HEM's Homeschooling News and Commentary
Home Education Magazine
Homeschooling News and Commentary from Home Education Magazine
edited by Ann Lahrson-Fisher, HEM News Editor <ann@...>
Archives: http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/nc/newscommentary.html
March 18, 2003
******************************************************************************************
This is the first edition of a new weekly news feature from the
editors of Home Education Magazine. Homeschooling News and
Commentary, edited by Ann Lahrson-Fisher, will be posted every Monday
to the HEM website <http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/whts_nw.html >
and to selected email discussion lists and message boards. Please
feel free to forward this emailing, in part or in full, with proper
credit, to newsletter editors, email discussion lists, message
boards, and individuals who may be interested.
******************************************************************************************
Hats off to Homeschoolers!
Spring is coming up fast, and the spelling bees are buzzing.
Homeschoolers are taking a share of the awards again this year.
Congratulations to all!
Home-schooled Catherine Miller to compete at national level
Times Union, Albany, NY March 11, 2003
"Catherine Miller...[a] home-schooled eighth-grader from Niskayuna
won the Capital Region Spelling Bee on Monday for the second year in
a row..."
Home-schooled student from Pawtucket wins state spelling bee in 11th round
Providence Journal, Providence, RI March 9, 2003
"Second place Rachel Riendeau, of St. Leo the Great School, keeps the
winner, Coburn Childs [homeschooled], on his toes."
'Precatory' earns 7th-grader newspaper spelling bee title
Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA Sunday, March 16, 2003
"Damian Metcalf, a home-schooled seventh grade student from
Coraopolis, walked away as the winner in a nail-biter of a contest at
the 53rd Annual Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Spelling Bee yesterday."
***
Legal and Legislative News
New York: Codifying Regs into Law, bill introduced 2/19/03
Mike Ebbers summarizes at the NHEN Forum:
"NY is beginning another round of controversy with the introduction
of S2060 (last year known as S4767). It proposes to codify Dept of Ed
regs into law."
http://www.nhen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=333
To read the bill go to:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=S02060&sh=t
and to read discussion of the first incarnation of this bill - S4767,
http://www.nyhen.org/
***
WV Homeschoolers get a well deserved break!
Posted by Betsy at the NHEN Forum:
"In the early morning hours of Sunday, March 9, the WV legislature
approved a bill that eliminates the 4-yr rule (a parent qualification
requirement) and removes the requirement that students who do not
meet the designated annual assessment standards be sent to public
school."
Way to go, West Virginia!
Read the saga of progress at:
http://www.nhen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=294&whichpage=3
Naturally, not everyone in West Virginia is thrilled. From the NEA
affiliate WVEA:
"SB 206 - Home School Bill - Perhaps the worst education policy
passed by the legislature was the home school bill, SB 206."
Big surprise, huh?
***
Interscholastic Sports Hopes Dashed
Washington Post, Washington, DC Thursday, March 13, 2003
Erika Tucker's dilemma is that she, a homeschooled Maryland
basketball player, has no access to the training and coaching
provided by public schools to other young athletes. Maryland law
prohibits homeschooled students from participating in extracurricular
activities at public high schools.
A bill assigned to the Ways and Means Committee in the House of
Delegates would change that.
The bill, if passed, allows homeschooled students to try out or join
sports teams, drama programs and other student organizations at
public high schools as long as public school students are not
prevented from participation by their involvement. On Friday, the
bill was defeated in committee.
Information about other states proposing interscholastic access bills
for homeschoolers can be found here: Louisiana -
http://www.la-home-education.com/leg/legpage.html
West Virginia - http://www.nhen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=158&whichpage=4
***
The Specter of Educational Neglect
You may have read about the Vermont homeschooling mother, Patricia
O'Dell, who was jailed for contempt of court last fall and her four
children were placed in foster care. The charge? Educational
neglect. The story continues to develop.
ABC22, WVNY Burlington and Plattsburgh March 12, 2003
"Fighting the System: Update"
The ABC story begins: "The pain and separation that one Vermont
family is experiencing is unbelievable. First her children were taken
away by the state, then she was locked up in jail. Now it's six
months later, and as ABC22's Ruth Dwyer reports there's still no
resolution to this family's ordeal. [..] Six months ago Patricia
O'Dell was in jail...and her four children are still in state
custody...because of educational neglect charges."
Read the ABC22 script at http://www.abc22.com/news/a_hard_look.php?story=2616
Whatever its merits, the case stirs controversy in homeschooling
discussions. Among the topics being mentioned: the broader
implications of NOT defending homeschooling parents who are charged
with educational neglect, even when there are other issues of
concern; the potential risks of NOT supporting homeschooling families
who are poor or who live alternative type lifestyles; and perhaps the
broadest topic, what is meant by educational neglect and how that
term can affect homeschoolers.
