Aspie Home-Education

Letter to support a family from Spain

2011-02-07T10:34:00.001Z

I would love it if you'd consider sending this letter to support a family from Spain who has to testify in front of the Judge on Feb. 7th to earn their right to homeschool.

You can send it by mail to::
Juzgado de instrucción nº 1 de Vitoria-Gasteiz.
C/ Avenida Gasteiz nº 18, 3ª planta, Vitoria, SPAIN

FAX: (34)945 00 48 50
By E-mail: lauforpablo@yahoo.com

Dear Sir or Madam,
I direct my letter to you as judge of this Court, concerning a lawsuit directed to Marcelo López de Arana and Mª Elena Sanz, for publicly admitting they have decided to homeschool their son Pablo López de Arana Sanz, in spite of the fact that it is not illegal in Spain, not prohibited by any law, and legally recognized in the United Nations.

I would like to emphasize that homeschooling in Spain has already been on trial on various other occasions. There is jurisprudence in favor of a family who was already tried in the Supreme Court and won, on 10/30/1994. The court ruled that the Right to Education was completely compatible with the education the minor received in his home, so he did not have to go to the state school. This is not the only case.

There are many more, but we have to note also that even in the Basque Region (where this family lives) there is a case of jurisprudence:

January 31st, 2005, Court Case 2 of Vitoria (136/04), which commands that omeschooling is a legitimate option and is a growing method of education not only in Spain but in the rest of the world, including the Basque Region, having that right to do so under the Constitution in Article 27.3, which gives the right to the parents to choose the education system of their children according to their principles and beliefs. We also have the cases of the Branson-Sánchez family whose case was approved to homeschool the 7th of July, 2008, and Arantxa Sestayo was also allowed to homeschool the 25th of November of 2009, both of these cases won their right to homeschool in front of the District Attorney in the Basque Region.

In this matter, it is our wish to note that this family, just like many other families in the rest of Spain and the Basque Region, are educating their children according to the freedom of education that the Spanish Constitution provides, having chosen this method because they considered it the best for their children at the moment, which is also expressed in the Declaration of Human Rights, in Article 26.2. We believe the way the Court will be acting against articles 29 and 30 of The Declaration of Human Rights, signed by Spain as a member of the United Nations if they don´t allow this family to homeschool.

For all of these reasons we ask you, as the judge, to drop the charges against this family, and to support their right to homeschool their children.

Sincerely,

Name

MMR vaccine - autism link

2011-01-27T11:57:00.001Z

'In light of new evidence that has emerged clearing Dr Wakefield of the allegations that he fabricated study data involving MMR vaccines and symptoms of autism, Dr Wakefield is now publicly demanding a retraction from the British Medical Journal and author Brian Deer. Documents just made public reveal that another medical research team which included a senior pathologist independently documented evidence of a possible MMR vaccine - autism link 14 months before Dr Wakefield's paper first appears in The Lancet -- based on several of the same children appearing in Dr Wakefield's study.' Read it here.

Let them choose their own labels

2010-12-21T12:36:00.000Z

Blog Demonstrations for the right to educate without school

2010-12-20T21:01:00.005Z

Home schooling is not legal, rules Spanish Constitutional Court

Join the manifestation of blogs and help us spread the words of freedom and solidarity to the home-educating families in Spain. They need your support.

Join the blog protest and help defend the right to education outside school in Spain. Wherever you live, add the symbol of protest in your blogs and your link here. If you want you can also share your thoughts on the decision of the Spanish court.

Links
Tribunal Constitucional Español contra el homeschooling
This is the end, my friend
Más reacciones a la sentencia del Tribunal Constitucional
La angustia de educar en casa
La Constitución no es suficiente
La sentencia del TC
La violencia legítima del Estado
Sentencia del Tribunal Constitucional
Primeras reacciones ante la sentencia del Tribunal Constitucional
El TC se opone a la libertad de educación.
El Tribunal Constitucional falla en contra del homeschooling

Changing Education Paradigms

2010-10-17T22:22:00.000+01:00

Adapted from a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson.

Our children and their education

2010-09-07T13:26:00.001+01:00

Khyra Ishaq & Home Education

2010-02-26T15:05:00.004Z

If you came across this news item, find out more from Gerald Warner here, "It is clear that the Government and other “progressive” agencies, their propaganda helpfully promoted by the BBC, are already exploiting the Khyra Ishaq case to advance their agenda of attacking homeschooling" - and from the following:

Maire-Staffordshire - Dare to Know - Sometimes It's Peaceful - Renegade Parent - Tech - Firebird - Debs - Lou - Ciaran - Stuart Dunstan - Ali - Jem - Sue - Cat - Sally - Merry

There is also a pledge

"I will withhold my TV License Payments until the BBC apologises to Home Educators."

you can make here.

Also on the news:
Tories promise to block home school plans

MPs error over home education vote

2010-02-23T11:41:00.003Z

MPs are debating the Bill that would give the assembly the power to make laws in the field of home education.

Tory MP Graham Stuart has tabled an amendment to to block this part of the Bill.

Mrs Randerson said: "My colleagues in Westminster subscribed to this amendment in error and will be removing their names from this Tory amendment."

Read it here.

Don't stifle home schooling

2010-02-22T22:58:00.004Z

Neil Fernandez explains, here, how the proposals to register children educated at home would subject families to the misguided whims of local authorities.

Jeremy Wright, MP for Rugby and Kenilworth, explains why he voted against recently debated the Government’s Children, Schools and Families Bill here.

Socialization and Homeschooling: When my husband and I first considered homeschooling our two children, the most common response from friends and family was: “What about socialization?” It’s a legitimate question. Read it here.

USA: Homeschooled kids honored at state contest: A local team has managed to put together an award-winning performance during its first year of competition in FIRST Lego League. Homeschooling mum Jennifer saw the competition as a great opportunity for her son and daughter, ages 14 and 9, to learn about science and technology.

“I am always looking for ways to give my kids fun, hands-on, real-life meaningful learning,” she said. “My kids love Legos, so any chance I get to incorporate Legos into teaching that I do is a good one.”

Compulsory Miseducation News

2010-02-20T22:10:00.002Z

Here...

On the News

2010-02-19T17:02:00.003Z

School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Home Team Advantage: If your ADHD child struggles in school—and dreads going every day—help him shine by teaching him at home. Read here.

Take Back Your Education by J. T. Gatto

2010-02-10T18:37:00.000Z

Nobody gives you an education. If you want one, you have to take it. Only you can educate you—and you can’t do it by memorizing. You have to find out who you are by experience and by risk-taking, then pursue your own nature intensely. School routines are set up to discourage you from self-discovery. People who know who they are make trouble for schools.

To know yourself, you have to keep track of your random choices, figure out your patterns, and use this knowledge to dominate your own mind. It’s the only way that free will can grow. If you avoid this, other minds will manipulate and control you lifelong.

Dorset parents sign petition against the bill

2010-02-09T15:40:00.003Z

Andrew and his wife Mary-Clare teach their 15-year-old twins at home.

Andrew: “If they were able to interview the child separately from a parent that would be completely wrong. It would not normally be the case that anybody in authority would be able to interview a child without a parent present. Police interviewing a crime wouldn’t be able to.”

Mary-Clare: “If you choose to home educate you feel you can do a better job. We wanted our children to learn things when they were ready and in their own time. It’s more natural.”

Read more...

Some comments are also worth reading, like this one:

This Bill reverses the assumption of innocence in English Law, giving the authorities powers to enter law abiding family homes. If this legislation goes ahead it will well and truly open the flood gate of yet more state interference into private family life.

