Saturday, March 13, 2004
Homeschoolers: Political force of the future
The judiciary continues to work outside its intended boundaries. The legislature continues to ignore its boundaries, and many of its members do anything for power. The executive, too, has stepped out of its intended role and continues grow in power. As members of the three branches ignore the law, bureaucracies illegally rise in power and authority.
Since its members disregard the law, there is no boundary on government power, except instable opinion polls.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/13/2004 07:56:00 AM | 0 comments
Friday, March 12, 2004
Homeschooling: A growing trend in county
While the Prince George's County school system works to raise the academic bar for county students, a growing number of families have found their own alternative in homeschooling.
It's Monday afternoon and half a dozen young people are discussing Cleopatra, the latest reading for their biweekly book club.
Librarian Anne Ramsey is explaining ancient marriage practices and sparking a lot of interest.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/12/2004 07:56:00 AM | 0 comments
When home is the school, there's time for extras
Home-schooled children participate in eight extracurricular activities within a year on average, shattering any myths that these kids spend all their time indoors studying, a new study shows.
"Every child is playing with other kids," lead researcher Deani Van Pelt said yesterday. "Dispel the myth that these kids are isolated . . . It's just not happening."
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/12/2004 07:43:00 AM | 0 comments
Wisconsin parents prefer freedom, flexibility of home schooling
Two home school associations in the area continue to flourish as a steady number of parents opt to educate their children at home.
Sandy Dvorak of Eden, mother of Miss Fond du Lac 2003, Emily Dvorak, home schooled both her kids. Now in college, the Dvorak children are excelling in their chosen majors.
Each year, about 21,000 students or 2 percent of the school-age population in the state are home schooled for a gamut of reasons: Parents are unhappy with public schools and class sizes. They want control over their children�s activities and friends. Many want to pray and use religious texts as part of their children�s teachings.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/12/2004 07:41:00 AM | 0 comments
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Home school exclusion policy upheld in PA
MONESSEN - A change of heart by some Monessen School Board directors Tuesday was enough to keep home-schooled students from participating in extra-curricular activities.
The board denied changing the policy with a 6-2 vote.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/11/2004 09:00:00 AM | 0 comments
Wohar knows about home schooling, claims it's better
BROWNSVILLE - Linda Wohar knows a little bit about home schooling children.
After all, she and her husband, Dr. John Wohar, have 10 children and have been home schooling their kids for 16 years.
Their oldest child, Angela, 24, went to California University of Pennsylvania for two years and now is a massage therapist.
John, 22, is finishing his senior year at St. Vincent College, where he plans to receive degrees in pre-medicine and religious education in May.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/11/2004 08:58:00 AM | 0 comments
Home schooling is a shared commitment in Clarke and Loudoun
Brenda Murn and her four young sons were busy baking "kiribath" in their kitchen in Berryville. The traditional Sri Lankan dish of rice cooked in milk symbolizes a bountiful year ahead. But to the Murns it was a fun, hands-on way to augment the history lesson of the day for these home-schoolers.
Murn began home schooling her older boys, Harrison, 10, and Dominic, 7, a year ago for a number of reasons -- but mostly because "it just made sense for us to give it a try, and it's been a really great experience," she says. In fact, when she asked her son recently if he wanted to return to the public school system, he said no.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/11/2004 08:52:00 AM | 0 comments
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Iowa Bill would allow parents to teach driving
A bill that would allow parents to teach driver's education to their own home-schooled children passed the House on Tuesday.
Parents would be required to have a valid driver's license and have a clean driving record for at least two years.
Parents would be required to provide the Department of Transportation with proof that the student has completed a minimum number of classroom hours and street driving experience.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/10/2004 08:58:00 AM | 0 comments
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Homeschool takes flight in China
A local expatriate group is organizing another class for "homeschool." It will be for children under 10 and comes after the success of the city's first homeschool the group had launched for teenagers.
Homeschooling, an increasingly popular education format in the United States, allows children to be educated at home by parents without attending public schools.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/09/2004 09:06:00 AM | 0 comments
A Free Market in Education
The London Economist recently 'discovered' homeschooling, in part, because "the market for teaching materials and supplies for homeschoolers is worth at least $850 million a year." As the market for homeschooling materials approaches one billion dollars, even the most skeptical observers are forced to admit that something significant is happening here in America.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/09/2004 08:56:00 AM | 0 comments
Monday, March 08, 2004
College for the Home-Schooled Is Shaping Leaders for the Right
PURCELLVILLE, Va. As one of 12 siblings taught at home by their parents in St. Croix Falls, Wis., Abram Olmstead knew he would fit right in at Patrick Henry College, the first college primarily for evangelical Christian home-schoolers. But what really sold him was the school's pipeline into conservative politics.
Of the nearly 100 interns working in the White House this semester, 7 are from the roughly 240 students enrolled in the four-year-old Patrick Henry College, in Purcellville. An eighth intern works for the president's re-election campaign. A former Patrick Henry intern now works on the paid staff of the president's top political adviser, Karl Rove. Over the last four years, 22 conservative members of Congress have employed one or more Patrick Henry interns in their offices or on their campaigns, according to the school's records.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/08/2004 10:11:00 AM | 0 comments
Sunday, March 07, 2004
Homeschooling "Dangerously Deregulated"
Home schooling has often been dismissed as a fringe activity, its practitioners caricatured as head-in-the-sand reactionaries and off-the-grid hippies. The most vocal and organized home schoolers have tended to be religiously motivated, most often conservative Christians. But a newer breed of home schooler is emerging, motivated not by religious belief or countercultural philosophy. Uppermost for such parents are concerns about violence, peer pressure, and poor academic quality in their schools.
Back in 1980, home schooling was illegal in 30 states. It was not until 1993 that all 50 states made the practice lawful. But in recent years, the practice of home schooling has taken off. Consider these statistics�in 1999, the federal government estimated the number of students being home schooled to be around 850,000 (Bieleck et. al., 2001). By 2003, the number had jumped to somewhere between 1.7 and 2.1 million students, according to data from the National Home Education Research Institute. While reliable numbers are hard to come by since states define and track home school enrollment differently, some experts argue that home schooling is the fastest-growing form of education in the country (Ray, 1997, 2001).
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/07/2004 06:34:00 PM | 0 comments
