Your Child is Not State Property
By Thomas A. Bowden
Education, like nutrition, should be recognized as the exclusive domain of a child's parents, within legal limits objectively defining child abuse and neglect. Parents who starve their children may properly be ordered to fulfill their parental obligations, on pain of losing legal custody. But the fact that some parents may serve better food than others does not permit government to seize control of nutrition, outlaw home-cooked meals, and order all children to report for daily force-feeding at government-licensed cafeterias.
The shockwaves from Justice Croskey's decision will likely impact not just homeschoolers but also the apologists for government education--teachers' unions, educational bureaucrats, and politicians. Their political and financial survival depends on a policy that treats children as, in effect, state property--but only rarely is the undiluted collectivism of that policy trumpeted so publicly.
Read the entire post here.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
More Homeschoolers In Atlanta
Maryland Home School Robotics Team (TechBrick Robotics) Wins Slot for US FIRST's International Robotics Competition in Atlanta, April 16-19.
Youngest son in really jazzed about going with Team Fusion 364 (his robotics team). He had a meeting tonight to get the details. They (Team Fusion 364) are also making plans for the summer robotics camp they run for young kids.
Youngest son in really jazzed about going with Team Fusion 364 (his robotics team). He had a meeting tonight to get the details. They (Team Fusion 364) are also making plans for the summer robotics camp they run for young kids.
CLC has no interest in changing homeschooling laws
The CLC, which argued against the rehearing, is preparing its arguments, too.
"From our perspective, the CLC had no interest in changing or impacting the law regarding children who are home-schooled by loving, caring parents who are assumed to want to and are capable of protecting their children and providing for their children's best interests," Ms. Heimov said.
But in situations where parents are not protecting their children — as is the case with this family, in her view — "it is paramount" that society step in and protect these children, she said. "That's what this case was about."
This seems to be a no brainer, the court should have made a narrow ruling that only applied to the family in question. Instead they made a sweeping ruling that applied (or seemed to) to all homeschoolers. And it seems to be that the best thing for the children would be for them to be REMOVED from this abusive situation.
They and their nine children have been involved with the child-welfare system for 20 years, owing to accusations of physical abuse by the father and sexual molestation of several daughters by a male family friend whom the parents permitted to come around.
No child should have to endure physical and sexual abuse. One can only wonder WHY the child welfare system has allowed it to go on for 20 years.
"From our perspective, the CLC had no interest in changing or impacting the law regarding children who are home-schooled by loving, caring parents who are assumed to want to and are capable of protecting their children and providing for their children's best interests," Ms. Heimov said.
But in situations where parents are not protecting their children — as is the case with this family, in her view — "it is paramount" that society step in and protect these children, she said. "That's what this case was about."
This seems to be a no brainer, the court should have made a narrow ruling that only applied to the family in question. Instead they made a sweeping ruling that applied (or seemed to) to all homeschoolers. And it seems to be that the best thing for the children would be for them to be REMOVED from this abusive situation.
They and their nine children have been involved with the child-welfare system for 20 years, owing to accusations of physical abuse by the father and sexual molestation of several daughters by a male family friend whom the parents permitted to come around.
No child should have to endure physical and sexual abuse. One can only wonder WHY the child welfare system has allowed it to go on for 20 years.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The Computer Ate My Grade!!!
Lousy luck if you had good grades, Computer bug eats Ind. students' grades. I wonder how sympathetic teachers and school officials would be if a student told them a computer bug ate their homework?
I am now a lady of leisure as I am not certified to do anything
I often wonder if these people ever realize how absurd their arguments for requiring teacher certification of homeschooling parents are. Maybe I should stop cooking healthy nutritious meals for my family. After all I am not a certified chef or a certified dietitian, therefore I can't possibly do an adequate job cooking meals for my family. Oh I better tell my husband to call a plumber the next time we have a plumbing issue, since he isn't a certified plumber. I should also tell him to stop working on our automobiles and lawn mowers since he isn't a mechanic and I guess the greenhouse he designed and built for me will have to go. After all he isn't an architect and doesn't work in construction. Hey maybe we should require people to be certified to do laundry and clean houses. In which case I am now unqualified to do any house work, so I can spend more time in my butterfly garden. Oh wait, I don't have a certification in horticulture so I guess I am unqualified to weed the flowerbeds. I am now officially a lady of leisure.
HT: The Common Room: Some People Commit Crimes, So Investigate Everybody
HT: The Common Room: Some People Commit Crimes, So Investigate Everybody
Confederate History ~ Jefferson Davis
Little known facts about Jefferson Davis
- Davis was a West Point graduate who fought in the Mexican War under Zachary Taylor and married the future president's daughter.
- As a U.S. senator from Mississippi, he had a hand in building the Smithsonian Institution.
- He bolstered the nation's defenses as secretary of war under President Franklin Pierce.
Why Homeschool: Carnival of Homeschooling - The April Fool's Day Edition
Why Homeschool: Carnival of Homeschooling - The April Fool's Day Edition . This delightful Carnival is well worth a visit.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Bayou Regional
Youngest son joined Team Fusion 364 this January. Their colors are orange and blue.
Team Fusion 364 is comprised of students from different public schools, private schools and homeschools who live along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Youngest son is homeschooled and we are members of PEAK.
During their build season they worked very hard to build a robot that could perform all the task required for the 2008 First Robotics Competition. As you can imagine building a robot and going to competitions is very costly so they look for corporate sponsors. Team Fusion 364's sponsors are NASA, SAIC, Sieman Composites, DuPont Delisle, Knesal Engineering Services, INC. (they are always looking for new sponsors). All donations to Team Fusion 364 are Tax Exempt 501(c) (3), the culmination of their fundraising efforts is a golf tournament run by the students. Team Fusion 364 used some of the money they raised to take the VEX kids in the area to the Bayou Regional Saturday.
At the Bayou Regional they competed against other teams from all over the country. States represented at the Bayou Regional ~ Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey and Texas. There were 47 teams in all.
Opening ceremonies began with a Mardi Gra parade. Then the seeding matches began.
These are the awards Team Fusion 364 won in 2007 at the Bayou Regional
Engineering Inspiration
Regional Finalist Award
Autodesk Visualization Award
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Entrepreneurship Award
This year Team Fusion 364 only won ONE award, but it was FIRST's most prestigious award, it honors the team judged to have created the best partnership effort among team participants, and to have best exemplified the true meaning of FIRST. The award helps keep the central focus of the FIRST Robotics Competition on the goal of inspiring greater levels of respect and honor for science and technology. Team Fusion 364 won The Regional Chairman's Award and will be going to Atlanta for the National Competition.
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