To follow the history of the O'Dell case so far, visit
http://www.educationalfreedom.com/pages/cases/patricia_odell/index.html#feb25_pressrelease
A discussion about "educational neglect" has been started here:
http://www.nhen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=346
***
The Good News/Bad News Department
The headline: Senate education leader rapped for letter urging
parents to flee schools
The Oregonian, Salem, Oregon - March 5, 2003
http://www.oregonlive.com/education/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/104686912642610.xml
The Good News: "I tell any parent who will listen to run -- not walk
-- to remove their children from public schools." These are the words
of State Senator Charles Starr, R, Chairman of the Senate Education
Committee. Strong words from an elected official, even in a private
letter.
The Bad News: School and union representatives called for Starr's resignation.
The Good News: Some Senate Leaders supported Starr as a sincere and
staunch advocate for improving the state's educational picture for
ALL students, despite his statement, above.
More Bad News: An entire Letters to the Editor Section was dedicated
to responses the next week.
Oregonian Letters to the Editor, 3/11/03:
http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1047387364208050.xml?oregonian?edl
More Good News: The letters were mixed - some called for Starr's
resignation while others supported his stand.
The Big Question: Will the brouhaha affect the Homeschooling Freedom
Bill, a bill that proposes complete deregulation in Oregon? Read
about the bill here:
http://www.nhen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=306
We'll be watching this one.
***
Where Do These Darned Stereotypes Come From?
These days, entertainment is news, and one piece of entertainment
news has piqued the interest of many homeschoolers - a WB sitcom
about a homeschooling family, now postponed and scheduled for summer
showing. Entitled "The O'Keefes," and starring Judge Reinhold and
Kirsten Nelson as loving but (stereo-typically) eccentric parents of
three (stereo-typically) brilliant children, the show apparently
casts the parents as the (stereo-typically) over-protective type of
homeschooling parents. When the teenagers (stereo-typically) grow
curious about the outside world and attend public school, they are
(stereo-typically) unable to converse with kids their own age.
A show of hands, please - who is surprised to find homeschoolers
stereotyped this way? More about that in a bit.
On February 23, 2003, homeschooling author (The Homeschool
Revolution) Isabel Lyman took umbrage with the TV show's promotional
material in her sharply worded article, "The Why of Homeschool,"and
lambasts the stereotypes. Read her article at
http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1167
In response to Lyman's article, Cathy D. Henderson writes "How do I
Stereotype? Let Me Count the Ways," claiming that Lyman's article
offers its own batch of stereotypes at
http://www.educationalfreedom.com/pages/editorial.html
Now, back to those stereotypes. The stereotypes in this proposed
show seem to me to derive either directly or indirectly from the very
reasons we love to cite when we promote homeschooling. Doesn't our
success practically guarantee that sometime, somewhere, somebody is
going to try to lampoon homeschooling?
I figure that we win, no matter what happens. If the show turns out
to be actually funny, we as homeschoolers can show that we have the
maturity to laugh at ourselves, all the while using the show as a
springboard to redirect the public eye to a more truthful view of
homeschooling. If the show is a dud, we'll only have to endure it for
a few weeks, all the while using the show as a springboard to
redirect the public eye to a more truthful view of homeschooling. And
perhaps the show won't air at all.
Secretly, I hope the show turns out to be a hilarious send-up of
public school stereotypes through the eyes of three stereotyped
homeschooled kids - now THAT would be funny. Have the producer call
me - I have some ideas.
More about The O'Keefes:
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-10127/
***
A Homeschooler is a Homeschooler is...
A couple of years ago, I innocently offered a simple definition of
'homeschooling' on a national e-mail list. Big mistake! Much fur
was destined to fly before the topic was dropped! Some folks can
barely have a meaningful conversation because the situations and
definitions vary so much from one state to another.
The topic resurfaces on lists from time to time, but a meeting of
diverse minds on which to build consensus is a rare bird. Until now.
The latest discussion serves to clarify 'homeschooling' in ways that
I've not seen before.
From Pam Sorooshian on the HEM-Political Action list: "My interest is
in how to describe homeschooling, at a national level, without being
confusing and without stepping on the toes of those who are in states
such as Washington and Ohio where the law defines homeschooling but
still being able to talk about there being any homeschoolers at all
in states where all are either enrolled in public or private schools."
Wish I'd said that.
