Is racism leading to homeschooling?

Apparently, yes. 

According to the Washington Post, "the reasons for black kids to be homeschooled may not be the same as for white kids. (Ama Mazama's research) shows that black parents homeschool their children due to white racism."

Problems include:

Covert Institutionalized racism
Eurocentric teachers' attitudes
Racial stereotypes of black children
Harsh school punishments

As a former public school parent who is black and has black children, I can attest to many of these problems. We certainly experienced them.  The worst for us was the racial stereotypes of my family in general. When we moved to GA, for example, there weren't many black families in our kids school, and it was abundantly clear that the staff had ideas about black people and just assumed that those things were true about us.  I had people purchase my kids' field trip shirts because they assumed we could not. ( I'm pretty sure we made more than those folks.)  I had teachers thank my husband for having lunch with his kids and ask him when was the last time he saw them (as if we were divorced).  I had teachers tell me how they "understood" how hard it was to be a single parent.  Since I was married, I  had no idea why they would say that to me.  

In short, I felt that they had low expectations about us as people, and so also had low expectations for our kids.  So while we may have not realized it at the time, racism may have had something to do with while we pulled the kids out of school. 

Regret and possible loathing

So, something happened this past weekend that deeply saddened me.  You may remember that my son finished homeschooling with a homeschool portfolio, but we had our daughter finish school with an Alternative School Program to accredit her portfolio.  The reason was that she was an exceptional student, and with one child already in college, I felt the need to increase her scholarship chances, and I believed that having her report card and grades endorsed by a school, would help.  So, I sent her coursework for review to a local homeschool program, and that person reviewed the work, endorsed the grades I had given and in some cases raised those grades.  She also suggested classes and curriculum for us to use in the last year that she required for a state diploma which she is licensed to give.  (This is all up-and-up and a legal and normal thing to do.) When it came time to apply for college, we applied through the program, as she was one of this person's students per our arrangement.  My daughter got into every school she applied to, and received scholarships.  I believe this person's program was very helpful in giving me piece of mind, and whether or not it leant to earning my daughter the awards she earned, I really didn't care.  I felt I was doing what was best for us at the time.

I was so happy with her help in fact, that I referred other homeschoolers to this person. She had also helped other relatives of mine with great results.  Everyone was happy.  I referred her to even more

Just because it's news doesn't make it true

A local TV news reporter did a hard-hitting expose on a program a lot of homeschoolers use to help them homeschool their kids.  The program gives accredited  diplomas and it also does dual enrollment for public school students.  It is the dual enrollment part that has gotten them in hot water.

I wrote about the story here:


WSBTV news reporter vilifies alternative education program

I personally used this program to review my daughter's work and provide her with a diploma.  While I didn't NEED to use the program, I did to give my kid a boost with the state's HOPE program, and to certify her grades to make her more competitive for scholarships.

I dare ask, instead of questioning how rigorous credit recovery programs are, perhaps they should be asking why so many students need credit recovery?

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Good Morning America Announces Homeschooling is going Mainstream

Good Morning America announces homeschooling is going mainstream. But we already knew that didn't we. 

The better news is that the piece, while a fluff piece, is overwhelming positive.  There's only one caveat: 

 "And while the homeschooling movement grows, educators are poised to see what happens when a new generation of homeschooled kids go away to college."

Seeing that I know dozens of homeschooled young adults who have completed college and are now in the workplace, I gather they aren't looking hard enough.  Plus based on the number of homeschoolers at my son's college and they amount of visibility these kids have (there were tons helping with registration and orientation), i'd say homeschoolers are kicking butt on the college level, striving more so to be involved than than partying and obsessing over grades.  

Still, it's good to have an honorable mention.

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Home-schoolers don't miss out on prom | Schools | News from Fort Worth, Dallas, Arlingto...

Home-schoolers don't miss out on prom | Schools | News from Fort Worth, Dallas, Arlingto...

Yep, getting ready for prom here too. 

~posted by Andrea from Notes from a Homeschooling Mom

Georgia Cyber Academy does not equal Homeschooling

Georgia Cyber Academy was profiled on the local news.
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/205836/3/Going-to-a-virtual-charter-school

 That's all find and Dandy.  It is working for a lot of kids, although I also hear from a lot of kids it does not work for.   But, if it rocks your boat, go for it.


But.... Please don't call it homeschooling.

If public school at home, and homeschooling  becomes synonymous, people who want to homeschool without the governments help will lose their rights.

Ok... so I need to add a disclaimer here.

My kids are using Georgia Virtual School, which is individual classes provided online to all kids in the state, should they want to partake.

It walks the line between homeschool and public school.  It is taught by public school teachers and paid for by the state, but the parent remains in charge of what the kids take.

(I dare say that if we don't agree with a grade, we could technically re-evaluate the kid and assign our own grade. )

Anyway, I am kinda preaching to myself here.  Let's not confuse terms.  It seems nitpicking, but we are dealing with people's freedoms here.



