Head's up VI Homeschoolers

Poster for a friend.

I have no horse in the race but am a little confused about how the proposed changes are, "the greatest threat to homeschool freedom in decades." They seem perfectly logical to me and seem to be in line with the requirements of many states. It seems that in many states where the oversight is bare minimum to non-existent, more regulations are being proposed and, again, these seem perfectly logical and not cause to cry "oppression!".

I'll try to explain OT.

As of now home schooling parents must simply file a letter of intent. This lets the school board know that the family is going to teach their children at home.
The change that is being considered forces home schooling parents to ask permission to home school their children.

Another change being considered is that the school board can deny permission to parents wishing to home school their children without reason and during the time they are considering giving these parents permission the parents must enroll their children in public school for 30 days.

Parents must list the qualifications of all persons who will be teaching the children. As of now I believe that parents in the VI are not required to do this. Some states ask for qualifications but usually this can be overridden by a religious exemption. Usually states just ask for a scope and sequence of what is being taught.

Finally it is being considered that home schooled children in the VI must take the same standardized testing that the public schools use to test the children in public school. There are several tests that home school families use. I believe the most popular is the CAT. Most states require that children take testing at the end of a school year to see if they are progressing.

These proposed changes are very threatening to home schooling families who operate under the belief that their children belong to them. Not the state or the government. It is a right to home school. To have to ask permission is to concede that they no longer have that right.

There is much more to it as people home school their children for many different reasons. Maybe another home schooling person can answer more eloquently than I.

From what I remember from reading arguments about home schooling years ago, school departments are mostly against it because federal education dollars are allocated based on public school attendance. The higher the number of children going to public school every day, the more $ for Dept of Ed.

Not every parent is qualified to home school their child to today's higher standards. Not that the Dept of Ed is either, but at least teachers have to have some standardized credentials.

I think the OP should have provided more info if general public support is wanted.

seems that most of the new proposals are a good thing-seemingly to protect the child

I am not sure how federal education dollars are allocated. I home school and part of my taxes go towards public education. Home school families do not get any kind of tax break.

In my opinion anyone who is literate and can use a computer can home school their child even at today's higher standards. All the home schooling parents I know make huge commitment to ensure their children get the best education possible. Usually as the children get older they take on more of the responsibility of their education. If a parent does not know how to teach something or if they have not been educated in a subject such as calculus, there are online classes, videos, co ops or other parents that can teach the children. Most of these classes are free. Kahn academy is completely free and teaches math up to college level. Every subject that you can think of can be found on the internet and is inexpensive or free. You can also pay for a full curriculum through schools like K12 or Laurel Springs that children do online as a home study program or you can use the public school option with K12 and it is completely free.

Many colleges also offer free online classes. MIT, Yale, and Harvard offer free online classes.

Tammy

1. In my opinion anyone who is literate and can use a computer can home school their child even at today's higher standards.

2. All the home schooling parents I know make huge commitment to ensure their children get the best education possible.

3. Usually as the children get older they take on more of the responsibility of their education.

4. If a parent does not know how to teach something or if they have not been educated in a subject such as calculus, there are online classes, videos, co ops or other parents that can teach the children. Most of these classes are free. Kahn academy is completely free and teaches math up to college level. Every subject that you can think of can be found on the internet and is inexpensive or free. You can also pay for a full curriculum through schools like K12 or Laurel Springs that children do online as a home study program or you can use the public school option with K12 and it is completely free.

Tammy

1. Have to disagree when you present this as a generalization. There is a huge gap between having those two basic attributes and being able to translate them effectively to teaching. I know hundreds of people who are literate and skilled with computers who are NOT effective teachers/instructors. That takes a whole different skill set.

2. No doubt. But I've also come across many parents who, simply because of that parent/child relationship, are unable to effectively sufficiently engage the child in the learning process where a comparative stranger is paid much more attention to by the child. This is where I believe that oversight is necessary to ensure that the child is indeed learning to the best of his or her ability and outside the distraction of the home environment. If a parent is doing a fabulous job then that's going to be reflected in standardized testing. Without such testing, it can be a real free-for-all which results in the child failing to achieve what he or she may very well be capable of.

3. Again, skilled home teachers and receptive children will yearn to learn. Others who are given the responsibility of learning for themselves will too often do the lip service then, as soon as home teacher is out of the room, veer off into computer games!

4. And, again, the dedicated homeschool parent will take advantage of the mass of information available and educate themselves on subjects about which their knowledge is limited. But it's again a generalization and one shoe doesn't fit all.

Children's minds are like sponges but if all a parent has to do is sign up with local educational professional authorities to homeschool their children with no oversight and no testing at all, many will suffer as a result.

I can only see the plus side of more oversight. The well schooled homeschool students will do well and those who aren't getting the proper input and discipline will hopefully be caught soon enough for remedial work. It's a win-win for all in my opinion.

1. In my opinion anyone who is literate and can use a computer can home school their child even at today's higher standards.

