Over 2 Million Homeschooled Children in US

There are now over 2 million children in the US that are homeschooled.  Below is a link to the news article and here is an awesome quote to encourage moms out there who think their kids are getting a sub-par education:

A 2010 study published in the Journal of College admission found that “homeschool students possess higher ACT scores, grade point averages (GPAs) and graduation rates when compared to traditionally-educated students.”

Go here to read the full article: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/over-two-million-children-homeschooled-in-us

Opinion: Homeschool Tax Break

You may have heard or read the push to get homeschoolers a tax break.  The idea is that homeschoolers should receive some sort of compensation for what they do and purchase and they want to do it in the form of tax breaks.  Now, I'm all for tax breaks, especially since I pay for other's education and none of that comes to me.  Here is my opinion and you can read the ongoing debate at the NY Times here:
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/04/do-home-schoolers-deserve-a-tax-break

Benefits of the Homeschool Tax Break

1. We get what we are paying for - homeschoolers, whether we like it or not, are paying for public education that we don't use.  With a homeschool tax break, we would get a return on what we pay to use for our child's education
2. It would encourage others to homeschool - having the advantage of a tax break, it may spur others on the fence to homeschool their children

Dangers of the Homeschool Tax Break

1. Government - I don't want the government telling me what to do, that is why I homeschool.  With this tax break it could possibly bring more rigorous government oversight into my home and regulations.
2. Freedom - not only will the government give us homeschoolers more rules, but it most likely infringe upon our freedoms of what and how we educate our children.  

I can foresee the rigid rules and regulations coming ahead if they pass a homeschool tax break.  To give us money back, they will want to "check up" on us and I just don't like that.  The whole reason I educate my child is because she is MY child, not the government's.

Having said all that, I will have no choice but to be regulated if they pass this tax break. The way I look at it is this - I'm already paying for other children's education, it would be nice to know that money we pay for something we don't use, will come back to us to use for our child.  So in summary, we can get reimbursed for paying for public education we don't use BUT at a cost of having government intrusion on our freedom.  I don't know about you other homeschoolers, but I am tired of paying for a godless public education system!  Bring on the $500 tax break (of money I already pay) so I can purchase God-filled education for my child! 

God - Is He Irrelevant to Your Child's Education?

Beck asks how did all this happen?  I can answer that - it is when they took God OUT of the schools and began to count him IRRELEVANT to education.  He just doesn't matter between the hours of 7-2 to some parents does he?  I mean taking God out of education was not ENOUGH for some, why would taking the pledge away or the flag bother them either? 

If you don't have much time to watch the whole video, make sure to check out at around 12 minutes to see how SAT scores went down after they took God out of schools and how premarital sex went UP afterwards as well.  

School Bus Indoctrination

As if the indoctrination of children in the public school institutions wasn't enough, now they get more indoctrination on the ride to and from school:



Thanks to Candy for the info.

March's Continuing Collapse

A must read each month! Their goal is to

"help families and churches return to a Biblical understanding of education so that Christians will rescue their children from the dark and decaying government school system. This, in turn, will bring reformation to our families, churches, communities, culture, and country and repentance to the government school tares in our midst.

Remember, a child's soul is a terrible thing to waste..."

Here is this month's edition:
http://www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/Blog/Entries/2010/3/9_The_Continuing_Collapse__March_2010.html

The Continuing Collapse; January 2010

2010 is now upon us. Will this be the year that Christians begin to stop offering up their children as living sacrifices to the Moloch of government schools.........

Read more here.

Homeschooling Saves States Money

I found a wonderful article today from another blogger and below are some quotes:

"...home-schoolers save the state of Nevada between $24 million and $34 million per year, decreasing schools' expenses far more than the decrease in revenues, thus creating a net gain for the school districts."

"...studies by other researchers that show the value of home-schooling in other areas: home-schoolers have higher self-esteem, fewer behavior disorders, better academic performance, and more college attendance than their peers in public and private schools."

"...students educated at home or in private schools saved North Carolina taxpayers $1.3 billion in 2006-2007. Private school students there numbered 98,000, but home-schoolers were a healthy 70,000 — about 42 percent of the students not in public school. The savings created by North Carolina home-schoolers alone totals about $546 million in a school year."

You can read the full story here.

The Socialization Myth Debunked

Great article and a must read for every homeschooler:
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/washingtontimes/200912140.asp

Here is an excerpt:

Until recently, “Homeschooling Grows Up” was the only study that addressed the socialization of home-schooled adults. Now we have a new longitudinal study titled “Fifteen Years Later: Home-Educated Canadian Adults” from the Canadian Centre for Home Education. This study surveyed homeschooled students whose parents participated in a comprehensive study on home education in 1994. The study compared homeschoolers who are now adults with their peers. The results are astounding.

When measured against the average Canadians ages 15 to 34 years old, home-educated Canadian adults ages 15 to 34 were more socially engaged (69 percent participated in organized activities at least once per week, compared with 48 percent of the comparable population). Average income for homeschoolers also was higher, but perhaps more significantly, while 11 percent of Canadians ages 15 to 34 rely on welfare, there were no cases of government support as the primary source of income for homeschoolers. Homeschoolers also were happier; 67.3 percent described themselves as very happy, compared with 43.8 percent of the comparable population. Almost all of the homeschoolers—96 percent—thought homeschooling had prepared them well for life.

Stupid in America

This is a long video but worth watching!

Home Grown Love for Learning