Education News

The Maine Reform Experiment - More is Not Necessarily Better
By Mimi Rothschild

In 1996, the state of Maine undertook one of the most ambitious educational reform programs in the country. Called the Maine Learning Results Program, the reform called for higher standards in eight subjects and required 220 school districts to create their own individual programs for improvement. Massachusetts, on the other hand, chose to lower its requirements for students. Which state was more successful in its educational reforms? In a few short years, Massachusetts students outperformed students in Maine. What are the reasons for these surprising results and what are the implications for homeschooling?

Maine attempted to improve its educational system, but it only increased bureaucracy and red tape. Massachusetts, on the other hand, decided to be less ambitious and to require remedial tutoring for all students who fail. Many homeschooling parents feel vindicated by these findings; it shows that blanket reforms don't cover everyone, and kids are not necessarily better off in the traditional school system than in a homeschooling setting.

Money was not a factor, either. Maine spends $1,000 more on each student than Massachusetts, in spite of the Bay State's mandatory tutoring program. Personal attention provided to homeschoolers like that matters more than money in creating optimal educational results. Homeschoolers need not worry that a lack of funds will mean mediocre performance. This study shows that pushing kids through an overburdened system is not better than homeschooling. It also shows that giving kids one-on-one attention can only be provided in a homeschool environment.

Are you better off homeschooling your child than sending him or her to public school? The choice is up to the individual. The study does not prove that homeschooling is the right choice for every single student. What it does demonstrate is that more is not necessarily better. It is not the case, as opponents of homeschooling often argue, that the public school system can provide a student with a better education than homeschooling simply because the public school system has more money and resources. Homeschooling does not require fancy reforms or elaborate programs. Meeting the needs of each individual student is the advantage of homeschooling over traditional education. No amount of money or panel of experts can replace the personal care and attention provided by homeschooling.

Massachusetts' educational program was successful because it provided tutoring for students who failed courses. Homeschooling, on the other hand, provides constant "tutoring" even for students who succeed and this enables them to consolidate their success. With homeschooling, your child can enjoy a personalized educational experience.

Homeschooling & Online Education
By Mimi Rothschild

Online education is changing the way children around the country learn, including homeschool students. Years ago, textbooks and workbooks were the primary educational resources. That's all changed, as great numbers of homeschool parents and students choose to use the Internet as the ultimate learning tool.

In the past, only a select few students had the opportunity to learn online. In fact, in the early years of the Internet, very few students had access to the Internet at all. Some homeschool students were able to use computers to play games and take advantage of educational software, but most were unable to reap the benefits of the information superhighway. That's all in the past as today's homeschool students are likely to be extremely tech-savvy and often they are more computer proficient than their parents.

According to research studies, over 90 percent of children over the age of 12, who use the Internet, do so for education-related activities or research. A significant number of children in sixth grade and above have their own e-mail addresses and over 70 percent have one or more instant message (IM) screen names. Many of these Internet-accomplished children are homeschool students, using the Web for everything from studying and research to keeping in touch with friends and playing games.

Homeschool students use the Internet with ever-increasing levels of sophistication. Often, the level of sophistication at which most homeschool children use computers and online education far outpaces that of their parents. Simply put, the younger generations seem to absorb more information faster when it comes to computers and online educational tools. Furthermore, they seem to feel greater overall comfort with using the Internet as an educational tool.

Homeschool students use the Internet as an online educational tool in various ways. For starters, homeschool students use the Net for research and studying a full range of topics. They use it to gain help with difficult subjects and develop greater levels of understanding in others. Some homeschool students use the Internet in lieu of textbooks to learn an amazing variety of subjects. Many actually take online classes offered by public or private educational institutions. Additionally, homeschool students use the Internet for guidance and advice. Of course, entertainment is also a very popular reason for using the Internet.

Studies show that students, including those who homeschool, view online education not as a fun distraction or educational side dish, but as an educational necessity. Many would like to see the Internet become even more integrated into their homeschool environments. Homeschool students want to be able to use the Internet more to gain access to real, up-to-date information, instead of having to rely on textbooks (sometimes outdated) for information.