2. All the home schooling parents I know make huge commitment to ensure their children get the best education possible.

3. Usually as the children get older they take on more of the responsibility of their education.

4. If a parent does not know how to teach something or if they have not been educated in a subject such as calculus, there are online classes, videos, co ops or other parents that can teach the children. Most of these classes are free. Kahn academy is completely free and teaches math up to college level. Every subject that you can think of can be found on the internet and is inexpensive or free. You can also pay for a full curriculum through schools like K12 or Laurel Springs that children do online as a home study program or you can use the public school option with K12 and it is completely free.

Tammy

1. Have to disagree when you present this as a generalization. There is a huge gap between having those two basic attributes and being able to translate them effectively to teaching. I know hundreds of people who are literate and skilled with computers who are NOT effective teachers/instructors. That takes a whole different skill set.

Excellent argument OT. I agree with you. I believe that any parent can home school if they are literate and can use a computer but agree with you that they may not be effective teachers for their children. In fact, every new home schooling parent I know agonizes over whether or not they can effectively teach. Usually it is a parent that has taken their child out of school. Sometimes it takes a while to find your niche but most are successful. If they are not, most put their children back in school. There is plenty of help available for these parents.

2. No doubt. But I've also come across many parents who, simply because of that parent/child relationship, are unable to effectively sufficiently engage the child in the learning process where a comparative stranger is paid much more attention to by the child. This is where I believe that oversight is necessary to ensure that the child is indeed learning to the best of his or her ability and outside the distraction of the home environment. If a parent is doing a fabulous job then that's going to be reflected in standardized testing. Without such testing, it can be a real free-for-all which results in the child failing to achieve what he or she may very well be capable of.

Again, I agree with you. Some parents really suck at parenting. They cannot control their children nor do they try to. Home schooling is a huge commitment to the child. Most parents will not or cannot make that commitment. The ones that do in my opinion are able to effectively engage their children. I believe that testing is required in all states and territories. It is not the testing that parents object to. What they object to is being told which test to use.

3. Again, skilled home teachers and receptive children will yearn to learn. Others who are given the responsibility of learning for themselves will too often do the lip service then, as soon as home teacher is out of the room, veer off into computer games!

I completely disagree. During the elementary years of schooling parents should, in my opinion, be present at all times during schooling. As children progress into preteen and teen age years they should be more accountable for completing their work on their own just as it is in public school. If they don't do their homework in public school they get into trouble. If my son doesn't complete his school work then there are no computer games. If a home schooled child has an online teacher and does not show up virtually for class then they don't get credit. ALL home school families I know have class time whether the parents teach or they have an online teacher. The difference is that we can wear our PJs to class, eat food, chew gum, or sit on a yoga ball while learning.

4. And, again, the dedicated homeschool parent will take advantage of the mass of information available and educate themselves on subjects about which their knowledge is limited. But it's again a generalization and one shoe doesn't fit all.

Again, I agree. One shoe does not fit all. Home schooling your child is hard work. I cannot imagine why a parent would even consider home schooling their child unless they were willing to take advantage of the information available or really dedicate themselves to educating their child. It is so easy to take them to school and have 8 hours without them. Between schooling my child, working, cleaning and cooking I really don't have a minute to myself. I honestly do not know any other home schooling family that doesn't invest themselves totally to schooling their children.

Children's minds are like sponges but if all a parent has to do is sign up with local educational professional authorities to homeschool their children with no oversight and no testing at all, many will suffer as a result.

As far as I know testing is mandatory in every state and territory already. The only problem with the proposed change is that they want home schooling families to use the test that the public school is currently using. I have no clue what that test is.

I can only see the plus side of more oversight. The well schooled homeschool students will do well and those who aren't getting the proper input and discipline will hopefully be caught soon enough for remedial work. It's a win-win for all in my opinion.

I disagree. It is not the job of the government to determine whether children that are home schooled have the "proper input or discipline". Many people remove their children from brick and mortar schools because there is a severe lack of proper input and discipline.

Thank you Tart for this discussion. I value your opinion greatly.

Tammy

but dont you think it is the governments job to make sure the children are sufficiently educated to be able to attend college/trade school and make it in the world?

A poorly or uneducated home schooled child will usually become a burden to the state. Hence the governments necessity to insure that a child has a proper education.

A poorly or uneducated home schooled child has had their rights to a good education denied by the parents. Hence the governments necessity to insure that a child has a proper education.

The 30 requirement is garbage. It serves no purpose if the other requirements are met.

No speee1dy, I do not. I believe that the only job of the government is to serve the people. They work for us. We have laws on the books that give the people the right to free education. It is our right to have free education. It is not the job of government to tell us how to educate. We have the right to free public education, private school and home school. As of now we can choose. If the majority of people want to limit those choices then we can vote on it. Currently, we have the choice to home school with certain restrictions or checks and balances in place to ensure the home school children are receiving an education as is their right under law. The government is seeking to increase those restrictions and limit the rights of parents to educate their children as they see fit.