Parents are responsible for their children's education, not the state. Schools are "subject to checks and inspections" because with our taxes we pay for that education service and they have an obligation to parents to prove that they are fulfilling their paid duty. Parents do not have to prove that they are raising their children correctly, in law it is just assumed that they are.

"Under the plans, parents or their children will have the power to block the child being interviewed alone."- in the bill if parent or child exercises this power, then local authorities are allowed to issue a school attendance order for non-compliance!

Schools are not the foolproof "safety net" Government would like us to believe, nor does every child leave with a good education. In the current economic climate our taxes would be better spent improving the provision for the majority, rather than policing a tiny minority of home educators, for which there is no evidence that there is cause for concern.

Elective Home Education Day Conference

2010-02-09T14:26:00.004Z

This day conference seeks to develop critical discussion on all three aspects (EHE, policy, and the academic debate). In particular, we seek to review ‘suitable’ and ‘efficient’ as educationally significant (see Section 7, Education Act 1996), which the Badman Report largely side-stepped.

The conference, stimulated by a number of papers and responses, will seek to explore the legitimacy of this conceptual framework for EHE, and possible conceptualisations which offer a practical way forward for parents and policy makers in a UK context.

Event details here.

UPDATE: Please read this letter to the organisers.

16 y.o. unschooler speaks out

2010-02-07T20:46:00.001Z

Emi is 16 years old and has been an unschooler for many years. Here she is, interviewed by her sister.

This week's compulsory miseducation news

2010-02-06T19:58:00.006Z

here...

Homeschooling: not for desperate housewives

2010-02-04T17:59:00.001Z

What's on the news today

2010-02-04T15:27:00.002Z

Jayne, who educates her three children aged nine, 12 and 15, said: “A lot of us feel the proposed changes are not about benefiting the child but about control. As the current legislation stands we have a very free system and that is a good thing. We want to protect it for people who need to make that choice in the future.” Read more...

Plans to force home-schooling families to register their children with local authorities are “not a good use of public money”, according to a member of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board. Read more...

Rising numbers of parents are being fined for taking children out of school for cheap term-time holidays. Read it here.

Homeschoolers excluded from laptop grants

2010-02-04T15:21:00.003Z

Another petition:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to allow home educating families to apply for home access laptop grants.

At the moment home-educating families are purposely excluded from the Home Access free laptop scheme for families on low incomes in England. We believe this to be discriminatory against families who strive to bring a nurturing and personal education to their children and at their own cost. Ed Balls said that children without access to the Internet at home are "...at a disadvantage to their peers..." yet is utterly at home leaving a tiny section of society in that very place: at a disadvantage to everyone else.

Please make the laptops available to home-educated children too. The current criteria is negligent and exclusive. More here.

Our children have been nationalised

2010-02-03T14:57:00.006Z

Gerald Warner reckons that the German homeschoolers' political asylum in America exposes the EU Gulag:

Why did the German homeschoolers not seek political asylum in Britain? Because our rulers subscribe to the same tyrannical statist philosophy, is the answer. Every possible obstacle is put in the way of homeschooling parents in Britain.

The mentality is that the state – not parents – is the natural controller and shaper of children’s lives and beliefs. When a schoolgirl can be given an abortion without her parents’ knowledge, we know that, while public utilities may have been privatised, children have been nationalised. Read more...

ALSO on the news: One of the growing number of children who are being taught at home, for Archie there will be no dreaded Sats exams and when the time is right he will likely bypass GCSEs and move straight to A-levels. Read it here.

AND, on EO's campaigning site, a new page -Where are we up to with the Bill? - which can be read here.

Finally, we also have the Memorandum submitted by AHEd: Children Schools and Families Bill.

EO questions assurances about EHE funding

2010-02-02T17:36:00.002Z

"the guidance notes specifically instruct local authorities not to include home educated children in any funding applications."

Read it here.

Are home-educated children better off?

2010-02-01T13:59:00.004Z

Parents who choose to educate their children at home are concerned about Government plans to force inspections on them. Cambridge News speaks to one local family who have shunned the school system. Read it here.

Today, 19:30 on BBC One (Cambridgeshire, East only): Dave Hough educates his son at home because he thinks schools are too regimented, offer a poor standard of education and tolerate bullying. The government is planning to introduce much stricter regulations on home schooling with inspections by Ofsted. Dave Hough and many other home educators claim this goes against their right to educate their children in the way they see fit. David Whiteley asks who really is best-placed to ensure the child's right to a good education, the state or the parent? As seen here.

Also: Are Home Educators Worrying About Nothing?

This week on the news

2010-01-30T19:06:00.003Z

So, what's on the news this week?

In London, a 9 y.o. boy hanged himself after being told off at school. He wasn't the only one: in a Texas school another 9-year-old boy was found hanged. In Mumbai, a 12-year-old, ashamed of failure, hanged himself too.

In Scotland: 500 kids kicked out of school each year over drink and drugs; fears over rise in violence at schools involving weapons; PE teacher cleared of kiss and in Castletown parents want to sack the head teacher after girls one to five had their underwear checked.

In North wales a primary school teacher was suspended for ridiculing pupils; in Wiltshire, a maths teacher groomed pupil before having sex with her in school cupboard and in a top public school in London a school teacher 'fondled pupils'.

In Cheshire, the PE teacher who punched special needs pupil escapes ban but Pembrokeshire sex assault head teacher lost his appeal. A teacher in Hull has been jailed after a traumatised teenage girl he sexually abused called ChildLine for help. In Nailsea, a 12 y.o. boy is given hardcore porn at school.

In Sudbury pupils are to be given talk on knives and in Gloucestershire a school bus driver over alcohol limit crashed vehicle. I also found out that in England smacking is allowed in certain schools. Despite all this, the crackdown on school truants continues because school is were children should be!

In Germany, an elite school reports sexual abuse cases but everything is OK now that rector has apologised. In Vietnam, a wartime shell explodes at schoolyard and in Haiti 50 bodies are found in a school.

In South Africa, a pupil kills herself after a grade bungle, a pupil has died after being stabbed in the grounds of his school, and a 12 y.o. pupil is shot dead at school. In yet other school of 1 200 pupils, 100 per class, one toilet! I think I'll stop now...

Godfrey Bloom on home education

2010-01-29T22:01:00.000Z

Home educators' house swapping holidays

2010-01-28T13:06:00.001Z

11-year-old Ruaridh finds the whole experience exciting:

“Well, if you think that it’s hard, its not,” he said. “You just forget what you did at home and consider it as something new and something different. Home education really does teach you that you can make your own decisions about that, you’ve just really got to think what you want to do; it gives you an opportunity to do anything you want to do.”

Read it here.

Homeschooling Family Granted Political Asylum

2010-01-27T15:18:00.003Z

“This decision finally recognizes that German homeschoolers are a specific social group that is being persecuted by a Western democracy,” said Mike Donnelly, staff attorney and director of international relations for Home School Legal Defense Associaton.

“It is embarrassing for Germany, since a Western nation should uphold basic human rights, which include allowing parents to raise and educate their own children. This judge understood the case perfectly, and he called Germany out. We hope this decision will cause Germany to stop persecuting homeschoolers,” he added.

Read more here. The story also appeared on the Guardian, the Deutsche Welle, the Local, and in spanish here.

UPDATE: Commenting on this, Ed West says here that the British Government is trying to make homeschooling even harder because he suspects many of the parents are religious.

