[netmilsmom]

I think that this is an attempt to put a crack into the homeschooling movement. You in Ohio and we in Michigan have extremely liberal laws when it comes to homeschooling. If you begin to pit homeschooler against homeschooler, I'm not sure that it won't come back to bite you in the butt.
My nephew is having a great success with the K-12 program which IS a charter in Ohio. Many people have the confidence to educate their children. My nephew and niece-in-law are 24 and were not sure that they could educate their son. K-12 was the answer.
People homeschool for different reasons. I personally am looking at homeschool to keep my daughter out of the element in the district schools. Other people do it for no government control, but if we begin fighting amongst ourselves, we may all lose.
I'm getting into the asbestos suit right now.

[Restorer]

I'm with you. We homeschool and don't use any of the government programs, but I have no objection at all to them as long as they are voluntary.

[GOPrincess]

I completely agree about the disservice of this kind of "homeschool our way or else" proclamation. I've seen this proclamation discussed at length on a homeschool mailing list. I find it very troubling that some homeschoolers feel a need to be so divisive. I see it happen with private homeschoolers v. charter homeschoolers and even with unschoolers vs. curriculum users. In both cases people often feel the need to say that only their way is "real" homeschooling. I see frankly this kind of nannyism as a sign of insecurity. It's ironic that some of those who worry that charters are a "slippery" slope which will lead to government encroaching on private homeschooling feel the same need to control others' homeschool choices, rather than celebrating that we *do* have choices and the ability to choose what works best for our families year by year.

My personal point of view is that the charter homeschool is empowering. I am using my tax dollars -- the closest we'll ever get to vouchers in CA, I suspect -- to buy what I consider a high quality curriculum, K12. Using the charter also makes it easier for novice homeschoolers to take the plunge and withdraw from neighborhood schools. I personally know of several people who, after trying homeschooling through the charter, went on to homeschool privately. The charter opened doors and helped these people "think outside the box" of traditional schooling.

If the government directly threatens private homeschooling here in CA I would be among the first to declare myself a private homeschool and take a stand against this. Parents should have the right to direct their children's education as they see fit. (Fortunately the state homeschooling climate seems to shifting for the better under the new Superintendent of Education, who has removed language from the state's website telling parents that homeschooling without a credential is "outside the law.") I would also quit if I felt that the charter school teacher or requirements were too intrusive. To date I have yet to hear of a negative experience a CA parent has had with K12 and the California Virtual Academies (CAVA); to the contrary, I hear only that the teachers are very homeschool friendly and supportive.

Free choice includes my right to use my tax dollars to purchase a quality curriculum. To say that I am merely "masquerading" as a homeschooler is a juvenile insult. It is hard to take the hyperbolic language in this proclamation seriously. It is certainly not trying to win friends in a positive way. Why not build alliances by focusing on what unites, rather than what divides?

[Polybius]

People homeschool for different reasons. I personally am looking at homeschool to keep my daughter out of the element in the district schools. Other people do it for no government control, but if we begin fighting amongst ourselves, we may all lose....netmilsmom

I favor education choice. I want to be able to choose to school at home. I don't want to take away choices from families that want to school at home with government support. I find it ironic that so many homeschooling organizations are fighting to tell other families that they must homeschool "the right way" or not at all.....PMCarey

I'm in agreement with all three of you.

Our version of homeschooling is that we hired the best Christian teacher in the county to teach our two kids when they ran out of private school options in our small town. Within three weeks, we had seven other students joining our school in the third floor of our 1889 house.

That's what works for us.

It is not "traditional" homeschooling but, with a medical practice, I do not have the time to teach and my wife, who only two years ago was saying that public school was good enough for her, is, quite frankly, not cut out to teach homeschool.

Now, the kids are getting the best 6th and 7th Grade education in the county and my wife admits that public school would have been a disaster compared to what we have now.

The bottom line about our school is that like-minded parents and a like-minded teacher have control over our kid’s education.

We can afford to forgo any Government assistance but many families do not have such a luxury.

If you can trust parents to decide how to educate their children themselves, you can trust them to decide how much Government assistance and how many Government strings they are willing to accept.