Join the list and read all about it or stir up the discussion anew:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HEM-PoliticalAction
***
The "More Stereotypes" Department
Are You A "Crunchy Con?"
The Times-Picayune, New Orleans LA. March 8, 2003
From the article:
"That's 'crunchy,' as in crunchy granola. There's a whiff of the New
Age movement about them. They eat organic food and oppose suburban
sprawl. They rarely watch TV and question consumerism, value the arts
and read authors like J.R.R. Tolkien, media critics like Neil Postman
and eco-urban planners like James Howard Kunstler. But they're also
'cons,' as in conservative. They're religious, in an orthodox way,
and oppose abortion, euthanasia and same-sex blessings. They're
suspicious of big government. They value family and have big ones. To
protect their kids from salacious mass culture, they tend to
home-school." (Near as I can tell, the term was first coined last
fall in The National Review.)
As if we needed another label.
***
The 'Why We Homeschool' Department
St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, FL March 16, 2003
Headline: Homework crunch: Is there time to just be a kid?
"First-graders spend minutes on it. Seniors can take hours. Some
parents say free time is disappearing."
The article suggests that too much [home]work makes Jack and Jill
dull, dull, dull. I couldn't agree more. There is more to life than
homework.
Finally...
Please let me know what is happening in YOUR part of the homeschool
world. Are there homeschooled kids and families in the news? Do you
have legal/legislative challenges or successes? Are homeschooling
issues being represented accurately in the media and in advertising?
Are there threats to homeschooling freedoms that deserve a wider
audience? Is something happening today that will help assure that we
- and our children and grandchildren - can homeschool with the
greatest freedom possible? Please share so the rest of us can learn!
News releases, links, discussion group hot topics - you name it, I
want to see it. So go ahead -- jam my e-mail box. I'll be glad if
you do.
Ann Lahrson-Fisher
HEM News Editor
ann@...
Homeschooling News and Commentary Archives:
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/nc/newscommentary.html
******************************************************************************************
This is the first edition of a new weekly news feature from the
editors of Home Education Magazine. Homeschooling News and
Commentary, edited by Ann Lahrson-Fisher, will be posted every Monday
to the HEM website <http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/whts_nw.html >
and to selected email discussion lists and message boards. Please
feel free to forward this emailing, in part or in full, with proper
credit, to newsletter editors, email discussion lists, message
boards, and individuals who may be interested.
******************************************************************************************
edited by Ann Lahrson-Fisher, HEM News Editor <ann@...>
Archives: http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/nc/newscommentary.html
March 18, 2003
******************************************************************************************
This is the first edition of a new weekly news feature from the
editors of Home Education Magazine. Homeschooling News and
Commentary, edited by Ann Lahrson-Fisher, will be posted every Monday
to the HEM website <http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/whts_nw.html >
and to selected email discussion lists and message boards. Please
feel free to forward this emailing, in part or in full, with proper
credit, to newsletter editors, email discussion lists, message
boards, and individuals who may be interested.
******************************************************************************************
Hats off to Homeschoolers!
Spring is coming up fast, and the spelling bees are buzzing.
Homeschoolers are taking a share of the awards again this year.
Congratulations to all!
Home-schooled Catherine Miller to compete at national level
Times Union, Albany, NY March 11, 2003
"Catherine Miller...[a] home-schooled eighth-grader from Niskayuna
won the Capital Region Spelling Bee on Monday for the second year in
a row..."
Home-schooled student from Pawtucket wins state spelling bee in 11th round
Providence Journal, Providence, RI March 9, 2003
"Second place Rachel Riendeau, of St. Leo the Great School, keeps the
winner, Coburn Childs [homeschooled], on his toes."
'Precatory' earns 7th-grader newspaper spelling bee title
Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA Sunday, March 16, 2003
"Damian Metcalf, a home-schooled seventh grade student from
Coraopolis, walked away as the winner in a nail-biter of a contest at
the 53rd Annual Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Spelling Bee yesterday."
***
Legal and Legislative News
New York: Codifying Regs into Law, bill introduced 2/19/03
Mike Ebbers summarizes at the NHEN Forum:
"NY is beginning another round of controversy with the introduction
of S2060 (last year known as S4767). It proposes to codify Dept of Ed
regs into law."
http://www.nhen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=333
To read the bill go to:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=S02060&sh=t
and to read discussion of the first incarnation of this bill - S4767,
http://www.nyhen.org/
***
WV Homeschoolers get a well deserved break!
Posted by Betsy at the NHEN Forum:
"In the early morning hours of Sunday, March 9, the WV legislature
approved a bill that eliminates the 4-yr rule (a parent qualification
requirement) and removes the requirement that students who do not
meet the designated annual assessment standards be sent to public
school."
