KUSA 9 News report fails to capture the whole story of homeschooling education…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:Laura Lee Ellis, lellis@sonlight.com

Littleton, CO--February 27, 2007--Denver’s KUSA 9 News aired a story on homeschooling for their "Making the Grade" report at 10pm MST on Feb. 27th, The news coverage did not portray the most positive image of the general homeschool community. Instead, it highlighted the dichotomy between an unstructured, "unschooling" method and a rigidly structured method of homeschool education.

The news story showcased how the Brown family pursued "student led"/ "unschooling" methods and left their son’s school topics and schedule up to him, while the Moore family followed structured methods with strict, curriculum-based guidelines and rigid schedules for their daughter. The Brown "unschooled" children shown on screen, played in the snow all day until finally settling down late that afternoon to read books about warriors. "It’s basically, do whatever you want for school," said 9-year-old Dustin Brown. "You can do math. You can do science. You can do anything. You can read another book." Emelia Moore, steeped in her family’s more structured homeschool education, didn’t like the sound of Dustin’s school. "If I could pick, that wouldn’t really be that fun," she said. In the news footage, Emelia sat at the table writing out a spelling assignment for her mother before practicing the piano.

Neither example necessarily portrayed a well-balanced homeschool experience. Either the kids were playing in the snow near a dirty gutter, or looked bored sitting through a spelling lesson. We at Sonlight felt 9 News failed to tell the whole story. Why didn’t this report include a segment when the Brown children were studying? They may normally start their schooling later in the day! Why were the Moores shown only in the midst of the more mundane tasks of schooling? They may have just returned from a lively field trip or other engaging adventure! 9 News failed to portray this balance and also left out the largest portion of our homeschooling community who fall between the ends of the homeschooling spectrum. This news cast seemed to question the effectiveness of homeschooling in general and so we asked Sonlight forum members to provide feedback on what 9News failed to include in their story.

Deanna from Colorado writes, "In my opinion, that effort to balance structure and freedom — an effort most homeschoolers engage in on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis — is what was missing from the 9News report. It’s precisely what Sonlight helps us achieve. Sonlight gives us the structural framework, with the flexibility to make the education fit our children and our families. And for those who lean toward the "unschooling" end of the spectrum, Sonlight provides high-quality resources so they can have immediately available whatever their children want to learn about. Homeschooling is not an either/or deal; it’s a spectrum... most of us fall in the middle of the spectrum rather than on one side or the other."

Barbie says, "The writer took two totally opposite families and portrayed them as the ‘norm’ of a general group of people doing something that she clearly knows nothing about. Yes, it will turn off the wishy-washy prospective homeschooler. Yes, it will make those of us doing our jobs well lose our credibility. Yes, it will freak out many a family member who is not entirely on board with homeschooling... How sad!"

The Channel 9 news anchor said, "The State of Colorado has lenient laws when it comes to homeschooled families. Basically, the government views them as small private schools so they are not regulated, making unschooling or child-led learning... perfectly legal." Forum user Climb Ev’ry Mountain points out the fallacy of this statement. "To me, worse than the portrayals is the untruthful comments on Colorado law," she writes. "There was no mention of the testing and evaluations that are required, and the fact that we have to report each year."

According to Colorado state law, Title 22: Colorado Revised Statutes: Education Article 33: Section 104.5, "The non-public home-based educational program is not intended to be and does not qualify as a private and nonprofit school." Paragraphs (e) and (f) of this statute also require testing and evaluation of each homeschooled child when they reach grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11. Read more on the Colorado Dept. of Education’s website here: http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeedserv/homeschool.htm.

So what’s the more positive side of homeschooling that Sonlighters believe to be true benefits of our educational methods?

User 5Kidsin5Years writes, "I think the positive news is that homeschoolers are changing the face of education in our country VERY rapidly!"

Sonlight member ljhsmom writes, "Homeschooling allows a child to take ownership in his/her education. Learning is not something to be endured, but rather it is a lifestyle to be enjoyed. Society labels and neatly separates education from family life. Then they wonder why parents aren’t connected with their kids. When the homeschooling mindset takes over and kids and parents blur the lines between learning how to read and learning how to live, that’s when the magic happens."

"Homeschooling is a tool in my life as a mother to influence, love, and nurture my children," says forum user lzmir. "Through the school books and stories, we connect with one another’s hearts, ideas, perspectives, and different personalities. I have the freedom to stop in the middle of a subject/paragraph and look into my child’s eyes and teach her heart."

Homeschooling isn’t limited to the structure vs. unschooling debate. With Sonlight curriculum, we hope you find the very best materials, book selections, and instructor guides to create a dynamic and engaging learning experience for your family no matter where you fall on the spectrum. To quote Sonlight owner and president, Sarita Holzman, "I can't vouch for other programs, but I can assure you: you will never need to apologize to anyone about how "little" you are doing with Sonlight. Your kids will think you're all just having a great time, but you will know they are learning enough to meet the concerns of even the most skeptical authorities."

If you would like to share your thoughts and opinions on this matter, please check out our forum thread at: https://www.sonlight-forums.com/showthread.php?t=63044.