I am sure many of you have heard of the recent California court decision that essentially makes homeschooling illegal in California unless you are a certified teacher.
The family involved in the case plans on appealing to the California Supreme Court.
You don’t have to be a homeschooler to support homeschooling. In my opinion, this case is about freedom, the freedom we have as Americans to choose our children’s education. The freedom we have as parents to raise our children in the way we think it best. For some it is homeschooling, for some private schools, and for some public schools, it doesn’t really matter, what matters is that you make the decision.
I can’t imagine many people in America allowing the courts to decide what type of vehicle we should be allowed to drive, or what shoes we can wear, or what neighborhood we are allowed to live in. But yet somehow, the courts should be able to decide for an entire state how all the children should be educated?
The courts in CA have decided that parents are not qualified to teach their children unless they are a certified teacher. What is the next step? Will we be unable to teach our preschoolers unless we have an early education certification? Will be be able to take our babies home from the hospital with us unless we have a pediatric care certification?
Do not forget government schools where not the norm in our country until the late 1800′s. Before that time almost everyone was homeschooled. It was only with the industrial revolution and the move away from family farming, that government schools were seen as a necessity in our country. Little by little we have allowed the government to step in and raise our children, to the point that now the burden is on us to prove that we are capable of doing the same.
The time to act is now. Please visit www.hslda.org to learn more about this case and sign a petition to support homeschool freedom in California. Please send this post to family and friends so that they too can support our freedom as parents.
homeschoolers at work
If you would like more information on this court decision, Jesse Paine has written an easy to read explanation here.
Thanks for letting us know about this. I actually hadn’t heard about it yet. So I signed the petition, and I’m forwarding your post to family members. My mother home schooled myself and my 2 brothers. It was great for us.
Now my husband and I have chosen not to home school. But I completely support anyone who chooses to do this. It takes a lot of patience, dedication, self-sacrifice and work. I admire anyone determined to home-school. My mother was a wonderful teacher. I look back on my home-schooled years with fond memories.
Thanks for sharing that! I hadn’t heard about the case out here in Cali yet and I think you are right about it being a freedom issue. It’s a slippery slope, you let them take away one freedom and before you know it they WILL control what we drive, what we eat, and even what we think!
It’s scary! I’ve been thinking about what I would do if I was ever forced to send my kids to school. I would just go with them. Every single day!!! Eventually they would be begging me to go home and take my brats with me!
LOL to The Lazy Organizer!!
Well my daughter goes to Private school. Even though she is only in Preschool we have decided to sign her and have her attend Kindergarten and the rest of her schooling with them (they go to 8th grade). They actually encourage the parents to come and view and observe. I LOVE IT! Before I found this school I was not impressed with the schools here as well as had my own negatives on both public and private even I had attended so I was very selective and almost taught her myself. How very unfortunate for this family and the rest of them doing this in CA. Having lived there I knew several families from our ward that this will affect. I this this goes against our freedom and I support the petition fully!
Molly
ha- must be late (waiting on laundry for tomorrow to dry here) please excuse my last sentences…LOL at least they made sense to me! I meant that “I THINK this goes….” Laughs on me
I live in ND and homeschooled children are very much the minority here. I have only known one family in my 25 years of existance that homeschools and they ended up eventually going to public school.
Therefore, I don’t know much about homeschooling, nor do I weigh the pros and cons.
I do know that it should be up to a parent as to what sort of life they want to provide for their children. I do agree that it is unfair to make that decision for them.
WOW! This decision not only infringes on how you educate your children, it DOES tell you where to live, what kind of car to drive, etc. If you live in a school district that isn’t highly rated, now you roll the dice and send your kids anyway, move to a better district or send your child to private schools. Many private schools don’t have transportation, so now you need a car to drive your children to school. Depending on the distance you may need a car that is more fuel effiecient. It’s a trickle down effect.
There is also a huge assumption here that by getting certified, you are suddenly a better teacher for your children. Is every teacher in public or private school with a degree in education and certification a good teacher?
I have only heard a little information about this but it surprised me. Though, I’m not surprised it started in California. My kids aren’t school age yet & I don’t know if I’ll be homeschooling or not but agree it’s a freedom issue. Homeschooling still has guidelines and requirements to meet so I don’t know what the issue is here. I’ve signed the petition. Thanks for putting the word out. I may do the same on my blog.
I have posted about this situation as well. It is good to see someone else who can see the importance of this issue and takes it seriously. So many people are not.
You can read my take on this matter here:
http://www.thefullquiverhomeschoolhouse.wordpress.com
I dont think the importance lies within the fact that you homeschool your children yourself or you disagree or agree with homeschooling, the importance lies within the fact that every parent should have the RIGHT to decide for their own benefit what is best for their own children and whether to educate them through private, public or home schooling! This is just another case of one of our rights be taken away. If California opens this door, then I guarantee other states will follow. We dont want that!
Although I’m not a homeschooler, I do feel like any kind of legislation against it would be horrible. Thanks for bringing this to our attention!
I am not so sure it is a bad decision. My cousin homeschooled her kids, and she was trained as a secondary ed teacher. I know that it is possible to download curriculum from websites, and I am sure most homeschoolers are very conscientious people who try to provide the best for their children. California’s courts did not say the certification procedure has to be the same for homeschoolers as for professional teachers, only that certification should be necessary. If California created a homeschool cert system similar to the fast-track systems most states have for people without teaching degrees to become teachers, in 8 weeks a person could be certified. That certification could strengthen claims of homeschooled children when applying for college that they have had an education equal to if not better than their peers.
I am just musing here. I am not anti-home schooling. I teach at a university and I see a lot of ill-prepared students come through the door. One concern I have is that parents choosing to homeschool may not understand what is required to prepare a kid for college and a certification course could help parents know what to expect, how to choose reputable curricula, etc.