Education Without School

  "It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this, it goes to wreck and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty. To the contrary, I believe it would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of prey of its voraciousness, if it were possible, with the aid of a whip, to force the beast to devour continuously, even when not hungry, especially if the food, handed out under such coercion, were to be selected accordingly." -Albert Einstein   For those unfamiliar with home education, un-schooling must sound like a strange term. In the realm of home education, un-schooling comes up in conversation in the same way public school does for private school families, as a lower clas...

  The Homeschool Parents’ Gathering As the group of home educators sat around on the lawn, all properly distanced and sporting face masks, each had brought their own snacks and beverages. They began discussing life as home educating parents.  One man questioned several of the other guests, all of whom had chosen to educate their children at home, for this year at least. He wanted to know more about the basic premise of home education. He argued, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his or her best option in life was to stay home and be a full-time parent and try to teach one’s own children?” After boasting about his career as a contractor, telling how he built bridges, laid roads, sculpted highways, and stacked skyscrapers, literally creating cities, he asked all the home educating parents: “You say you’re moms, dads, and teachers. But be honest, now. What do you really do?” The first to accept his challenge was a mom who replied, “I would describe myself as a...

      Whether or not someone attends college hinges on personal choice. Home educated and unschooled students must choose, just like their institutionally educated peers. Most colleges and universities now welcome home educated students. Getting admitted to college as an unschooled or home educated student follows the same steps and processes. One must complete the necessary exams, either the ACT or SAT, or both if they are required. Unschooled and home educated students can easily register for, access study resources, and schedule these exams with online information on the College Board website.  For both homeschoolers and their public school counterparts, this information is readily available to anyone considering applying to the majority of colleges and universities in the United States.   Unschooled students can study for both exams through online prep courses, preparatory books on loan from the library, buying books from local bookstores, and practic...

  Part II :  CLEP OR DSST High School Curriculum Options For example, following the “World Book Typical Course of Study” (see link below) detailing basic curricular guidelines for grades 9, 10, 11 and 12, here are some CLEP courses that a student could take to earn dual credit, fulfilling high school level college prep studies while also earning college credit.  Similarly students can consider DSST,  GRE subject tests  (Graduate Record Exam tests on specific subjects), and AP (Advanced Placement) credit by examination.  At any age students can independently prepare for these credit by examination courses.  One need not enroll in a course at a school, nor online, nor buy a packaged curriculum or preparation course to complete  any of these.  Here is where you will find the “World Book Typical Course of Study” curricular outlines for all grades:   http://www.worldbookonline.com/training/html/tcos.htm The fees noted below are the usua...

Part One :   Do Home Educated Students Graduate From High School? During my fifteen years involved in homeschooling, parents and interested others have asked me what homeschoolers do for graduation and a high school diploma.  Much to the surprise of many, I explain that homeschoolers do not usually get high school diplomas.  At least they do not get one from their local school system (the one to which their parents pay taxes and levies).  In some cases parents pay to enroll their students in private umbrella schools where students follow selected curricular programs, supervised by the umbrella school.  These schools then put together credentials (transcripts) and issue diplomas to those who complete their curricular requirements; some of these umbrella schools are accredited and can issue an accredited diploma.  This costs money, however, usually from several hundred to several thousand dollars, especially for those who don’t enroll in one of these program...

I've been meaning to post this for those who like to structure their homeschool to replicate public school. It's a "time allotment for instruction" schedule from one Ohio public school system in which I substituted. This is the basic plan under which the teachers were supposed to arrange their daily lesson plans. I figured it m ight give you some ideas of what is considered to be adequate by the state. And you could use this type of schedule, inserting the subjects you cover, as your "brief outline of your curriculum" for these grades, which you could then submit with your annual notification. Otherwise, please remember that public schools waste lots of time on things like travel between classrooms, libraries, gymnasiums, auditoriums, cafeterias, etc. Throw in PA system announcements, knocks on the classroom door and visitors who show up for various reasons, students coming and going to the office, the nurse, the restroom, their locker, and so on. I have be...