NAS position on home education clause

2010-01-27T13:13:00.000Z

Proposals in the Children, Schools and Families Bill implement the recommendations of the Badman Review to register and monitor home educators:

Research suggests that children who are home educated are nearly twice as likely to have statements of SEN, and children with autism are heavily represented within this group. A lack of understanding of autism means the school experiences of children with the condition are frequently marred by misunderstandings, inadequate support and often bullying. Some parents are, consequently, left with little alternative other than to home school in the best interests of their child's education and mental and physical well-being. In some of the worst cases we also hear that parents are placed under pressure by schools to remove their children under threat of permanent exclusion or prosecution.

Far too many parents of children with autism who home educate are simply left alone 'to get on with it' without any support at all or say their local authority has been unhelpful and even hostile to their attempts to provide an appropriate education. This is particularly where the relationship between the parents and the local authority has broken down, during parents fight to get the right support for their child.

It is vital that the proposals in the Bill take into account the needs of this group of children. We want to see local authorities who have the training and resources in autism to be able to work in partnership with parents and give them the support they need to home educate their children. It is absolutely essential that this is a two-way relationship with an emphasis on support and not monitoring alone.

Mark Lever, chief executive of The National Autistic Society, here.

The Truth about Schedule 1 of the CFS Bill

2010-01-25T15:06:00.000Z

The truth

Dealing with truancy, the american way

2010-01-23T18:22:00.002Z

Simple! Tag the children with GPS Tracking Devices!

More here and here.

Wales Environmental Home Education Camp

2010-01-19T12:41:00.000Z

30th Aug – 5th Sept

This is the fifth year that the camp has been running at Pengraig. A beautiful farm set in 78 acres of countryside near Carmarthen in West Wales. The farm is home to the Majical Youth Theatre Group external link image who have more than 20 years experience in running and organising events of all sizes, for kids of all ages.

Cost: Early bird tickets are available at the cost of £150 per family. This offer is available until 1st April 2010. The price from 1st April will rise to the full tariff of £200 per family. Limited concessions are available for single parents with proof of benefits.

Find out more here.

CSF Bill House of Commons 2nd Reading

2010-01-15T17:59:00.005Z

Michael Gove

Mark Field

You can also watch here Mark Field highlighting the concerns of home educators with regard to the recommendations of the Badman Review in a Westminster Hall debate he tabled on 9 June 2009.

Continue watching...

NH Home Schoolers Protest!

2010-01-14T13:13:00.003Z

"New Hampshire home educators protesting proposed government regulations making NH the most difficult state to home school. It is a short account of why these ordinary families came out in frigid New England weather to voice their concerns to the New Hampshire legislature. A suprising mix of people with differing political, religious and social views gathered in a unified stance against their representatives."

UPDATE:
N.H. Homeschoolers Praise Vote Against Tighter Regulations
The N.H. House of Representatives rejected a bill that would tightly regulate homeschooling. The state House voted 324-34 against changes to the current law.

A Libertarian Perspective on Home-Ed

2010-01-14T12:19:00.005Z

Sophie Robbins (Home Educated Student; blogger, ValleyForge) talking at LIBERTY 2009: the Annual Conference of the Libertarian Alliance. Oct 2009, London.

On the news...

2010-01-12T12:27:00.005Z

Children's Secretary Ed Balls has defended plans to force home-educating parents to register with their local council as "very light touch indeed" [dismissing] Tory claims that the plans would "alienate and antagonise" home educators. Read more...

Here, Lord Lucas shares his "close interest in home education, in the Badman Report, and in the bill now before the Commons, which sets out to demolish people's right to educate their own children" and his difficulties when trying to get answers to his questions.

Meantime, in the USA, home schooling soars in Central Florida
... the number of kids sitting for lessons in their kitchens and living rooms surged 20% last school year. Read more...

While in New Hampshire home school proposal too strict
Parents portray the legislation as state interference in family affairs. "Some people think the government knows what's best for everyone, and that's not always true," said Pam Altemose, who brought three of her six children to the State House last week. Altemose, a Rochester resident with a master's degree in education, said she first chose home schooling so she could work individually with a son who has special needs. Read more...

Consultation Results

2010-01-11T23:52:00.002Z

Home Education - registration and monitoring proposals
can be found here.

Home education and the children, schools and families bill

2010-01-11T12:53:00.002Z

* The Guardian, Monday 11 January 2010

We believe that schedule 1 of the children, schools and families bill represents an unacceptable imposition of state control over families. Although it is aimed at children educated outside the school system, it has implications for all families.

Most parents would not make home-based education their first choice; but any family might need it if school seriously failed their child. Currently, this choice is lawfully available to all parents. If enacted, the bill would – for the first time – transfer responsibility for a child's education from the parents to the state. We believe this is a matter which should be of great concern to everyone.

A change in the law is unnecessary. Parents are already required by law to provide an education suitable to the age, aptitude and ability of their children, and to any special educational needs they may have. Local authorities already have the power to take action if parents do not do this.

Evidence indicates that home education is highly effective. Many home educating families use child-led educational methods which lie outside the prevailing educational paradigm. Diversity in education is precious in a democracy, and we need the law to protect it, and to protect the best interests of each individual child.

The interests of children are strikingly absent from schedule 1, which is concerned mainly with setting up a bureaucratic system administered by local authorities. They would be given the power to deny parents permission to home-educate, at any time, unless parents adapt their educational approach to fit in with the requirements of the system. The resulting insecurity would be damaging to many children, especially those with special educational needs.

Schedule 1 contravenes two principles of the government's own children's plan: that families bring up children, not governments; and that services need to be shaped by and responsive to children, young people and families, not designed around professional boundaries. Given the controversy surrounding this section of the bill, and the serious criticisms made of it by the children, schools and families select committee, we call on the government to withdraw schedule 1 of the bill, and the accompanying clauses.

Ralph Lucas House of Lords, Oliver James, Child clinical psychologist, Anne Fine, Dr Frank Furedi Professor of sociology, Professor Anna Craft University of Exeter, Michele Elliott Founder of Kidscape, Professor Roger Scruton, Graham Stuart MP Chair, all-party parliamentary group on home education, Michael A Peters Professor, educational policy studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Professor Brian Thorne Fellow, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, Professor Emeritus Janet Moyles Early years and play consultant, Tricia David Emeritus professor of education, Canterbury Christ Church University, Professor Andrew Samuels University of Essex, Professor Tony Kouzarides Cancer research scientist at Cambridge University, Professor Ian Cunningham Chair of educational charity, Dr Sacha Powell Acting director, Centre for Research into Children, Families and Communities, Canterbury Christ Church University, Dr Felicity de Zulueta Consultant psychiatrist in psychotherapy and honorary senior lecturer at King's College London, Fiona Carnie Vice-president, European Forum for Freedom in Education, Dr Alan Thomas Visiting fellow at University of London Institute of Education, Harriet Pattison Research Associate, School of Education, University of London, Dr Richard House Senior lecturer in therapeutic education, Roehampton University, Peter Humphreys Chair, trustee, director, The Centre for Personalised Education and Personalised Education Now, Veronika Robinson Editor, The Mother magazine, Sue Palmer Literacy specialist and author of Toxic Childhood, Dani Ahrens Open letter co-ordinator, Badman Review Action Group, Roland Meighan The Centre for Personalised Education Trust, Dr Teresa Belton Educational researcher, Dr Ben Anderson Department of sociology, University of Essex, Melanie Gill Forensic psychologist, Claire Fox Director, Institute of Ideas, Vincent Nolan Trustee, Synectics Education Initiative, Dr Marilyn Fryer, Director, The Creativity Centre, John Harris Professional storyteller/children's author, Norman Wells Director, Family Education Trust, Derry Hannam Researcher/adviser/trainer in education for democratic citizenship to Council of Europe, UK government and NGOs, Liz Steinthal Educare Small School, Dr L Safran Educationist, Chloe Watson Chair, Home Educated Youth Council, Cathy Koetsier Media officer, Home Education Advisory Service, Kathleen Thompson Committee member of Education Everywhere helpline, Annette Taberner Trustee of Education Otherwise, Kelly L Green Founding member of Freedom and Choice in Education, British Columbia, Wendy Priesnitz Founder of Canadian Alliance of Home Schoolers, editor of Life Learning magazine, Beverley Paine Editor Home Education Association Australia publications, Deborah Markus Editor, Secular Homeschooling Magazine and more than 1,000 other signatories (for a full list see http://is.gd/5ViV7)

Homeschooling couple arrested for not registering

2010-01-08T15:42:00.005Z

In a move designed to send a message to parents, a New York couple were arrested and ticketed for homeschooling their children and failing to register their them with the school district. Read more here.