My personal opinion is that people who home school their children are seeking a better way to educated their children and to have more input on how their children are being educated. Twenty years ago the only people who home schooled their children were Christians wanting to protect their children from what they believed was a school system that violated their core beliefs. Today that is not the case. People are removing their children from school for many reasons. School shootings, bullying, sex education in elementary school that is very graphic and way too much information for the age, learning disabilities that are not being addressed, children being labeled as ADD or ADHD because they cannot sit still for hours at a time and forced to take aderall to be allowed to stay in school, common core, and so on. We have many problems in public school these days. It has become survival of the fittest. It is an institution and if you are a 5 year old and form your fingers into the shape of a gun you are expelled. If you wear a ring to school and call it a special ring that can make people disappear, you are expelled because you are too violent. If you draw a rocket ship in art it is considered a phallic symbol and you are expelled because you must be a future sex offender. It's getting pretty scary in school theses days.

There are many many excellent schools out there with dedicated caring wonderful teachers in public and private school. I used to be a teacher. I have many friends that are still teachers. My sister is a teacher in public school. They all have the same complaint and that is they cannot "teach" anymore. Government regulations and rules, testing, common core, no child left behind, SOLs, and so on are limiting their ability to teach. They have no time to teach and what time they have is "teaching a test".

Again this is only my opinion and my experiences. I have 6 children. Five of them went to public school most of the time. I would pull one out here and there and home school them for awhile for various reasons.

The VI has a large population of immigrants who do not have the skills to educate their children for the global workforce. We still have many caregivers who are not computer savvy.

I am in favor of standards and those who don't want standards imposed are free to move elsewhere.

Most of the students in public schools in the VI are exposed to more opportunities than students at home. The steel pan bands have uplifted the ambitions of many students and have taught them valuable life skills.

Most students in the VI need more exposure to opportunities, and home schooling for many may not provide that exposure.

Cruzaniron, a poorly or educated child period may become a burden to the state. Most home schooled children excel because the parents who home school them do so to give them a better education. Why would you keep your child out of school? Why would you go through the trouble of home schooling them? They do have to be tested.

ms411, we are talking about people who spend a great deal of time and depending on curriculum money to educate their children at home. I am not advocating that everyone should home school their children. I am sure that poor uneducated immigrants are not home schooling their children. The original poster was posting for a home school friend that wanted to let others know via the message board that the government was considering a change to the home school requirement already on the books and if you disagreed with these changes call these numbers and show up at a meeting.

As far as public schools students being exposed to far more opportunities than students at home you have no clue what any home schooled student is exposed too. That is a blanket statement. Not trying to be rude but you don't know me or what opportunities my child is exposed to.

Again, this is great dialog and I appreciate all the input. Thanks.

Tammy

Standardized Testing requirements I would be ok with. Asking permission in advance seems intrusive. As someone with a young child here this issue has already been discussed. We have some time to ultimately decide but homeschooling is an option we are exploring. Tammy, my only issue with your statement is saying you have the right to a free education.. Well you have already stated that you both pay taxes supporting a public school system and pay for a curriculum. This isn't "free". This shouldn't be a pissing match on the merits of homeschooling but a discussion of the proposed new requirements.

this is an interesting topic.

i know that i would have preferred to have home schooled my son when he was school age, whether by me or someone else. i think he would have had a better education to say the least. NO he did not grow up here.

i also think it is the governments responsibility to make sure that home schooled kids can pass all states tests, standardized tests and whatever other required tests are out there to make sure they are on the same or better path of their public school contemporaries.

home schooled kids, i think, have more opportunity for much more hands on learning and life skills than public school kids. more one on one teaching-which leads to more absorption of info which leads to greater understanding of what is being taught.

Standardized Testing requirements I would be ok with. Asking permission in advance seems intrusive. As someone with a young child here this issue has already been discussed. We have some time to ultimately decide but homeschooling is an option we are exploring. Tammy, my only issue with your statement is saying you have the right to a free education.. Well you have already stated that you both pay taxes supporting a public school system and pay for a curriculum. This isn't "free". This shouldn't be a pissing match on the merits of homeschooling but a discussion of the proposed new requirements.

I agree Spartygrad95. I misspoke. Public school is not free as we all pay taxes to support public education.

It was not my intention to get into disagreements about the merits of homeschooling and I hope I have not given that impression. I only wanted to explain what the proposed new requirements would mean for families who home school.

Here's an op-ed piece I came across on VI Source that home schoolers may have an interest in and help provide a more united front for their efforts.

I am neither for nor against home schooling. While I believe some regulations are necessary, I don't think the process of doing so should be overly burdensome to the child or the parents.

http://stthomassource.com/content/commentary/op-ed/2015/02/06/freedom-homeschool-families-enjoy-danger-viboe

Where are we with the new proposed regulations?

Thanks.