Tag: homeschooling
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Homeschooling and pushouts
Last week I read about Anthony Ruelas, a middle schooler in Texas who was suspended after he lifted a girl in the throes of a horrible asthma attack and carried her to the nurse’s office. Apparently the teacher had already e-mailed the nurse and was awaiting a response when Ruelas took matters into his own hands to…
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Out of the kitchen, into the living room
The other day I was talking to a fellow homeschooling parent about the Boston Magazine article. She pointed out that the homeschooling families profiled were depicted in the living room, not the kitchen. That’s true. The photo of my family was taken in our living room, as was the picture of Robert Holzbach and his…
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The looming fight over homeschool regulation
When I started homeschooling in the early 1990’s, someone handed me a pamphlet titled “Homeschooling Freedoms at Risk.” It focused on the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), whose practices have included going into states and controlling outcomes of legislation and legal cases, scaring homeschoolers into thinking the state might take their kids away, claiming to represent…
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Leave school, learn more
This week I read an NPR piece about 17-year-old Nick Bain’s experiment in self-directed learning. Once he realized that learning only constituted a few hours of his entire school day, he decided to quit for the last trimester of his junior year. While the results of his personal study don’t prove anything, his anecdotal experience was…
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Back to homeschool
It’s the middle of August, and summer is winding down. September looms, and with it the beginning of the school year. Just what does “back to school” mean for homeschoolers? There isn’t one answer to that question. All homeschooling families are different. And one of the great benefits of homeschooling is that we’re not bound…
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Homeschooling as salvation
Lately my life has consisted of lazy days, sweltering heat, a zucchini bonanza, and Shakespeare in the park. Oh, and lots of discussions about homeschooling. I’m a county contact for Advocates for Home Education in Massachusetts, so people call me with all manner of questions and concerns. During this time of year, they’re busy with gearing up (already)…
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Should kids be allowed to vote?
Recently, I’ve been reading Escape from Childhood by John Holt. It’s considered his most radical book, and indeed, to the contemporary ear, his proposals sound a bit wacky. His basic proposal is “that the rights, privileges, duties, responsibilities of adult citizens be made available to any young person, of whatever age, who wants to make…
A Potluck Life 