| Al,
My wife and I have three children, the eldest turning 5 this Saturday.
We are planning on home-schooling him, starting next week. We would
like to think, at this point, that we will educate all of our children
at home, through high school, but will take it one year at a time. We
have considerable support from other home-schooling families, but not
necessarily from our own families. My wife's family is supportive,
although not sure about doing it long term. My mother is very much
against it. But...they are not her children, they are ours, and we will
do what we feel is best for them. We belong to an excellent support
group comprised of about 15-20 families here in Worcester County,
Mass., and also are involved in Mass. HOPE (home schooling organization
for parent educators). Their address is 15 Ohio St., Wilmington, MA
01887, and they are a state wide network. The contact person's name is
Bev Somogie, phone number (508) 658-8970. Ther is a support group
listed is a home-schooling magazine for the Springfield area (is this
where you are?)...the contact person is Cheryl Whitney, phone number is
(413) 782-9515.
There are many fine cuuriculum available. You can go with a whole line
from any particular manufacturer, or you can mix and match depending on
your child's individual level of ability. This is what we do. We have
chosen a curriculum book by Ann Ward, entitled "Learning at Home:
Preschool and Kindergarten; A Christian Parent's Guide with Day-by-Day
Lesson Plans Using the Library as a Resource". As you may notice by the
title of the book, it is written from a Christian perspective. We are
primarily choosing to educate our children at home, because we are
Bible-believing Christians, who are interested in instilling Godly
values in our children, and giving them a Biblically based
upbringing....no ratholes here, please. This is just our reasoning
why...many others have other reasons for home-schooling, but I think
you'll find that many are for religious reasons. All the organizations
I mentioned are Christian oriented, but Mass. HOPE is for the promotion
of home-schooling for any who want to, even though their basis is
Christian.
As far as legality...YES, in massachusetts, home-schooling is quite
legal! (actually, it is in all 50 states, but is regulatd to various
degrees in defferent states). But, individual superintendants have
quite a bit of say over specifics (like how often your child must be
formally tested, how often you must send samples of their work, how
many hours you should teach, etc.), and, unfortunately, they aren't
always aware of the laws regarding home-schooling and have even been
known to tell parents it is not legal. There is an excellent
association called the Home School Legal DEfense Assoc., that charges
dues of $100 per year per family. They will defend you, free of charge,
if you should ever be brought into court. They do insist, however,
that you join before you have any legal problems with your school
district. If your child is 5, and won't be 6 before the end of the
school year, you do not need to enroll her this year...by law. A child
must be enrolled by the year they turn 6. In other words, our child,
who will be 5 Sautrday, needn't be in school...legally...this year. We
are not contacting our school district until next year.
We have copies of laws, etc., and if you would also like copies, we can
send them to you (contact me via mail).
There is an excellent magazine for Christian Home-schooelrs, called
"The Teaching Home"...it deals with issues such as socialization,
advanced studies, teaching more than one child at a time, etc......I
highly recommend it.
If you'd like to discuss more, you can send me mail....I'd be more than
happy to talk with anyone interested in home-schooling!
--dave--
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| re. .3-
Kate,
Yes, it is. The group's name is Home Education for Life Preparation
(H.E.L.P.), and it is a support group for Christian home schoolers in
Worcester county. However, Mass. HOPE, while Christian based and
oriented, works for the benefit of ALL home-schoolers, particularly in
the legislative arena. I do not know of any non-Christian support
groups, off-hand, but will ask around...there is, in fact, a Mass. HOPE
meeting tonite, that my wife and I are going to...I can ask around
there, if you'd like.
--dave--
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My wife's cousins have educated their children at home. Make sure you
know all the applicable laws. One of their neighbors tried to turn them
in for truancy, and the authorities hasseled them for a few years.
I think John Holt, the author of "How Children Learn" and "How Children
Fail" wrote a book on the subject of home education.
But please, have some common sense. These kids are with their parents
24 hours a day and never interact with kids their own age. To me, they
are bright, but socially retarded, and would be lost without their
parents. The oldest is 18. They plan for her to go to college, but I
don't think she'll make it in a classroom environment, or being by
herself for the first time.
Also, there is no way you can offer *everthing* a good high school has to
offer. So plan on your kids missing out on some things.
My wife and I plan to work closely with our kids and not depend on the
school system to educate them.
My parents left it up to the school and were never supportive. I had a
miserable time thru public school and never learned how to really study
until my first year in college.
Guy
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