I cried when Rachael Denhollander spoke about the violation of Nasser reading her personal journals. (I'm unclear on whether she voluntarily turned them over as evidence or whether they were subpoenaed.) Her statement was incredibly powerful. I'm so proud of all the women who came forward and spoke.

I haven't done much for kindergarten with any of my children. My goal with seat work was to keep the length of time age-appropriate while working on their academic level. So every child has spent about 30-40 min regardless of where they were working academically. The rest of the day was for free time and playing. I do read aloud to my kindergartners, and we do lots of field trips and projects. But the field trips and projects have been very traditional kindergarten-type stuff (pumpkin patch, children's museum, strawberry picking, making butter, planting seeds, finger-painting, etc). We waited until 1st grade to start science, history, or a foreign language. We waited until 2nd grade for piano lessons. My very verbally advanced kindergartner spent several hours a day reading and looking at books. She also spent hours in the backyard with her fairy puppets telling elaborate make-believe stories. My very mathematically advanced kindergartner spent hours playing with a calculator he swiped off one of the older kids. But I also had a kindergartner who just wasn't ready for much academically and spent most of the year playing with Legos.

This is absolutely crazy to me. How can a state not supervise private schools? So I could just start telling people my home is a private school, enroll a bunch of students, and charge them tuition - and I don't need approval or supervision to do that? I do think that states have a right to supervise private schools - if only for safety reasons. I know that our private schools have almost identical requirements to homeschools - register, keep attendance, give annual standardized tests, and keep that information along with immunization records at the school site and available for inspection. I think that private schools have some additional requirements for the actual building itself, and they do have to allow the state to come onto the premises to inspect their files. Getting accreditation is an additional thing that some private schools do, but not all. All of that seems reasonable to me as a way to ensure that all kids get access to a basic education, and that compulsory education laws are being followed. So maybe our set-up colors my view greatly, but I don't view homeschool regulations as overstepping on the part of the state. We aren't being asked to do anything more than any private school is being asked to do. In fact, we're being asked for less. And I don't see the state board of education as "public school" people who need to mind their own business. Ensuring that all children in the state have access to a basic education is their business.

As far as what regulations I think are reasonable: 1. Some sort of homeschool registration or notification, so that we know who is homeschooling versus who is simply truant. 2. Some sort of common-sense education check. That could be submitting an education plan, having a portfolio review, or periodic standardized testing. Just something. It would be hoop-jumping for the types of parents who post on this forum, but I've seen it be a huge wake-up call for some homeschoolers. 3. A requirement to have a physical when starting kindergarten (as all public & private school kids are already required to do in our state).

Okay, I don't understand this statement. Don't all states have compulsory education laws? Wouldn't a state dept of education oversee all types of schooling in order to see that all children of compulsory age have access to education? Our state department of education is split into a dept of public education (which oversees public school districts and charter schools) and a dept of nonpublic education (which oversees private schools and homeschools). Is that unusual? I mean, what is going on in these no-regulation states? Don't private schools have to register? Aren't there safety guidelines and testing requirements that private schools have to adhere to? Why wouldn't it be the department of education overseeing private education? ETA: I'm genuinely asking; no snark. I don't think I'm understanding what goes on down in Texas.

Our state already allows the state dept of educ to come examine school records at the home. This means someone from the dept of non-public educ (which oversees both private & homeschools) can come to your home unannounced and ask to see your homeschool records. You do not need to let them into your home. You do not need to produce your children. You just need to show them current immunization records, attendance records, and most recent standardized test scores for all of your homeschooling children. On the doorstep or on the front porch. In reality, I have never had anyone come to my home. I don't know anyone who has ever had anyone come to their home. They don't have the manpower to visit all the homeschoolers. They only come for a visit if there is a complaint, and the purpose is to be sure that the parents are following the law. They are not cps. They are not checking to see that your house is spotless or that there's food in the pantry. If your homeschool paperwork is in order, then awesome. But education people are mandatory reporters, so if they could actually see emaciated children chained to the furniture or floors covered in urine & feces from the front door, then they would probably file a report with cps. And then cps would come out to see what's up. It would be pretty easy to add "recent physical" or "proof of a physical within the last 2 years" to the list of required documents.

In our state, parents register and submit a copy of their own diploma before they can withdraw their child to homeschool. That little step prevents parents from pulling kids out on a whim. It prevents parents without a basic education from homeschooling since the parent must provide either a high school or college diploma. I have personally seen multiple people change their mind about homeschooling after finding out that they had to register. My experience, as a long-time homeschooler in this state, is that the simple step of requiring parents to register and submit a diploma does prevent bad situations. It can't prevent every situation. But I have seen it prevent many, many potentially bad situations. Didn't the mother in this family leave home at 16 to get married? Does she have a high school diploma?

