Posted: 04 Mar 2010 04:30 PM PST

Amber Harding - Columnist
Friday, March 05, 2010 issue
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A German family is seeking asylum in Morristown, Tenn. The Romeikes, of course, are not fleeing war or despotism. Rather, they made the trek because they didnt like what their kids were learning in public schools. And Germany prohibits homeschooling.

The family was recruited by a Virginia-based organization called the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). While I believe homeschooling persecution is a ridiculous reason for the United States to grant asylum to someone, Im more interested in why these people insist so heavily on not sending their children to school.

Ill admit I have no first-hand account of homeschooling because I wasnt homeschooled. But the whole idea of it just presents a lot of concerns for me.

The Romeikes complained about bullying. They also claimed German textbooks were inappropriate and that children at the schools exercised profanity and disrespect. I understand that parents want to keep their children as innocent as possible for as long as possible, but guess what? Bullies, disrespect and profanity happen in the real world. Eventually, these kids will have to be released into the real world. And isnt it much better to expose them to these kinds of unpleasant things while theyre still young and in a controlled environment?

We can also look at the reverse side of this. Schools expose children to other children. These other children may have come from different backgrounds. They have different ethnicities, different ideas and different ways of doing things. By keeping children in a bubble, parents could do more harm than good. In this way, homeschooling could lead to narrow-mindedness and hinder the development of tolerance.

Socializing with other kids is going to foster social skills, and I think we can all agree that these skills will be absolutely essential for the future. But going to school is about more than just being social. It also introduces children to a wide variety of subjects, each taught by professional teachers who specialize in these subjects. Likewise, they went to school and learned to be a teacher. They learned the best methods for teaching and how to deal with individual childrens abilities to learn.

Lets take, for example, my family. My father is an engineer. Hes very good at math. If he had to teach me math throughout my childhood, Im sure he would do a fine job. But would he be able to teach me about literature American, British, ancient Greek? Would he be able to teach me about the different sciences, such as biology, chemistry and physics? No offense to Dad, but I think its probably better to leave these subjects to the people who actually studied them in college. Because no one is an expert in everything.

I understand some public school systems arent that great. Sometimes, they dont allow for individualized learning. And many dont have a very good teacher-to-student ratio. If this is a problem, I suggest private schooling. As a product of private schooling (kindergarten all the way through high school graduation), I know its benefits. I am eternally grateful to my parents for sending me to private schools because I had wonderful, qualified teachers, and I was able to test out of pretty much all of my general education courses here at UT.

I know private schooling can be expensive. But then again, so is homeschooling. After all, one parent is going to have to sacrifice an income in order to stay home every day and teach. Also, many private schools offer need-based scholarships to lower income families.

Im not saying homeschooling should be outlawed as it is in Germany. If parents want to do it, its their own decision. But I, for one, dont think its a great idea. Because when these products of homeschooling grow up and enter the big, mean outside world, Mom and Dad cant just pull them out of it.

Amber Harding is a junior in journalism and electronic media. She can be reached at ahardin8@utk.edu.

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Homeschooling expanding beyond kitchen table (Suburban Journals)

Posted: 05 Mar 2010 12:30 AM PST

Homeschooling expanding beyond kitchen table
Homeschoolers find educational resources more readily available today

By Kevin Carbery
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 3:12 PM CST

Every time Lydia Wood visits her mother and siblings, it's a class reunion.

From the sixth grade until college, Wood, 23, was homeschooled by her mother, Jo Ann Powers, in the family's Ballwin home.

Wood's sister, Gracie Powers, 17, and brother, Luke Powers, 13, are currently being taught by their mother.

Homeschooling worked for Wood, who earned a bachelor's degree in intercultural studies in May 2009 from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., attaining summa cum laude honors. Now married and living in south St. Louis County, she is working on a nursing degree from the Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College in St. Louis.

"I loved homeschooling," Wood said. "I've felt better prepared than my peers in college."

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Powers, 48, began homeschooling her children in 1998. Her son went to private school for a few years at his choice, but later decided to attend his mother's classroom.

"Mostly, I wanted to see my children get the best education possible," she said. "If I could tailor it to their strengths and weaknesses, I could give them the best education possible."

Powers is among a growing number of parents who choose to homeschool their children.

Because Missouri does not require those who homeschool to register with the state, the exact number of homeschooled families in the St. Louis area is unknown. However, Laura Kostial of Ellisville, who operates the St. Louis Homeschoolers website, said she is aware of 50 major homeschooling groups in the metro area.

"We tried to come up with a ballpark figure five years ago," Kostial said. "We totaled each of our groups' numbers and pulled out duplicates - people could be in more than one homeschooling group. We came up with 1,200 families for the metro area, which includes people from Illinois to Farmington to Rolla.

"I'm going to say there must be about 1,400 families by now. I think that's a safe guess."

Kostial believes that the greater availability of educational resources for homeschooling has helped inspire more families to try it.