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The Jolie-Pitt's: How they homeschool

I recently mentioned that Brangelina and clan are homeschooling. The Pitt family have confirmed as much in a recent interview.   Here's what is revealed about homeschooling according to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie:

1. They have no intention of sending the kids to school.
2. They have nannies and specialist teaches to do the work.
3. They live a nomadic, bohemian lifestyle which they feel is more educational than schools.
4. They feel that the current educational system does not match a modern way of life.
5. She likes the kids to get their schoolwork done so they can explore, play instruments, and read.
6. They use the international curriculum by the Lycee programme.  (It is a dual language program and it is pretty expensive for most of us homeschoolers.  They spend in one month per child what I spend in a year)

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There are home-school parents who are knuckleheads just like there are public school parents who are knuckleheads

This is a fun comment from a MSNBC article on homeschooling: "There are home-school parents who are knuckleheads just like there are public school parents who are knuckleheads".

I have to say this is the MOST positive write up of homeschooling I have ever read.    I plan to go back later and read the comments... there are over 100 right now.  That's going to be fun!

Enjoy the article:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39342787/ns/today-parenting/

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Report on homeschooling

Here's an interesting report on homeschooling. I noticed some inacuracies or over generalizations especially in the comments below the video.




comments from video "Home schooling is a growing force in the United States, where families opt out of the public education system in favour of parent-supervised study. The country's growing evangelical Christian communities are largely behind the growth, seeking to teach their children Biblical creationism instead of the scientific theory of evolution. But home schooling by politically progressive families is also on the rise."

I believe this is a UK story



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Great Deals on School & Homeschool Curriculum

Here we go again...

This is why homeschoolers are under constant fire. A degenerate who abuses a child uses homeschooling as a cover and when it is discovered, homeschooling is focused on in the news.

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Will and Jada Smith's Opening a Private School

It looks like Wil and Jada Smiths homeschooling endeavors have led to them opening a private school. They have been homeschooling for six years now, and have decided to take thier experience and build a private school. In a way I am dissapointed because they may no longer be a visible force in homeschooling, but at the same time, they are also forging roads for the future of education in general.

Here's a quite from the article:

In 2005, Jada Pinkett Smith told ESSENCE: The school system in this country, public and private is designed for the industrial age. We're in a technological age. We don't want our kids to memorize. We want them to learn.

article here:

6/5/08 UPDATE: There are reports that the school is Scientology affiliated... hmmm.


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A little homeschool reassurance

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Watching Children Grow in Knowledge

Here is a nice article on homeschooling at NewsOK.com.

Garrett Morris, who is 12, likes to take a book with him while waiting for his sister's dance lesson to end. An avid reader, he can read a lot of books because his sister Katie, 10, goes to seven dance lessons a week. But on warm spring days his thoughts turn to baseball. continued here:


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My Final thoughts on the California Ruling

Read my related article on Families.com

Ps... I have nothing against conservative Christians... I am one. I just don't like exclusivity.

update: After getting a You-Tube comment from someone who claimed to be involved with the case in question, I decided to research the case to make sure I was being fair to the family. While I have not heard from the family specifically (who I don't intend to call on the phone based on court records or personality)

If you want to know more about the specific case, which is worse than I imagined... go here:


Thanks.

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Got a call from CBS News

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HSLDA Finally gives Comment on California Ruling against Homeschoolers

This is an update from my accusation yesterday that HSLDA has remained mum on the new rulings in California against a homeschooling family.

Well HSLDA finally did give a comment and called it an Unfortunate Court Decision in California and said that they are "looking at the background of the case to determine the implications of this particular decision by the Second Appellate District for the homeschool community in California."

As someone at homeschool hackers suggested, the problem likely comes in the fact that there are abuse accuations against the parents... Still, if there is abuse, homeschooling still should not be vilified.

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More on Getting into College

This is a follow up from a previous video

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From the mouth of babes... err... teens

Read this very eloquent article by a "homeschooled" kid that speaks to some of the misconceptions homeschoolers have to face.

I used the "quotes" because she actually does a school at home program and is officially a public school student.



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Every parent is suspect

In regards to SB 36 and SB 37, new laws in the works in Utah allowing homeschoolers to participate in extra curricular activities, the problems stem from a basic mistrust of parents. No one even tried to hide this apparent mis trust. The problem come with SB 37 where they feel public school parents will switch their kids to homeschooling to keep academically poor kids playing.

I find this idiotic. To think that a parent is going to change their entire lifestyle to cheat the system to allow little Jummy, who is failing in school to stay on the football field. These people have no iidea about what it takes to homeschool a child. At least some people agree with me.

Several legislators bristled at the idea that parents would lie about their children's grades so they could play sports.
"Somehow, every parent is suspect and a closet perjurer ready to abandon their honor so their child can participate in extracurricular activities," said Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, who sponsored both bills. "Research has been done that shows that just doesn't happen."

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Does anyone find this peculiar?

Here's the quote:

"Yet after seven months and four letters, some students still have not had the shot and risk being barred from school, although the district has promised home schooling."

Here's the story the quote comes from.

I find it amusing that homeschooling is such a problem until it serves the school districts needs. Plus, it seems that they are using homeschooling as a threat. "Do what we say or homeschool your kids". Most amusing of all, is that is what spurred me to homeschool. I was told do what we say, or homeschool your daughter. I said "OK", and I did. I am still doing it almost 5 years later.


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