MorningStar’s Home Education News

By Mimi Rothschild

Do parents choose to home school their children because they are unhappy with the quality of local public school education? Do they choose to home school because they are unhappy with the lack of Christian values in the curriculum? Whatever the reason, parents who choose home school are focusing on the family and going back to God’s own plan for socialization.

More and more people across the United States are choosing to home school every year. The current numbers are somewhere over a million. This means that the concerns over certain myths about the outcome of a home school education are starting to fade, and the focus on socialization through family and Christian home school curriculum is building in force.

By taking time to build the family relationships to make this happen, home school parents are fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi; that all children’s hearts would return to their fathers and the hearts of fathers would return to their children. Rather than individualist achievement, parents are focusing on passing along the heritage of their faith and knowledge through the more democratic and family-focused practice of home school.

Besides promoting faith and the family, Christian students who are educated at home are outperforming their public school counterparts in other areas as well. Across the academic spectrum, home-educated children are getting results on standardized tests that exceed and surpass those of public schoolers by a whopping 30 to 35 percent and higher!

This means that home school kids are getting a great education, despite the certification or education level of their parents. Generally speaking, in public schools the outcome of a child’s education correlates with that of their parents. Not so with homeschoolers. No matter the level of education or degree of certification that home school parents hold, their children still outrank public schoolers by 30 to 35 percent in tests.

In the same way, no matter the race of the home school family or the level of income, home school families perform incredibly well. It is the passing of Christian heritage and the family socialization that gives home school children the maturity and discipline to not only succeed academically during home school, but after as well. The percentage of homeschoolers that head to college matches the percentage of public schoolers – about 70 percent – and homeschoolers often start taking college courses during their “high school” years because they are so far ahead academically.

The focus on family socialization in home school clearly outperforms that of individualist focus in public schools.

By Mimi Rothschild

Families with a military background believe in homeschools because they provide a secure environment for children who are constantly on the move. Homeschools are favorable because they are instrumental in developing family bonds. If a child is in traditional school, he has to constantly cope up with change in environment every now and then because military families are constantly transferred from one province to another in a matter of few years. The homeschooler’s child does not suffer from the anxiety or pressure to adjust to the new alienable surroundings which a typical student faces. One has to admit frequent transfers can hurt the child’s temperament and emotional growth. Thankfully the homeschooler’s child does not have to go through the same anguish.

The overseas Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS) had certain inconsistencies with regards to a homeschool in terms of participation policies. There were strange norms kept like allowing children to participate in all of the activities only if the homeschooler was enrolled in four DoDDS classes per day. The Home School Legal Defense Association followed blanket policy insisting on every homeschooler to take part in extracurricular activities of overseas DoDDS schools. The HSLDA categorically asked the US House of Representatives Armed Forces Committee to instruct the Secretary of Defense to formulate a specific, lucidly written policy conveying the department’s unstinted support for homeschools. The committee included the directive and submitted the report to the full House as a part of the Defense Authorization Act in the year 2000.

Following the instructions in the report, the DoDEA or the Department of Defense Education Activity has been given the responsibility to ensure that sufficient educational material are available to children of parents who are serving their country in far-off areas of the world. There is a conscious attempt made to see that the homeschooler is given ample opportunity to learn and grow in intellect, even in places where there are less educational resources compared to the ones available in the US.

The family has to abide by the country’s compulsory attendance requirements whether the child is in traditional school or if he is a homeschooler. Military families who send their children to homeschools have to follow the relevant school attendance laws of the country. If you want to send your children to homeschool, then it is not necessary to communicate the request to the base commander. You can get in touch with the HSLDA to know about the right and responsibilities of students in homeschools.

The DoDEA who have taken the neutral stand for homeschools, have voluntarily agreed to provide children in homeschools with ancillary assistance like library access, special education services, allowing them to participate in programs like sports, music, dramatics etc. However students studying in homeschools are obligated to abide by the rules and regulations regarding dress codes, attendance rules and other minimal requisites needed for every extracurricular activity. Enrollment in just one class of a DoD school is enough to participate in extracurricular activities. Children in homeschools can also expect to get loans for educational materials like books and software.

By Mimi Rothschild

While home education laws differ depending on the state, every state does have laws regarding home education or homeschool. While some state laws require only notifying the school district of your intent to homeschool your children, other states require stringent reporting and some states mandate specific testing. Still other states require a certain number of attendance days.

It’s important that you familiarize yourself with the laws of your state regarding home education. Failure to do so could subject you and your family to unpleasant surprises, such as visits from truancy officers, or even visits from your state’s Children’s Services Department’s social workers. Communication with the school district is very important.