Watch more on the same story here.

Home-ed 14 y.o. offered place at Cambridge

2010-01-08T12:25:00.002Z

Cambridge University offers place to home educated 14-year-old - find out more here.

New Hampshire restrictions on homeschooling

2010-01-07T21:00:00.003Z

New Hampshire lawmakers are moving ahead with a bill to restrict home schooling. More here.

Home-ed voices from the Cotswold

2010-01-06T14:05:00.001Z

"The Government wants to change the law so that inspectors can come into our own homes, test our children and interview them on their own. We are being made criminal in our own country."

"I have home educated my 14 and 22 year old from scratch with no interference from the state. My eldest gained a first class honours degree from Imperial College in Computing and Maths and now has an excellent job with a local games development company."

"Quite a lot of children are withdrawn from school because they have learning difficulties that the school cannot deal with and some because they have been abused and bullied by other school children. Without the freedom to home educate these children would have a very unhappy childhood."

Read it here.

Unschooling for Social Change

2010-01-03T16:29:00.002Z

The Freechild Project defines unschooling as the process of learning through life, without formalized or institutionalized classrooms or schoolwork. Unschooling relies on interpersonal relationships and natural learning progression to have effect on learners, instead of textbooks and classroom teachers. Self-education is the liberating practice of teaching yourself.

Freechild believes that deschooling is also anti-formalized and anti-institutionalized education of any sorts. However, this process deliberately emphasizes the absence of the systemic approach to learning, and negates the need for schools. Some homeschoolers use a "deschooling" process to get ready for learning at home.

Check it out here.

"Your life, time, and brain should belong to you, not to an institution."
Grace Lwellyn in The Teenage Liberation Handbook

Home-ed news links

2010-01-01T16:50:00.004Z

North-East and North Yorkshire parents fighting a town hall crackdown if they choose to educate their children at home have won support from MPs after an investigation. Read it here.

South Yorkshire parents who educate their children at home gathered in Sheffield city centre as part of a national protest against proposed 'big brother' reforms which could become law next year. More here.

In Northumberland, MP joins condemnation of home-education red tape. Read it here.

ITV Anglia News: Home education

2009-12-28T00:02:00.001Z

ITV Anglia News 8/12/09

Home-ed news around the world

2009-12-23T11:33:00.004Z

USA
Mom turns to homeschooling to avoid 'experiments' on autistic child The school psychologist wanted to put the child in a room and expose her to known triggers to see how quickly she escalated and what her behavior would be.

Sweden
Court endorses 'kidnapping' of 7-year-old - Social services allowed to keep custody of homeschooled child

"Any nation that severely restricts the ability of parents to choose alternative forms of education, including home education, in the name of creating national unity, cannot call itself a free nation. Freedom necessarily requires the individual to have the liberty to think differently and believe differently than programs instituted by the current rulers of any nation. Educational freedom is the cornerstone for all freedom of thought and conscience," said Michael Farris, HSLDA chairman.

UK
It appears that the NASUWT supports a school-based system of education for all and reckons that the only way the Government can meet the Every Child Matters' aims is by making schooling compulsory for all children. FFI see this months' issue of their magazine (article on p. 23). You can read the NASUWT's submission to the consultation here.

Protect children but don't abandon civil liberties

2009-12-22T11:35:00.004Z

Home educators were incensed that inspectors would be coming into their homes to check on the welfare of their children. In general, I am on the side of those who oppose more state control over our lives. I do not think social services have a role in home education - though I do think it reasonable for the quality of education children receive at home to be monitored. Read more.

School dissatisfaction leading to rise in home education... the "legal option" for parents to opt for home education is often not promoted very strongly. Read it here.

On Milwaulee, local families choose homeschooling: The object of admiration, suspicion or even derision, home-schoolers -- like all families -- are not easily categorized. There are nearly 20,000 home schooled kids in the state and each family has its own unique set of circumstances as to why they opt out of the system. Continues here.

Finally, Michigan seems to be going for the Badman approach, with Detroit News turning homeschooling moms and dads into the Bogeyman.

A home educated princess?

2009-12-21T00:21:00.001Z

Lenska said she was born in New Jersey as the youngest of six children. Her education came entirely from homeschooling after the age of 10. She said she did not grow up thinking of herself as a princess. Instead, her family chose to keep its lineage private because Leszczynski was not a popular king and her family found the history painful. Read more...

Kiddicare news: homeschooling on the up

2009-12-20T14:31:00.001Z

Ann Newstead, spokesperson for Education Otherwise, said: "People are finally becoming aware of the fact that home education is a legal option in this country which is something nobody actually flags up to parents." Read more...

Home-schooled pupils fall off radar

2009-12-19T12:35:00.003Z

The education of at least 150 children in the Black Country has slipped off the radar. The figures come after Dudley released GCSE results for 101 home-educated children which raised concerns over achievement. Read more...

Also on the news
The Detroit News Wants to Regulate Homeschooling
High-Flying Home-Schoolers

Autism reality

2009-12-19T00:10:00.000Z

Trailer of a critically acclaimed documentary film about autism by Alex Plank, an autistic film director. At 7mns30s: the usual story of how schools and teachers just don't understand and the resulting suffering for the aspie child...

Welsh concerns following the Badman report

2009-12-18T20:40:00.004Z

Welsh Grand Committee in Parliament yesterday

Mark Williams: Before the hon. Gentleman moves on from education, he will be aware of the concerns expressed by many of our constituents about the implications of the Badman report. The Bill to which he alluded gives the National Assembly, quite rightly, the power to undertake an inquiry and to take action as it sees fit. Does he share the concerns of many of us in Wales about the knock-on effects of the Badman report on home education throughout Wales?

Mr. Llwyd: Like the hon. Gentleman, I have been lobbied extensively about the Badman report, and I presented a petition on it to Parliament last week. Currently, it is an England-only matter, and, to be honest, I have considerable faith that the National Assembly will be able to deal with things differently, as it did very early on in abolishing the rather strange tests that popped up all the time. We do things slightly differently in Wales, and sometimes we do them better. I believe that this is a case in point, and that we can and will be able to deal with the matter in a more acceptable way.

Lembit Öpik: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Mr. Llwyd: I do not want to take too many interventions, as I am keeping others from speaking.

Lembit Öpik: I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s generosity. A Mrs. McBride came to see me on this very matter. Is he aware of any serious impact assessment that accompanies the Badman report? As far as I can see, it is a completely disproportionate response to a theoretical concern.