I think it's interesting that they're now reporting that the 17-yr-old girl had been plotting this escape for 2 years. I wonder if there was a precipitating event. Isn't the baby about 2 yrs old?

I don't think so. Theoretically, the state can make reasonable requirements for private schools including an annual walk-through. It isn't a violation of the 4th amendment, because parents don't have to educate their children under the private school law. California parents can choose to home educate through a charter (which would also provide some measure of supervision) or they can send their kids to public or private school.

Well, I'm thinking of regulations that would get a child in with a doctor on a periodic basis. For example, our state requires that all children entering school for the first time have a physical with a doctor. Originally, the law said that all children entering kindergarten must have a physical, but it was amended a few years ago so that all children entering school must have a physical. So now homeschoolers who make the switch to public school must have a physical regardless of the grade they are entering. It would be a pretty reasonable thing to amend that law again to require that all children have a physical when starting school whether they are entering public school, private school, or homeschool. Our state also requires that homeschoolers keep a copy of their immunization records (along w/attendance and standardized test scores) at their home. The dept of educ can come to your home and ask to see this paperwork. (In reality, they only come if there has been a complaint against a family - I've never met anyone who has had a visit.) I think it would be possible to amend that law to require that the parents also keep a record of their child's most recent physical (within the last year or last two years?) along with the immunization, attendance, and test records. Another possibility would be to increase funding so that our state dept of nonpublic educ actually has the manpower to go out and visit each homeschooling family each year. Currently, they only go out if there has been a complaint. It would be a way to be sure the records are looked at regularly - though that would be more helpful if parents were required to have proof of a physical with a doctor rather than just immunization records, attendance, & test scores. We do have an online database of all registered homeschooling families in our state, so if I saw the neighbor's emaciated kids digging through the trash, I can look online to see if they are really registered as homeschoolers. If I don't see them or have genuine concerns, I can click on the button to file a complaint with the Dept of Educ. Of course calling CPS is also a possibility, but people are often more reluctant to do that. I'm having a hard time imagining how a homeschooling family could "go underground" or just not register since the information is so centralized and public. I've never heard of a family not registering, but abusive homeschooling families who don't register probably aren't coming out to park day.

This. As someone in a high-regulation state, I have seen our regulations help. I have seen parents, who were ready to yank their kids over the bus stop being moved 100 feet, pause and reconsider when they found out they had to go online and register with the dept of education. I have seen multiple families make huge changes to their homeschooling approach or their curriculum choices when those standardized test scores came back lower than expected. I know one mother, who was depressed and overwhelmed, who was able to use those standardized test scores to convince her husband that it would be better for the kids to go to school. And, although it isn't the solution for every parent with mental illness, it has been a huge help to her to have that alone time during the day when her kids are gone to school. And as I have seen these things over the years, I always have to wonder how it would have been different in a no-regulation state. Would the kids have been yanked because the bus stop was moved? Would the parents have ever figured out that their plan to let their elementary kids self-teach math wasn't going so well? Would my friend with depression still be struggling to homeschool? Would her mental health be getting worse? I do think our regulations help.

There will always be people who try to skirt the law, but that doesn't mean that we stop making laws to protect the innocent. It doesn't mean we throw our hands up in the air and say, "Well, let's stop trying". Homeschooling is a privilege. We don't have a constitutional right to homeschool. At one time homeschooling was against the law. Now it is legal in every state, but it could easily swing back the other direction if abusive families continue to use homeschooling as a cover for abuse.

This. I'm sick of seeing the "no true Scotsman" fallacy every time an abusive or neglectful homeschooling story hits the news. Yes, they were homeschoolers. All of these abusive and neglectful homeschoolers are really homeschoolers. And these stories do affect the reputation of all homeschoolers. And I think they will eventually have an impact on homeschool laws.

In our state, all homeschooling families must register with the state. There is a public, searchable database on the state dept of educ website with every registered homeschooling family. So if grandma or the next-door neighbor was concerned, they can go online and search to be sure our family is registered. If we aren't, there's a button they can click to file a complaint, and someone from the state will investigate.