Way to go, West Virginia!
Read the saga of progress at:
http://www.nhen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=294&whichpage=3
Naturally, not everyone in West Virginia is thrilled. From the NEA
affiliate WVEA:
"SB 206 - Home School Bill - Perhaps the worst education policy
passed by the legislature was the home school bill, SB 206."
Big surprise, huh?
***
Interscholastic Sports Hopes Dashed
Washington Post, Washington, DC Thursday, March 13, 2003
Erika Tucker's dilemma is that she, a homeschooled Maryland
basketball player, has no access to the training and coaching
provided by public schools to other young athletes. Maryland law
prohibits homeschooled students from participating in extracurricular
activities at public high schools.
A bill assigned to the Ways and Means Committee in the House of
Delegates would change that.
The bill, if passed, allows homeschooled students to try out or join
sports teams, drama programs and other student organizations at
public high schools as long as public school students are not
prevented from participation by their involvement. On Friday, the
bill was defeated in committee.
Information about other states proposing interscholastic access bills
for homeschoolers can be found here: Louisiana -
http://www.la-home-education.com/leg/legpage.html
West Virginia - http://www.nhen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=158&whichpage=4
***
The Specter of Educational Neglect
You may have read about the Vermont homeschooling mother, Patricia
O'Dell, who was jailed for contempt of court last fall and her four
children were placed in foster care. The charge? Educational
neglect. The story continues to develop.
ABC22, WVNY Burlington and Plattsburgh March 12, 2003
"Fighting the System: Update"
The ABC story begins: "The pain and separation that one Vermont
family is experiencing is unbelievable. First her children were taken
away by the state, then she was locked up in jail. Now it's six
months later, and as ABC22's Ruth Dwyer reports there's still no
resolution to this family's ordeal. [..] Six months ago Patricia
O'Dell was in jail...and her four children are still in state
custody...because of educational neglect charges."
Read the ABC22 script at http://www.abc22.com/news/a_hard_look.php?story=2616
Whatever its merits, the case stirs controversy in homeschooling
discussions. Among the topics being mentioned: the broader
implications of NOT defending homeschooling parents who are charged
with educational neglect, even when there are other issues of
concern; the potential risks of NOT supporting homeschooling families
who are poor or who live alternative type lifestyles; and perhaps the
broadest topic, what is meant by educational neglect and how that
term can affect homeschoolers.
To follow the history of the O'Dell case so far, visit
http://www.educationalfreedom.com/pages/cases/patricia_odell/index.html#feb25_pressrelease
A discussion about "educational neglect" has been started here:
http://www.nhen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=346
***
The Good News/Bad News Department
The headline: Senate education leader rapped for letter urging
parents to flee schools
The Oregonian, Salem, Oregon - March 5, 2003
http://www.oregonlive.com/education/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/104686912642610.xml
The Good News: "I tell any parent who will listen to run -- not walk
-- to remove their children from public schools." These are the words
of State Senator Charles Starr, R, Chairman of the Senate Education
Committee. Strong words from an elected official, even in a private
letter.
The Bad News: School and union representatives called for Starr's resignation.
The Good News: Some Senate Leaders supported Starr as a sincere and
staunch advocate for improving the state's educational picture for
ALL students, despite his statement, above.
More Bad News: An entire Letters to the Editor Section was dedicated
to responses the next week.
Oregonian Letters to the Editor, 3/11/03:
http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1047387364208050.xml?oregonian?edl
More Good News: The letters were mixed - some called for Starr's
resignation while others supported his stand.
The Big Question: Will the brouhaha affect the Homeschooling Freedom
Bill, a bill that proposes complete deregulation in Oregon? Read
about the bill here:
http://www.nhen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=306
We'll be watching this one.
***
Where Do These Darned Stereotypes Come From?
These days, entertainment is news, and one piece of entertainment
news has piqued the interest of many homeschoolers - a WB sitcom
about a homeschooling family, now postponed and scheduled for summer
showing. Entitled "The O'Keefes," and starring Judge Reinhold and
Kirsten Nelson as loving but (stereo-typically) eccentric parents of
three (stereo-typically) brilliant children, the show apparently
casts the parents as the (stereo-typically) over-protective type of
homeschooling parents. When the teenagers (stereo-typically) grow
curious about the outside world and attend public school, they are
(stereo-typically) unable to converse with kids their own age.
A show of hands, please - who is surprised to find homeschoolers
stereotyped this way? More about that in a bit.
