Now, I`ve seen a lot of families turn to homeschooling because they felt it was a good idea or their children had trouble with mainstream schooling and I`m curious . . . would these people teach their children at home if it were against the law? As law abiding citizens, at what point do we buck the system and go against it?

Personally, I would go against the law on this one. I`m not exactly pro-government in many situations at any rate and I wouldn`t allow the government to decide how I get to raise my children. Fortunately, that won`t be an issue here in Guatemala, but for some people living in other countries, it could be a consideration at some point in the future.  It`s a difficult issue since most of us try to raise our children to respect the laws of our country and how can you do that if you are going against them? This is an area that each family would have to decide for itself and I suspect there are many people who would choose to send their children back to school if push came to shove.

Would you continue to homeschool if it suddenly became illegal to do so? Which is more important, having control over your child`s education or obeying the law and setting a good example?

We want to create a place where parents can get help with questions and encouragement. We want to provide an online opportunity for kids to meet other homeschool students in a controlled environment. We want allow isolated homeschools the connectivity available through the Internet. We want to enable technically challenged homeschools to gain the skills and confidence to be responsible and fully capable Internet citizens. We also want to build relationships and share our collective journey with one another.

We plan to make Barnabas Way all those things, and also to hear ideas and suggestion brought forward and see what we can do about that as well. Sound good? Well what can you do? Here are a couple of suggestions:

1. You can comment on a blog post. Just click the link at the bottom of the post that says “Comments” and fill in the message box with your thought, ideas, suggestions, reactions, or questions. A blog is a great way to interact with people through the comments. You can put your input up on the web attached to our blog post.

2. You can sign up for community updates by filling out the form at the top of the page with your name and e-mail address. We will then be able to get in touch with you and let you know when new blog posts come out or when something exciting is happening.

3. You can keep coming back to see what’s being talked about in the blog. We keep adding new information all the time. That’s the beauty of a blog, it’s always being updated by new articles, thoughts, and tidbits. So be sure to mark this site as a favorite and stay informed.

4. If you are real savvy and know what an RSS feed is all about, you could click on the RSS icon and subscribe to our feed. If you don’t know what that’s all about. You really need to do one of the other options, because it’s stuff like that and how they can be used by you and your homeschool that we’ll be all over here at Barnabas Way.

So consider loading up your U-haul and moving to our virtual neighborhood…

(Comments are just below here. Yes, right here.)

]]> http://barnabasway.com/blog/barnabas-way-is-getting-ready-to-pre-debut/feed/ 0 http://barnabasway.com/blog/germany-loses-its-homeschoolers/ http://barnabasway.com/blog/germany-loses-its-homeschoolers/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:20:40 +0000 Genesis http://barnabasway.com/blog/?p=112 Over the past few months, we`ve been hearing a lot about the strict laws in Germany against homeschooling. Families have faced jail time and even had their children taken from them because they were home educating their children. And more recently, entire families have been fleeing the country in order to continue with teaching their own children.

There are many stories of people heading for greener homeschooling pastures. One family was warned by a social worker who delayed the paperwork required to take their child while the family fled to Central America. Another family moved to Austria, but they will never be able to return to Germany, since as soon as they step foot in the country, the government will put their child into protective custody.

Another German family has made the news because of their move to the United States, a move they made in order to maintain control over what their children are being taught. After a terrific stand off with the police that ended in their children being dragged to school, the Romeikes headed for the US and pleaded asylum. Their case was heard today in court and we should learn soon what the results are. You can read more on this story here.

For most North Americans, these stories are something of a horror show. But what we don`t recall is that only a few short decades ago, teaching your child at home was illegal in both Canada and the US. In fact, when I first started school at home, in first grade, my parents instructed us not to tell anyone that we were homeschooled, for fear of the law!

Group vs. Family

You can take just your kids on a field trip (which, if you have more than 3 or 4 might be quite the group on its own!) or you can get together with your homeschool group for the occasion.

There are benefits and downsides to both. Going with a group of kids can be distracting, particularly if other students in the group don`t know how to behave. On the other hand, it`s also a great social event when you can get together with other homeschoolers.

With just the family, kids might be more inclined to fight or bug each other than with others around, but they will also be easier to direct when only your children are along.

