As promised, here’s the rest of Charter & Other Free Online Schools as a distance learning option for homeschoolers. As discussed in the Part 1 a “free” school is a public school and therefore will be controlled to varying degrees by government regulations either at the local or state level.

People choose homeschool for many reasons and in my opinion the question to ask is:

Why are you homeschooling or considering homeschool?

• You don’t agree with what was/is being taught in the public school?
• For religious reasons – you want your children to learn from a faith perspective?
• You want to remove your child from the physical environment and influences of the public school?
• For health or some other reason, your child is unable to attend school?
• Frustration with the long hours that traditional public school requires, including the homework?
• To alleviate some of the stress you are observing, particularly in you highschool student’s life because of the demands and expectations place upon them?

Having given thought to why you want to homeschool, let’s take a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages of choosing an online government school or public brick & mortar charter school as a distance learning option. Read the rest of this entry »

You know, when I introduced this series on distance learning options for homeschoolers, I quickly realized that I needed to take more time to research it, because the information I was finding was confusing. Well…I’ve researched & guess what – I’m still confused!

I decided to begin with charter schools because they are such a popular topic and misunderstood, even by many homeschoolers. My plan of attack is to try to coherently share what I’ve learned, give you some questions to think about if you are considering a charter or other “free” online school and some links to resources so that you can be as confused as I am. This will probably require a two part post. Lets go.

Why were charter schools started?

Charter schools began in the early 1990’s in response to the obvious problems with our public education system. Advocates claim that the competition of charter schools will force the traditional public schools to “shape up” and produce better results in order to keep their students and the state money they receive for each student.

The premise is that charter schools can deliver programs adapted to the needs of the children and thereby provide educational excellence. According edreform.com, they “are one of the fastest and most successful growing [educational] reforms in the country”.

What is a charter school?

Simply put, charter schools are public schools, plain and simple. Read the rest of this entry »

Today I begin a series on distance learning options for homeschoolers. I thought, “I’ll start with charter schools – a common buzz word these days. That shouldn’t be too hard to pull together.” I thought I could do some research and put out a simple article explaining charter schools. Silly me!

As I began to researching charter schools, the more confused I became! But, I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. Typically, when the government gets their hands into something, it becomes complicated and since charter schools are government funded public schools, of course it will be complex. I now realize I need more time to put together information about charter schools. Read the rest of this entry »

As life bears down and we, as homeschooling families, grow weary from the demands upon our time and emotions, we sometimes can use reminders as to why we chose to do what we do – home educate our children. This post is an excerpt from the prologue of John Taylor Gatto’s newest book, The Underground History of American Education.

Who is John Taylor Gatto? He is a former public school teacher from New York City, three times named “New York State Teacher of the Year”. While still carrying the title of New York State Teacher of the Year, Mr. Gatto announced his resignation on the OP ED page of the Wall Street Journal claiming that he was no longer willing to hurt children. His most well-known book to date is The Dumbing Down of America.

You aren’t compelled to loan your car to anyone who wants it, but you are compelled to surrender your school-age child to strangers who process children for a livelihood, Read the rest of this entry »