Mr. Llwyd: The hon. Gentleman is right. As I said, I am confident in our colleagues across the political spectrum in the National Assembly. I am sure that they will do the right thing. It is a draconian report, and it is troubling for those who have always home educated their children, so I am hopeful that we will take a different view in Wales.

Mrs. Gillan: I have taken some interest in the Badman report because I, too, think that adopting its proposals would amount to undue interference by the state in the personal lives of all our constituents. Under the framework powers in the legislation, it is proposed that home education powers pass down to the Assembly, and as the hon. Gentleman’s party is in government, I would like his guarantee that the Badman report will not be implemented in Wales.

Mr. Llwyd: When I questioned the hon. Lady earlier, she said, “It is not for me to decide—it is for my colleagues”, so I think that the French word is touchÃ(c). I am not going to guarantee anything at this stage.

Mrs. Gillan: But you are in government.

Mr. Llwyd: Yes, we are in government, but I thought that the hon. Lady was hoping to be in government. Perhaps she is not really, but there we are. Let me put it this way: I sincerely hope that our colleagues in the National Assembly will take a different view of the Badman report. I am fairly sure that they will, but for obvious reasons I can offer no guarantees.

From here (scroll down to middle of column number 34).

Still on the news...

2009-12-18T09:35:00.003Z

Miss Anne McIntosh, MP for the Vale of York and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Thirsk, Malton and Filey, presented Vale of York Petition on Home Education:

“The Government's response to the Badman review unfortunately places many admirable home educators under an unwarranted cloud of suspicion. The need for monitoring must not become a barrier for parents who wish to home educate their children.” Read more...

Also: House of Commons Report Concludes That Flawed Govt. Proposals On Home Education Must Be Rectified

What were the costs of the EHE Review?

2009-12-17T15:05:00.003Z

Education: Home Schooling
Question asked by Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the costs of the Review of Elective Home Education in England by Graham Badman; and what were the costs of the information-gathering exercises which have followed it. [HL430]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Baroness Morgan of Drefelin): Following careful consideration Ministers have decided that this information will remain confidential because of the potential impact on those involved in the review. There have been a large number of postings on various websites and blogs harassing Mr Badman and the apparent campaign is continuing. The department will review the position again in the new year.

The information-gathering exercise that followed the review did not incur any external costs as it was conducted by departmental officials.

From here.

Schools Minister's response to the CSF select committee report on EHE

2009-12-17T14:54:00.003Z

Schools Minister Diana Johnson said:

We’re disappointed the Select Committee’s press release has a negative headline, but...

Read the rest here.

Select committee criticises plans to monitor home-education

2009-12-16T12:01:00.007Z

The Select Committee Report is now available here. Pdf version here.

Balls's plans for home education should be scaled back, Sheerman says. Select committee criticises plans to monitor home-educating families as 'too aggressive'. Read it here.

Change urged for home-school plan - Parents who choose to home-school their child should not be forced to register with their local council, a cross-party group of MPs has said. More here...

More parents 'educating children at home' - Growing numbers of parents are shunning state schools to educate their children at home, according to MPs. Here.

The Big Question: Should the parents of home-schooled children be forced to register? - Why are we asking this now? A report by the House of Commons Select Committee covering education, published this morning, is highly critical of the Government's plan to tighten up on regulations governing home education. Read it here.

Badman review blasted by MPs' inquiry - A cross-party inquiry into Graham Badman's controversial review of home education has labelled the government's handling of the issue as an unfortunate episode. More here.

LOCAL NEWS

Home truths for city MP - Parents who choose to teach their children at home say meddling officials need to be taught a lesson. Read more...

Home schooling petition launched - PRO-HOME schooling campaigners have submitted a Parliamentary petition aiming to block legislation designed to give education bosses ‘stronger powers than the police’. Read more...

Parents fury at plan for lessons in home - Mother Jo Coulter, who educates her nine-year-old daughter Stella at home, said:

“I am absolutely horrified at the thought that in the name of child protection, thousands of children would be subjected to this degree of exposure to strangers within their own homes. We are automatically being treated as if we have done something wrong. It is deeply offensive that families like mine should be subjected to this degrading treatment. Why stop at home-educating families? Why not extend these measures throughout the land to cover all homes? After all, schoolchildren only spend around seven hours a day in school. Why are they spending all this money to police home education? There are already systems in place through social services to protect vulnerable children. They are knocking on the wrong door.”
Read more...

Despite all the opposition, some MPs criticise absence of home-school regulation: Parents who teach their children at home should be more closely monitored by local authorities, a group of MPs have said. Read more...

Manipulating public opinion

2009-12-14T11:54:00.004Z

What will the media be associating home education with next? Cases like this one?

Home education: Socialization not a problem

2009-12-13T12:27:00.002Z

Since the re-emergence of the home-school movement in the late 1970s, critics of home-schooling have perpetuated two myths. The first concerns the ability of parents to adequately teach their own children at home; the second is whether home-schooled children will be well-adjusted socially.

A new study should cause many critics to rethink their position on the issue of socialization. Not only are home-schoolers actively engaged in civic life, they also are succeeding in all walks of life. Many critics believed, and some parents feared, that home-schoolers would not be able to compete in the job market. But the new study shows home-schoolers are found in a wide variety of professions. (...) this new study clearly demonstrates home-school parents are on the right path.Read it here.

Interventionalist and far too invasive

2009-12-13T12:16:00.004Z

Dozens of Croydon mums and dads who teach their children from home have signed a petition to stop the Government interfering with how they educate their kids. This borough's petition is one of more than 150 compiled nationwide to stop home educators needing a licence.

Ann Newstead, a spokeswoman for Education Otherwise, said:

"Families take their children out of school to avoid the stress of exams, and to tailor education to suit that particular child's needs. GCSEs and SATs are not legally binding, and some parents feel they are a hindrance to their child's development. What is really concerning about the Badman report is that it is forcing parents to have a licence to teach their own children. If you fail to comply with any inspection then your right to teach is revoked."

Croydon Central MP Andrew Pelling said:

"The Badman report is interventionalist and far too invasive. If we abide by it we will end up with a situation where parents can't educate their children without a licence. Parents cannot be put under the same regulatory regime as schools. It is a different type of education and should be recognised as such."

Read it here.

Thoughts on the Home Ed bill

2009-12-12T10:57:00.005Z

Jo Coulter, who educates her child at home, said:

“I am absolutely horrified at the thought that in the name of child protection, thousands of children in my country would be subjected to this degree of exposure to strangers, within their own homes. Such treatment I thought was reserved for those suspected of committing a crime.

Indeed, why stop at home educating families? Why not extend these measures throughout the land to cover all homes? After all, if school children only spend around seven hours a day in school, this leaves them out of ‘school protection’ for nearly seventeen hours a day, on week days, forty-eight hours at the weekend and many more over holidays. Indeed it is questionable if children are at all safe anywhere, even when they are in school. It is deeply offensive that families like mine should be subjected to this degrading treatment. I have not yet met anyone within my constituency who finds it acceptable.” Read more here.

§§§§§§§§§§

Michael Donnelly, staff attorney and director of international relations for the Home School Legal Defense Association, said: "This bill is breathtaking in its scope and reflects a perverse level of suspicion towards parents who home-educate their children".

Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust, which promotes stable family life and children's welfare, told HSLDA the background checks wouldn't make any sense.