The Leading PreK-12 Online Christian Home School Program Provider
Learning By Grace Managed Academies 2008-2009 Learning Year: In session from September 7th, 2008 through June 30th, 2009

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, author, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of almost 3 decades reside with their 8 children in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. because "our current system of education has broken its promise..." Learning By Grace, Inc. delivers Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children in the United States and throughout the world.

Rothschild has authored a number of books about education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Daily Education News Blog contains feature stories on alternatives in education.

Learning By Grace, Inc. is a provider of on line educational solutions for Christian home school families. Through several on line Christian schools offering PreK-12 curriculum for home schooling, Learning By Grace is changing the way people view education.

Learning By Grace is dedicated to providing an affordable Christian home education to families all over the world. The home school curriculum used is comprised of engaging multimedia activities through e texts, workbooks, on line education assignments, video, audio, interactive field trips, and so much more. By providing children with a quality home education, parents can take an active role in instilling Godly values in their children. With just a computer and Internet connection, parents are now able to offer their children something more.

Because the Learning By Grace home school curriculum is so flexible, students are able to work at their own pace. Special needs students and quick learners both are able to achieve academic success by taking as much time as they need to comprehend the course material - no more, no less. Learning By Grace provides an alternative to the negative influences that permeate the nation’s public schools such as worldly thinking, humanist teaching, and moral relativism. Free from peer pressures, distractions, and a rigid educational formula, our home school students can pursue educational excellence.

Christian Home School Programs Managed By Learning By Grace

MorningStar Academy Homeschooling

The MorningStar Academy Home School Program Online. MorningStar's comprehensive Christian on line program provides a state-of-the-art, multimedia-rich interactive experience. Traditional texts are accompanied by CD-ROMS, videos, web adventures make us the most outstanding Christian home school program available.

Home School Program is Safest. Secular influences can rob your children. Our Christian on line program cultivates Biblical values. Keep your precious children safe! Help them to develop a Biblical world view by educating them in an on line Christian program. Our Christian on line program has been designed to meet all of your home schooling needs!

Home School Program offers Biblical Curriculum. The K-12 MorningStar Academy provides not only the best on line education program but everything you need to give your child a world-class Christian education. Earn your High School Diploma on line at our Online High School Program. We Encourage You to Visit The MorningStar Academy Online Home School

The Jubilee Academy Homeschooling

The Jubilee Academy is a nationally recognized, accredited curriculum provider for preschool through 12 families. Jubilee Academy families receive a comprehensive interactive accredited Christian program. For less than what many families spend on books alone, you get everything you need to have a successful academic year.

Students interact with one another through our state of the art learning management system. Kids love our Social Center where they socialize in a safe and Christian environment. Our Teacher/Parent Message Board enables parents to have unlimited interaction with their student's teachers and other Jubilee Academy parents. Parents are always in complete control of your child's education at Jubilee.

The Jubilee Academy offers over 150 accredited preschool through Grade 12 multimedia-rich on line courses, including preschool through high school. The Jubilee Academy gives you up to six courses. Each course contains 180 lessons and runs for 36 weeks. All of our courses are designed from a Christian world view and include a rich collection of videos, graphs, audio files, and off line activities.

Jubilee gives you Daily Online Assignments, a Customized Calendar, Automatic Grading of most tests, Answer Keys, Progress Reports, Grade Records and so much more! You are guaranteed to get all the help you could ever need! We Encourage You to Visit The Jubilee Academy Online Home School

The Grace Academy Homeschooling

The Grace Academy is more than just a school. We provide a fully-featured educational framework that is changing the way that people think about education. Our cutting-edge technology allows parents to provide their children with a world-class private Christian education at a fraction of the cost of traditional brick-and-mortar schools. Unlike other homeschooling curricula, we do not just provide textbooks. We provide a variety of educational tools, materials, and services which home schoolers all over the world use to achieve academic excellence.

The Grace Academy gives you the best qualities of Christian Curriculum,
Private Tutoring and Online Homeschooling Programs. You receive powerful
on line tools, expertise and gentle assistance that will enable you to give your
student a quality education. The Grace Academy teaching teams are available
during regular hours to help students and their parents.

