Because their children were being bullied in public school this fall, a Nashville family decided last month to homeschool them for the remainder of the school year. Unfortunately, the principal of the elementary school where the children were enrolled refused to acknowledge their withdrawal for homeschooling even after the father met with him and expressed his concern over the school’s failure to protect his children from bullying. To assure the principal that the children remained in compliance with Tennessee’s compulsory attendance law, the church-related school through which the children were being homeschooled sent the public school official an email verifying the children’s enrollment. Despite this, about a week later the family received in the mail from the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools a “Notice of Truancy,” warning them of legal action against them unless their children were returned to school… HSLDA TN
Many people who choose to homeschool do so because they have lost faith in the public school system, some homeschool for religious reasons, and others do it to help children who have fallen behind or to challenge those who are academically advanced. Whatever the reason, the choice to homeschool can often leave parents wondering, ” Can I do this?” or ” Do I want to do this?” and even, “Do I have to teach everything?” The short answer is that homeschoolers now have many options to choose from… SuwaneePatch
As parents we all want what’s best for our children. We have to constantly make important decisions that will affect their futures. I had to make one of the biggest decisions this year, when we chose to pull our children from their elementary school and enroll them in the new district charter, Oxford Preparatory Academy… OCRegister
Here are some of the best letters I received from the homeschooling debate recently in my column that started with Unenthusiastic Mom, who didn’t want to take it on, though her child asked for it… Miss Lonelyhearts
Augusta Scott, 15, is a good all-round student, her parents say. The 10th-grader’s passion is art, however, and she has won awards for her digital drawings. Scott says she’s glad that as a home-schooled student, she has more flexible time to explore other media as well, such as free-hand drawing and making clay sculptures, than she would if she attended public school… Ames Tribune
There are a few questions about homeschooling that I field frequently. People often ask how our homeschool room is set up, and they ask what curriculum we use. The curriculum question is fairly simple. We supplement real-life learning with voracious reading. Once our children get to third grade, we implement a computerized curriculum to make sure we cover the basics and to make record-keeping and grading simpler… AppealDemocrat.com
Robert Bruce Thompson, author of “Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments”, has assembled a chemistry set to sell to amateur chemistry buffs and homeschoolers… Wired.com
At the Miami Zoo, 26 homeschooled students walked onstage to receive their diploma in the first South Florida homeschool graduation, The New York Times reported… World Magazine