Texas, for example, is one of the states with the least restrictive statutes regarding home education. In Texas, you don’t even have to notify the school district of your intent to homeschool. You can simply set up your homeschool and go about the business of educating your children. While the law does stipulate that the subjects taught must include reading, math, spelling, grammar and good citizenship, it is silent on the amount of days in attendance required and there are no reporting or testing requirements.

New York, on the other hand, has very different requirements. State law mandates that the equivalent of 180 days in attendance be adhered to, although this can be broken down by hours. For example, in grades kindergarten through sixth, 900 hours of instruction are required, and in grades seventh through twelfth, 990 hours of instruction are the requirement. Attendance records must be kept and made available upon request, but they must also be filed quarterly along with a summary of the material covered in each subject, and either a grade or a narrative evaluation of the child’s progress in each subject. There are other requirements as well. Regardless of the state in which you homeschool, check the legal obligations and ramifications.

Some parents find the interference by the government disdainful, and there has been legal action filed on both sides - homeschool parents and school districts - for decades. There is almost always pending legislation regarding homeschool laws in one state or another at any given time. Your best defense against unwanted intrusion into your homeschool is to know the law and abide by it in the least restrictive way possible. If you find the law in your state to be too intrusive or otherwise disheartening, contact your legislatures. You wouldn’t be the first homeschool parent to change home education laws.

By Mimi Rothschild

Homeschool is becoming an increasingly popular educational choice for many Americans. More than two million children are learning in a home education setting, and more join the ranks of homeschoolers every year. However, there are still some major concerns for parents when it comes to home education, and one of the biggest is carrying the homeschool program through high school.

Many parents worry that homeschool is not a viable option for high school-aged students. There are many concerns in this regard. Some believe they lack the skills necessary to continue home education through high school. Others think that their children are missing out on the important social aspects of high school, such as the prom and graduation ceremonies, by continuing in a homeschool curriculum. Further concern is over higher education; some parents believe that their children will not be able to attend college with only a home-based education.

The good news is that there are solutions to all of these concerns. Today, colleges are more accepting than ever of homeschool students. In fact ,some colleges and universities actually prefer students from a home education background, as they are generally more independent, responsible, and better prepared for the challenges of college. Additionally, homeschool students are eligible to take the GED (General Equivalency Diploma) exam, which is a document accepted for admission by most colleges across the country.

When it comes to receiving a diploma, the answer can vary according to the desires of your children. Some students may want a physical certificate that they can frame as a symbol of their completion of a home education. Others may be satisfied by the knowledge they have acquired and the portfolio of work they’ve built up. Graduation ceremonies for homeschool students can take many forms. Homeschool families often hold small private ceremonies for family, and homeschool organizations will put together group graduations for several area homeschoolers at once. Students also have the option of enrolling part-time in high school during their senior year, which will allow them to attend the graduation ceremony as well as other senior activities, such as the prom.

There are many ways to make high school a successful option for your homeschool children. Parents who wish to continue to homeschool through the high school years should investigate the options and discuss them with their children. You can achieve homeschool success throughout your child’s education with creativity and planning, and arrive at a rewarding experience for the whole family.

By Mimi Rothschild

Sometimes parents may observe that their child has difficulty with certain subjects or elements in homeschool. For example, the homeschooler may have difficulty staying focused, may have difficulty producing speech and text accurately, or maybe the child is performing in homeschool at an academic grade lower than he or she should be. Such situations are, understandably, of great concern to parents; concerns which beg some questions. Does my child have special needs? If so, what extra support is needed and what should be done in home school to create it? The following is intended as a primer on the more frequently asked questions regarding home school and children with special needs, and cannot claim to be a comprehensive guide or response. If you truly suspect that your homeschooler has special needs, it is probably a good idea to seek out further information.

One of the most frequently encountered questions has to do with academic grade level: Does my child have a learning disorder if he is working within home school curriculum a grade level lower than his age says he should? The answer at this point is an extremely tentative “maybe”. A number of tests need to be done before the diagnoses of learning disability can be applied. However, that is already jumping too far ahead. To begin, the problem may be as simple as eyesight or hearing. Some people with poor eyesight adapt as they grow, and can go for some time before they or somebody else realizes they need glasses. If academic performance in the home school diminishes, this is one possible reason why. Another has to do with the simple and inevitable process of growing up. Part of maturity is mental and cognitive development, which progresses at a different rate for everybody. It is entirely possible that a homeschooler is either too challenged or not challenged enough by the material. A learning disorder or an attention deficit disorder should never be assumed.

That said, suppose for a moment that your homeschooler is diagnosed as having special needs. What then? This of course depends on the needs in question. For example, a homeschooler diagnosed with ADHD will require a greater degree of flexibility, more frequent changes in activity, and methods of learning both engaging and fun. In other cases the homeschooler may have what is known as a problem with Auditory Processing. This means that the homeschooler hears fine, but words sound jumbled and unintelligible to his or her brain. In this case, you will want to investigate programs and specialists for addressing such cases.

