Catherine S.: “Everyone needs a checks and balance system”
“The horror film that was my life growing up in an isolated homeschool household is what will keep me a forever supporter of this organization.” I was educated using a curriculum that was self teaching — read and follow directions — and later, my education was outsourced to homeschool coop groups for college prep high…
Bea M.: “Unchecked power is perilous”
“In my profession, I understand that teaching is a skill. Parents may love their kids, and even be educated themselves, but that doesn’t make them teachers.” I was homeschooled from kindergarten through 12th grade. I am the oldest of five children. We were a very traditional, religious family. My mother and father both hold bachelor’s…
Jackie H.: “You owe your child a proper education”
“If you are a parent reading this: Ask yourself, why am I homeschooling? Can I give my child a proper education? You owe your child a proper education.” I was homeschooled from kindergarten to eighth grade and also tenth grade. I went to private school in the 9th grade and public school my last two…
Elle S.: “Some years I had science, most years I didn’t”
“There was a direct correlation between the minimum legal requirements for homeschooling in the state where I was home-educated, Ohio, and the content of the education that I received.” I went to a private school from grades 1-4. During fourth grade I was pulled out of school during an unexpected move and homeschooled through high…
Erika S.: “Verbal and physical abuse was a norm”
“My ‘education’ was in spite of my homeschool education.” My experience homeschooling was a fight to survive and every day a focus to cultivate skills for after I left. I went to public school through 6th grade and my mother decided to give homeschooling a trial period through the summer. I insisted on daily work…
Jane N.: “We were completely cut off from the outside world”
“Even when taken to the doctor, I was not allowed to see them without a parent present. I think this was because my mother was afraid what we might say. I believe I was pulled out of public school for a similar reason when a few teachers began noticing her controlling behaviors.” I was homeschooled…
Rai Storm: “There was no gratefulness. There was no escape. It just went on and on.”
“When I was in regular school, I had several adults telling me that I was smart, that I was kind, that I was capable of producing good things and of being a good person. When I was homeschooled, the main voice I had in my life was telling me that I was nothing, that I…
Brittany Randolph: “As time went on, our schedule became looser and looser”
“My sister and I were fine with this at first. No school! We could spend time on the things we actually wanted to do. One thing, though, is that none of these things involved friends, at least not ones we had ever met in person.” I was in public school up until the early 8th…
Rebecca F.: “The physical abuse and neglect was obvious to me from a very early age”
“Although parents had to submit lists of textbooks that they were using for each grade as part of their report to the local school district, it became apparent that the school district didn’t know what to do with this, and didn’t read the reports at all.”
Jennifer I.: “All that was required was a note every year”
“Most of my homeschooled peers were much like me, in that they were handed a textbook and then expected to essentially teach themselves from grade eight on.” I was homeschooled from K-12 alongside my siblings by my mother, initially due to concerns about the quality of the local school district, and then due to religious…