“Homeschoolers don’t cost you (The Wenatchee World)” plus 2 more |
- Homeschoolers don’t cost you (The Wenatchee World)
- 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' celebrates Henrietta couple's relationship (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
- BakersGuide.com Becomes More Attractive to Christian Colleges and Online Learners (PRWeb via Yahoo! News)
| Homeschoolers don’t cost you (The Wenatchee World) Posted: 09 Feb 2010 12:16 PM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. The Wenatchee World recently ran a series of articles on our state's online schools. The Feb. 1 article showed the more challenging side of online schools' impact on local public schools and their funding. There were references to homeschooling which I believe need to be clarified. Allow me to explain our educational choices. Families have three options in order to comply with the state's compulsory attendance law. We may send our children to public or private schools, or we may homeschool. This is the 25th year since passage of our homeschooling law, legally called home-based instruction. These three options are clearly defined with rules and responsibilities, for both administrators and parents. I have homeschooled for 16 years, been actively involved with our law for close to the same amount of time, and am familiar with the rules which have allowed alternative schools since 1996. Homeschooling families cost their local school districts and the state of Washington nothing. We do not purchase books, computers or finance our lunches and field trips with state or local money. Some 25 years ago our legislators wisely recognized that parents would be responsible for "all decisions relating to philosophy or doctrine, selection of books, teaching materials and curriculum, methods and timing." We ask nothing from the state and the state recognizes our responsibility for our children's education. Public schools are held accountable for the tax dollars spent to educate children in their care under specific State Standards and Goals. In 1996 the Alternative Learning Experience Program code was passed. This law allowed for schools to develop or contract out programs which offered alternatives to the traditional brick-and-mortar public school. It did not eliminate the obligation to meet Washington's standards. So, what are the differences? What makes public, private or homeschooling different from one another? As I've pointed out, there are legal definitions for all three options. For all three, it comes down to who directs our children's education. With homeschooling, decisions on book selection, method of teaching and the timing of what is taught are completely up to the parent. My sons would most likely have been deemed late readers. Homeschoolers have the option not to follow someone else's timeline. Instead we can focus on our child's interests and their need to investigate the world. We are the ones who determine what is or is not a learning experience. We are free to frame our learning within, but not limited to, the 11 required subjects, based on the needs for our family. So imagine my surprise and chagrin when I read in The Wenatchee World that the Methow Valley School District was losing $60,000 when 15 "homeschool" families left their district program for another. This is not possible, because these families were not under the home-based instruction option. Homeschool families do not leave public school. What has happened are public school students who were enrolled in an Alternative Learning Program decided to leave, and by doing so, their funding leaves the district. It is not the location of study that determines the legal differences. These students are public school students who happen to work at home. Thus they are held to the same standards and timelines as all public school students. Homeschooling has made my boys confident, not as worldly as most public school kids but just as engaging and fun to be with. One has "succeeded" in the real world and is in his third year at Central Washington University. My oldest gained mastery in reading the series called "Goosebumps." We have chalked thousands of hours on Northwest trails "studying" plants and geology while they built their muscles climbing rocks. We are all immensely happy not having had to fulfill worksheets or state standards. Emilie Fogle, East Wenatchee, is a homeschooling mom and member of Valley Home Educators and the Washington Homeschool Organization board. She can be reached at pleatus@hotmail.com or go to www. washhomeschool.org. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Posted: 10 Feb 2010 02:08 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. HENRIETTA — Years ago, Lisa Tiffin surprised her husband on Valentine's Day with something he never expected: an all-female barbershop quartet that serenaded him at the couple's home. "He was looking at me like, 'What is going on?'" Tiffin recalled with a laugh. This year, the mother of two has another surprise in store for her husband, Daryl. Tiffin, a freelance writer, recently had an essay she wrote about their first date published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: True Love. Even though the book came out in December, Tiffin has been waiting to tell her husband. "Even my kids have been sworn to secrecy," she said. Tiffin and her husband have been together for nearly 20 years, but their relationship got off to a bumpy start. Tiffin's essay, First Date, First Dent, recalls how she accidentally bumped into Daryl's car the first time they went out. "It was kind of an odd way to end a first date," she said. To her shock, Daryl barely even looked at the scratches and told her it was fine — "a good clue," Tiffin said, that he was the right guy for her. Two years later, the couple drove away in that same car after their wedding with a "Just Married" sign over the bumper. "I'm totally the opposite of him in the sense that if it had happened to my car, we probably wouldn't be married now," Tiffin said, laughing. "I'm really uptight about that." Tiffin and her husband are "just flawless together," said Jud Decker, a former professor of Tiffin's at Roberts Wesleyan College who has known the couple for 20 years. "This is not hyperbole or gushing, but I don't know two finer people than Lisa and Daryl," Decker said, noting how talented a writer Tiffin is. Along with her writing, Tiffin also home-schools the couple's twin 10-year-old sons, Andy and Matt. Years ago, she worked as a teacher and later ran a book-selling business. Eventually, she realized she didn't want to keep lugging books around at the age of 50, so she decided to shift her attention to her lifelong passion of writing. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Posted: 09 Feb 2010 08:00 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. 41 seconds ago 2010-02-10T09:10:23-08:00 Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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