This blog exists to impartially compile and make available, information that may be pertinent to the rights of registered NC homeschoolers. Comments and discussion are invited via the Homeschool Alliance yahoo list. Membership on the Homeschool Alliance yahoo list is open to all independent homeschoolers registered with the North Carolina Department of Non Public Education, who support the mission and goals of HA-NC. To join visit http://www.ha-nc.org/index.html
“DES MOINES - First-grader Matthias Beattie this week joined the hundreds of U.S. children suspended each year under post-Columbine “zero tolerance” policies when he took a shotgun shell to his school.
The difference is that Matthias is home-schooled.
The 6-year-old Carlisle boy takes a class once a week through a Des Moines school district program that pairs public school teachers with home-schooled children.
The boy’s parents say his one-week suspension lacks common sense.
“Matthias is a little kid from the farm, and he did not have intent to do any harm,” his mother, Charlene Beattie, said. …”
“As the deadlines for Atlanta’s independent schools and area preschools approach throughout this month, many parents are now opting out of this process entirely and choosing to home school.
The U.S. Department of Education estimated in 2007 that 1.5 million students nationwide were home schooled, including a high percentage in the South. In Georgia, 39,207 students were home schooled in 2009, according to numbers compiled by the state Department of Education, though many think the numbers may be higher….”
EASTERN IOWA – A debate is brewing in the Iowa Legislature about how money earmarked for home-schooling should be spent.
Iowa’s Department of Education wants lawmakers to hold home school assistance programs more accountable and limit where those programs can use taxpayer dollars.
Home school assistance programs give students and parents access to certified teachers, materials and even some classes. Funding for those kinds of activities would remain the same. ….”
“BATON ROUGE — Parents who racked up bills sending their children to public and private elementary and secondary schools can now write off half of some of the costs.
The Louisiana Department of Revenue next week will host a series of statewide public education forums to explain the new Louisiana School Tuition & Expense Tax Deduction. Teams will be in a number of cities at 6 p.m. on Feb. 9 to present details of the new tax break for filing on this year’s tax forms, which are due May 15.
Whether it’s tuition, fees, uniforms, books or supplies, parents who keep records of those expenses made on or after Jan. 1, 2009, can claim a 50 percent deduction — up to $5,000 per child — as long as the purchases are required by their children’s schools.
The deduction is not available to non-residents. Students attending schools in some border cities actually live across state lines.
The legislation started off as allowing the deduction for private school tuition but state lawmakers expanded it to also include expenses incurred for attending public schools and home-schooling students.>>>’
“HATTIESBURG, Miss. — On a rainy Friday afternoon in October, junior quarterback Stevie Douglas emerged from a well-traveled minivan that had begun its journey in Clinton, La. Teammates Ronald Brown, Rennel Hammond, Mike-el Arvie and Jeremy Arvie emerged from a white van bearing the logo of the New Life Tabernacle Church in Opelousas, La. From other vehicles came more players — 21 in all — and they toted their duffel bags into one of the leftover FEMA trailers that served as locker rooms for a tiny football stadium in the shadow of a graveyard.
Once inside, several players dipped into their bags and pulled out their helmets. Then they dipped back into their bags and pulled out screwdrivers to repair their helmets. The team doesn’t have an equipment manager for the same reason they didn’t come to Hattiesburg in a school bus. To use a school bus, the Patriots would have to play for a brick-and-mortar school.
The vast majority of the players are on this team homeschooled. Their official name is the Christian Home Educators Fellowship Patriots, but for their game against Hattiesburg’s Alpha Christian Academy, the public address announcer simply called them the Baton Rouge Patriots. It seemed easier than explaining what the Patriots are: a ragtag team assembled from a 60-mile radius around Baton Rouge that pays for its own equipment, uniforms, transportation and officials and rarely practices on Wednesdays to avoid interfering with church services….”
“A German couple who fled to Tennessee so they could home-school their children was granted political asylum Tuesday by a U.S.immigration judge, according to the legal group that represented them.
The decision clears the way for Uwe Romeike, his wife and five kids to stay in Morristown, Tenn., where they have lived since 2008.
Romeike says his family was persecuted for their evangelical Christian beliefs and for home-schooling in Germany, where school attendance is compulsory….”
Cindy Stevens, mother of 3, and Lisa Jewett, mother of 5, have taught their children all that they know — well, not exactly everything. But, the two women aren’t just mothers. They are teachers. Stevens and Jewett teach their kids at home, taking on everything from choosing the curriculum, writing lesson plans and grading exams….”
In the hours before the 2010 legislative session opened last week, the presence of home schooling parents on the State House lawn was matched only by that of gun enthusiasts.
The home school contingent, mostly mothers, held signs and passed out buttons protesting legislation that would tighten rules on home education. Many protesters cited the 14-6 vote of the House Education Committee to kill the bill as evidence that all but a few legislators agree that existing laws suffice….”
Five months ago, Rebecca Arms joined an army of parents pulling their kids out of school to teach them at home.
In Florida, home schooling is seeing its biggest increase since 2005. And in Central Florida, its growth is even more pronounced.
In Brevard County, for example, the number of kids sitting for lessons in their kitchens and living rooms surged 20 percent last school year. It jumped 15 percent in Seminole and Polk counties, according to a recent report from the state Department of Education….”
Kathleen Rubio has been a teacher for more than 15 years, but she has only had seven full-time students.
And they don’t call her Mrs. Rubio. They call her Mom.
“I tease I’ve now gone through high school four times,” said Rubio, 45.
The Rubios are among at least 210 families — likely many more — who are home-schooling their children in the Jackson area this year.
About 150 are members of the Jackson Area Home Educators, a Christian organization led by Kathleen’s husband, Reuben Rubio. Jackson Catholic Home Educators also has about 60 families as members.
But there are countless other families who are not part of an organization. Home schoolers are also not required to report to the Michigan Department of Education, so there is no official tally….”