Working with special needs children, whether in a home school environment or elsewhere, can be both challenging and rewarding. The key is not only patience and support, but also the wisdom to avoid the temptation of “doing everything” for the child in question. Stress the ability in disability, and encourage the homeschooler with special needs to focus on strengths, and not to dwell on limitations.

By Mimi Rothschild

In the past, there were quite a few regulations on Education Savings Accounts, then called education IRAs. It wasn’t just homeschoolers that could not utilize the benefits of these savings accounts. None of the money invested in these accounts could be applied to any expenses, education or otherwise, outside of higher education. Annual contributions were limited to $500 for each child.

Things are changing! Though current circumstances around Education Savings Accounts are far from ideal for homeschoolers across the country, at least there have been steps in the right direction.

Ever since 2001, in fact, things have been moving in the right direction, though some homeschool families think they aren’t moving far enough or fast enough. It was then that the President signed Public Law 107-16 (PL 107-16) into being after Congress passed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (H.R. 1836). This meant a lot of changes when it came to taxes and finances in general, but one of the tenets in particular affected homeschool families, and that was the improvements to the education IRAs.

Aside from changing the name to Education Savings Accounts, the rules were changed significantly as well. For example, the most that parents can contribute to the account each year for each child was raised from $500 to $2000. Also, it is now possible to spend the money in the education savings account on education expenses for children in kindergarten through grade 12 without penalties, instead of on higher education alone.

The new Education Savings Accounts affect homeschoolers’ expenses. Tuition costs, fees for tutors, the cost of books, and expenses for computer hardware and software, whether for public or private school, are now qualified expenses under the new laws. This means that in the states where homeschools are considered private schools, homeschool parents may now use their investments in Education Savings Accounts on homeschool costs.

Here’s where some homeschoolers have the problem: not all homeschoolers qualify. The only states that provide for homeschools to be classified as private schools are Alabama, California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas. Even in Colorado, Florida, Maine, West Virginia, and Utah, where groups of homeschools can be recognized as private institutions, each individual homeschool in the group is not recognized as such and therefore doesn’t qualify.

There is a growing movement to change these regulations so that homeschoolers in every state of the union can enjoy the benefits of Education Savings Accounts. Should you be involved?

By Mimi Rothschild

One of the first things that homeschool families learn is that children have their own individual learning styles. Knowing this fact is one of the major advantages of teaching in a homeschool environment. Rather than having to stick to a public school curriculum that may not suit their particular needs, your homeschool children will be able to learn in a flexible environment that capitalizes on their strengths.

When it comes to teaching children to read, there is no reason for homeschoolers to adhere to the standard practice of the public school system and start when children are very young. In public school, children start their reading education in kindergarten, whether they are ready for it or not. This can have negative connotations for children who would be much better off learning to read at a later age, as they can be labeled as “slow readers” early on. Once a child has received such a negative label, it can affect every aspect of his or her education. In homeschool, parents have the freedom of being able to focus on their children’s particular learning styles, and they don’t have to force their children to learn anything before they are ready. Supported by studies that have shown that children may be better off learning to read at a later age, many homeschool parents are comfortable with adding formal reading studies to their homeschool curriculum when their children are 7 years old or even older.

Even though many homeschoolers don’t put an emphasis on teaching reading in the early school years, that doesn’t mean that their younger children aren’t learning about reading. When homeschool parents read to their children often, watch videos with them and help them learn to recognize their names or phone numbers, children are learning the beginning steps of reading in a very natural way. Without the pressure of being forced to read textbooks that they might not particularly like, or the pressure of knowing that they will be tested on everything they read, children learn that reading can be pleasurable. Watching their parents enjoy a good book, having a parent read to them, and observing how parents read such things as road signs, restaurant signs, etc, teaches children the importance of being able to read well without making reading seem like a chore. Homeschool parents are more in tune with their children as students, and they will know when their children are ready to take the next step to a higher level of reading education. Learning to read in this natural way can give children a lifelong love of reading that will positively affect every aspect of their lives.

By Mimi Rothschild

One of the first things that homeschool families learn is that children have their own individual learning styles. Knowing this fact is one of the major advantages of teaching in a homeschool environment. Rather than having to stick to a public school curriculum that may not suit their particular needs, your homeschool children will be able to learn in a flexible environment that capitalizes on their strengths.

When it comes to teaching children to read, there is no reason for homeschoolers to adhere to the standard practice of the public school system and start when children are very young. In public school, children start their reading education in kindergarten, whether they are ready for it or not. This can have negative connotations for children who would be much better off learning to read at a later age, as they can be labeled as “slow readers” early on. Once a child has received such a negative label, it can affect every aspect of his or her education. In homeschool, parents have the freedom of being able to focus on their children’s particular learning styles, and they don’t have to force their children to learn anything before they are ready. Supported by studies that have shown that children may be better off learning to read at a later age, many homeschool parents are comfortable with adding formal reading studies to their homeschool curriculum when their children are 7 years old or even older.