The comments on the NYT's article are enlightening. Nobody is talking about standardized test scores. They are talking about whether homeschoolers should be subject to in-home inspection versus homeschooling being outlawed entirely. Because let's be freaking honest here. The fact that homeschooling exists in the United States - the fact that homeschooling is legal and socially acceptable - that is what allows situations like this to occur. Because it is not possible for a parent to chain up and starve their children for years when they are enrolled in public school or private school or any kind of brick & mortar school. Homeschooling is what makes these extreme situations possible. Which is why so many of the recent horrific abuse cases have been people who are homeschooling or who claim to be homeschooling (which is all the same to the neighbors). If we lived in a country where all kids were required to attend a brick & mortar school, then it would be nearly impossible to make kids disappear in this manner. There would be additional eyes on the situation. There would be additional supports before things go so bad. And if the kids weren't going to school, the neighbors would be asking questions. So I do think that we are headed toward greatly increased homeschooling regulations. We can complain about how most homeschoolers aren't like that, but if the public sees homeschooling as an option that makes abuse easier to hide then public opinion will be for increased regulation. Really, it's like flying. We can say that flying is safe. We can cite statistics about how much safer air travel is than driving or we can cite statistics about how rare hijackings are. But at the end of the day, a tragedy like 9-11 happens so we increase screening and security. As a society, we have agreed to give up some personal freedom when we fly in order to prevent those few horrific tragedies. Personally, I would have no problem with an annual visit to lay eyes on my kids. In our state we already register, keep attendance, and test annually. I have seen first-hand how those simple requirements have done enormous good by preventing bad homeschooling situations or giving parents the information they need to get back on track. I can only see good coming from an annual visit to the home.

I just ran to the store for more milk, bread, and fruit ahead of the coming snow. It makes me feel so rich to have a fridge filled with fruit and be able to tell my kids that they can eat as much as they want. We never bought produce when I was a child. I remember so many nights where my mother would try to divide a single, small frozen pizza among four children (those are some thin slices) and we would go to bed hungry. And jackets. I love that my kids have jackets for cool weather and big winter coats for when it gets really cold. It feels so luxurious to be able to say, "Yeah, kid, you want two coats - here are two coats," even though they will outgrow them within a year or two. Yes, you can be warm now, and we'll buy you a new coat when you grow. Nothing was more humiliating as a child than being called in by a teacher or principal to be questioned about my lack of a coat in cold weather.

Our local high school requests that homeschool transcripts list a fall & spring grade along with the final grade and the number of credits earned for each course. That's how most middle schools do their transcripts so it's considered a pretty standard format. Our high school also requests that the transcript be printed on homeschool "letterhead" and that the transcript be signed by the parent. It all seems a little silly to me, but I think school counselors are used to seeing course information in a standard format, and it makes their lives simpler if homeschoolers present themselves in that format as well. I would check with the high schools first to see if they have any particular requirements for what they want to see on the transcript, but you won't go wrong using a high school template. Our local high schools have a very particular list of what they want to see if you are requesting high school credit for any of your courses, so that's something to ask about if you are wanting credit for Algebra or foreign language.

It's fun to look back over past years and see how our goals have changed over time. Goals for this year: ds12: - Make Life rank in boy scouts. I think he's also hoping for Order of the Arrow. - Preparing for NLE - he's hoping for a gold medal. - He wants to take an online class related to his interests (ancient Rome & Latin), but doesn't want to be constrained by actually taking Latin as an online class. I have no idea what that means, but we will be looking for something when fall class schedules come out. *He's also thinking about following older dd to public high school, so we'll be working hard on organization and study skills. He should probably work on taking notes from a lecture and writing essays under time constraints. dd10: - Increase work load and rigor. We have added in grammar and additional written work this year and may add in Latin next year. - Attend a ballet summer intensive. She'll be auditioning over the next few weeks. - Find more opportunities to sing beyond church. We're still looking for a children's choir that will work around her ballet schedule. ds7: - Math opportunities. Finding a math circle just didn't work with our crazy schedule this year, but we are looking for possible summer camps. - Schedule complete testing this spring. I'm really struggling with accelerating him as much as he seems to need, so I'd like to get a better handle on where his abilities really are. - Possibly make some changes to his math curriculum, because I don't feel like he's getting enough challenge. I may wait until I get test results before making any big decisions. - Look for swim team opportunities for this summer and maybe for year-round in the fall. I have no goals for teen dd. Or - more honestly - I'm trying not to have any goals for her. (I'm currently rereading How to Raise an Adult to keep myself on track.) She's so driven that I feel I really need to be in the backseat at this point. Her goals for herself currently include: -prepping for spring music competitions -applying to summer writing workshops -going on a French exchange program (definitely not this summer, but maybe the following summer) -finishing drivers ed so she can get her permit

I wouldn't make that promise, because it would feel like I was handing too much authority over to a 7-yr-old. But . . . in our house, I do not sign my kids up for activities without their consent. I feel like extra-curricular activities should be their thing, so I don't feel comfortable choosing for them. Plus, I don't have the time or the money to drag an unwilling kid to an activity or stand over them while they practice. I have one kid that really did not want to do any activities of any kind up until he was about 7, and I really worried about that. He's just so different from our older children who were always begging to do more activities. He still needs a little patience and encouragement to start an activity, but once he gets going, he generally loves it. We just continued to expose him to different things and be very encouraging. But I think that if we had forced him to do things or had signed him up without his buy-in, it would have backfired in a huge way.

