If I can get the audio to transfer and upload, I’ll include my three year old’s commentary as well.  But “Can we watch it again?” is about the highest praise bestowed on a video by a young child.  And she has said that numerous times.

And of course I will be sharing bits of news and other opinions relating (however indirectly) to homeschooling.

In the meantime, we have made our own video.  I doubt I’ll be going on tour to promote it anytime soon, nor will it show up on Amazon.  But we are excited…we are the proud grandparents of five brand new baby gerbils, born Sunday morning to Kit Kat (the black female) and Buttercup (the blond father).

Aren’t they adorable?  Now that the house is still, and the children are no longer hovering over the cage, I can hear their soft squeaks.  But I need to start finding homes for them.  We’re keeping one.  Don’t know which, but Bear decided to name it Lollipop in keeping with the candy theme started with the other two.

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Disclosure: I received a copy of the DVD for free in exchange for a review on the show.  My three year old’s opinions, however, are not swayed by such things.

My article, The heart of the election season has been posted at Heart of the Matter Online.

Voting has also begun for Alasandra’s Homeschool Blog Awards.  And I, too, was sad to see Mother Crone’s Homeschool go offline.

My poor eldest daughter suffered the most under her drill sergeant mother who tried to make kindergarten and the beginning of first grade look more like boot camp a classroom than a home. I discussed this more during Back to Homeschool Week, but happily I’ve improved.  To her, school still seems to mean “copy work.”  Actually, everything she doesn’t like, she identifies as school.  Everything she does like is just life.  And she seems to be tired of me reminding her that “this is school, too.”  So I can’t win.  We’ll see what she thinks of being on the radio.

Note to iPod users: For some reason my show was moved to the Heading Right channel without my knowledge and that was the feed being used by iPod.  It is now moved back to where it belongs, but it will likely be a couple of days before the feed over at iPod is corrected.

Upcoming guests:

September 8: Ann Zeise of A to Z Home’s Cool

September 15: Kelly Curtis of Pass the Torch and author of Empowering Youth

Show Notes for 8/25/08

Barefooted Children

To begin, I relate a story about my children at a local carnival and an overheard conversation between a younger woman and an older woman about children not wearing shoes.  The younger woman thought they were cute; the older woman didn’t seem to agree.  But there are a multitude of reasons for a bias agains barefooted children.

The school in which I taught, for example, was previously known for being the school for children without shoes.  Possession of shoes was for many a recognizable division between rich and poor. I would guess that those who lived through that stigmatization might be more inclined to be sure that their children had nice shoes regardless of the health benefits known for children running barefoot.

Minority Homeschooling

Related, perhaps, are recent stories about the increase of homeschooling among minorities, particularly among African Americans.  The Houston Chronicle notes the increase, stating that blacks homeschool for many of the same reasons as whites while also having concern for teaching their cultural heritage.  Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute also noted one reason the black community has been reluctant to embrace homeschooling:

Peer pressure also might have kept many blacks away from trying something different, Ray said. In the black community, there’s always been a strong advocacy for public schools. Many blacks see them as a good route to leveling the playing field for everybody, he said.  Chron.com

Two years ago, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a similar story with a little more information.  It includes some insight from Jennifer James who, as the founder of the National African American Homeschooler’s Alliance, likely understands the challenges this group faces a little more personally.

“Some educators and families think that because blacks fought so hard to get equal access, we shouldn’t abandon it.  But times have changed. It was a great step, but we have to think about our kids.” San Francisco Chronicle

I, on the other hand, as a white, middle class American never had to fight for access to public education and often take it for granted and often as not much of a privilege at all.  Walking away from the system was therefore not so difficult.

Connecticut Tax Revolt

An interesting story in the Wall Street Journal takes a look at Connecticut education and the dissatisfaction of tax payers who are paying more than twice as much for their education system while enrollment has only increased ten percent over the last 25 years.

One proposed solution?  Homeschooling.