"If it is deemed unsafe for children to be with their parents during normal school hours, it is equally unsafe for them to be with their parents in the evenings, at weekends and during the school holidays," he said. "To impose a system of routine monitoring home-educating families would represent a breach of their right to a private and family life and constitute a waste of public resources. Furthermore, the proposal to grant the local authority a statutory right of access to the homes of home-educated children is in effect reversing the presumption of innocence in British law and treats parents with suspicion until they have proven themselves innocent." Taken from here.

Regulating Home Education

2009-12-11T18:20:00.002Z

Implementing the New System
Date: Thursday 25th February 2010
Time: 10.30am – 3.15pm (including networking lunch)
Venue: Westminster
Cost: £225 per place or £175 for two or more places
FFI click here.

Home Ed at Portishead's Victorian Evening

2009-12-11T12:27:00.003Z

Parents interested in offering their children home schooling will have a chance to talk to people who are already doing so, at Portishead's Victorian Evening. The North Somerset Home Education Group, set up in 2001, is taking a stand at the fair to allow people to find out more about the group.

It is made up of families from across North Somerset who have chosen to teach their children at home. The group meets regularly for social activities and to take part in physical activities with the children like gymnastics and ice skating. They also organise educational workshops.

Group member Sarah Souter said: "Some parents decide to home educate because they believe it's the best way for the child to learn and grow. Other parents turn to home education when school placements haven't worked out for various reasons such as bullying or unmet special educational needs."

Home education can mean different things to different people, with some following a timetable and curriculum while others have a less structured approach. To find out more call Vicky on 01275 848425 or say hello at the stand in Portishead High Street on December 11.

From here.

New EDM 409 Home Ed & the Badman Review

2009-12-10T13:24:00.002Z

That this House acknowledges and celebrates the hard work of the many home educators in Britain who teach their children to an exceptionally high standard;

recognises the excellent value they represent to the Government;

notes with concern the conflation of welfare concerns with education issues in Government statements on home education;

further notes with concern the recommendations of the Badman Review which suggest closer monitoring of home educators, including a compulsory annual registration scheme and right of access to people's homes for local authority officials;

and calls on the Government to focus on its own ability to fulfil the Every Child Matters objectives rather than undermine the independence and integrity of home educators by enforcing the Badman recommendations.

See here.

Home educators in record petition of MPs

2009-12-10T12:00:00.004Z

They call on England's ministers not to go ahead with plans for a register or with proposals for council officials to be given new powers to enter homes. Ministers say the reforms will check children are "safe and learning". Read it here.

In South Devon, home educators unite to fight new legislation and protect their civil liberties. Leaf Lovejoy, who is educating two of her three children at home, said:

"This new legislation flies in the face of what home education is. It's completely absurd and would extend centralised control over parents and children. It would be an attack on our civil liberties. What this legislation proposes to do is to reverse what's existing now. At present the state reports to parents. That's what Ofsted reports are about. Under the new legislation, parents would be reported to the state. This is a massive invasion of privacy. This is a clever ruse by the Government to control parents, licence them. But this report is flawed and based on flawed statistics. It's families who provide for their children's education, whether it's in the home or at school. As home educators we have nothing to hide, but everything to fear from this report and from maverick local authorities."

Also on the news:

Now parents face criminal checks just to enter their children's school. More here.

Mass petitions against home education clampdown

2009-12-09T12:26:00.004Z

A total of 74 MPs from across the three main parties are set to present more than 120 petitions containing thousands of signatures to Parliament tonight (Tue) opposing Government plans to bring in strict registration and monitoring of home educated children, thanks to Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart. The mass presentation will break the record for the number of petitions presented to Parliament on a single issue on any one day. The previous record was 44 petitions presented on 28 March 2006 against cuts and closures to community hospitals. Read it here. Also on Press Association and Wales Online.

Here, we read that dozens of MPs lined up to deliver petitions from constituents urging the government not to go ahead with proposals to shake up home education. Graham Stuart (Con, Beverley and Holderness) said people from more than 120 constituencies officially opposed the compulsory registration of home educating families in England.

Two Hampshire MPs last night delivered petitions of thousands of signatures against proposals to tighten the rules on parents who educate their children at home. Read it here.

MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire, Stephen Crabb, will tonight (Tuesday) present a petition to the House of Commons on behalf of Pembrokeshire's home educators. Read it here.

Sutton MPs Tom Brake and Paul Burstow have received a petition from home educators concerned about the recommendations of an upcoming report. See here.

Newbury MP, Richard Benyon last night submitted a petition to Parliament on behalf of parents who wish to educate their children at home. This small but determined group of parents are appalled at Government plans to place many admirable home educators under an unwarranted cloud of suspicion. From here.

John T. Gatto: Weapons of Mass Instruction

2009-12-07T14:17:00.001Z

Taken from here. 4hrs video from 2004 AERO Conference.

Home educating parents bullied by authorities

2009-12-07T14:08:00.002Z

Miscarriage of justice in Australia

Gloucestershire woman opposes education bill

2009-12-07T13:03:00.002Z

A home education supporter fears legislation could stop many children being taught away from schools. Fiona and her husband Rob are happy to have taught their three children at home. However, they fear the Government's Children, Schools and Families Bill could restrict educational freedom and lead to youngsters not being well educated. Read it here.

Petitions handed over to Devon MP

2009-12-06T12:15:00.001Z

CAMPAIGNERS have warned against Government plans to force parents who keep their children out of school to register as a home educator and face inspections. Petitions have been launched across the country, and yesterday protesters handed over the latest to South West Devon MP Gary Streeter. See here.

Other news: National service for 7-year-olds

The nanny state intrusion continues

2009-12-05T11:18:00.002Z

Orpington protestors battling a new government home education bill have handed a petition to their MP. The petition is one of 400 from all over England that is due to be presented to Parliament. Read more...

Petition and other news

2009-12-04T13:42:00.002Z

A GROUND-breaking petition opposing Government changes to teaching children at home has been handed in to Retford's MP. [This was] a record-breaking 300 petitions being handed en masse to Parliament on the issue. The previous highest was from around 40 constituencies. Read more here.

Parents who educate their children at home should undergo criminal records checks, according to the Government’s education inspectors. Read more...

News round

2009-12-03T15:12:00.002Z

Local MPs Tom Brake and Paul Burstow yesterday received a petition from concerned Home School educators in the London Borough of Sutton who are worried about the recommendations of the Badman Report. Read it here.

Petition - Badman Report (Birmingham, Yardley)- Badman Report (Birmingham, Yardley) 10.4 pm John Hemming (Birmingham, Yardley) (LD): I was impressed on Saturday by this petition, which came from people who share my concerns about the state wrongly intervening in family life. More here.

The government response to the online petition to reject the Badman Report is now available here. It states that "the recommendations set out by Badman are proportionate and reasonable."

Meantime, the home-ed families e-petition just got into the top 75 out of about 4,700 e-petitions. If you haven't signed it yet and would like to do so then you can do it here.

A Study Shows Home-Educated Become Model Citizens - find out more here. The study Fifteen Years Later: Home-Educated Canadian Adults is available in full form and as a synopsis here.

Astra Taylor on the Unschooled Life

2009-12-02T17:20:00.001Z

From YouTube: Raised by independent-thinking bohemian parents, Taylor was unschooled until age 13. Join the filmmaker as she shares her personal experiences of growing up home-schooled without a curriculum or schedule, and how it has shaped her educational philosophy and development as an artist.

Latimer mum presents petition

2009-12-02T12:53:00.000Z

to Amersham and Chesham MP

NEW Government legislation could take away parents' freedom of choice to educate their children at home, residents signing a petition said this week.

Read here.

