May 25th, 2010
“By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent
Monday, May 24, 2010
THE number of children registered for home-schooling has more than trebled to almost 700 in just five years.
The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) began assessing families whose children are taught at home in 2004, when it received applications from 92 families involving 138 children.
By the end of 2008, there were 439 children from 295 families registered as being home-educated, but a further 200 were added by the end of last year.
In the first three months of 2010, another 18 families and 22 children have been included on the register, bringing the total number of students to 661. …”
For the complete article visit: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/kfcwaugbkfsn/rss2/
Posted in Ireland, homeschooling | No Comments »
May 25th, 2010
1 A JOINT RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION
2 OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE ISSUE OF LOWERING THE
3 MAXIMUM AGE OF INITIAL ENROLLMENT IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS FROM
4 AGE SEVEN TO AGE SIX.
5 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
6
SECTION 1.
The Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee is directed to
7 study whether the maximum initial age for enrollment in the public schools shall be lowered
8 from age seven to age six.
9
SECTION 2.
The Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee shall report its
10 findings and recommendations to the 2011 Regular Session of the General Assembly before it
11 convenes.
12
SECTION 3. This resolution is effective upon ratification.
http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2009/Bills/House/PDF/H1948v0.pdf
Posted in North Carolina, legislative | No Comments »
May 19th, 2010
“PARENTS are taking over educating their children as schools fail to protect them from bullying, claims a home schooling advocate.
Homeschooling Association of Queensland president Bob Osmak warned the number of parents inquiring about homeschooling was rising.
“Many parents are becoming aware that the Queensland system is failing to educate their children and, not only that, the children are being bullied and physically assaulted at school,’’ Mr Osmak said. “I get a lot of phone calls from parents all over the state who want to take their children out of school.’’ …”
For the complete text please visit: http://caboolture-shire-herald.whereilive.com.au/news/story/home-schooling-a-refuge-from-bullying/
Posted in Australia | No Comments »
May 15th, 2010
by SHELLY SLATER
WFAA
“…Later, Joy decided to share with News 8 what she told her parents about the abuse she had endured at Stafford Middle School.
“I want to die and I can’t put up with this school any more,” she said.
Suicidal thoughts were the last straw for Joy’s parents. They pulled her out of the classroom on Tuesday and plan to set up home schooling.
“When it comes to calling kids racist names — ‘lesbian’ and ‘go dig a hole and crawl in it and die’ — that crosses a line, that is harassment,” Angie Pierce said.
Pierce even filed a police report over an incident that escalated to violence.
“She had been hit with a metal broom head across her forehead,” Pierce said.
Joy’s parents concede that the Frisco ISD educates students about bullying. That’s how Joy knew to speak up.
But they say the help stopped there, so it was time for home schooling….”
For the complete article please visit: http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/Frisco-parents-remove-daughter-from-school-after-bullying-93779134.html
Posted in Public School, Taxes, homeschooling | No Comments »
May 11th, 2010
By JENNIFER RADCLIFFE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
“More than 22,620 Texas secondary students who stopped showing up for class in 2008 were excluded from the state’s dropout statistics because administrators said they were being home-schooled, according to Texas Education Agency figures.
But that’s where the scrutiny of this growing population seems to end, leaving some experts convinced that schools are disguising thousands of middle and high school dropouts in this hands-off category.
While home-schooling’s popularity has increased, the rate of growth concentrated in Texas’ high school population is off the chart: It’s nearly tripled in the last decade, including a 24 percent jump in a single year.
“That’s just ridiculous,” said Brian D. Ray, founder of the National Home Education Research Institute. “It doesn’t sound very believable.”…”
For the complete article please visit: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6999109.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+houstonchronicle%2Ftopheadlines+%28chron.com+-+Top+Stories%29
Posted in Board of Education, Texas | No Comments »
May 10th, 2010
“UNLIKE most parents, who leave the education of their young to schools and tuition centres, one mother bravely steps outside the box.
“When I had Andrea, it was natural to base my whole life around her,” says Eileen Lian, 49, who has been home-schooling her two children from the start.
The path she took wasn’t a criticism of the public schooling system, she adds, but rather, a natural progression of parenting. Andrea is now 14 and her brother Joshua, 11.
“I breastfed her and my husband Dennis and I practised attachment parenting, which means the baby was with us at all times. It was about having her around and respecting her as you would an adult. When Andrea reached school-going age, we had no doubt that homeschooling was the way to go.”….”
For the complete article visit: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2010/5/9/lifefocus/6197294&sec=lifefocus
Posted in Curriculum, homeschooling | No Comments »
February 5th, 2010
“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. …”
For the complete article please visit: http://www.9news.com/news/watercooler/article.aspx?storyid=132141&catid=337
Posted in Iowa | No Comments »
February 4th, 2010
“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….”
For the complete article visit: http://www.examiner.com/x-12080-Atlanta-StayatHome-Moms-Examiner~y2010m2d3-Home-schooling-Is-it-right-for-you?cid=channel-rss-Family_and_Parenting
Posted in Curriculum, Georgia, Support | No Comments »
February 3rd, 2010
“By Mark Geary, Reporter
By Mark Geary
Story Created: Feb 1, 2010 at 9:09 PM CST
Story Updated: Feb 1, 2010 at 10:59 PM CST
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. ….”
Posted in Board of Education, Iowa, legislative | No Comments »
February 3rd, 2010
“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.>>>’
For the complete text please visit: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20100202/NEWS01/100202011/1060
Posted in Louisiana, Taxes, legislative | No Comments »
