Unschooling in PA!?!?!?
[email protected]
California must be a great state to unschool in. Unschooling in PA is like
being at war with the Klingons (anyone who has ever watched a Star Trek show,
will get my drift). I have now taken to signing my daughter up for a
cybercharter school. Doesn't sound like unschooling, but I figure it's worth
a try, before judging. If she doesn't like it, I can always disenroll her.
The problem here is trying to come up with jargon that will please the PA
Klingons (grin). Since I just began homeschooling in March, for the first
time in my life (and daughters life) -- and she's in the 8th grade -- it
proved to be a little on the "nerve wrack" side. I found myself constantly
slipping back into "workbook" mode, so that we'd have something "legit" to
show the school district.
Sure, I guess I was "yeller", but I do still intend to join the HSLDA -- not
for protection, but to help in the fight (if this is what they fight for,
that is) -- if not, I will find another group to join, and help fight. It's
the millenium, for goodness sake. It's time we had total and complete
control over the way we want to educate our children -- or rather -- how our
children want to be educated.
My problem last season, though -- is that my daughter didn't want to do
anything but sit on the sofa and watch TV -- of course, I didn't allow this
-- but motivating her to even go outside, or have fun, or anything -- was a
challenge. And since we started with only 3 months left in the year, I felt
we were under a microscope. However, I DID get her to read. My daughter
eats books for breakfast -- if they are novels (grin). I manage to get in a
few fictional history books, though. We will see. I will see if she likes
this cyber charter thing first, and if she doesn't, we'll quit, and totally
unschool -- and fight.
The thing is if they challenge me, she'll have to go to regular public school
until I win, which could take a while, and I don't want her in the local
district at all. So, I guess I'd have to find a way to get her out of the
state! Ironically, I live 20 minutes from New Jersey -- one of the easiest
states to homeschool in!!! (Murphy's Law).
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
being at war with the Klingons (anyone who has ever watched a Star Trek show,
will get my drift). I have now taken to signing my daughter up for a
cybercharter school. Doesn't sound like unschooling, but I figure it's worth
a try, before judging. If she doesn't like it, I can always disenroll her.
The problem here is trying to come up with jargon that will please the PA
Klingons (grin). Since I just began homeschooling in March, for the first
time in my life (and daughters life) -- and she's in the 8th grade -- it
proved to be a little on the "nerve wrack" side. I found myself constantly
slipping back into "workbook" mode, so that we'd have something "legit" to
show the school district.
Sure, I guess I was "yeller", but I do still intend to join the HSLDA -- not
for protection, but to help in the fight (if this is what they fight for,
that is) -- if not, I will find another group to join, and help fight. It's
the millenium, for goodness sake. It's time we had total and complete
control over the way we want to educate our children -- or rather -- how our
children want to be educated.
My problem last season, though -- is that my daughter didn't want to do
anything but sit on the sofa and watch TV -- of course, I didn't allow this
-- but motivating her to even go outside, or have fun, or anything -- was a
challenge. And since we started with only 3 months left in the year, I felt
we were under a microscope. However, I DID get her to read. My daughter
eats books for breakfast -- if they are novels (grin). I manage to get in a
few fictional history books, though. We will see. I will see if she likes
this cyber charter thing first, and if she doesn't, we'll quit, and totally
unschool -- and fight.
The thing is if they challenge me, she'll have to go to regular public school
until I win, which could take a while, and I don't want her in the local
district at all. So, I guess I'd have to find a way to get her out of the
state! Ironically, I live 20 minutes from New Jersey -- one of the easiest
states to homeschool in!!! (Murphy's Law).
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Connie Carlton
I have a 13 year old daughter so I understand your challenges motivating a
teenager. It took a LONG time to overcome (or undue) what a life in the PS
did to her. She was a typical girl, I think, but she HATED school. From as
early as kindergarten, she'd go out the door kicking and screaming. Every
day for her was an ordeal. She always did well in school, once she got
there, but her last year was a series of stomach aches, migraines, colds,
flus, sore throats, and anything else she could manifest to get out of
going.
I too fell into the trap of replicating school at home when we first
started. (I took my son out of school several months later too). I did
this for about 6 weeks and saw that I was no better a force-feed teacher
than her public school teachers (surprise, surprise). So I left them alone.
After several months, my daughter started watching the news. Now the news
is on her TV all the time as she chats with her world-wide pen pals. She's
also taken up instruments, writes stories, and is a fierce debater on any
topic thrown at her.
As I mentioned in my introduction, I enrolled them in the Chicago Sudbury
School at the end of last year. They'll be starting there again in late
August. The best thing about Sudbury, for my kids, is it gives them other
kids to associate with (all mixed ages). My daughter has begun watching
other news type programs so she'll be able to participate in the debates she
has with her schoolmates. Sudbury doesn't have grades, classes, regular
school hours or even a curriculum, but somehow they manage to conform to the
private school legal requirements.
I know there are very mixed feelings about HSLDA, but I joined. As an
Atheist, I found it difficult, but I believed that their heart and motives
were in the right place. I also saw that no other lobbying group had sprung
up to help home schoolers.
