New Help Homeschooling Thru the Early Years

From HSLDA - Announcing Help for moms of preschool and elementary age kids!

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:

As a veteran homeschool mom, I remember that it can be overwhelming when you aren’t sure how to begin or which curriculum to choose … or maybe you just don’t feel that you can handle homeschooling AND the house …or perhaps you just need a little encouragement to keep going! You know that homeschooling is a journey, but what started out as a sprint has become a cross-country trip (and some days feels like a marathon!). It’s easy to feel “geographically challenged”— unsure of where you are, where you’re going, or how you’re going to get there.

When Jim and I started homeschooling in the 80’s, we didn’t know anyone else in our state who homeschooled. Boy, it sure would have been great to be able to pick up the phone and talk to another parent who had been-there-done-that, or to get a newsletter in my box—filled with tips and suggested resources for the topics of interest to my family—sort of like roadside assistance along the journey.

Home School Legal Defense Association is here for you as you embark upon this incredible adventure! Many of you are familiar with our high school program and the struggling learner program. But maybe you have a preschooler or primary student—or perhaps a middle schooler? So HSLDA added a coordinator dedicated specifically to serving parents in this season of homeschooling, from toddlers all the way through ’tweens.

I’m here to answer members’ specific questions, provide general information, and offer encouragement, covering topics from curriculum choices to scheduling and lesson planning to testing, to resources and teaching tips for preschool all the way through middle school.

As our new Web section goes “live” this week, you’ll find helpful articles and resources to equip and encourage you, to help you as you determine your destination, plan your adventure, and choose the best route to get there. I’ll be adding more on a regular basis, so please check back often at www.hslda.org/earlyyears.

And be sure to subscribe now to our FREE Early Years e-newsletter at so you won’t miss even one! Upcoming topics include how to get the most out of your state convention, curriculum options, and getting the house organized for homeschooling. I hope that the first e-newsletter—on testing—will take the anxiety out of end-of-year evaluations. Don’t miss it—sign up today!

Please drop me a note or give me a call to let me know how I can best serve you. And remember—You CAN homeschool!

Enthusiastically,

Vicki Bentley
Early Years coordinator

www.hslda.org/earlyyears
earlyyears@hslda.org
(540) 338-5600

Act NOW to stop The "Education Begins At Home" Act

Now, doesn't THAT sound like something we can support! But don't be fooled by what sounds like a homeschool friendly title.

The bipartisan "Education Begins at Home Act" was introduced by Senators Bond (R-MO) and Clinton (D-NY) in the Senate (S. 667), and Representatives Davis (D-IL) and Platts (R-PA) in the House (H. R. 2343), and would provide grants to help establish or expand voluntary home visiting programs for families with young children. It has been kicking around in various forms for several years and been stuck in committees, but was recently revived and is back under consideration.

Unfortunately, you don't even have to look at the fine print to know that this is another shameless power grab designed to wrest away control from parents and give it to government hacks.

H. R. 2343 To expand quality programs of early childhood home visitation that increase school readiness, child abuse and neglect prevention, and early identification of developmental and health delays, including potential mental health concerns, and for other purposes.

How could anyone be against "child abuse and neglect prevention"? Or any of those other high sounding goals? But let's take a closer look at that last clause.

Potential mental health concerns? As decided by whom? In practice, this will mean government officials will "voluntarily" visit hospitals and homes to promote an agenda that may be diametrically opposed to that of the people they intend to "serve". The program stresses that the visits are "voluntary", at least initially.

Kind of like the "voluntary" Income Tax. What began as voluntary now uses the full force of the State to intimidate taxpayers into compliance.

So, if some bureaucrat determines that your child "needs" medication, or some kind of other "mental health" treatment, will you be allowed to object?

Then there are those "other purposes". What other purposes? That vagueness leaves a hole big enough to drive a truck through. There is no telling what that could mean in the future if the legislative climate changes towards parental rights. If institutionalized Pre-K is mandated in the future, every homeschool family would be subjected to the additional scrutiny currently reserved for those who pull an older child out of school in order to begin homeschooling.

HSLDA warns:

Early education constitutes yet another intrusion of big government, this time imposing itself directly into the home. Institutionalized, government-approved pre-K programs threaten parents’ right to direct the upbringing and education of their children by forcing subjective screenings and state-approved, politicized curriculum upon America’s impressionable youth. Some pre-K bills, including H.R. 2343, include provisions for socio-emotional/mental health screenings, which, unlike vision or hearing tests, are based on inherently subjective diagnostic criteria. After children are identified as needing mental health services or medication, it is not clear if their parents will have the ability to refuse such treatment. Similarly, once trusting parents enroll their children in institutionalized early education, there is no guarantee that they will have any warning or authority over what their child is exposed to in the classroom.

Remember Melissa Busekros, the German teenager who in 2006 was forcibly removed from her family by representatives of the Jugendamt and fifteen police officers and placed in a mental institution? When examined by a psychiatrist, she was found to be developmentally delayed by one year and suffering from - are you ready? - "school phobia". She was only homeschooled for a time so that she wouldn't have to repeat an entire grade, when she only had bad grades in two subjects. The rest of her siblings were in school, so obviously her family was not philosophically opposed to institutional schooling.

What in the world would a similar tribunal decide about American families for whom homeschooling is a lifestyle?

I know, I know. This isn't Germany. But tyranny usually starts with something that seems innocent, and while nobody is paying attention.

The "Education Begins At Home" Act is making a deal with Little Red Riding Hood to hold the door open so the Wolf can come in and eat Grandma, only later to discover that he intends to turn and eat her as well.

******URGENT UPDATE******

HSLDA has issued an ACTION ALERT requesting that you call your U.S. Representative today and urge him to oppose H. R. 2343, The Education Begins at Home Act.

It is not necessary to identify yourself as a homeschooler. You can say something as simple as the following:

“I am a constituent and I strongly oppose H.R. 2343. The government should not be involved in funding questionable early education programs, especially at a time of financial uncertainty when our hard-earned tax dollars could be better spent elsewhere.”

You can reach your U.S. representative by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121, or by using our Legislative Toolbox.

This bill has been placed on the House calendar and could come up for a vote anytime this week, or even during the weekend as Congress rushes to finish legislative priorities before they adjourn.

I originally posted this important update at Moms In The Right and Blissfully Domestic on September 25, 2008.

Get Ready to Read!

Get Ready to Read is a great resource site from the National Center for Learning Disabilities. While a lot of it is geared towards institutional educators and day-care providers, there is a section for parents that has a lot of great tips that can be used by the beginning home schooling parent.

One of the best items there is an eight minute video entitled "Raising Readers" that actually demonstrates fun and easy activites you can use to get your children ready to read. There is also a screening tool that can be used online to test your child's reading readiness. Online games and 36 printable activity cards are full of additional ideas for parents, tutors, or anyone at all who is interested in helping children get ready to read.

This literacy checklist is one of several available at the site can help you discover whether your home is a place where reading is modeled as a desirable activity, and can give you concrete steps to take to improve the literacy quotient of your home.