Questions and Answers
North Star Independent Homeschoolers
Questions and Answers
What does being an “independent homeschooler” mean? Being an independent homeschooler means that one’s family homeschools in the state of
Why does your group exist? To provide non-financial support and encouragement for Interior Alaska families who independently homeschool.
What does your group offer? Please see our “About Us: What We Offer, How to Join” page.What is the cost of joining your group and participating in your activities? There is no cost to join our group and everything that we offer is 100% free.
What does your group require of your members? Nothing. We are not here to “police” independent homeschoolers and respect the fact that there are many very responsible parents and families in our area who can and do homeschool wonderfully without any interference from outside sources or people. It is not our purpose nor our right as a group to require anything of our members, especially since we have come together in support of our legal rights to homeschool in the way each of us choose. We do encourage our members to become members of the Home School Legal Defense Association (www.hslda.org) . Members of the Home School Legal Defense Association agree to exercise diligence in teaching their children in a responsible way, to use a clearly organized program of instruction with their children, to keep records of each child's educational progress, to notify the Association promptly of any threatened or actual legal papers received related to their homeschool, and that all information provided on the membership form is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge.Is this a Christian-only group? No, but we are a Christian group. We are not here to evangelize, “soul-save”, or judge other denominations, but are here for homeschool support. One does not have to be a Christian to join our group, but is asked to acknowledge on the membership form that we are a Christian group. It has been observed locally that if a group has Christian members but doesn’t specifically state that Christianity may be spoken of among members, those who hate Christians join and stir-up strife and complain bitterly causing discord among groups. We are a peaceful group, non-Christians are welcome to join us, but just as we don’t judge, evangelize, nor “soul-save”, we expect them not to judge us nor seek to create discord.
Why would anyone homeschool independently? Please see our “Why Not Use Charter Schools?” page.How can a family successfully homeschool without government oversight? By being responsible, loving, and nurturing to the family that God has blessed them with. No one can know and love our children like their Momma and Daddy can, and no one can possibly know all of their needs educationally and otherwise as their Momma and Daddy can. By loving and really knowing our children, we can build beautiful and tremendously successful education systems for our families on our own. Independent homeschool families who assumed their God-given responsibilities to educate their own children built the U.S. home education movement and are the reason that homeschooling in our nation has flourished and grown as it has over the past decade. Please read the book Home School Heroes by Christopher Klicka to learn more about this. This book is available for a free one-month loan from our lending library; more information can be found on our “Lending Library” page.
Our family is new to homeschooling. I feel that I need strict oversight and guidance to undertake this somewhat daunting task of homeschooling my children. The state correspondence schools have offered us state certified teachers to set-up and help me run our homeschool successfully. Does your group offer this kind of assistance and assurance to its members that homeschooling can be successfully started? We do not and will not offer to set-up and “principal” your homeschool, but we are here to provide free and share resources to help get your family started. We also have a mentorship program. Please, don’t believe for a minute that homeschooling has to be “daunting” or that you have to have any type of professional set your homeschool up. All you really need is a love for and a heart for your children; for wanting the very best for them. You most likely already have a mother’s heart, you already teach your children so many things, all you need now is a little support and information to help you find the best way to build a rock-solid homeschool foundation. You can do it!
I really want to homeschool my children, but am so scared of messing up and not knowing what I’m actually doing if I commit to it. What can I do to gain confidence? If you are a praying person, then prayer is the best way to start. Other great ways to gain confidence are to get to know homeschooling families and ask questions, find a veteran homeschool mentor, read and study, read and study, read and study… :). Most importantly, if your reason for even considering homeschooling is because you want the best of life for your children, then you already have the key essential factour in successful homeschooling, which is true love. Our group would be honoured to help you get to know other homeschooling families, to help you find a veteran homeschool mentor, and to share our resources with you. Please peruse our website for more information, if you are interested. Here's a link to some great information on getting started: http://www.youcanhomeschool.org/starthere/default.asp?bhcp=1 .Are independent homeschoolers rebel types who just want to hideout from the system? No. We are not hiding, we are very happy with our choice to independent homeschool, and actually, we are very open and sharing. We have come together in non-financial support and encouragement and to give our families excellent opportunities to get to know each other and become active in our communities and state. We are anything but rebels and hideouts – we are the type of families who built to
Do independent homeschoolers really homeschool? Yes. We have our own methods and ways to homeschool which may vary greatly from what the public schools and charter schools do, this is because we are not public schools and it is a whole different world when it comes to teaching a very small number of one's own children as compared to teaching a classroom full of children from many families and walks of life. Some group members use a more structured curriculum and record keeping system and some group members are quite eclectic in their curriculum. There is no end to the possibility of curriculum choices and learning methods for homeschoolers in our nation, and among our group, we enjoy a diverse and exciting lot of educational items and methods. One group member family even takes homeschool classes via a satellite dish system from the lower forty-eight from a nationally known school and college (http://www.bjupress.com/distance_learning/satellite.html). The children of our group are among the most creative, ingenious, intelligent, well-spoken, and polite children that can be found in the Interior, and that in itself speaks volumes about the educations they are receiving.
Without the government overseeing independent homeschoolers, how can anyone be sure that independent homeschoolers aren’t child abusers who are hiding from the system? In our group, we have Alaska state certified teachers who keep their certifications current, a physician’s assistant, and active duty military members – all of them by law mandatory reporters of suspected abuse or neglect. Our group members get together twice a month and our group offers more opportunities than this for our members to get together. Our group members have more family-to-family contact with certifiedDoes your group try to recruit members from state correspondence schools? No. Some people will choose to participate in state programs, some will not. We are here for independent homeschoolers who would like to join our group, just as state programs are there for their members.
Does your group participate in or participate in the local common arguments regarding independent vs. charter/correspondence school? No. Individual members may choose to argue with others about this, but our group does not choose to do so. We are not here