The Grace Academy gives you daily/weekly homeschooling lesson plans for every course,
helping your student successfully complete the school year. A comprehensive selection of home
education courses that cover many academic topics, including  electives; choose up to 6 each
year, creating a customized course of study.  The Grace Academy Teaching Teams are available
on line during school hours for an unlimitednumber of questions.  Teaching teams provide
homeschooling assignments, tests, quizzes, projects and curriculum. We Encourage You to 
Visit The Grace Academy
Online Home School

Our Learning Management System enables us to synthesize all of the branches of our organization so that we can provide an efficient, quality, hassle-free service to you. This on line home schooling system coordinates all of our course material, scheduling, grading, administrative tasks, record-keeping, progress reporting, and other efforts. With this cutting-edge technology, we are able to provide parents with all the information they need for a top-tier on line home schooling experience.

Visit us and make a wise decision for your student today. Select a Learning By Grace Managed Christian Home Academy today for your child's future tomorrow. Click on the banner or link of your choice.

Handling Homeschool Skeptics and Critics

Handling Homeschool Skeptics

By Mimi Rothschild

When you decide to homeschool your child – even if you just consider homeschooling your child – you will immediately see a domino effect of raised eyebrows. The homeschool skeptics will throw a bunch of words at you, like “socialization” and “peers” and “normal.” If these skeptics are strangers, you don't owe them an answer, right? But even strangers can have their hearts changed by the right words from a homeschooler, making it easier for homeschool parents and children who come across this person in the future.

In all stages of life, we come across those who disagree with the decisions that we make. Homeschool is no different. As adults, we are more prepared to handle critics than your child may be. It's important to be open minded when people criticize us and our homeschool choice and we should allow our children to see us practicing a relaxed and open hearted nature in the face of skepticism.

That is the foundation of dealing with skepticism by homeschool critics. The next step is to know your stuff. There is research and statistics that support homeschool as a positive choice for children in all aspects of life. This includes socialization and academics and future prospects: the favorite catch phrases of the skeptics. Facts are the best weapons against prejudices and fears. Having “experts” back up what you know in your heart is the right thing may be the non-emotional incentive that a critic needs to finally understand your position on homeschool.

Being open minded and prepared to discuss homeschool with those who openly disagree is not enough to change anyone's mind. Neither is being armed with an arsenal of pro-homeschool statistics. In fact, nothing that you say or do alone is going to change the mind of the hardcore skeptic. You may be planting the seed for future understanding or watering the seed that another homeschool family planted. Or your words and arguments may fall on deaf ears. The important thing is that you stand by what you believe about raising your children without any investment in whether or not you change anyone's mind.

Opposition comes in many forms. The important thing is that you don't protect your child from the criticism that homeschool receives from skeptics, but show them by example how to handle it: diplomatically and with an open mind. Everyone is different and everyone is allowed to have his or her own opinions. And thank goodness for that. It's this same open mindedness that allows them to be a homeschooler in the first place.

Responding to Critics of Home School

When you decide to take your children out of traditional school and put them in a home school situation, you are likely to run into all sorts of opposition and bizarre questioning from everyone who knows you. Friends, family, even people you barely know may demand explanations and throw in their two cents about your decision to home school your child. However, you know that your reasons for taking your children out of school are correct and your loved ones will eventually come around. Maybe, they will even come to think that your decision to home school your child was a good idea.

That being said, perhaps the best way to deal with a naysayer is directly. If you don't know a person well, or you believe they are just being nosy, you don't really owe them an explanation of your decision to home school your child. Your family and closer friends are another matter. The most common objection to your decision to home school your child might be that your child won't get enough socialization if you home school. To this objection, point out that you are not moving to a deserted island; your child, in addition to home school, will still be participating in music lessons, dance classes, swim teams, girl scouting or whatever other activities she enjoys. Also, point out that lots of people decide to home school their children, and there are a lot of resources for meeting other kids in home school and setting up play dates and group activities.

Another commonly heard objection to home school is that the parent doesn't know enough about a subject to teach it. While your child is young, home schooling in most subjects, with the possible exception of foreign languages, won't be much of a problem. As they get older, point out to critics of your plan to home school that there are all sorts of resources for home school. Tutors and online telecourses can bridge the gap between what you are comfortable teaching in home school and what your child needs to know.