Please don't be surveyed by OFSTEd

2009-12-01T14:04:00.001Z

Taken from here. ****Please feel free to cross post this message freely to all lists, blogs and social media - especially to local lists within the 15 designated counties.****

It is clear from recent exchanges with OFSTEd as well as their track record, that their recent attempt to try out a dry run of the kind of inspection regime of home educators, that they would like to take on as new work for themselves, would be to the detriment of home educators, and that there is nothing to be gained from assisting OFSTEd in their ambitions over us by supplying them with vital intelligence useful in creating this new role for themselves. As with the government, their interest is clearly predatory upon us, and the exercise assumes a change in the law mandating such inspections, which home educators are currently vigorously fighting to prevent.

Collaborating with this unwanted and illegitimate exercise in any way cannot be in home educator's best interests. It is therefore respectfully suggested to the local home education groups in the 15 designated LEAs, that they decline to meet with OFSTEd, or complete their questionnare, stating their reasons if they wish.

Neil Taylor Moore,
Barbara Stark
Julie Gilbert
Lizelle Denton
Kevin Denton
Louisa Herbs
Gill Kilner
Sarita Goacher
---------------------------
Background Information:
Ofsted memorandum in response to the Badman consultation :
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmchilsch/memo/elehomed/me16502.htm

Letter to Christine Gilbert, Head of Ofsted, sent by the Badman Review Action Group
http://homeschooler.org.uk/document/letter-christine-gilbert-head-ofsted-badman-review-action-group-sent-21st-november-2009

Now we must undergo criminal records checks

2009-11-30T11:54:00.001Z

Parents who teach their own children at home must undergo criminal records checks, say Government education inspectors.

Read more

Parents and children are speaking out against proposed changes to the home education system which could see youngsters cross-examined for hours on end. A petition was handed over to MP for Lincoln criticising the Badman Review which called for stricter regulation of home schooled children.

Home-ed news from Bristol

2009-11-29T11:35:00.003Z

A Bristol mum-of-four, who teaches her children at home, has helped to collect what is set to be the largest number of parliamentary petitions ever recorded and asked her MP Doug Naysmith to take part in the presentation of the 200 petitions, as part of a national campaign to draw attention to the law governing the home education of children. Continues here.

And here's Doug Naysmith's reply to my request for him to join the All Party Parliamentary Group on home education and to sign the Early Day Motion 1785:

I already belong to more APPGs than I feel I should, as I do not like to belong to a Group unless I have the time to make a useful contribution to it. Also, my initial views on Badman's proposals are not as critical as those expressed in the EDM. I agree with the first part about the excellent work many parents do and appreciate the hard work and sacrifices involved. I can understand the worries and, indeed, indignation at the "conflation of welfare concerns with education issues".

I believe, however, that all children have a right to an education and that society, as well as parents, has a responsibility to ensure that this right is honoured. Therefore I think it is reasonable for Local Authorities to have a register so that they know how many children and which ones are being educated out of school. I understand this happens in most if not all other countries. I am also not against a 'light-touch' inspection which takes full account of what the parents' educational aims are: in other words, not one which expects parents to conduct formal lessons at the kitchen table, following the National Curriculum and culminating in SATs.

On Friday this week I am being presented with a petition by another home educating constituent and I am sure we will talk about the matter further. I should also be happy to discuss with you the difference in our views, either on your own or with other home educators if you belong to a local group.

Home ed news round

2009-11-28T23:26:00.003Z

PARENTS who educate their children at home say the government is trying to introduce draconian new laws to interfere in family life. More here...

PARENTS protesting against government proposals to impose strict rules which will regulate home education are preparing to hand in petitions to parliament opposing the plans. Read it here.

Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff are engaged (a) full-time and (b) part-time on handling responses to his Department's consultation on Home education-registration and monitoring proposals. From here.

Brushing off labels such as "hippie" and "religious nut", and debunking the socialisation myth, Nicola Pye followed natural progression and took a stand for freedom to home-school her children. Read it here.

A mother and father in Germany were fined $181 for homeschooling their children by a judge who spared them the jail sentences demanded by the prosecutor. More here. Also here.

Is homeschooling compatible with socialism and vice-versa? Apparently not, for homeschooling means parental control of education, and that is anathema to socialists. More here...

The British government announced last week their acceptance of the Badman Review of home education and introduced the new Children, Schools and Families Bill that will require home educated children to be registered with the local authorities. Read it here. Also here.

Home schooling doesn't have to negatively affect socialization - here.

Meantime, in the schooling world...
Criminal checks for all sixth formers
Tory plans for 'no notice' school detentions

We are the people we´ve been waiting for

2009-11-26T16:08:00.002Z

FFI: we are the people movie
Get a free copy with the Guardian this coming Saturday.

Tomorrow on BBC3

2009-11-25T12:55:00.002Z

Info taken from here: Documentary about withdrawn teenager Megan, who has delayed socialisation... Megan is home-schooled by her strict Jehovah's witness mum and dad and leads a life structured around rules and routines. We enter her life where she has to spend time with the family rather than others of her own age.

Thu 9:30pm

Another petition...

2009-11-24T12:44:00.001Z

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to uphold that parents have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of their child, to not undermine parents legitimately fulfilling their fundamental duties, and to assume that the best interests of their child is the basic concern of parents unless there is specific evidence to the contrary.

More details here.

MP to receive petition over home education

2009-11-22T10:56:00.001Z

YEOVIL MP David Laws will this morning receive a petition from families across his constituency protesting against draft legislation regulating home education.
Read more...

Children, Schools and Families Bill — Home education

2009-11-20T13:24:00.003Z

You can find it here.

Testing times for home educators

2009-11-19T11:56:00.000Z

Five months after Graham Badman's report was published, the inclusion of some of his findings in the Queen's speech makes it clear that the system faces changes.

Read more...

Declaration to Parliament - Notice of refusal to co-operate

2009-11-18T23:07:00.004Z

The following notice has been going round...

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

WHEREAS the recommendations of the GRAHAM BADMAN REVIEW OF ELECTIVE HOME EDUCATION have been accepted in full by the Secretary of State.

AND that these grossly disproportionate recommendations hold serious implications for the civil liberties of parents, children and families in this country.

AND that these recommendations place primary responsibility for assessing the suitability of education and the welfare of the child on the state, rather than the parent - with no prior evidence that either is unsatisfactory prior to this grossly intrusive intervention.

AND that the recommendations of the review assumes that the home is an inherently unsafe or unhealthy place for the child to be.

AND that these recommendations undermine the role of the parent and trample over family freedoms in its haste to set parent and child up against each other, bestowing additional and selective "rights" on home educated children that only the government can adequately minister to.

AND that these recommendations destroy the very possibility of true autonomy in learning.

AND that these recommendations operate from a position of requiring proof of parental innocence rather than reasonable suspicion of guilt.

AND that these recommendations discriminatorily use the coercive and interventionist tools of parental licensing, warrantless entry to the home, inspection according to arbitrary external standards, and an unconscionable new power to interrogate the child without the parents present.

AND that the outcome of these recommendations will be horribly discriminatory to a minority community, the measures eventually having to apply to anyone who has their child at home with them: parents with under 5s, those whose children attend private school, and also those with school-aged children who are at home in the evenings, over the weekends, and throughout the summer holidays.

AND that the outcome of these inspections will be based on the very human whim and prejudices of a local authority officer, who will have the power to destroy the life and education that that parent has conceived for his or her child.

AND that if the government is to avoid further discrimination it also stands to reason that each child who attends school must be given the same "rights" as home educated children - to "have their voices heard" regarding whether or not they are happy to be educated in school, whether they are satisfied with their teachers and whether they feel safe in such an environment.

