8 is not that young anymore. Some girls are starting their periods at 9 these days or at the very least, needing deodorant.

Me too.

It is quite likely the family in question IS breaking the law. Look at NY's laws, or PA or MA or VT. In those "red" states, the state has specific expectations of the children, ie, that they are on grade level in core subjects, that they pass tests, etc.

Not all of us are defending them. Just because someone calls themselves a "homeschooler" does not mean they are, and I won't defend "homeschoolers" who are breaking the law, or who are failing to educate their children. It is time homeschoolers stop just circling the wagons around every parent who claims to be a homeschooler. We are not the same. Some of us take our job seriously.

It is wrong and likely to be ILLEGAL as well.

It is people like this who make things harder for those of us who ARE following the laws. Most of us homeschoolers work hard and don't really need to jump through more hoops. The Powers that be look at a few homeschoolers who are breaking the law and conclude that there is a huge problem of homeschoolers out there who are clueless or lazy and do nothing to teach our children, and then they make the laws tougher for all of us. Just because they are fellow homeschoolers, does not mean we need to protect them. I assert that they are not homeschooler at all, but imposters. There was a thread here in the past about homeschool imposters. They are doing their children a huge disservice that we as society will have to pay for. How unfair to refuse to teach your children to read! (Or math, writing, etc.) What do they expect their children to do when they are grown? OP, I would find out what the homeschooling laws are in the state where this family lives-it is likely they are breaking the law.

Here is something I have not seen asked- Is the family in question breaking their state law? As you all know, each state has different laws. Some states require that the children be pretty much on grade level, while other states have no such requirement and in fact, have no requirements save a letter that the parents send in once at the commencement of homeschooling. I am aware of families who live in highly regulated states who have children who are not on grade level, and have had their right to homeschool revoked. Some states can even require that you have your child tested if the powers that be have reason to believe your child is behind. Some states have a homeschooling department at the local or state level to whom one would report a family, if one chose to, while other states do not. So it is not necessarily CPS to whom the OP would report this family (if he or she were doing so).