I love all of this. I was struggling to articulate what bothered me so much about the attitudes in this thread, but you've expressed it perfectly. Now I want to volunteer in Guinevere's group. :wub:

My teen is the president of an organization. She does all organizing and communicating by email. The adult advisors also communicate by email. Occasionally, she (or the adults) will text out reminders, but those are always in addition to email. There is no communication by facebook, because none of the teens are on facebook. Email works just fine for organizing and communicating. For just organizing with friends, they text each other or use some kind of group texting. Teens without phones wind up left out, but that is probably a topic for a different thread. I live in an upper-class tech bubble, and I've never encountered a group that only communicates by facebook so I sympathize with the op. I do think that expecting people to join facebook is a bit different than expecting them to have access to email. I also sympathize strongly with all the volunteer burnout expressed in this thread. I do wonder if long-time homeschoolers are more likely to be burnt out in this way. I have always found people in the homeschooling community to be somewhat more . . . demanding . . . than in other volunteer communities I've been a part of.

I am so sorry. I know a family with four children who lost their mother. A friend of mine was a close friend of the family, and she stepped in to homeschool the children for the remainder of the year. It was a huge gift to the children to have that stability during a difficult time instead of having to go immediately into school. The following year the 2 teens went to community college where they used college courses to finish out their high school requirements while the 2 younger children went to public school. All the kids have done really, really well in their respective schools. This situation was possible, because in our state homeschoolers are allowed to homeschool the children of another family. I would first check about the legality of homeschooling them. It's one thing to fill in while the mother is traveling, but it would probably be best to check whether the law allows you to homeschool non-related children for an extended period of time. I would also suggest that the father look into all options for the 16-yr-old boy. If you don't know him as well and he's so close to university, then it might make more sense for him to transition to a school situation for the start of this school year. So much depends on what his long-term plan is. If it is all legal, then I think your plan for the younger children is wonderful. This is a time where they need stability and love more than anything else, and any love or support you can give them will help so much. . . . BUT . . . I would also encourage you to view this as a temporary situation. So much may change over the coming months or years. The father may remarry. His work situation could change so that he needs the kids in school full-time. He may decide he no longer wants you to be so involved. However much you want to help, there may come a time where your help is no longer needed. Or the father could come to rely on you so heavily that you are asked to do more and more until it becomes a burden that is taking away from your own children. It's impossible to know what may happen long-term. So I would encourage you to view homeschooling as a gift you can give the girls for this year, knowing that future years may hold a different path for everyone involved. Bless you for being willing to step in during such a difficult time.

Also, are you sure they'll enroll her based on the previous year's grade? Our district requires all new students to take a French placement test. If you don't place into French II, tough luck. I had a friend whose son had completed French I and French II with A's in their previous district (wealthy public school in the DC suburbs), but our district required him take the French placement test. He just missed placing into French III so he had to retake French II despite having taken the course with an A at an accredited public school. I would double check those placement policies.

Is it an advantage to be a year ahead in French if she is struggling to master French? I've seen a lot of kids who took Spanish I in 8th grade and got an A or B through diligence without fully mastering the material. All of them struggled even more in Spanish II before crashing in Spanish III, because hard work and completing all the extra-credit assignments can only take you so far if you have a shaky foundation. I see the appeal of clearing out the schedule for other classes, but not at the expense of language mastery or your gpa. If you aren't certain she can earn an A in French I at the middle school, then what grade are you expecting her to earn in French II at the high school (where - if I'm understanding this correctly - she would be the only 8th grader in a class of kids who are 9th or older)? What's the point of keeping the A in French I if she gets a C or worse in French II? If the plan is for her to transition to public school, then I think you should have her repeat French I. I wouldn't push a kid into French II (especially if you have to request busing) unless she was rock-solid in French and I was absolutely certain she could earn an A in a semester-long class full of older high schoolers. I would present it as, "Each French class covers slightly different concepts, so you'll be starting in French I to be sure you don't miss anything." Taking French I in 8th grade is not behind. Even in crazy academic school districts like ours, taking French I in 8th grade is not behind. Completing French I or Spanish I in 7th grade is tippy-top for the language-talented kids who are trying to fit in 2 or more languages.

We did the first three levels of MCT in 4th, 5th, & 6th. We also used Killgallon in 5th and 6th, but we weren't really doing it simultaneously. When dd finished all the MCT books for that level, she would work through a Killgallon book to finish out the school year rather than moving straight ahead to the next level of MCT. It was a nice change to alternate the programs, but I can't imagine taking a whole year for a Killgallon book. I want to say that she completed MCT from Sept-Mar and then Killgallon from Mar-June. I never had it perfectly planned out, though. And dd probably could have completed MCT at a much younger age than she did, but formal grammar just wasn't on my radar at that point. We had a very relaxed Charlotte Mason approach up until about 4th grade.