Where to Go

You can take a field trip anywhere, really. Most parents prefer to look for a location that goes with what they`ve been studying. For example, if you have been studying about the history of the newspaper, then you could take your students to visit the local press.

Here are a few ideas as to where you might want to go:

• Clinics (vet, walk in, etc.)
• Factories (chocolate, paper, bottled water, etc. whatever is near you)
• Fire station, ambulance station
• Zoo
• National Parks
• Airport
• Special events (concerts, historical re-enactments, etc.)
• TV or radio stations

You`ll probably come up with quite a few on your own! The subjects you`re studying will often suggest a field trip. Or just ask your students, they probably have a few ideas as to what they`d like to learn about.

How to Arrange a Field Trip

Obviously, if you are taking a field trip to the zoo or a national park, you can just go. However, you`ll get several bonuses for arranging an actual school group trip to these locations. Often, school groups will get a discount and a tour guide who will show the kids not just the usual sights, but explain some interesting facts and let them get a behind the scenes peek at things. For example, in the zoo, the children might be able to see the feeding room where food is mixed up for the animals and the nursery, where baby animals are cared for.

To arrange a field trip, it`s often a matter of simply calling the company and letting them know you`re interested. Let them know that you are a homeschool group looking to do a tour. Most businesses are quite accommodating when it comes to setting up a tour for homeschoolers.

You may need to make a couple of calls to arrange the trip, depending on how used to school groups the business is. Some already have everything in place and just need to set a time and date, others will need to figure out how to give you a tour first. It`s good to be flexible for your field trips, you`ll be able to see a lot more that way!

Homeschool field trips are a wonderful way to help your children explore the world. They`ll be exposed to new things and new learning experiences. Not to mention, an interesting field trip makes for a great way to break the routine of school!

Maybe you’re a treasure hunter

You are searching for all the gems of wisdom you can collect with regard to old posts. It seems that you’ve dug to the bottom of the shaft and if there are any jewels here it is in the starting. If this post wasn’t made – nothing would’ve occurred and we wouldn’t have the community we are growing now.

An ideal thing to do would be to leave a comment here.  That way you can be a part of the treasure as others follow your path.  They will be able to see what was discovered by those that traveled before them.  You can be a part of the treasure by leaving your thoughts here with us.

Maybe you’re a historian

You are interested in how things come into being. What were the forces that came into play to bring about the things we see and experience around us?

The best way to satisfy you is to tell you a little story of our creation. Once upon a time there were a few homeschooling families who were active on the Internet. And for various reasons there was a desire to use the tools of the Internet to help our own homeschools and to be able to connect with other homeschools that are out there. The Internet is a brilliant way to connect with people. It eliminates the impediment of distance.

The original idea was that if a number of homeschools were physically located together on a street someplace, what could they do together? Why not see if we could bring together the same advantages and synergies with a virtual community?

So in some ways this is an experimental community. We’ve expected it to grow and expand in ways that are surprising and wonderful. But the only way to know how that will go is to get after it. So with that in mind, at the beginning of 2009 we decided to get things going.

We are starting with a simple blog.  But if the idea catches on, we’ll collect the wisdom of other homeschoolers with an interest in connecting in a virtual community and implement something that we can all share in together.  The idea is to start small and consistently and build a place on the Internet where homeschools can find resources, help, encouragement and a safe place to branch out using this tool of connectivity and communication that has been so thoughtfully installed around our little world.

Maybe you’re family

You have become a part of our family and you have a genealogical streak in you that makes you want to know how we came to be. There were just a few of us starting out. We had no idea what we would end up with. But we had some ideas that we wanted to try out.

We wanted to have a place where homeschoolers could come together to share ideas and be inspired to carry on. We knew that putting our collective heads together could make our own homeschools much better. We also recognized that in the homeschool world there is no such thing as an expert. Each of us has only been involved in one homeschool (OK, maybe two if we were homeschooled as a child and now we have our own – but isn’t that really just an extension of the original?). So we all have something valuable to share. We just need a place where we can share it and it will be available for those who want to take advantage of the collected wisdom.

Frankly, it really doesn’t matter why you’ve come.  We are very glad to have you here whether you are just checking us out or have been a long time member.  We hope you will interact with us and decide to help contribute along with us.

Welcome and enjoy your visit to Barnabas Way!