9th grade high school curriculum for 2007/08 posted at My Domestic Church. Free to understand our rights and responsibilities.Some parents wish to
forgo much of the prep-work and time-
constraints of some homeschooling methods for a more efficient form of education. But is it homeschooling? Mary Nix observes, "Home educators have always been a diverse and welcoming bunch, but in recent years new forms of public alternative schools have come into play, leaving some wondering if they are homeschooling or not while enrolled in these new programs." In her post
Investigating Educational Options at
HEM Support Group News, Mary provides a guide to help parents understand their rights and responsibilities.
American Homeschool Association blogger Annette
Jurzack, who wrote
An Examination of Autonomy and Public School Programs, states that "Public school partnerships with
homeschool families may claim to offer autonomy for
homeschooled students. However, public funds require public accountability. Judging by the past and recent history of such partnerships, one should expect that any actual autonomy offered with public funds will be short-lived. The price of independence is worth the reward of
homeschool freedom."
But...what about
UNschoolers? Do parents have the right to
not teach their children? Who are these people and does this unorthodox method actually work?
Julee Huy discusses her foray into the "other side" as an
Undercover Unschooler. Henry Cate at
Why Homeschool sheds light on how many
unschoolers go on to
homeschool or
unschool their children.
Homeschooling ideologues express their appreciation for their freedom to pursue a spiritual education for their children. Amy at
In Pursuit of Proverbs 31 discusses
how home education benefits her family both academically and spiritually. Janine at
Homeschooling Hints points out that her children are
homeschooled by choice.
In Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, Elizabeth at
Hearthside examines the omission of the word "equality" in our Pledge of Allegiance and decries the one-size-fits-all attitude in education. "We don't think that every child should have to sit in one chair at one desk for hours on end to perform the same task as every other child. There is little, if any, equality in this. There certainly is no justice nor is there the opportunity experience liberty."
Barbara Frank wonders what our Founding Fathers would think of education today. "Somehow I don't think they'd be very happy," she says, "but I like to believe they'd look at
homeschoolers and think, 'I'll bet those are MY descendants.'"
Free to know and to inform.
Home educators often become great
networkers. In an effort to help its readers get the most out of the
internet,
Homeschool Happenings has introduced its readers to the concept of "blog carnival"--the ultimate
internet-based networking tool! Need more information? The
Herandezes at
APMFormulators explain
how bloggers and homeschoolers can use the Freedom of Information Act to request public records and documents.
Among the varied entries of this blog carnival, the central message is that knowledge is the key to effectively securing
homeschool freedom. Awareness of our rights and responsibilities keeps us informed of beneficial resources, warns us of dangerous trends and empowers us to act appropriately to secure and defend those rights.
They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.--Benjamin Franklin. Labels: CoH, independent homeschooling
