Posted in History of Homeschooling, Politics of homeschooling, tagged Robin L. West on December 28, 2009| 13 Comments »
Last week’s post generated by far the most activity I’ve ever had on this blog. Most of the comments submitted showcase the remarkable zeal with which homeschoolers rush to defend themselves in the face of perceived attack. The outside observer might find such behavior a bit overdone and melodramatic. To me it helps explain why homeschoolers have been so successful in the political arena. (more…)
Posted in History of Homeschooling, Homeschool Jurisprudence, Homeschool Law, Politics of homeschooling, tagged Constitution, ethical servility, fundamentalist Protestants, Georgetown University Law Center, home visits, HSLDA, immunizations, Kathryn Joyce, Michigan, Perry Glanzer, Philosophy and Public Policy Quarterly, physical abuse, public health, Quiverfull, Rob Kunzman, Rob Reich, Robin L. West, USA Today, Write These Laws on your Children on December 21, 2009| 78 Comments »
This post reviews Robin L. West, “The Harms of Homeschooling” in Philosophy and Public Policy Quarterly 29, no. 3/4 (Summer/Fall 2009): 7-11 [Available here]
West, a professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center, here provides perhaps the most blistering attack on homeschooling to be published in a reputable source in many years. (more…)
Posted in International Homeschooling, tagged Cynthia M. Villalba, Homeschooling in Sweden, Institute of International Education, insyn, Stockholm University, Swedish Homeschooling, Theory and Research in Education on December 14, 2009| 7 Comments »
This post reviews Cynthia M. Villalba, “Home-Based Education in Sweden: Local Variations in Forms of Regulation” in Theory and Research in Education 7, no. 3 (November 2009): 277-296.
Villalba, who recently received her PhD from the Institute of International Education at Stockholm University (Dissertation title: Home Education in Sweden), here presents an engaging summary of the recent history and current status of homeschooling policy in Sweden. (more…)
Posted in Homeschool Jurisprudence, tagged Alliance Defense Fund, Big Brother, Brenda Voydatch, Cal Thomas, Christian Coalition, Christine McLaughlin, Concord Monitor, custody battles, custody cases, Eugene Volokh, Fox News, In re Rachel L., Lucinda Sadler, Martin Kurowski, New Hampshire, onenewsnow.com, The Washingto Times, WorldNetDaily on December 7, 2009| 1 Comment »
Back on July 14, New Hampshire family-court judge Lucinda Sadler ruled that the daughter of a divorced couple who had been homeschooled by her mother (Voydatch) must be sent to public school. This was in accordance with the father’s (Kurowski) wishes, though the girl had resided with the mother since the divorce in 1999, when the child was an infant. Judge Sadler’s decision was based partly on the socialization issue (which was the father’s main concern) but also at least in part on her opinion that the girl’s Christian homeschooling was too rigid, that she would be better served in life by being exposed a wider range of views than what her mother provided. [You can read the entire court document here]
Since this case is a custody-related case, it, like the In re Rachel L. case in California, was at first not on the radar screen of the leading homeschooling watchdog groups. It is now. (more…)
A second, fully revised edition of my 2008 book Homeschool: An American History, was published in March of 2017. Get it here!
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