Cathy Mullins, 59, of south St. Louis, is the leader of S.H.A.R.E. (St. Louis Homeschooling Activities Resources and Encouragement), a homeschooling support group. She homeschooled her sons, Joshua and Jesse, who has Down's syndrome.

She said she began homeschooling Joshua in 1985 to keep him from having to be bussed to a public school far from their neighborhood.

"But after homeschooling all these years, my reason for doing it changed to keeping my family close," Mullins said. "I felt it made a stronger parental-child bond."

Mullins also is the director of Homelink, a fee-based learning center for homeschool families that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at Grace United Church of Christ in St. Louis.

"We have degreed teachers teach classes once a week and they're available online," she said. "It provides assistance in classes we may find too difficult to teach, such as biology, chemistry, algebra."

Although Michele Kerans, 39, moved from north St. Louis County to St. Peters, she remains involved with HELPS (Homeschoolers Encouraging Learning & Providing Support). HELPS consists of about 60 North County families who meet at Florissant Valley Baptist Church.

Kerans homeschools her three kids, ages 10, 8 and 2.

"I like the one-on-one attention," she said. "I can adjust the curriculum to their learning styles.

"We homeschool because we want to choose the right environment and the right type of curriculum that meets their needs. If a state agency were involved, we would lose some of those choices."

She said she can see how well her children are doing in their learning.

"Most of the curriculums have tests built in," she said. "There are also opportunities through different support groups to do standardized testing."

Jo Ann Feldges of Hillsboro is involved in ARCHE (Arnold Region Christian Home Educators), a group based at First Baptist Church of Arnold. She homeschools her two children, ages 16 and 13.

"We like that it's a different approach to education," Feldges said. "We feel it works for our family. I encourage others to do it."

5th Annual Greater St. Louis Area Home Educators Expo

WHAT: An exposition with guest speakers, workshops and seminars focusing on issues important to those involved in homeschooling.

WHEN: April 8-10

WHERE: First Evangelical Free Church of St. Louis County, 1375 Carman Road, Manchester.

MORE INFO: For more information, visit www.stlhomeschoolexpo.com or call 314-791-0000.

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Where Homeschooling is Outlawed – Asylum? (The Christian Post)

Posted: 04 Mar 2010 09:12 AM PST

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike may have been considered outside the norms of civil society in their native Germany, but not in Morristown, Tennessee, where they and their five children now live. The Romeikes are homeschoolers who are determined to provide the education for their children, ranging in age from two to twelve. In Morristown, that is about as controversial as bass fishing, but in Germany it is a crime.

The Romeike's tale is big news today, with both TIME Magazine and The New York Times devoting major stories to their plight, and to the fact that a federal immigration judge in Memphis granted them asylum -- and homeschooling is the reason.

As Campbell Robertson reports in today's edition of The New York Times, the Romeike's determination to homeschool their children ran into direct collision with German laws banning the practice: "Among European countries, Germany is nearly alone in requiring, and enforcing, attendance of children at an officially recognized school. The school can be private or religious, but it must be a school. Exceptions can be made for health reasons but not for principled objections."

The Romeikes are described in the paper as "devout Christians" who decided to homeschool their children after they became concerned about both behavioral and curricular issues in the German state schools. A fellow church member alerted them to the possibility of homeschooling, and the Romeikes determined that homeschooling is right for their children.

It was not long before they were threatened with prosecution, fines, and the possible removal of their children from the home. The couple was fined over $11,000 and threatened with losing custody of their children. At one point, the Romeike home was visited by the police, who took the Romeike children to school in a police van.

The Romeikes decided to act before losing their children, and after meeting an official from the Home School Defense Fund, based in Virginia, they moved their family to Morristown, Tennessee, where another German family had recently moved for the same reason.

Upon arriving in the United States, the Romeikes filed for asylum, claiming that they and their family were under threat of persecution due to their Christian convictions concerning homeschooling. Judge Lawrence O. Burman agreed with the couple, declaring them to be under threat of persecution in Germany due to their "principled opposition to government policy."

Indeed, it is Judge Burman's decision that has brought attention to the Romeike case. Most observers believe that this case may be the very first in which a judge has ruled for asylum on the basis of a determination to homeschool. Judge Burman also found that homeschooling parents are "members of a particular group" experiencing the threat of persecution in Germany.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has appealed the decision, and the Romeike's case may not be over. Nevertheless, their plight has brought attention to the homeschooling issue and the rights of parents to determine the education of their children.

In Europe, homeschooling is not the mass movement it is in America, though numbers are rising. In the United States, the homeschooling movement was pioneered by parents who were both liberal and conservative in worldview, joined together in dissatisfaction with other educational alternatives -- primarily the public schools. In Germany, it is now estimated that some 1,000 families may be homeschooling their children, and most of them are thought to be conservative Christians.Continue »

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Homeschooling

Friday, March 5, 2010

“Homeschooling adversely affects children (The Daily Beacon)” plus 2 more

“Homeschooling adversely affects children (The Daily Beacon)” plus 2 more

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