Wednesday, March 10, 2010

“Homeschooling expanding beyond kitchen table (Suburban Journals)” plus 3 more

“Homeschooling expanding beyond kitchen table (Suburban Journals)” plus 3 more

Homeschooling expanding beyond kitchen table (Suburban Journals)

Posted: 10 Mar 2010 01:00 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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Records required of homeschoolers (Suburban Journals)

Posted: 10 Mar 2010 01:00 AM PST

Records required of homeschoolers



Tuesday, March 2, 2010 10:40 AM CST


Homeschooling children is more than simply teaching. Parents must maintain records to show that the schooling is comparable to that of a public education.

According to state law, parents must comply with a list of requirement:

* - Those who homeschool must offer 1,000 hours of instruction during the school year - July 1 to June 30.

* - Children must complete at least 600 hours of basics such as reading, language arts, math, social studies and science.

* - At least 400 of the 600 hours must take place in the home.

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* - A completed credit toward high school graduation is defined as 100 hours or more of instruction in a course.

* - A parent or guardian must maintain a written record indicating the subjects taught and student activities.

* - The parent must keep a portfolio containing samples of the student's academic work.

* - The parent must evaluate and record the student's academic progress.

* - Children with disabilities being homeschooled may receive special education services provided by the local school district.

* - A parent or guardian may notify the superintendent of schools or the recorder of county deeds of the family's intent to homeschool prior to Sept. 1 annually. Homeschooled students do not register with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

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Few Surprises, But Lots Of Good Races As Filing Day Ends (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

Posted: 10 Mar 2010 06:07 AM PST

Oregon's statewide filing deadline has come and gone. A furious series of last-minute filings in the Treasurer's race and in Multnomah county have added spice to the primary season. 

Outside of that, the two major parties are getting ready to spar in several simmering legislative contests.

April Baer reports.


It's going to be the kind of primary season in which friendships may be tested.

Ted Kulongoski: "One of the things in public life that you hold very close to you are true friends. People who you respect. You believe they are great public servants."

Governor Ted Kulongoski acknowledged it was already happening, when he announced he'd chosen Ted Wheeler to take over as Oregon State Treasurer, following Ben Westlund's death from cancer. Wheeler was one of two well-known politicians Kulongoski had on his short list.

Ted Kulongoski   "Probably one of the hardest things I've had to do to a person that's a friend is call and tell them I was not going to appoint them to this position."

Wheeler will run this year to retain the appointment, with at least  three other candidates competing to take it from him: Democrats Rick Metzger, a State Senator, and Jim Hill, who served eight years as Treasurer, and who has been largely absent from politics since.

A Republican  State Senator, Chris Telfer, awaits the candidate who makes it past the Democratic primary.

Wheeler's exit from Multnomah County also touched off a local scramble to file.

Jeff Cogen is running to replace Wheeler. He's an experienced politician who holds a non-executive seat on the Commission.

Margaret Carter, a well-known State Senator who retired from the Legislature last year is also in the race.

Attorney and activist Steve Novick was  interested, but opted late Tuesday afternoon not to file.

Jim Moore: "Last time we saw something like this was the replacement election for Bob Packwood."

Jim Moore teaches politics and government at Pacific University. He can't remember a primary season like this for years.

Jim Moore  "All of  a sudden you had people running for Bob Packwood's Senate seat. It echoed down almost to Portland City Council races. People moved around to  figure out who would run for what and when."

Moore says part of what's remarkable is the timing of Westlund's passing, so close to the filing deadline.

Also, Oregon's political climate tends to favor incumbents, who figure they might as well try their luck.

Incumbents in Oregon's Congressional contests have been preparing for this filing deadline for a long time.

Few surprises cropped up, save a late filing in the 4th District by Art Robinson, a Republican scientist best known for his contributions to homeschooling literature, and for his skepticism about global warming. He's seeking the seat held by Democratic incumbent Peter Defazio.  

