Posted by Mitchell and Kathryn Lewis:

Global Student Network has provided us with a professionally run, very affordable home school curriculum. We have spent hours researching currently available online home school programs, and were fortunate to discover this one.

GSN is one of the few comprehensive programs that allow the parent to be the teacher from the early grades throughout the high school years. This allows a great deal of flexibility with scheduling and creating your own timeline for vacations, exam preparation, etc. All answers to exams and quizzes are provided at all times so completed work can be graded when the parent is ready, even if it is 3 AM.

The curriculum is broad based, current, and appealing. We were impressed with the quality of the courses, including electives, which surpass many public and private schools. The online links provided enhance the educational process, and stimulate the students to investigate subjects further on their own. Getting started was surprisingly easy as our son was up and running on day one.

We have found that phone and on-line support has always been prompt and helpful, making GSN one of the best home schools around. The transcripts provided after course completion are detailed and professional in appearance.

Our personal home education needs have been met most satisfactorily by GSN. We highly recommend this program to all parents who want to actively implement their children’s education, achieving all goals, with an up-to-date course structure.

For those who have been watching the California anti-homeschool court matter of the past couple of months, the next round will be coming up in June.

In an E-alert from HSLDA the following report came across the wire:

On May 19 all the filings of the legal briefs to re-hear the case In re Rachel L. were completed.

The Court of Appeal, which made the fateful decision on February 28, 2008 to declare all homeschooling illegal unless the parent is a certified teacher, will now begin the process of considering the arguments. The current schedule anticipates oral arguments to begin this June.

HSLDA has been at the forefront of the process to defend the right to homeschool in California and across the country. In this case, we were able to successfully help Gary Kreep of the U.S. Justice Foundation, who represents the father at the center of this case, Mr. L., to prepare the arguments to grant the petition for re-hearing. When the Court of Appeal granted the petition for rehearing, the original opinion was vacated and no longer has any legal effect.

Furthermore, in the latest round of filings, we have also been able to provide substantial assistance to the Alliance Defense Fund, which is partnering with the U.S. Justice Foundation in order to make the strongest argument possible to preserve homeschool freedom in California. So much is at stake, and all parties involved have shared their unique perspective to present the best case possible.

HSLDA has also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in conjunction with Focus on the Family and Family Protection Ministries to show the benefits of a home education. These arguments draw on the extensive development of homeschooling and the successful track record of parents educating their children at home.

Also, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has filed a brief in conjunction with the Attorney General of California, which supports a parent’s right to homeschool. Their brief begins with this statement: “Recognizing that home-schooling has a long and positive history in California and across the nation, the State of California provides a broad statutory framework that authorizes and regulates the practice.” In other words, the Governor and Attorney General are strongly arguing for no changes to the current law.

While we do not know what the court will decide, you can be confident that hundreds of hours were spent by many different organizations to defend your right to homeschool.

I’m sorry, I had to blog on this article that came across from The Nevada Appeal.

For as long as I can remember, homeschool families are questioned: What about Socialization.” Our response has been: “Is public school really where you want your child to be socialized?”

Now, it seems that at least one Nevada school principal agrees. According to the Nevada Appeal, Marvin Moss Elementary School principal Kristen McNeill has issued a policy breaking up social groups of 4 or more students, unless they are engaged in “structured activity.”

To read the entire article: CLICK HERE

Global Student Network has always believed that homeschool families consistently get this area of their children’s development right. By choosing the activities that support their child’s socialization, homeschool parents take responsibility for their child’s development and are less likely to leave this critical developmental task to the chances of systemic dysfunction and bureaucratic belief systems. Homeschool parents may not get it right all the time, but I venture to posit that they get it right more often than public school administrators working to manage hundreds of children’s behaviors.

John Stossel writes that a California appellate court ruling that parents have no constitutional right to homeschool their children, pinned its decision on the statement that “a primary purpose of government schools is to train schoolchildren ‘in loyalty to the state.”

Well isn’t that interesting …

And all this time I thought the purpose of public schools was to prepare our nation’s students for entry into the adult world.

I’d like to pull a section of Romanowski’s research article, Revisiting the Common Myths about Homeschooling.

Myth #2: Homeschooling Fails to Prepare Good Citizens

In August 2001, Time magazine raised the issue of citizenship and homeschooling by asking the question, “Is Home Schooling Good for America?” The concern was that homeschooling may turn out better students, but does it create better citizens? The argument was that homeschooling isolated students from the world, including political and social involvement. Furthermore, homeschooling centers on the best interest of the individual rather than public schools’ concern for the best interest for society as a whole.

Reality

Today, the first generation of homeschooled students have grown up and have entered America’s workforce, colleges, and universities. But, are they good citizens compared to the general U.S. population? A recent report, “Home Schooling Grows Up,” released by Dr. Brian Ray, argues that “home schooling produces successful adults who are actively involved in their communities and continue to value education for themselves and their children” (2003, 6). The study surveyed more than seventy-three hundred adults who were homeschooled, with more than five thousand of these being homeschooled for at least seven years.

Their responses and results demonstrate that homeschooled students are excellent citizens compared to the general U.S. population. For example, one element of being a good citizen is a person’s level of engagement in civic and political affairs. According to these findings, only 4.2 percent of homeschool graduates consider politics and government too complicated to understand, compared to 35 percent of U.S. adults. Ray demonstrates that homeschool graduates are more actively involved in their communities than the general U.S. population. The following statistics illustrate this point:

• Seventy-one percent of homeschool graduates participate in an ongoing community service activity, compared to 37 percent of U.S. adults of similar ages.

• Eighty-eight percent of the homeschool graduates surveyed are members of an organization (such as a community group, church, or professional organization) compared to 50 percent of U.S. adults.

• Homeschool graduates are more likely to contribute money to a political party and are more likely to work for a political party or cause.

• Seventy-six percent of homeschool graduates surveyed between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four voted in a national or state election within the last five years, compared to only 29 percent of the relevant U.S. population.

• Homeschool graduates are more likely to have participated in a protest or boycott, attended a public meeting, wrote, or telephoned a public official or signed a petition more often than the general population. (Ray 2003)

The bottom line: Homeschool graduates are actively involved in the political process and are more engaged as citizens compared to the general U.S. population.

These findings dispel the myth that homeschoolers withdraw from society and their civic responsibilities.

Homeschoolers clearly learn about the real world, possibly more than do their public school counterparts.

While the purpose of public education is to educate future citizens who take an active role in improving the social, economic, and political conditions in society,

Ray’s research indicates that public schools, not homeschooling, should be scrutinized for their efforts regarding “citizenship training. What about other aspects of adulthood, such as employment? Knowles (1991) surveyed adults who were homeschooled because of ideology or geographical isolation. None were unemployed or on welfare. Nearly two-thirds were self-employed. In addition, 94 percent of those surveyed stated that their home education prepared them to be independent persons, while 79 percent said it helped them interact with individuals from different levels of society. Knowles argues that because such a large percentage of those surveyed were self-employed, this provides evidence that homeschooling develops an individual’s self-reliance and independence.

It seems that homeschooling creates responsible and productive citizens, which is positive for both the individual and society. Children are benefiting from the homeschool environment and much can be learned from examining what homeschooling families are doing.

Knowles, J. G. 1991. We’ve grown up and we’re OK: An exploration of adults who were home-educated as students. Paper presented at the 13th National Conference of the New Zealand Association for Research in Education.

Ray, B., 2003. Home schooling grows up. Salem, OR: National Home Education Research Institute.

Romanowski, M. H. (2006). Revisiting the common myths about homeschooling. The Clearing House , 125-129.