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(CNSNews.com) - The Pentagon's decision to stop U.S. military bases from sponsoring Boy Scout troops is another example of political correctness, according to the leader of a military watchdog group, and will hurt the Defense Department's recruitment efforts in the long run. Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, told CNSNews.comWednesday that with the Pentagon's new edict to military bases, a condition of settling a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the military is sending the wrong kind of message. "I don't think the Department of Defense should endorse that mindset (of the ACLU)...

<p>PRING, Tex. - In front of her gated apartment complex, Courtney Payne, a 9-year-old fourth grader with dark hair pulled tightly into a ponytail, exits a yellow school bus. Moments later, her movement is observed by Alan Bragg, the local police chief, standing in a windowless control room more than a mile away.</p>

Do you love your children enough to homes school them? Romans 1:32. Who, knowing the judgement of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Not only do these people sin themselves but they encourage and vicariously enjoy help others (our children) become involved in these sins of the flesh.) Soon the public school bell will once again ring and the physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of our children will be molded by the secular, anti-Christian public school system. Last year a keynote speaker...

Almost 1.1 million students were home-schooled last year, their numbers pushed higher by parents frustrated over school conditions and wanting to include morality and religion with the English and math. The estimated figure of students taught at home has grown 29 percent since 1999, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Education Department. In surveys, parents offered two main reasons for choosing home schooling: 31 percent cited concerns about the environment of regular schools, and 30 percent wanted the flexibility to teach religious or moral lessons. Third, at 16 percent, was dissatisfaction with academic instruction at...

WASHINGTON (AP) - For more and more students, homeroom has become a room at home. Almost 1.1 million students were home-schooled last year, a 29 percent increase since the last government survey in 1999. The growth comes as more parents, frustrated with traditional schools and limits on curriculum, say they would rather handle lessons themselves. The estimated figure of students taught at home comes from parent surveys. The results were released Tuesday by the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Education Department. Parents offered two main reasons for choosing home schooling: 31 percent cited concerns about the...

MESA, Ariz. (AP) -- Maricopa County now has nearly 10,000 home-school students, about a 31 percent increase since 1999. It mirrors a national trend that saw the total number of home-school students rise in 2003 to about 1.1 million, according to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. The center estimates that the number of home-school students nationwide has grown about 29 percent since 1999. Maricopa County registrars said parents have registered nearly 500 new home-school students since February. As of Tuesday, the county had 9,479 home-school students. Studies show that many home-school parents cite concerns about...

Dear HSLDA members and friends: HSLDA Chairman and General Counsel Mike Farris is scheduled to appear on Fox News tomorrow, Thursday, August 5th at 11:40am ET. * The U.S. Department of Education's National Center of Education Statistics estimates that there were 1.1 million homeschool children in 2003. This is a 29% increase from the last NCES estimate of 850,000 in 1999. Everyone agrees that homeschooling is growing rapidly and homeschool graduates are succeeding in all walks of life. Homeschooling is a trend which is here to stay. Mike Farris plans to comment on the growth and success of homeschooling in...

The assumption that homeschooling parents somehow lack awareness of their children's progress, and therefore require formal evaluation of that progress, is related to the fact that homeschoolers function beyond the arena of the schools, and our philosophies and methods are not always well-understood. How do homeschooling parents know their children are learning? The answer to this question is, to put it most simply, direct observation. I have only one child. If a teacher had only one child in her classroom, and was unable to describe the reading skills of that child, everyone would be dismayed -- how could a teacher...

I have created a public register of "bump lists" here on Free Republic. I define a bump list as a name listed in the "To" field used to index articles. Free Republic Bump List Register

Why Morality Matters by Steven C. Bonta, Ph.D. It is my conviction that the greatest threat to our free republic is moral decline. It is becoming fashionable nowadays to discount or ignore completely the relationship between morality and political liberty. Perhaps this is because the deteriorating moral culture in the modern United States of America seeks to be its own justification. Freedom, some believe, can flourish independently of moral standards, as long as we allow every man uninhibited license in his so-called “personal lifestyle choices.” This badly flawed notion is going to be the death of our republic, unless...

