"Some home-school leaders see in K12 and other cybercharters a threat to the academic freedom that motivates people to home-school in the first place. Taking public funds means accepting mandatory state testing, a schedule of vaccinations, requirements to submit attendance records and adherence to state curriculum guidelines.

"If too many home-schoolers are seduced by K12's free computers, textbooks, art supplies and science equipment, "a lot of home-school freedom could be in jeopardy," said Tom Washburne of the Home School Legal Defense Association. "What has made home schooling as successful as it is today is its wide freedom to do what's successful for your children."

"And if too many families are co-opted by the public schools, he said, there will be no constituency left to defend home-schoolers' rights."

-- Chris Moran, from his article Cyber Classrooms

While I agree with most of this, there's an error. The writer apparently thought independent homeschoolers don't have to adhere to state curriculum guidelines. In California, that's not true. We who homeschool via California's private school law are still mandated to follow Education Code rules about curriculum offered.

Other than that, I'd have to agree with what Washburne is quoted as saying. We who homeschool independently are in danger of losing our rights because so many other homeschoolers have entered the public school funding system through charter schools, public school ISP's and cyber-charter schools.

Public school educrats have successfully divided us into independents and dependents. As more people go for the free computers and curriculum, we independents find ourselves without much support. If bureaucrats want to attack us, it is much easier to attack one or two lone-wolf independent homeschoolers than to attack a group of fifty or one hundred.

Still, I will stand for my right to freely direct the education of my children without the heavy-handed public school laws and bureaucracy telling me what to do. The U.S. Supreme Court and Constitutional Rights are on our side.

HEM's Intro to We Stand For Homeschooling

  ¶ 1:58 PM  

  I just noticed a link to Yellow Creek Cottage in my referral log. This is awesome - this is a sheep raising site and I need to do some research on sheep for my novel. In the novel, the oldest of four homeschooling children is raising sheep, and I'd like to know more about them before I revise. Now I've found someone to talk to about it.

  ¶ 2:28 PM  

  Merry Christmas!

Today I was reading an article at the Fresno Bee website when I decided to click on their education link. That led me to the California Section of the "Great Schools" site, and a page about homeschooling.

After the article there's a comment section. I couldn't help but notice a comment from last February claiming that homeschooling is illegal in California! I wrote the following comment there, which I hope will be posted soon:

I am responding to the comment below of 2.21.03 that claims homeschooling isn't legal in California without a teaching credential or public/charter school affiliation. That's incorrect, and what the writer stated as an opinion of the California Department of Education (CDE) was reversed this year when a new Superintendent of Public Education, Jack O'Connell, took over. He had all negative statements about private school homeschooling taken off the CDE website because they are not accurate. There are no laws against homeschooling in California, and thousands of families file a Private School Affidavit with the CDE every year to homeschool privately, independent of the public school system. To be forced to homeschool only through a public school affiliation such as a charter school is a violation of 14th Amendment Constitutional Rights as they have been explained and affirmed in numerous U.S. Supreme Court cases from 1923 to as recently as 2000. "The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the state to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations." - Pierce v. Society of Sisters, U.S. Supreme Court (1925) For more extensive information on the legality of private school homeschooling in California, please refer to the websites linked above, especially the California Homeschool Network and the HomeSchool Association of California.

...

In other news, I just added a link to the sidebar of this page - Time Magazine: Seceding From School - it seems to tell the story very well!

  ¶ 6:31 AM  

  Here's what I've been reading tonight: Library Journal - Gullible's Travels: "how to teach students to guard against misinformation, disinformation, and spin on the net"

  ¶ 8:30 PM  

  Yesterday I sent my statement out via certified mail to the hearings department. Its four pages. I also heard from a lawyer who works with the California Homeschool Network. He will be backing me up on this.

  ¶ 11:28 AM  

  Homeschooling in the electronic age. I just love it. I keep in touch with my teenage daughter through an instant messenger service. I just told her to turn down her music. Worked great! I also have a private blog I share with her for links to things on the internet. It has links to things like dictionary.com and the virtual thesaurus and the local newspaper website. I have a robots meta tag in the header to keep robots out... makes it more private for the two of us.

With all the learning available from television and the internet, I don't know why anyone should be surprised that education is better done at home these days. Even my son, age 13 and dyslexic, is finally getting into computing these days. His main interest right now is the Dawn of Aces flight simulation game, but he also likes to research for information on his favorite topics, usually bicycle parts, manufacturers, and prices.

  ¶ 12:09 PM