Whatever your reasons for considering home school for your child, there will be people who object for one reason or another. However, if you are confident in your decision and have done your research into home school properly, there should be no reason why you need to get defensive. You may even help convince another person that home school is a better alternative for a child.

The Leading PreK-12 Online Christian Home School Program Provider
Learning By Grace Managed Academies 2008-2009 Learning Year: In session from September 7th, 2008 through June ೩೦, 2009

Myths: Home-School Myths

Real Truth
By Mimi Rothschild

Despite statistics that show facts to the contrary, home-school critics still continue to make statements about home-school with the intent of putting this educational choice in a bad light. Home-school parents and students alike know that these statements are without merit, but many people who are considering home-school and do not know the real facts may be discouraged from making the choice due what the critics are saying- and this is unfortunate.

One of the most common complaints from home-school critics is that children who are being educated through home-school are socially isolated, and become ill-prepared to deal with the real world as adults. Not only is this completely untrue, it is also more of a true statement to say that home-school students learn earlier and better how to function in all aspects of society. Home-school students socialize with their peers through clubs, recreational activities and community sports programs. In addition to this, home-school students also tend to be more active in community programs and volunteer organizations, giving them the chance to interact with people who are older and younger than they are.

Another complaint from critics is that home-school parents are not qualified to teach their children effectively. Statistics simply prove this to be untrue. The majority of home-school parents have no teaching degree, yet home-school students consistently score higher in academic tests than their publicly schooled peers. The personalized attention that a home-school student receives and the parents' desire to give their home-school children a superior education makes a teaching degree unnecessary. Home-school parents take their children's learning seriously, and they use every resource available to ensure a quality education. Statistics prove that they are succeeding quite well in reaching this goal.

Having a curriculum where faith and worship can be incorporated into learning is a choice that parents do not have with public school, which obviously helps some parents decide to home-school. However, this does not mean that these home-school parents only emphasize religious instruction to the exclusion of all other learning. Home-school parents want the best possible education for their children, and through home-school this is being successfully achieved. Many simply want the choice to include religion, and public school denies that choice.

Though home-school critics also claim that all home-school children are taught in the same manner, the opposite is actually true. One of the benefits of home-school is that it incorporates flexibility and a personal approach to learning that is advantageous for home-school students. No two home-school families are alike, and the variety of home-school methods reflect this.

More Myths about the Practice of Home School

There are many myths surrounding the practice of home school. It is incredibly difficult to separate the truth from the fiction regarding home school. Although it is a growing trend, home school makes up such a small percentage of schooling that goes on in this country that it can be difficult to make any inroads at all with the general population. Armed with a little knowledge, however, you can inform your friends, neighbors, and loved ones of the truths about the home school option for this country's children.

One of the great myths of home school is that it is primarily a bastion for upper-middle class white people. While it is true many home school kids are white and some do have a decent amount of money, the fact of the matter is that home school families often have to give up a lot financially in order for home school to be viable. Basically, home school requires that one of the parents quit his or her job and take on the responsibility of teaching the children, giving up careers, second cars and bigger houses for the sake of their kids.

Another myth about home schooling is that home school parents cannot possibly match the qualifications that teachers have and cannot possibly do as good a job educating children as certified teachers can do. While there are some dedicated teachers out there working in a long uphill battle who truly want to teach your children, the fact of the matter is that formal educational theory has little place in the real world of teaching students. All the conferences and post-graduate work can't help a teacher to teach if the teacher doesn't have the supplies and the support of the school district.

Finally, there are persistent thoughts among the larger community that home school is for reclusives and religious fanatics. This is not the case at all. Many secular people as well as modestly religious people choose alternative education like home school for any variety of reasons: from inadequate local schools to medical reasons, and many other private matters. The home school community is a diverse group. Sure, there are lots of extremely religious people of many faiths who choose to home school, but home school is also the province and the right of every American. More and more, average, middle-of-the-road people are choosing home school for their children.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling mother, writer, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of home education company Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of 28 years reside with their 8 children right outside Philadelphia, PA.

Rothschild launched Learning By Grace, Inc. because she believed that our nation's public school system has failed parents and students. Learning By Grace, Inc. offers online education through a multimedia-rich curriculum to PreK-12 children across the country and throughout the world.

The Leading PreK-12 Online Christian Home School Program Provider

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