i think a little regulation can be a good thing

From my conversations with other homeschoolers, I think many want to be completely unregulated and undocumented.  I don't happen to agree with this.  Is there any part of our life that is completely unregulated?  We are members of a society and global community--no (wo/)man is an island, right?  We have rights and privileges because of our membership and we have responsibilities because of our membership.  I think that assuring some level of learning or education for our children is part of our responsibilities as world citizens.  I realize that the sticky part comes with definitions.  Different people define "learning" and "education" in different ways. 

When I was in another State homeschooling, there were virtually no homeschooling regulations.  We were left alone and we were on our own.  I know that people before me fought hard to allow homeschooling at all, and I appreciate it because I truly feel homeschooling should be an option.  However, after I moved to a State with a moderate (according to HSLDA) amount of regulations, I found more opportunities for homeschooling.  This also had to do with city size, I am sure, but in my previous State most homeschoolers wanted absolutely nothing to do with the public school system.  In my current State, homeschoolers are allowed by law to participate part-time in public schools.  Granted, I have heard that different districts are more or less friendly and helpful allowing homeschoolers in, but at least the law is there to back up any homeschooler who attempts to participate.  Currently, my kids participate in a homeschool enrichment program offered by a public school district.  We can check out all kinds of curricula for free (if we want it), my kids love it, we are not hassled by the schools in any way, the program is very parent-driven and managed by a homeschooling mom.  The school district gets to count the kids in the program and gets funding based on our participation.  To me, it is a win-win situation.  The only extra regulation in my current State we are subjected to is alternate year evaluations (which is liberally defined).

Homeschoolers, speak out!  How do you feel about regulation?

Do I homeschool for religious reasons? Yes.

I used to make it perfectly clear from the get-go that I did not start homeschooling for religious reasons.  After giving it a little more thought, I decided that I do, in part, homeschool for religious reasons.  I homeschool so my kids are not required to pledge allegiance to the flag "under God."  I homeschool so my kids won't be pestered (like I was in school) with the question that served as a litmus test for friendship:  "Do you believe in God?"  In my experience, school and our society is quite Christian-oriented and those who are not Christian (be they humanist, atheist, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc.) can easily feel marginalized.

This does not mean we stay at home and avoid people who are not "like us."  We have deep friendships and many relationships with families who have very different religious beliefs than ours.  The one thing we have in common is a tolerance for differing religious views and compassion for everyone regardless of their religious views.

So, yes, we do homeschool for religious reasons.

the effect of homeschooling on the parents

The more I talk to other homeschooling parents, the more I hear "I am getting the education I never got in school!"  I have yet to see any research on the effects of homeschooling on parental knowledge and world understanding.  Has anyone else?  I have learned so much more world history than I knew before I started homeschooling my kids.  The history coops in which we have participated for the last 7 years (wow, has it been that long?) have sparked so many great discussions among the parents that wouldn't have happened if our kids had been in traditional, institutional school settings.  Since our history coops have included people from varying political and religious backgrounds, I have learned so much and had my tolerance tested.

Because of homeschooling, I have also read more books than I ever would have--both children's literature and books on education and learning.  Grad school was hard, but this is just as hard...and the consequences of my "studying" are more important to me.  I am not just getting a grade, I am trying to give my kids the best learning environment possible.


Anyone else have something to add?  What have you learned?  How have you grown as a person/parent because of homeschooling?  How do you think these effects on homeschooling parents affects our society/community, if at all?

finally took the plunge

OK, so I finally decided to join the blog-o-sphere.  It feels a little egotistical, but I figure no one has to read it if they don't want to...so here goes.

The purpose of this blog is to give me a place to express my ever-evolving ideas about education in our society.  Many of my friends have had to endure my rants.  Perhaps this blog will be a place to help those rants develop into well-thought-out ideas.  I hope that readers will add their perspectives, point out my inconsistencies, and have fun thinking and blogging about education and learning.