The calculator [on the website of a local tax payer group] enables the resident of any town to compare the cost of constructing and staffing a new building (or addition) to the cost of simply subsidizing the overflow number of students to attend private, parochial or home schools. Says David Bohn, president of the group: “You could extend the subsidy to children already in such schools and still save hundreds of millions long term.”  WSJ online

And one politician has suggested paying students to not go to school:  $1500 for vocational school, $3000 to homeschool and a $5000 scholarship for private school.  All in the name of saving tax payer dollars.  It makes you wonder about all the programs out there trying to attract homeschooled students back into public schools even on a part-time basis.  Sure, these students bring money to the school, but at what expense?

Encouragement from Germany

Hans-Ulrich Pfaffmann, an education expert from the Social Party of Germany (SPD), which would be the more left-leaning of the major parties in Germany, was recently interviewed by the Bayerischen Rundfunk, a radio station in Bavaria.  He had some interesting comments on homeschooling in Germany (my translation):

I deem prison sentences or fines in this situation as a total overreaction because in reality, homeschooling can be very high quality.  To this extent, it is certainly a topic which one must work on politically.  There can be no black and white here, instead one must be able to discuss the subject without ideological blinders.

There cannot be a single dogmatic stance of the state that the state must educate all children.  I think we must really put the possibility of homeschooling on the discussion list, then I can envision starting a homeschooling pilot project as school replacement.  That cannot be put off until never-never day, but must happen quite quickly to see if it is an option.

If you would like to hear more on homeschooling in Germany from someone homeschooling in Germany, I interviewed Rina in July for the show, A look at homeschooling in Germany.

Those measly homeschoolers

I actually went into this a bit more on my blog this week as I talked about homeschoolers and vaccinations.  I don’t know that I made my point that clearly in the show, but really all I was saying is that you look at these issues a little differently when your child is affected, even as you continue to support the decisions of every parent regarding their choices for their own children.  It becomes more personal and you become more aware of the risks involved.

Guest:  Jube Dankworth

Twenty year homeschool veteran Jube Dankworth joined the program to talk about why she chose to homeschool, how homeschooling as grown over the years and ways to advocate for homeschooling.  She is also the founder of Texas Home Educators and national director of Homeschooling Family to Family, a ministry of Frontline Ministries.

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Home School Talk Notes

Join me Monday, August 18 at 1PM CST to discuss news, homeschooling “as it should be” and homeschooling the child with special needs.

Coming feature: The show should soon be available via iTunes.  My understanding is that it can take up to a week to be included and may not immediately show up in searches, but I will announce as soon as the show is there.

Last week’s show (8/11/08), available here:  Home School Talk, The Gifted Child

I.  California Appellate Court ruling regarding homeschooling

The first article I read regarding the decision actually popped up in my feedreader from OneNewsNow, a conservative Christian news site.  After summarizing the case, I focused on the closing paragraph of their report.

Farris says groups like the Alliance Defense Fund, Liberty Counsel, HSLDA, and Focus on the Family teamed up and were armed with new information that compelled the court to uphold parents’ constitutional right to educate their children at home.  OneNewsNow

From the beginning of this case, I was impressed by the ability of so many disparate groups to work together for one common goal.  HSLDA and the three statewide California homeschool associations were even able to issue a joint statement showing their commitment to the preservation of homeschool liberties for all.  But suddenly, now that the case is over, the only ones of relevance are conservative, Christian groups?  Rather than commending the efforts of California homeschoolers, all recognition goes to a handful of national interest groups.  Annoying, and I’m not even from California.

II.  The Olympics

In 2004, the US diving team failed to bring home a medal for the first time in 96 years, raising concerns that perhaps the program needed to change.  One of the biggest challenges the team faced was the fact that US athletes tend to train part time whereas athletes in other countries train full time.  The answer?  Homeschooling.

USA Diving established a national training center three years ago in Indianapolis and continued to identify young and talented athletes.  Wingfield and Chen started to sell athletes and their families on the idea of training full-time and being home-schooled.  JCOnline

For students who see homeschooling as a sacrifice to be made for their Olympic dreams, they seem to be doing pretty well.

