George Bush's secret army (Why Democrats Hate, and Fear, Home Schooled Kids)

Economist ^ | March 17th 2004 | Economist

[netmilsmom]

Thanks for the link!
I'm downloading for tonights prayers!

(just asked my hubby if we could move)

[mrs tiggywinkle]

**(Aside: We visited a church last week and the boys sat quietly and mannerly through the entire service...the other children left for children's church, but as we were just visiting, they wanted to stay with us. They were the only kids left in the service. An hour later, literally dozens of people came up and shook their hands and told them how unusually well-behaved they were. One of the crowd asked where they were going to school, since we just moved to this town. They answered, "We homeschool." One lady said, "Well, that explains everything.")**

Well done, shezza. :o)

[ladylib]

Homeschoolers are exempt from No Child Left Behind testing. States which try to foist it on homeschoolers soon learn from HSLDA.org that they can lose federal funding for their public schools if they pursue the matter.

In fact, homeschooling exemption from testing is probably the only good thing about No Child Left Behind.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Homeschooling in PA does not need to be that hard. We have a huge problem with people wanting to over comply.. I have some links for you. IT may take me a couple of days to find them.. I will freepmail you with them when I find them.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

If you can afford to be at home - the rest is not that expensive. You can get tons of materials for free.

[Mo1]

.

[gobucks]

Hey, I went to your home page. the exodus article link is broken, but it seems its still available at Lew Rockwell...

[don-o]

St Athanasius Academy is named for St Athanasius the Great, the Principal's patron saint.

I have not heard of additional fees for Seton after the initial payment, which is based on curriculum selection; nor anything about returning materials.

[Tax-chick]

If you enroll with Seton, you pay for the materials and support services each year. When we started using them (1995 - wow, that long!) many of the books had to be returned, but now you just have to return the copyrighted lesson plans each year.

You can also just buy their books, without the staff support. Some books can be reused in future years, but many, especially the ones Seton is publishing, are workbooks. It's a very good program, but there is a considerable continuing cost. For me, it's worth it to have the teaching, grading, lesson plans, counseling, "Calm down, Mrs. Tax-chick ... most 9-year-old boys are just like yours!" ... other parents may be more independent :-).

Our school is Deo Vindice Christian School, "You may be whatever you resolve to be." Officially licensed by the State of North Carolina! (Not as good a h/s state as Oklahoma or Texas, but not bad.)

My credit union has a 5-1/4% VA today ... I'm almost ready to jump into refinancing!

[mrs tiggywinkle]

A friend of mine has been with ACT for about 23 years, her territory being the western states including Alaska and Hawaii. Below are the talking points she emailed me, for 2004. Hopefully this will help anyone with specific questions. the website for ACT has a listing of test dates and locations.

The ACT is one of two national college admission tests (the other is the SAT). Most colleges accept either ACT or SAT equally, and will take a student's higher score for admission. Because of that, many students these days take *both* tests.

While the SAT has more "name recognition" in California, the ACT is the most widely used admission test in most of the rest of the country. There are a very few schools that are either ACT or SAT exclusive (meaning they will only accept that test and not the other). All the Ivy League campuses accept the ACT, and the UC and CSU system accept the ACT for admission as well. (students applying to UC campuses must also take three SATII tests at this time).

More than 2 million students sat for the ACT during the last school year (2002-03).

The ACT is a curriculum based achievement test, testing students on the kinds of things they have learned in the classroom. Students generally feel very comfortable with the ACT, as questions are worded similarly to what they find in their high school classes. There are no 'tricks' to taking the ACT - it's a straightforward test. Students often use the word 'fairer' when comparing the ACT to the SAT.

Because of its curriculum base, students who take a strong core curriculum in high school (at least 4 years of English, 3 of Math, 3 of Natural Sciences, 3 of Social Sciences) tend to score quite a bit higher on the ACT than those students who do not. The ACT is scored on a scale of 1-36 (unlike the SAT which has a 1600 top score).

In the spring of 2005, the SAT will be changing dramatically and will include a mandatory writing assessment. All students taking the SAT will have to take the writing assessment.

In the spring of 2005, the ACT will add an *optional* writing assessment. (The current content of the ACT will NOT change). Students who are applying to colleges that require the writing assessment must take it; students who are applying to colleges that do NOT require the writing assessment will not have to take it. That list will be published on the ACT website, and also through individual colleges.

www.act.org

[gobucks]

This was a really thoughtful summary of exactly what I needed to know. Many thanks....

[mrs tiggywinkle]

You're welcome. :o)

[Edgewood Pilot]

Thanks for the post. We have never had our 4 children in the public schools.

I think women have a sixth sense about their children and the need to go against the wind when it comes to educating them. My job is to listen to my wife.

Those of you who are venturing down this path are doing the right thing. If your children are in the public schools, get involved; that is, monitor the curriculum, stay informed on school expenditures, volunteer in the classroom and insist on classroom behavior standards.

Someone once said (let me paraphrase) "bad things happen when good people don't get involved." I have hope for the future of this country because I have seen more good folks getting involved in various educational endeavors.

[Lakeside]

How lucky you are getting support from relatives who work in public education.

When I home schooled(looong time ago) My Mom, Mom-in -law, and various aunts all were public school teachers. I got zilch support from them only,"you're going to ruin them/their chances in life,isolate them from life,(and the biggie) what about their socialization? Are you/what makes you think you are qualified?". This was a constant subtle and not so subtle thing throughout the years I home schooled.

Now that mt kids are grown and successful in what they are doing(and yes, they know how to work and play well with others) All these relatives are not only singing the praises of home schooling but vowing they were ALWAYS for it. Sigh.

As to the title of this thread, Democrats/socialists hate and fear what they can't control. As someone else wrote on this thread(sorry, don't remember who it was) something to the effect that when the numbers of home schoolers reach critical mass the State will come after them with a vengeance. So true.

Kudos to you for taking on the responsibilities of teaching your own. Home schooling for various, legitimate reasons is not for everyone. But if you can, it's a great way to go.