I lived in NJ and now live in Illinois. The two best States to live in to
home school. We considered living in another area once because of the job
opportunity but looked at their home school laws and decided against it.
Why not get a NJ address? Then you'll be out of the radar of the public
schools and will be more able to do what you know to be right for your
daughter. The other option is to band together with other PA home and
unschoolers in your area and get a P.O. box type address for your private,
school without walls. Appoint one parent as principal, another as teacher,
another as school secretary, etc. Have a monthly or quarterly meeting
(local park sounds like a good place)--take minutes, fill out report cards,
etc. If any of your group (or you) are religious, link up with your local
church and run your private home schools through them. Separation of church
and state laws will stop the meddling immediately.
Connie
-----Original Message-----
From: Freedomfighter68@... [mailto:Freedomfighter68@...]
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 8:08 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Unschooling in PA!?!?!?
California must be a great state to unschool in. Unschooling in PA is
like
being at war with the Klingons (anyone who has ever watched a Star Trek
show,
will get my drift). I have now taken to signing my daughter up for a
cybercharter school. Doesn't sound like unschooling, but I figure it's
worth
a try, before judging. If she doesn't like it, I can always disenroll
her.
The problem here is trying to come up with jargon that will please the PA
Klingons (grin). Since I just began homeschooling in March, for the first
time in my life (and daughters life) -- and she's in the 8th grade -- it
proved to be a little on the "nerve wrack" side. I found myself
constantly
slipping back into "workbook" mode, so that we'd have something "legit" to
show the school district.
Sure, I guess I was "yeller", but I do still intend to join the HSLDA --
not
for protection, but to help in the fight (if this is what they fight for,
that is) -- if not, I will find another group to join, and help fight.
It's
the millenium, for goodness sake. It's time we had total and complete
control over the way we want to educate our children -- or rather -- how
our
children want to be educated.
My problem last season, though -- is that my daughter didn't want to do
anything but sit on the sofa and watch TV -- of course, I didn't allow
this
-- but motivating her to even go outside, or have fun, or anything -- was
a
challenge. And since we started with only 3 months left in the year, I
felt
we were under a microscope. However, I DID get her to read. My daughter
eats books for breakfast -- if they are novels (grin). I manage to get in
a
few fictional history books, though. We will see. I will see if she
likes
this cyber charter thing first, and if she doesn't, we'll quit, and
totally
unschool -- and fight.
The thing is if they challenge me, she'll have to go to regular public
school
until I win, which could take a while, and I don't want her in the local
district at all. So, I guess I'd have to find a way to get her out of the
state! Ironically, I live 20 minutes from New Jersey -- one of the easiest
states to homeschool in!!! (Murphy's Law).
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
To unsubscribe, set preferences, or read archives:
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Another great list sponsored by Home Education Magazine!
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Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
teenager. It took a LONG time to overcome (or undue) what a life in the PS
did to her. She was a typical girl, I think, but she HATED school. From as
early as kindergarten, she'd go out the door kicking and screaming. Every
day for her was an ordeal. She always did well in school, once she got
there, but her last year was a series of stomach aches, migraines, colds,
flus, sore throats, and anything else she could manifest to get out of
going.
I too fell into the trap of replicating school at home when we first
started. (I took my son out of school several months later too). I did
this for about 6 weeks and saw that I was no better a force-feed teacher
than her public school teachers (surprise, surprise). So I left them alone.
After several months, my daughter started watching the news. Now the news
is on her TV all the time as she chats with her world-wide pen pals. She's
also taken up instruments, writes stories, and is a fierce debater on any
topic thrown at her.
As I mentioned in my introduction, I enrolled them in the Chicago Sudbury
School at the end of last year. They'll be starting there again in late
August. The best thing about Sudbury, for my kids, is it gives them other
kids to associate with (all mixed ages). My daughter has begun watching
other news type programs so she'll be able to participate in the debates she
has with her schoolmates. Sudbury doesn't have grades, classes, regular
school hours or even a curriculum, but somehow they manage to conform to the
private school legal requirements.
I know there are very mixed feelings about HSLDA, but I joined. As an
Atheist, I found it difficult, but I believed that their heart and motives
were in the right place. I also saw that no other lobbying group had sprung
up to help home schoolers.
I lived in NJ and now live in Illinois. The two best States to live in to
home school. We considered living in another area once because of the job
opportunity but looked at their home school laws and decided against it.
Why not get a NJ address? Then you'll be out of the radar of the public
schools and will be more able to do what you know to be right for your
daughter. The other option is to band together with other PA home and
unschoolers in your area and get a P.O. box type address for your private,
school without walls. Appoint one parent as principal, another as teacher,
another as school secretary, etc. Have a monthly or quarterly meeting
(local park sounds like a good place)--take minutes, fill out report cards,
etc. If any of your group (or you) are religious, link up with your local
church and run your private home schools through them. Separation of church
and state laws will stop the meddling immediately.
