Why we have hope: Example
Posted March 5th, 2008 by hopefulfilled
output
I have been involved in the homeschool movement since 1984. Twenty five years ago, homeschooling was illegal in most states. The homeschoolers were an extremely small number of people, just like Paul supporters, actually MUCH smaller percentage wise. And yet, because these people were so committed, active politically and well connected, even before the internet, they managed to change the laws, and have KEPT them so now homeschooling is legal in all of the states. In fact, every time a bill comes up that would adversely affect homeschoolers in any way, it goes through their network like wildfire, and they show up in huge numbers wherever the voting is, and call and email and write, and affect the voting. Now, we have 8 months before the convention, and with our improved connections (internet, meetups, etc) we have an even greater chance at affecting this country, both with the vote for president, but also the votes for other offices in this country. Dr. Paul has worked single handedly for many years, without giving up, and now look what we have, a real revolution on our hands. This is incredible, compared to what Dr. Paul has had to deal with all these years. Let's do it, folks.
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I, too, homeschooled when it was not in vogue
and dangerous. Potential jail time, etc. rp gave my son's 1996 commencement speech. I KNOW he is pro-homeschool. My kids make fine livings for their families and are free thinkers. If I could have been homeschooled, I would have thrived!
I homeschooled when homeschooling wasn't cool!
LOL! Yes, it was a real fight back then. I had one superintendent say to me "Mrs. Homeschooler, don't you realize that SOME PEOPLE consider homeschooling a form of CHILD ABUSE?!" Needless to say----I knew what the laws were----he didn't------I didn't cave---and he learned he had better leave me alone.
My mom wanted to, but didn't have the guts
We ended up doing a church school that was more like a co-op since the parents were teachers. There was still the authoritarianism there that they were trying to escape, though. (My brother got taped to a chair in PS for having Tourette's, but the "principal" of the church school still treated him like he was evil.)
Don't fault her for not having the guts, though. The definition of "mainstream" back then was incredibly narrow. My mom was told she was sexually abusing her children for breastfeeding them, and she didn't even breastfeed a whole year. Refusing drugs during labor was such an anomaly that medical residents packed her hospital room to witness the strange event.
I really commend- , aw, heck, I'll get sappy, -honor you for taking up the fight.
I sent my kids to an ACE school first,
Then helped start an ACE school when we moved to another state. I helped in the school, and when the school closed down I just couldn't make myself put them back in a public school.
The ACE program is a workbook program, easy to use for busy families, (6 kids and a ranch), and all of my kids did well scholastically later in life.
For those of you reading and hesitating to try homeschooling, it is a piece of cake using ACE.
We used ACE at that school
at first, then cycled through all the usual suspects (McGuffy Readers, Abeka, Alpha Omega). I liked the workbook format, but I'll have to see what I can afford with my own kids. I may even order a used set and use white out until I figure out if I want to purchase a new set or not.
I still occasionally think of the character "Ace" in the 1st grade curriculum facing north and his left hand points west when I'm trying to figure out direction. That's not much of a testament to the curriculum, though. I spent a percentage of my life lost until I got a GPS.
They say thrown out curricula is your tuition to Homeschool University.
Thank You for the Encouraging Post
This post is encouarging to us all. However, we are likely to have former Huckabee supporters joining today and this is the kind of post that they will find very interesting, indeed.
As we know, Ron Paul is a big supporter of home-schooling, but there may be some Huckabee supporters who are just now finding out how Dr. Paul thinks about things. Let's try to be helpful to them today.
Yes, any Huckabee supporters,
Please check out Ron Paul's positions on Homeschool. And welcome. Ron Paul can do more for homeschoolers freedom than any of the other candidates, and he cares. www.ronpaul2008.com
with huck gone it is time to cash in on homeschoolers
you're right, and now with huck gone we have a chance to recoup the homeschoolers in his pack. I had been talking to my homeschool group back when, about Ron Paul, and they first insisted they never heard of him and then went on about how huck was for homeschoolers. Eyebrows shot up when I told them that he was endorsed by the NEA. Seeds have been planted and hopefully they will come around. just have to get them past the not winnable mentality. unfortunately, even smart people insist we have to just vote party lines to keep out the demycraps. like they're not all sitting on the same side of the fence!
The homeschoolers were smart
and politically savy. They learned who their friends were and who their enemies were, and they focused on their political goals. The kept it simple.
If we can do that, there is still hope.
Good point about keeping it simple
The homeschoolers had one goal - to homeschool in freedom. You don't get any simpler than one, easily definable goal. I don't think the freedom movement would have had any chance of focusing its efforts if it weren't for Ron Paul's candidacy. Live in freedom is a much more general goal than homeschooling in freedom. We needed the candidacy to get us moving in a similar direction for a time.
I have a lot of worry for the movement's future later because we won't always have that mountain in the distance to run toward. I also have some hope that the simplicity may actually be easier to come by in 2010 when we are focusing on getting Ron Paul Republicans into Congress. I just don't know how the factors will play out.