On February 23, 2003, homeschooling author (The Homeschool
Revolution) Isabel Lyman took umbrage with the TV show's promotional
material in her sharply worded article, "The Why of Homeschool,"and
lambasts the stereotypes. Read her article at
http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1167
In response to Lyman's article, Cathy D. Henderson writes "How do I
Stereotype? Let Me Count the Ways," claiming that Lyman's article
offers its own batch of stereotypes at
http://www.educationalfreedom.com/pages/editorial.html
Now, back to those stereotypes. The stereotypes in this proposed
show seem to me to derive either directly or indirectly from the very
reasons we love to cite when we promote homeschooling. Doesn't our
success practically guarantee that sometime, somewhere, somebody is
going to try to lampoon homeschooling?
I figure that we win, no matter what happens. If the show turns out
to be actually funny, we as homeschoolers can show that we have the
maturity to laugh at ourselves, all the while using the show as a
springboard to redirect the public eye to a more truthful view of
homeschooling. If the show is a dud, we'll only have to endure it for
a few weeks, all the while using the show as a springboard to
redirect the public eye to a more truthful view of homeschooling. And
perhaps the show won't air at all.
Secretly, I hope the show turns out to be a hilarious send-up of
public school stereotypes through the eyes of three stereotyped
homeschooled kids - now THAT would be funny. Have the producer call
me - I have some ideas.
More about The O'Keefes:
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-10127/
***
A Homeschooler is a Homeschooler is...
A couple of years ago, I innocently offered a simple definition of
'homeschooling' on a national e-mail list. Big mistake! Much fur
was destined to fly before the topic was dropped! Some folks can
barely have a meaningful conversation because the situations and
definitions vary so much from one state to another.
The topic resurfaces on lists from time to time, but a meeting of
diverse minds on which to build consensus is a rare bird. Until now.
The latest discussion serves to clarify 'homeschooling' in ways that
I've not seen before.
From Pam Sorooshian on the HEM-Political Action list: "My interest is
in how to describe homeschooling, at a national level, without being
confusing and without stepping on the toes of those who are in states
such as Washington and Ohio where the law defines homeschooling but
still being able to talk about there being any homeschoolers at all
in states where all are either enrolled in public or private schools."
Wish I'd said that.
Join the list and read all about it or stir up the discussion anew:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HEM-PoliticalAction
***
The "More Stereotypes" Department
Are You A "Crunchy Con?"
The Times-Picayune, New Orleans LA. March 8, 2003
From the article:
"That's 'crunchy,' as in crunchy granola. There's a whiff of the New
Age movement about them. They eat organic food and oppose suburban
sprawl. They rarely watch TV and question consumerism, value the arts
and read authors like J.R.R. Tolkien, media critics like Neil Postman
and eco-urban planners like James Howard Kunstler. But they're also
'cons,' as in conservative. They're religious, in an orthodox way,
and oppose abortion, euthanasia and same-sex blessings. They're
suspicious of big government. They value family and have big ones. To
protect their kids from salacious mass culture, they tend to
home-school." (Near as I can tell, the term was first coined last
fall in The National Review.)
As if we needed another label.
***
The 'Why We Homeschool' Department
St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, FL March 16, 2003
Headline: Homework crunch: Is there time to just be a kid?
"First-graders spend minutes on it. Seniors can take hours. Some
parents say free time is disappearing."
The article suggests that too much [home]work makes Jack and Jill
dull, dull, dull. I couldn't agree more. There is more to life than
homework.
Finally...
Please let me know what is happening in YOUR part of the homeschool
world. Are there homeschooled kids and families in the news? Do you
have legal/legislative challenges or successes? Are homeschooling
issues being represented accurately in the media and in advertising?
Are there threats to homeschooling freedoms that deserve a wider
audience? Is something happening today that will help assure that we
- and our children and grandchildren - can homeschool with the
greatest freedom possible? Please share so the rest of us can learn!
News releases, links, discussion group hot topics - you name it, I
want to see it. So go ahead -- jam my e-mail box. I'll be glad if
you do.
Ann Lahrson-Fisher
HEM News Editor
ann@...
Homeschooling News and Commentary Archives:
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/nc/newscommentary.html
******************************************************************************************
This is the first edition of a new weekly news feature from the
editors of Home Education Magazine. Homeschooling News and
Commentary, edited by Ann Lahrson-Fisher, will be posted every Monday
to the HEM website <http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/whts_nw.html >
and to selected email discussion lists and message boards. Please
feel free to forward this emailing, in part or in full, with proper
credit, to newsletter editors, email discussion lists, message
boards, and individuals who may be interested.
******************************************************************************************