Republican State legislator Scott Bruun  is preparing for the primary, in hopes of challenging first-term Democratic Congressmen Kurt Schrader in the 5th District.

Three Republican candidates will face off in a primary for Democrat Congressman David Wu's district. 

One GOP hopeful is Rob Cornellies, who's made powerful friends in the national party.

If there's a theme to this year's legislative contests, it may be 2010: the "Year to Take Nothing for Granted".

Randall Edwards, who preceeded Ben Westlund in the State Treasurer's office, sees an extremely dynamic year ahead. And it's not just coming from the influx of last-minute candidates.

Randall Edwards: "In the scheme of the entire nation, and looking at races around the country and the political dynamic in general, it's an interesting political year."

He cites the new faces getting leverage on the right through the Tea Party movement, and incumbents concerned about re-election.

And a recent poll finds Oregonians critical of state government. The public radio poll found 52 percent of Oregon respondents think the state is on the wrong track.

Rick Williams, retiree from the lumber business, is one of several respondents worrying about the economy, and how elected officials react to it.

Rick Williams: "Years ago, when Weyerhauser shut down their factory in Cottage Grove, the Mayor said no problem, we're building two new motels. The woodworker makes a lot more money than the common laborer at a motel. That's the thinking of politicians in this state."

The poll is a collaboration of the Northwest Health Foundation, Davis Hibbits and Midghall, and public radio stations across the Northwest, including OPB.

Brent Barton is a freshman state legislator in rural Clackamas County, who's giving up his seat to run for an open seat in the State Senate. He says the message from voters like Williams is loud and clear.

Brent Barton: "I think the mood of the electorate now is not dissimilar than what it was in 2008. It's just a different party's in charge. People are frustrated, there's an extreme dissatisfaction with the status quo."

For Barton – who's a Democrat, the implications are obvious. He says he tries to explain to people that while he's in the majority party, at 30, he's young enough to be a change agent. One of the candidates trying to scoop up Barton's seat, takes away a different message.

Patrick Sheehan: "I position myself as what I am, a principled conservative."

Patrick Sheehan is a Republican who runs an ad and web design agency, when he's not running for House District 51. He predicts voters lured by the Democratic party in 2008 will be ready to listen to Republican candidates again.

Of course, the big race is the Governor's matchup. Democrats John Kitzhaber and Bill Bradbury are the top Democratic fundraisers so far in a four-way primary.

Republicans Chris Dudley and Allen Alley are among nine candidates competing for the GOP nomination.

Primary voting ends May 18th.

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Government oversight of Missouri homeschoolers limited (Suburban Journals)

Posted: 10 Mar 2010 01:00 AM PST

Government oversight of Missouri homeschoolers limited


By Kevin Carbery
Tuesday, March 2, 2010 10:40 AM CST


The state has no mechanism in place for overseeing homeschools, a lobbyist says.

According to Brad Haines, executive director of Families for Home Education, a lobbying group for homeschoolers based in Kansas City, the state would check only if there was an accusation of educational neglect.

"And there has never been a case in the 16 years I've been the executive director of this organization where someone was keeping their children home just to vegetate or any other similar situation," he said.

He said legislators at various times have proposed laws to make homeschool students register with the state, a move his organization strictly opposes.

"Registration is something we regularly fight against," he said. "Homeschoolers want to be left alone from the government."

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Jim Morris, a Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education spokesman, said people are amazed the state has no oversight.

"We don't take a position on oversight," Morris said. "On our website, we provide the guidelines of state statutes on homeschooling. We don't take a position pro or con.

"We encourage homeschooling families and local school officials to try and keep each other informed. In many cases, parents will homeschool for a while, then will enter their children into the school system."

The Missouri National Education Association is not against homeschooling, said public relations director DeeAnn Aull.

However, its members question how consistent the standards of education are from homeschooling family to family.

"Our concern is, although there are some excellent situations in the homeschooling community, without some standards and adequate monitoring, not all situations serve the children well," Aull said. "Our goal is just that every child have a quality education."

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