My daughter also had a comment on the story, but you will need to listen to the show to hear her (along with her lovely introduction to the show, of course!)

Links for lessons:

Summer Olympics 2008 Lapbook

Debbie’s Digest, with a variety of links and information

Suggested Reading

III.  An Unschooled Child’s View of School

This was a brief discussion of Kevin Snavley’s essay “Education From the Free Eye,” and included some thoughts on the introduction, which I discussed here last week in A homeschooled child’s view of school.

IV.  Gifted education

My guest this week was Susan of Life on the Planet who spoke from her experience homeschooling a gifted child.

If you have questions, comments, show ideas or would like to be on the show, please email my at homeschooltalkshowATgmailDOTcom.  Or leave a comment here.  Also, if you have any lessons you would like to share or have come across, let me know.  I would like to at least occasionally feature lesson plans and unit studies, especially when they are relevant to the news of the day.

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Across the top in red, it reads “At some time, every wall falls.”  I believe it was written before the wall actually fell.  And this cartoon illustrates the difficulty in unification I mentioned:

The little Ziggy-like figure with the night cap is known as “Der Deutsche Michel” (The German Michel) and is a sort of symbol of the nation akin to Uncle Sam here.  The problem of unification is well represented here as there are two Deutsche Michel.

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Rina, an Irish woman homeschooling her children in Germany will join me on Home School Talk Monday, July 21 at 1 PM CST to talk about homeschooling in Germany and her recent experience presenting her petition before the European Parliament Petitions Committee.

The situation for homeschoolers in German has made a lot of news recently as the state has become more aggressive in pursuing homeschoolers and has rejected virtually all exceptions, save for child actors and musicians.  Educating Germany is one of the best places to keep up with all the newest developments.

Please join us Monday to listen to Rina’s experiences, plans and ask her your own questions!

Also, I am looking for a possible co-host to make the show a little more conversational and a little less of a monologue from me.  If you think you might be interested, please contact me at homeschooltalkshowATgmailDOTcom and we can talk it over.

The biggest story is probably last week’s decision by a lower court regarding the Long case. The court terminated its jurisdiction over the Long family, leaving many homeschool advocates hopeful this would moot the case before the appeals court. The article I quoted comes from the LA Times.

“It should mean the whole thing goes away,” said Michael Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Assn. “I’m very optimistic for the long haul. I don’t see how in the world this case could be upheld. That [dismissal] absolutely bolsters my optimism greatly.”

But not everyone agrees.

Edward Steinman, a law professor at Santa Clara University, said he does not believe that the family court dismissal undermines the ruling, but it could provide easy political cover if the appellate court wants to get out of the spotlight.

“I don’t think it moots the case. I think it’s two separate issues,” he said. “The family court issue is the one that triggered [the ruling], but family court is not the one that made” the ruling.

“It should have no effect,” he said. “But it became a political football, and the [appellate] court may use this to say ‘let’s just punt.’ “

I also mentioned Tammy Takahashi’s blog, Just Enough And Nothing More, as a good source for information on the case. She notes that the statewide groups have not yet issued a formal statement.

Right now, the three state-wide homeschooling groups are remaining quiet. In an unofficial email sent out to one of the groups, it was made clear that the reason that they are quiet, is because they cannot be certain what this means for the case, despite Mike Farris’ confidence. Just as with everything that has happened thus far, there are many possible outcomes. CA Juvenile Court Drops out of Homeschooling Case

I also mention the change to New Hampshire’s homeschool law (discussed at more length here). As well as HSLDA’s Op-Ed piece that appeared in the Washington Times. When I wrote about this yesterday, I focused more on who the “real” pioneers of the homeschool movement may have been with a not-so-positive treatment of the man who probably did the most to make Nebraska’s law what it is today. Stephanie of Throwing Marshmallows also shared some links in the comments from an article connecting the growth of homeschooling in her state with resistance to racial integration. I can’t say just how much of an impact this subset of homeschoolers had, but it makes sense that these kinds of groups would have stood their ground longer, despite the rising cost to their families in both fines and jail time. I address this in the show, although at that point I was realizing that I had gone through my prepared notes faster than planned so began to ramble a bit. But I also went into more detail about someone who was very influential in the homeschool movement who was left out: R. J. Rushdoony. Since he has had a significant impact on HSLDA, the omission seems curious, but he was not nearly as public as Holt and Moore, who are featured in the original piece.

