Those such as the Alaska Home Educators Alliance (AHEA) who advocate for less regulation of statewide correspondence schools (SWC) are adamant that they do have local control. That is, the parent in the home is the local control; the parent’s accountability to the district is all that is necessary. Let’s take a closer look at […]

Just back from the public comment and work session. Initial impressions are there is not as much controversy as anticipated judging by the public participation. Public comment did go overtime but not in overwhelming numbers. Comments were typically from parents who wanted more freedom to spend their allotments on Fine Arts and PE and to […]

This is a very hot issue right now and will be discussed at the State School Board work session Friday, September 21st. Statewide correspondence schools are subject to a 15% spending limitation on fine arts and P.E. and prohibited from using parent-purchased sectarian materials in student learning plans. In-district programs are not subject to these […]

It is an interesting question. Why would a tiny school district such as Galena City Schools enthusiastically take on the responsibility for educating students in urban districts like Fairbanks or Anchorage? Galena is a village of about 635 on the Yukon river about 280 miles west of Fairbanks. Tax revenue is minimal, 3% sales and […]

I took the Alaska Home Educators Alliance (AHEA) online survey. As surveys go it isn’t written to gauge opinion but rather to lead the survey-taker to the answer AHEA wants. So, I’ll go through the six questions one by one.

Do you agree that the compulsory school attendance age should remain the same and should not […]

Some folks just love unit studies; sorry, but I’m not one of them. There’s nothing wrong with unit studies they just don’t fit the way we think and do stuff at our house. But I think this one is pretty cool because Alaska is such an airplane-dependent place. So, if your kids love planes check […]

As I’ve written before, Alaska has the best homeschooling choices in the nation. But it does not mean we are content with the status quo. There is a pretty heated controversy perking between some homeschoolers and Governor Sarah Palin’s administration that hit local talk radio this week.
Here are the pertinents. Alaska Home Educators Alliance […]

We haven’t started school yet mostly because we’re trying to wring every last bit of fun we can out of summer. So, since it’s Friday here’s a taste of Alaska fun.
Tuesday was Alaska State Fair day for us. It was hot. It was sunny. It was Two-Buck Tuesday. Traditionally, state fair weather isn’t fair. It […]

It seems that my post, No Child Left Behind Homeschool, has stirred up some controversy. So, I think I’ll revisit the subject and clarify what I was laboring, apparently unsuccessfully, to say.

We should be glad that kids today for the most part do not have to sit for norm-referenced testing every year. Criterion-based assessments […]

First, a definition. For the purposes of this article, and this blog for that matter, this is what homeschooling means:
Primary responsibility for education lies with the parent who designs a learning plan or curriculum that fits their child. The parent is free to pick and choose materials, schedules or even services for the child whose […]