Continuing my series of articles, “A Question of Homeschooling.” Last week I answered the question, “Is homeschooling legal?” This week I will answer the most common question homeschoolers are asked, What about socialization? There are really two reasons people ask this question. One is because they are truly seeking to understand how homeschoolers get along not seeing the same group of children each day. The other is because they are under the false impression that homeschoolers lock their children in a closet until they graduate and by then, they are so weird, lonely and devoid of social skills, they are incapable of getting along in the "real world." First, I want to share some of the truths of socialization and...
I'm continuing my series of articles, "A Question of Homeschooling." Last week I shared the four best ways to answer the question, "Why do you homeschool?" This week, I answer the question, "Is homeschooling legal?" With all the buzz about homeschooling these days, not as many people believe homeschooling is illegal, but you do run into folks who question the legality of certain things when it comes to homeschooling. This week I'm going to focus on the legal aspects of homeschooling. This is not to be taken as legal advice and since homeschooling laws vary from state to state, I recommend visiting http://www.hslda.org for more detailed information on homeschooling in your state. I found a very helpful resource on their...
If you are a long time reader of Communication FUNdamentals, you will recall that about a year ago our family had agreed to be filmed for a documentary that a USC grad student was doing on homeschooling for a local cable TV and internet show. I have to admit being a bit nervous about whether or not a positive image of my family and homeschooling in general would survive the cutting room floor. Since we are members of HSLDA, I called and spoke with Michael Smith to ask his advice. He shared a story with me about how his words had been twisted in an interview by the editing process but that, in his opinion, any publicity for homeschooling is...