At about 1:30, Carol Topp, the Homeschool CPA, called in to discuss her book Homeschool Co-ops. She provides a lot of information about co-ops, both the advantages and disadvantages and also how co-ops can protect themselves from theft and file for tax-exempt or nonprofit status. During the interview, she mentions two websites:

Top School Fundraisers

Fundraisingmom.com

This is about halfway into the show so it is pretty easy to skip to the interview, if you are more interested in hearing her experience with homeschool co-ops. She also makes a sample chapter available through her website, if you are interested.

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July 7, 2008

Topic:  How Does Homeschooling Benefit Society?

This show is available for download by following the above link.  The following is an outline of what you will find there along with links to the stories referenced.  This is how the show was planned to run, before I lost the Internet connection and was unsure of whether I would be able to get to my guest.  The normal format of the show has the news stories first.  Here, they are reversed because Terri had to leave at 1:30 (although in the actual broadcast, most of them were shared before my husband was able to get the Internet reconnected).

Introduction and Vision for Home School Talk

My vision for Home School Talk focuses on a quote I found on a bus stop on the way to drop of my homeschooling paperwork.

Upon the subject of education and not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in.

Abraham Lincoln, 1832  To the people of Sangamo County

It is to this most important subject I dedicated my blog and to which I dedicate this show.  Although I have strong convictions about education and the bringing up of children, my purpose is not to dictate any particular plan or system, but merely to explore ways of all parents to direct the education of their own children.  My tagline for this show is “a voice for hoemschooling” but it could have as easily been “perspectives in homeschooling” because I plan to explore many perspectives, including those with which I personally disagree.

The definition I use in the show is from Noah Webster’s 1832 Dictionary of American English.

Guest:  Theresa Willingham

I met Theresa through the Homeschoolers United Internet forum, a list dedicated to recognizing the common ground we have as homeschoolers.  She is a home educator of 14 years, vice president of Learning is for Everyone, a freelance writer, and, along with her husband Steve, a home educator of 14 years.

The Topic:  How Does Homeschooling Benefit Society?

Theresa does a wonderful job outlining how homeschooling benefits not only our families but also all of society.  There were several main themes:

I.  Financial.

Homeschoolers pay the same taxes, yet do not use the services of the public schools.  When multiplied by the approximately 2 million homeschoolers out there, this amount can be significant. There is also the so-called “homeschool market,” a billion dollar industry that has been called a “vapor market” because of the difficulty some companies have had in directing a portion of that market to their products.  A lot of that billion dollars is going to small, independent, home-based businesses.

2.  Civic Activity

Homeschoolers tend to be informed and active.  One example she gave was our extensive use of library services.  The books homeschoolers request, however, are frequently the same books which families of children in public schools find the most useful.

3.  By Stimulating Public Discussion

The success of homeschooling challenges traditional models of education, and in turn pressures the public education system to become more adaptable.

4.  An Educated Citizenry Benefits Us All

Homeschoolers tend to emphasize character traits such as frugality, industry, love of learning and self-reliance which are beneficial to society.  (I quoted Sunniemom of A Woman on Purpose, and her original words may be found in this thread at Heart of the Matter.)

The situation I shared from the 1970s when President Nixon was worried about failing private schools summarizes all of the same benefits, but applied to the private school system.  It is in an article by Martin R. West, The Future of Tax Credits.