Connie
-----Original Message-----
From: Freedomfighter68@... [mailto:Freedomfighter68@...]
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 8:08 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Unschooling in PA!?!?!?
California must be a great state to unschool in. Unschooling in PA is
like
being at war with the Klingons (anyone who has ever watched a Star Trek
show,
will get my drift). I have now taken to signing my daughter up for a
cybercharter school. Doesn't sound like unschooling, but I figure it's
worth
a try, before judging. If she doesn't like it, I can always disenroll
her.
The problem here is trying to come up with jargon that will please the PA
Klingons (grin). Since I just began homeschooling in March, for the first
time in my life (and daughters life) -- and she's in the 8th grade -- it
proved to be a little on the "nerve wrack" side. I found myself
constantly
slipping back into "workbook" mode, so that we'd have something "legit" to
show the school district.
Sure, I guess I was "yeller", but I do still intend to join the HSLDA --
not
for protection, but to help in the fight (if this is what they fight for,
that is) -- if not, I will find another group to join, and help fight.
It's
the millenium, for goodness sake. It's time we had total and complete
control over the way we want to educate our children -- or rather -- how
our
children want to be educated.
My problem last season, though -- is that my daughter didn't want to do
anything but sit on the sofa and watch TV -- of course, I didn't allow
this
-- but motivating her to even go outside, or have fun, or anything -- was
a
challenge. And since we started with only 3 months left in the year, I
felt
we were under a microscope. However, I DID get her to read. My daughter
eats books for breakfast -- if they are novels (grin). I manage to get in
a
few fictional history books, though. We will see. I will see if she
likes
this cyber charter thing first, and if she doesn't, we'll quit, and
totally
unschool -- and fight.
The thing is if they challenge me, she'll have to go to regular public
school
until I win, which could take a while, and I don't want her in the local
district at all. So, I guess I'd have to find a way to get her out of the
state! Ironically, I live 20 minutes from New Jersey -- one of the easiest
states to homeschool in!!! (Murphy's Law).
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
To unsubscribe, set preferences, or read archives:
http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom
Another great list sponsored by Home Education Magazine!
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
I think the problem may be that you are trying to show too much information
to the school district. What the law says is that you have to show a
representation of your work, not the entire year. And as far as the log, the
same thing goes. Show them a sample of it. And keep a list of books or
reading material read, whatever that may be. There are also some pretty
friendly unschooling evulators out there, but I am not sure if you are
unschooling or not?? There are choices to make. . . you don't have to be a
part of the system if you choose not to, but I know many people are able to
live comfortably within the realms of the current law while unschooling.
lovemary
There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us
to learn from. - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
to the school district. What the law says is that you have to show a
representation of your work, not the entire year. And as far as the log, the
same thing goes. Show them a sample of it. And keep a list of books or
reading material read, whatever that may be. There are also some pretty
friendly unschooling evulators out there, but I am not sure if you are
unschooling or not?? There are choices to make. . . you don't have to be a
part of the system if you choose not to, but I know many people are able to
live comfortably within the realms of the current law while unschooling.
lovemary
There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us
to learn from. - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Fetteroll
on 8/8/01 9:51 PM, Freedomfighter68@... wrote:
on 8/8/01 9:51 PM, "Connie Carlton" <connie@...> wrote:
http://expage.com/page/folchslda (More Information on HSLDA). It should help
clarify what HSLDA's true intent is.
(BTW, it's unlikely that they will represent unschoolers even if you do pay
your dues. (Or for that matter anyone if your case doesn't suit their needs.
You are *not* buying legal insurance.) I believe it states so in their
application.)
Though they aren't a lobbying group, National Home Education Network (NHEN)
(http://www.nhen.org) is a national group. Personally I think our inclusive
state groups are our best sources for watching and alerting us about
important state legislation that could effect us as homeschoolers. I don't
want an outside partisan group coming in and telling the state what is best
for us.
Joyce
> Sure, I guess I was "yeller", but I do still intend to join the HSLDA -- notand
> for protection, but to help in the fight (if this is what they fight for,
> that is)
on 8/8/01 9:51 PM, "Connie Carlton" <connie@...> wrote:
> I know there are very mixed feelings about HSLDA, but I joined. As anA very helpful collection of information is at
> Atheist, I found it difficult, but I believed that their heart and motives
> were in the right place. I also saw that no other lobbying group had sprung
> up to help home schoolers.
http://expage.com/page/folchslda (More Information on HSLDA). It should help
clarify what HSLDA's true intent is.
(BTW, it's unlikely that they will represent unschoolers even if you do pay
your dues. (Or for that matter anyone if your case doesn't suit their needs.
You are *not* buying legal insurance.) I believe it states so in their
application.)
Though they aren't a lobbying group, National Home Education Network (NHEN)
(http://www.nhen.org) is a national group. Personally I think our inclusive
state groups are our best sources for watching and alerting us about
important state legislation that could effect us as homeschoolers. I don't
want an outside partisan group coming in and telling the state what is best
for us.
Joyce