Two Roman Catholics are announcing a new campaign to remove evangelical and Protestant children from public schools. The new group, "GetTheKidsOut.org," is being headed by interim director Alan Schaeffer and Marshall Fritz with the California-based Alliance for the Separation of School and State. Their goal is to get evangelical denominations like the Assemblies of God and the Nazarene Church, as well as mainline Protestant churches, to embrace the idea of giving children a Christian education. Schaeffer believes public schools are harmful to young people. "They drive a wedge between children and their families -- and that is a bond, a...

This thread is for those who homeschool, those who want to homeschool, and those who support homeschool families. I know that we face many obstacles, and this is a place for support. Let's create a true "haven" for us to gather and discuss homeschooling within our FR home. This weeks topic is: The "S" Word I know that many if not all of us have heard the socialization argument voiced by friends and family. Many of my friends that have recently started homeschooling have been at a loss in terms of what to say or how to handle this....

Summer is right around the corner and family vacations are being planned. We will soon hear the chorus of "Mom are we there yet?" and "Dad I need to go to the bathroom". In honor of the homeschoolers who have worked so hard this year, we are having a beach party! Bring your sunscreen and sunglasses...we are going to get sand in our shorts. :) CurriculumLearn About The Sun NASA Lesson About The Sun Identifying Seashells CraftsFoam Sun Visors Beaded Sunglass Strap Bring Your Sandcastles Home! I am sure that so many of you had more to add to...

I have had many freep mail me about starting a thread just for homeschoolers. Well I am taking the plunge. This thread is for those who homeschool, those who want to homeschool, and those who support homeschool families. I know that we face many obstacles, and this is a place for support. Let's create a true "haven" for us to gather and discuss homeschooling within our FR home. Monday always seems to be the most hectic. I thought if we started this group on Monday that the start of the week wouldn't be so hard to handle. :) So...

Baptist resolution gets critical endorsementHomeschool organization pushes plan to shun government education Posted: June 9, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com The Home School Legal Defense Association, or HSLDA, has endorsed a resolution before the Southern Baptist Convention that would direct its members to yank their children out of public schools and either homeschool them or send them to Christian schools. As WorldNetDaily reported, the resolution, introduced by activists T.C. Pinckney and Bruce Shortt, asks "all officers and members of the Southern Baptist Convention and the churches associated with it to remove their children from the government schools and see to it...

Southern Baptists are about to take up a crucial debate over Christian children and state schools SOUTHERN BAPTISTS, SOMETIMES FAMOUS FOR their fractiousness, are about to take on a debate all but guaranteed to splinter them even further. But give them credit. It's a debate all of America should listen in on and learn from. The argument will come next month when the Southern Baptist Convention is convened on June 15 and 16 in Indianapolis. It wasn't so tricky in 1997 for the SBC to put its nominal weight behind a resolution of support for the homeschooling movement. Nor was...

TRENTON, N.J. -- Public education bored Tim Haas, so he and his wife decided they were better suited to care for and educate their two sons than the state. But Haas and the thousands of other New Jersey families that homeschool now face what they say is an unnecessary and unfair intrusion by the same state regulators they tried to escape. A bill in the New Jersey Legislature would require home-schooled children to get state-mandated annual physical exams and take standardized tests required of public school children.

Does a registered sex offender go to school with your child? According to Harris County juvenile probation records, there are 124 juvenile sex offenders attending Houston-area schools (5/25/04 - HOUSTON) — They are the youngest of sex offenders. Across Harris County, we found dozens in almost every school district. And parents, this may be your only chance to know if a sex offender is going to school with your child. Surf the state sex offender website and it's all there -- name, address, offense, and even the victim's age. Nothing is private for adult sex offenders. But if you're...

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source:...

Despite the hundreds of calls, e-mails and the lobbying efforts of HEAV and HSLDA, Governor Warner removed our high school option in HB 675 and wrote his own option. Senator Potts, the chairman of the education committee, and Senator Houck, a leading Democrat along with the Lt. Governor, all urged Governor Warner to sign the bill, but to no avail. Governor Warner's convoluted amendment is unacceptable, so we are urging everyone to call their Delegate and Senator Monday and Tuesday to kill Warner's amendment on Wednesday. We only need simply a majority in one house to kill his amendments. Governor...