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Evening all! :)

I hope you don't mind me just jumping in here but it is purported to be "educational neglect." Rather a vague accusation, don't you think?

We have had five children, and we Home Educated them from conception onwards. We did this at a time when Home Educating was not at all popular (our oldest will be 26 in January), and the few people who were nosey enough to presume to tell us our business left us with the *distinct* impression that if we wished to Home Educate our children in peace, we should do so quietly and without any fanfare.

Well, it worked! :)

Our youngest child (the only one still at home now) got her High School Diploma via a government sanctioned correspondence course, and passed with a 97.1% grade average last November. That was nearly a year ago now, and she was barely 13 at the time.

Other than during the course required for the acquisition of a High School Diploma, we have never permitted our children to be evaluated by anyone scholastically. We also used the "Unschooling" approach to learning, which is a pretty laid back but hands on and thorough way to teach your kids.

Our youngest is this year concentrating on her writing career (she is a published poet already), and she is also working on her vocal and instrumental talents, since she feels she may want to also work in the music industry more fully. Right now she participates in our family's Christian band since we perform Christian Family Concerts for several weeks each year.

She has also committed to becoming fluent in French this year. She likes "projects" to work on, and hopes to spend some more time in Europe when she is 18+. That's the reason for the French. She plans to learn one language a year, and we have provided her with the means to do that via internet software, and the occasional bit of assistance here and there when she *asks* for it. ;)

Of course, being the children of missionaries, our kids have all seen much of the world already, but that's with us. Somehow they all seem to like it better when they get old enough to branch out on their own, - as it should be.

My point in all of this is that we have beautiful, intelligent and well educated children, who are (for the most part) making the most of the gifts they've each been given in life. We are very grateful to have had the time with them that we did.

Still, we have just shy of four years yet before our youngest is 18, and she has so many really productive plans for the next four years it makes my head spin! LOL!

I pay no attention to the naysayers when it comes to Home Education. After all, - it was good enough for Jesus Christ, and it most certainly hasn't hurt our children any.

FWIW, - Anij

More background info on Mrs O'Dell's case per an old FR thread from last year
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/576796/posts

Re your # 68

I don't know what your self adulation has to do with my question.....Which simply was, "what did this woman do initially (the very first infraction and "run-in" with the authorities) that initiated her problem? I for one, do not think her problem was merely because she home schooled.I have nothing at all against anyone who takes their children out of the government school system to educate them.....I love it!!!

Government (pls read public) education is essentially dead in this counmtry, thanks to the teachers unions who have been allowed to degrade our school system over the past 40 years in exchange for Democratic party voting.

Many teachers in our system are essentially illiterate.

There are three things essential for a good education: (1) sound curriculum (2) capable teachers who know their subject thoroughly (3) dicsipline in the classroom...or home, as the case may be. Generally speaking, public schools fail miserably in these three areas.

We educated our children via private and Catholic schools at great personal sacrifice including driving old jalopies, giving up vacations, and generally doing without......It has paid off handsomely.

It sounds like you have done an admirable job homeschooling. I would point out, however, that my daughter undoubtedly could have passed the state exam for a high school degree at age 13 AND at age 12 she scored higher on the SATs than the average high school senior. She's never had a single day of homeschooling or private schooling; public schools only. This is not because she's a genius; it's because she's gotten a good education in public schools AND good support at home.