I haven't watched it this year yet, but I may get around to watching a djokovic match...

Harveys? https://www.amazon.com/Harveys-Elementary-Grammar-Composition-Language/dp/0880622911 Eta - free pdf version https://archive.org/details/elementarygramm00harvgoog

Yikes! We had 41 and I was a whimpering puddle. I can't think straight in that heat blergh.

We start back tomorrow officially! We did a couple of days of morning time this past week to get the routine started again. Then it hit 40 degrees so we just stayed in the pool lol. I'm looking forward to starting tomorrow, I should have been preparing today but...

Oh yes, loudly for sure. They will not enjoy 'randomly selecting' me...

Fair enough! We already lost here in my state/country. I'd have to move overseas or break the law to not compromise now.

I think it's lovely. I do hope she's able to take the normal difficulties in her stride and that she has a perfectly smooth pregnancy and birth! I have a pregnant friend who is in politics. When her pregnancy became public, some male factional opponents started spreading rumours about her not taking politics seriously. This is 2018! It backfired on that bloke though, my friend kicks butt!

Here's the free math link that xahm mentioned. I agree that it's an excellent resource. I also agree with Ellie and Texasmom, take some deep breaths, let her read. Nothing else for a few weeks won't make or break your home school. You will find your groove :) http://www.cimt.org.uk/projects/mepres/primary/index.htm#year4

I am happy with a letter of intent or affidavit - informing the education department, not applying to them for permission. I do think that notifying them is a good idea, for general statistical data. I like the pp's post about encouraging all families towards yearly physical/dental services. Access should be free or low cost, and completion should see some kind of reward, a tax credit. This shouldn't single out homeschooling families, because this is a parenting issue, not a schooling issue. As for meeting standards, I'm willing to compromise by having to keep records and submitting a report card with a work sample. This would be at the end of the school year. The education department would have clear guidelines to ascertain if a report signals that the home school is struggling, at which point they make a friendly phone call offering support. I'm not happy with my state's new regulations and I argued against them. I will obey the law, but I'm angry.

The other queries about regulations are what are they targeting? Are we targeting abuse situations or are we trying to lift academic standards? Both? Because they require different kinds of regulations imo.

Hang on Katie, that 47% was based on one study which looked at 28 cases of child torture. You can't say that 47% of all abused kids are homeschooled, that's not what the statistic shows.

Well said. The government needs to earn it's right to deprive me of my freedom.

I haven't read the replies yet. My first comment is that recognition of who has authority to decide on children's education has to come first. The UN declaration of human rights says that parents get to choose. It also says that we have the right of presumed innocence and "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation" So, before the nitty gritty of regulations, I expect my government to have parental vs state authority in its proper order. A parent choosing to homeschool shouldn't be presumed guilty without evidence to the contrary. The difficulty, in my opinion, is how the state should screen for and gather such evidence.

Wow! Now that is very cool.

No, see, I have a real ground level problem with the government coming into my home without cause. I really do. That is a boundary line for darn good reason, so their cause for crossing it needs to be explicitly defined. I don't think a home visit every year is consistent (like others have said, the most at risk children are toddlers!) and abusive families will just move and not register. More regulations can't be knee jerkily applied, they need to be evidence based and practical.

:grouphug:Would he be suspicious if you likewise deleted yours?

I presume he's happy for you to check his internet history? I would feel, weird. Not about reading the document necessarily, but the snooping.

Wow, what an absolute crock of swearwords. Praying and thinking of you Melissa.

I agree with you. I just think that the line between autonomous citizen parenting freely and state stepping in to protect abused children needs to be thick and blazingly clear.

I've seen it go wrong. I've seen people get written apologies and procedural changes because of how wrong it went. Of course the letter did diddly squat to help the children recover from their trauma. It's never going to be perfect but I am very wary of 'more government can fix it!' type of thinking. I just don't think it's at all true, but more than that, it is really a discussion about societal worldview and values.

My bold. Wow, no, I don't agree with that. This assumes that an investigation is a neutral experience and that investigators are unbiased and benevolent. I don't tend to assume that humans with power are by nature benevolent...

The statistics were one study of 28 torturing, abusive families. 47% of those 28 families pulled to homeschool. 29% were just never allowed to go to school.By my calculations around a 5th were still in school and still fell through the cracks.

I agree with this. I've read the education act for my state, I know what powers the ed department has. They ain't welcome in my home. I follow the law, unless someone makes a credible complaint they have no cause to enter my house. Or, like someone posted above, are we going to have 'the government' check up on every parent, just in case? That's why I prefer encouragement to have the kids see and build a rapport with a mandatory reporter like a family gp. As for the meeting standards part, well I think that the school standards are pretty pathetic. But if I lose the attitude, I would be okay with something like submitting a report card. Perhaps a phone call to discuss the educational philosophy with the parent - any conscientious home school parent has some idea of what they're trying to achieve.

Yeah see I don't trust our ed department people at all. I agree with your second paragraph, which is why I think that encouraging visits to build relationships with mandatory reporters would be more helpful. It's not anxiety for me, it's closer to contempt... I'd probably enjoy having an education themed chat with someone supportive and interested!

I'd prefer a carrot approach. Annual funds to go towards schooling contingent on showing proof of doctor visit, dentist visit and one other outside of the family professional adult. I don't want a visit from the education department or testing. Portfolios are too easy to fake.