Even though many homeschoolers don’t put an emphasis on teaching reading in the early school years, that doesn’t mean that their younger children aren’t learning about reading. When homeschool parents read to their children often, watch videos with them and help them learn to recognize their names or phone numbers, children are learning the beginning steps of reading in a very natural way. Without the pressure of being forced to read textbooks that they might not particularly like, or the pressure of knowing that they will be tested on everything they read, children learn that reading can be pleasurable. Watching their parents enjoy a good book, having a parent read to them, and observing how parents read such things as road signs, restaurant signs, etc, teaches children the importance of being able to read well without making reading seem like a chore. Homeschool parents are more in tune with their children as students, and they will know when their children are ready to take the next step to a higher level of reading education. Learning to read in this natural way can give children a lifelong love of reading that will positively affect every aspect of their lives.

By Mimi Rothschild

The decision to homeschool is one that many parents make when they want to raise their children in a Christian atmosphere. Homeschool allows you to bring up children who love the Lord and are committed to faith. A successful homeschool is an enriching experience for the entire family; however, it is not without problems. As a parent who is educating your children at home, you will likely experience burnout at some point; feeling exhausted, stressed, and generally overwhelmed. Homeschool does not have to be a frustrating experience for you if you change your attitude about the way your child is learning!

One of the most common reasons for this burnout is the continuing battle to meet self-prescribed standards and pre-determined deadlines. Some homeschool parents feel like failures when their children don’t seem to do as well as they hoped. As a parent who is teaching your children at home, you should keep in mind that your ultimate goal should not be to pursue an agenda, but to raise your children according to the Lord’s will and allow them to know Him. Your primary goal should be to ensure that your children become good people, regardless of their academic performance.

Many homeschool parents are frustrated, stressed, and at a loss for direction when their children don’t “get it.” They can lose control when children become stuck on a certain subject or course, and become so focused on fixing the academic error that they lose sight of the bigger picture. This situation feeds on itself, creating undue amounts of stress for both parents and children. You don’t have to let frustration and pride rule your homeschool. It is important to always keep in mind that even if your homeschoolers don’t seem to understand the lessons, they are learning in a loving environment that will allow them to succeed even if they can’t pass a chemistry test.

Homeschool is not an agenda; it is a lifestyle choice. Parents who decide to homeschool do so in the best interests of their children. When you allow stress and frustration to take hold, you are defeating the purpose of the situation. As a homeschool parent, you can put your faith and trust in the Lord and know that your children will be rewarded for doing their best—as you will be rewarded for doing your best for them. Once you realize what is important to focus on in your homeschool, everything else will fall into place. Don’t let homeschool burnout get the best of you!

By Mimi Rothschild

When it comes to educating your children, most parents have two options: enroll them in public or private school, or homeschool them. Many parents are choosing to homeschool their children because of the higher quality of education they can receive outside of public schools. Another of the reasons some parents decide to homeschool is to give their children a strong foundation in their faith. Public schools do not allow God in the classroom, and homeschooling gives Christian parents the option to raise their children with God in their lives.

There is a parable that relates the education of children to the building of a house, and makes a convincing case for homeschooling. In this story, a man wants to build a house, and make it the most attractive and beautiful house in town. He discovers that through a free government program, he can get the state to help him build the house. The state provides the man with free blueprints, free land, and a free contractor to build the house for him. So, the state builds the man a large, attractive house for free, and the man is happy to have such a fine house that looks great next to his neighbors.

Now, this parable may seem in favor of public education over homeschooling thus far, if you consider that the state is the public education system. Why not take advantage of all these free things? However, the rest of the parable illustrates the real power of homeschooling. The man and his wife sat down to dinner in their new, beautiful home, and discussed why the cabinet doors and the windows wouldn’t shut properly. As they talked the man noticed a crack in the wall, and another in the ceiling. Soon large chunks were falling out. The man called the contractor, who said it wasn’t his job to fix the house; he could only go by the state specifications. Then the pipes burst, the walls trembled, and the entire house collapsed. It was soon discovered that the reason the beautiful house fell was a lack of firm foundation. It had been built on sand.

Homeschooling allows parents to build a firm foundation for their children’s education. When you choose to homeschool, you can allow God to be the architect of you and your child’s lives. Parents who homeschool will be satisfied in knowing their children’s education is based on solid foundations. Homeschooling allows your child to enjoy a close relationship with the Lord and become good Christians. For many homeschool parents, this firm faith base is the best gift homeschooling provides. Homeschool with pride, and let God be your architect.