Homeschool Alliance of North Carolina

“Michael Smith
Sunday, December 21, 2008

At a time when President George W. Bush will leave office with some of the lowest approval ratings in the history of the presidency, there is one group of citizens who should be grateful for the work he did on their behalf. Mr. Bush has been a strong supporter of a parent’s right to choose home education. …”

For the complete article visit:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/21/bush-helped-out-home-schoolers/

Our son Tom was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) when he was 3.  I didn’t fully understand, when he was diagnosed, how the world would change.  After all, he was verbal, bright, fun, affectionate…  and while he had a very odd way of speaking, and an even odder way of playing, I couldn’t imagine that would make a big difference in the long run.

I was wrong.  Within two years, Tom had been booted from two preschools because “they couldn’t help children with his issues.”  He started kindergarten locally, but by the time he was in second grade he had been booted from the district to a county program “because they had the resources to help him.”…

After years of struggling with IEPs (individualized educational plans), advocacy, parent-teacher meetings, and paperwork, I realized I needed to actually hand Tom’s teacher the curriculum that worked for him.  I needed to create the “communication forms” on which the teacher could describe Tom’s needs and successes.  I needed to check, every week, to see whether the aides were bothering to escort Tom to band practice (as the ONLY special needs kid in band, it was a bit of a struggle to be sure anyone noticed him - even though he was the best clarinet player in the group!).

Finally, it became crystal clear that we, his parents, could do a far better job of teaching Tom than anyone else.  And by golly, we were right.

After a year and a half, Tom has read over a dozen full length novels (he’d never read one in school).  He’s written reports, presented his work at a homeschool biography fair, won two bowling trophies, and learned to climb rock walls.  He’s explored birding, impressionism, American history, and learned to make his own lunch.  He plays clarinet with a terrific jazz musician, and is part of the middle school jazz band.

Most importantly, Tom is relaxed, positive, and enjoying his education….”

For more of this story visit: http://www.examiner.com/x-2007-Homeschooling-Examiner~y2008m12d10-Love-a-Child-with-Autism-Homeschooling-May-Be-Your-Best-Option

“ZURICH, Switzerland, December 9,2008 (Lifesitenews.com) - The leading Swiss newspaper, Tages Anzeiger, reports that the by next summer the Canton of Zurich will restrict homeschooling rights to parents who are certified teachers.   

“Parents will only be allowed to educate their children at home when they have a teacher’s certificate,” reported Tages Anzeiger on December 4.  According to the paper there are fifty parents affected within the Canton of Zurich. 

Eight of these families so far have announced that they are resisting the legislation, and face fines up to 5000 francs ($4100 USD) and possible citations for disobedience of official orders.  Appeals of the Zurich decision are being filed, but so far the Education Director has rejected all compromise solutions….”

For the complete article visit: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08120907.html

“By Cristina Janney

“By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, December 06, 2008

Andrew Brisbin’s default attire is jeans, sneakers and a fleece shirt. He plays racquetball and reads Westerns, Jules Verne and Charles Dickens in his spare time.

He’s like many of the 3,000 students who will graduate from the University of Texas this weekend. Except for this: Andrew is 16 years old, and he completed his college studies in two years.

Home-schooled for much of his life, he enrolled at North Central Texas College, a community college, in the fall of 2006 and transferred to UT a year later. By taking summer classes and carrying up to 20 credit hours at a time — while keeping his grade-point average above 3.5 on a 4.0 scale — he has earned the right to walk across the stage Sunday at the Erwin Center and be recognized as a candidate for a bachelor’s degree in finance from UT’s McCombs School of Business. …”

For the complete text visit: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/06/1206utgrad.html