WE ACCEPT that it is right that appropriate and proportionate action, as currently outlined in the law, may be taken to rectify a situation if there are serious concerns about a child's welfare, observing that a child being at home with its parents is not, and never has been, in and of itself a child welfare issue.

AND HEREBY RESOLVE that any such utterly disproportionate legislation if passed will fundamentally alter the relationship between citizen and state, and would constitute a fundamental violation of our rights,

AND that any such legislation is illegitimate on its face.

NOW UNDERSTAND that by this declaration, Parliament is PUT ON NOTICE that I and others will not co-operate with any such legislation, and strongly caution you not to consider, debate, or enact any such legislation.

Signed _______________________________

Declaration to Parliament - Notice of Refusal to Co-operate

2009-11-18T21:47:00.003Z

Here, there and everywhere...
To find out more, go to:
Home education forums
Freedom in education
Maire Staffordshire
Blogdial
kelly green and gold
Renegade Parent (more here)
AHED
Billysu's
Nineteenthly
Learning Freely Network
Then UK
Ensino Doméstico - Educação Domiciliar

Unprecedented access to family homes

2009-11-17T12:39:00.003Z

now given to health and safety inspectors to ensure that parents are protecting their children from household accidents.
Read more...

Also worth reading is this article, about the way Britain - "the most punitive nation in Europe" - continues to breach children's rights.

Blake Hannah on 'unschooling'

2009-11-16T23:38:00.000Z

Barbara says that her method is actually described not as "home-schooling" but "unschooling". "My approach is not linked to a set curriculum," she says. "I used a freestyle method led by my son's interests."

Read more...

Home is where the school is

2009-11-15T22:03:00.001Z

When he was 15 years old, Peter Heuer and a friend he met at astronomy camp started building a cyclotron, an experimental physics device that smashes atomic particles together.

Read more...

Home-ed art

2009-11-12T22:52:00.000Z

ART with a message is on show at an exhibition in Sheffield city centre - created by children educated at home instead of school.

Read more...

To ask the Secretary of State for CSF...

2009-11-11T16:35:00.002Z

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding his Department has provided to each local authority in England and Wales for children with special educational needs who are educated at home...

Read more...

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which 15 local authorities will be contacted by Ofsted to discuss the potential inspection regime for home education...

Read more...

Home-ed on the IoI Education Forum

2009-11-10T14:44:00.003Z

Tuesday 24 November: This will be a joint event with the Parents Forum at which mother and author Jennie Bristow will argue for home schooling while father and educationalist Toby Marshall will put the case against.

Is home schooling defensible? Why can’t parents be free to educate their children in any way they wish? Should the state regulate those who chose to home school? Are their occasions when, for the social good and children’s own good, the parents’ desire to do their own thing should be overruled? For further details or to register, email, or ring Dennis Hayes on 07791200341

From here. Podcast may become available here.

Home ed news - Ofsted

2009-11-10T11:28:00.001Z

"Asked by Lord Lucas - To ask Her Majesty's Government why Ofsted has decided to investigate a sample of 15 local authorities about their provision for home educators; which 15 local authorities it will investigate; and how they were chosen. "

Read more...

Schoolgirl thrown out of classes over tie

2009-11-07T19:07:00.001Z

Rebecca, 15, was thrown out of classes for wearing a traditional-style school tie rather than a clip-on version and ordered to stand in the corridor outside the headteacher's office for breaching uniform rules. Rebecca's parents have branded the move "Draconian" and have withdrawn their daughter from of classes to be taught at home.

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Ridiculous rules for home schools

2009-11-06T21:32:00.001Z

My six-year-old daughter is educated by me, at home. Are we about to become the state's latest scapegoats?

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Here, a reader asks whether home schooling their child will be beneficial.

What will they accuse us of next?

2009-11-05T19:13:00.005Z

Paula Rothermel: I was invited on two occasions to meet with Mr Badman. At our first interview Mr Badman was interested in what I had to say. His opening question was to ask me if home educating mothers suffered from Munchhausen's by Proxy. I thought this to be a curious starting point - that of questioning whether home education is a symptom of mental illness.

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He-art project

2009-11-04T14:41:00.000Z

ART submitted by home-educated children from Sheffield and across the country, in a bid to share the reasons why they love learning outside school, has been put in the shop window for the public to see. After a month-long exhibition the He-art project will go on a national tour.

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Home ed women's blogging

2009-11-01T12:53:00.003Z

Taken from here:

Women bloggers inform as well as entertain. Grit, who home-educates her triplets in Britain and writes the excellent, spirited, funny and indescribable gritsday, is a case in point. “I started the blog because I was leading a bizarre life, the sort where fact and fiction blend into each other,” she says. “I was mothering triplets at home in a bomb site when my husband flew in from the West Bank. He changed his trousers and passport, then flew off to Jordan. Six weeks later he’d be in China and I’d be at home making trucks out of cardboard. Through writing I’ve come to terms with situations, and I can honestly say I like where we are now and I feel comfortable. And I’ve learnt that, for us, bizarre is normal.” Grit also blogs specifically to enlighten people about the joys of home-educating their children: “Home education can offer a truly real-life education. And I hope that from the blog you can see that a home-educating lifestyle can be a lot of fun as well as a lot of hard work.”

Blogging also presents very 21st-century opportunities for new friendships, both real and online. Even a few years ago the idea of meeting up in real life with people you’d “met” online was eccentric and desperate at best and sinister at worst, but it is now perfectly reasonable, not to say commonplace.

Grit agrees: “That sharing of ideas, resources, support, practical help is an essential part of blogging. There’s a wider community too; we were in Hong Kong this year and I’d corresponded with a blogger based there. She invited us over to say hello. She was totally beautiful, poised, elegant — everything I’m not. I would never have met her in real life. Yet here we were, taking tea together halfway across the world. I felt there was a lot of shared value and understanding we’d gained through the blogs.”

Teachers waterboarded my autistic son

2009-10-25T00:16:00.002+01:00

Autistic teenager was reportedly held under running water, forced to eat his own vomit and made to sit in his soiled clothes for hours.

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A couple of news items

2009-10-23T18:45:00.002+01:00

Regulating home schooling: Does mother—or nanny—know best?
for the overwhelming majority of parents, this is bullying bureaucracy at its worst.

Government home ed plans 'deeply sinister'
The Government is taking its powers “a step too far” if officials are allowed to question children without their parents present, warns Philip Johnston:

“For the first time, local councils will have the power to enter family homes and question young children without the presence of their parents – something even the police are not allowed to do unless the parent is the suspect”.

Evangelical need monitoring, EHEing parents need to be queried

2009-10-21T13:09:00.006+01:00

BBC slurs evangelicals in home school debate
Some evangelical parents need monitoring by the state because they may ‘intimidate’ their children with ideas about God, sin and hell, a BBC radio host has said.

Tough lesson for home-educators
Karl Meyer, from Cambridge Home Educating Families (Chef), said it was "a bizarre logic" to suggest that a parent who wanted to spend time with his or her child was someone to be questioned and queried.

Results of Children's Survey & "Not Hidden" survey of HE families

2009-10-21T13:01:00.002+01:00

At yesterday evening's parliamentary briefing event hosted by EO, Ann Newstead publicised the results of the surveys that she had carried out personally following the publication of the Badman Report.

The summary of the survey of home educated children and young people, which got 777 responses, can be found here.

The survey which asked home educating families to keep a diary for a week, to show that their children are not "hidden", which 500 families responded to, is summarised here.