News Stories:

Senator Vitter (R-LA) has introduced legislation to give a federal tax credit to homeschooling.  I touched on this topic a little on my blog already, and will explore it in more depth on the 21st on Home School Talk.  While it is not likely to pass this Congress, it isn’t the first time it has been brought up, and similar proposals have been made at the state level as well.

Virginia has new homeschool laws effective July first.

Trusting God as the Floodwaters Rise.  World News has an nice human interest story about a homeschooling family forced out of their home by the flooding.  Then out of the home of Natalie’s parents.  Then out of another home before a teacher they had both had back in high school offered them refuge in a house she owned.

Omaha is a tough act to follow says ‘84 gold medalist. She also says that she wouldn’t trade her life now, homeschooling her two daughters in Virgina, with anything.

Coming Up (Subject to change):

7/14/08  Carol Topp, the Homeschool CPA, discussing Homeschool Coops

7/21/08  An exploration of issues surrounding tax credits for homeschoolers

7/28/08  Professor Gaither discussing his book Homeschool:  An American History.

Special Thanks:

A number of people have helped me with launching Home School Talk through their encouragement, ideas and help with promotion.  I know I am likely to forget someone, but each week I would like to recognize a few people who have helped me in getting this show together and available. 

The entire team over at Heart of the Matter, who helped me considerably as I was still deciding if I really wanted to do this, Chad of Grizzly Groundswell who put the crazy idea into my head in the first place, Renae of Life Nurturing Education who has been bombarded with every pang of nervousness I have had since the planning stages, Tianny of The Home School Lounge for her encouragement and prayer, Susan of Life on the Planet (and her cat) for volunteering to be guinea pigs for my test show and Percival Blakeney Academy for the wonderful suggestions while I was still planning the first show.  Maybe next week I can start working through all of the people who have linked to the show!

Contact:

If you have a question, comment, or would like to be on the show, please contact me at homeschooltalkshowATgmailDOTcom.  Or via the comment form here.

So I decided to make that information easily available to the listeners of my show through a weekly newsletter.  I set it up and had the subscription information here earlier.  But now their servers are overloaded, and I’m thinking of going back to the original plan of posting the information here each Monday.

Despite technical difficulties, the show aired at 1 PM today and is now available to listen to.  You can click on the player here in my sidebar or visit the show’s homepage to listen.  I was greeted with no Internet connection this morning, and the kind attendant in India walked my husband through it, isolating the problem to the modem.  We were able to get the Internet working, but of course it crashed fifteen minutes before the show and it took my husband a bit to get it working again.  My nervousness turned to panic, but “the show must go on” as they say.  I was able to talk to Terri for a short while before she had to leave to go teach her class on the First Amendment at the library, and I did eventually catch my breath after a moment of not having any idea of what I should say since what I had planned obviously wasn’t going to happen.  I will post the show notes here later today or possibly tonight for anyone interested.

Please consider this an open thread to share any thoughts you have on the show, homeschooling and how we can best advocate for homeschooling. If something discussed reminded you of a post you already read (or wrote), feel free to leave the link. I always welcome topical addition of links to further the discussion.

My vision for Home School Talk is to make it a reliable source of news and information related to homeschooling, offering deeper perspectives into some topics. If you can imagine NPR’s All Things Considered as a call-in show focused on homeschooling, you probably have a good idea of what my ideal is, although it will certainly will take me some time to grow into this medium.

Upcoming guests include:

Carol Topp, the Homeschool CPA, talking about her book Homeschool Co-Ops

Professor Gaither, author of Homeschool: An American History

As well as a few people who have expressed interest in coming on the show, but have not yet committed to a date.

Questions, comments, ideas?

I have an email address dedicated to the show: homeschooltalkshowATgmailDOTcom. You can submit story ideas, news tips, let me know you would like to be a guest or leave your general comments. I am always interested in feedback because this is the only way I can improve.

For those of you who just cannot wait, you can listen to my interview with Chad Everson of The Grizzly Groundswell. He called my blog “the best homeschooling blog in America” so you know just how serious this conversation was.

Oh. And here is my press release. Just because I actually wrote one up and published it.