Free-to-read article from the new issue (not happy)

The new issue is coming home tomorrow, and I’ve just started posting the free-to-read articles. Here’s a link to the Pearls article. (Warning: This is very serious material, including brief clinical descriptions of lethal child abuse.)

http://www.secular-homeschooling.com/011/pearls.html

General update

Between the intensive research required for the articles for this issue and my health issues kicking up their nasty little heels, the release of issue #11 has been delayed but by no means cancelled. I just took the file to the printers this morning. They were able to let me check the proofs a couple of hours later. So the job is good to go; but because of the holiday (Monday is America's Memorial Day), I won't be able to bring the new issue home until Tuesday.

I'm glad to say that I already have some articles ready for issue #12, as well as some writers who have expressed an interest in working with SHM. I want to ensure that unless I actually lose a limb, this kind of delay doesn't happen again.

On a personal note, I wish I could describe the frustration I felt on Monday night. We were all working so hard to pull the last pieces together: my husband was typesetting everything he could get his hands on, my son was illustrating the Home Scholars section, and I needed to write an updated version of an article about Sweden as well as an editorial explaining the reason for the delay. And then the pain hit, and instead of being a productive human being with things to do, I got to writhe around making sounds about which it didn't occur to me until much later (just now, in fact) to wonder what the neighbors thought.

So far as seeking treatment goes: I've been fortunate enough to get some answers to specific questions I had from people dealing with much the same sort of issues. Railing against the bastards who apparently put air quotes around most of the Hippocratic oath when they recited it ("First, do 'no' harm") is necessary work, but formulating a battle strategy is also important. I now have one that seems workable to me; and now that this issue of the magazine is done and the next started, I can start forging ahead.

Speaking of issues: #11 will have one consistent typo, for which I apologize. I did the final proofreading on the computer, rather than red-inking printouts and giving the corrections to my husband, as is our wont. It was late by the time I was able to sit down to the job. My husband needed to get up early and has had a very stressful workweek. Most of the corrections I needed to make were ordinary and simple; one was beyond my meager abilities. In the article about the Pearls, I used the initials TTUAC often in lieu of typing out the whole title To Train Up A Child. Occasionally, the computer put a line break in the middle of one of these sets of initials. That should have been fixed so that the entire acronym stayed together cleanly, rather than being divided up with a dash. However, I don't know how to go about doing that, and didn't want to wake up my husband. So issue #11 has a rather silly flaw. Explaining it doesn't make it any easier on the eyes; I just didn't want you to think I thought this was okay.

I think that's it for now.

Thank you!

I've just sent the signed letter to Jenny Lantz in Sweden. She'll be sending it to the members of the Swedish parliament, as well as several other politicians. She's also working on a translation of it into Swedish, as we hope to get it into a Swedish newspaper.

It was quite an experience, typing in all those names. Now all we can do is wait to see what kind of an impact they have.

Parliament will be voting on the proposed legislation on June 22. I'll let you know whatever I hear.

Thanks again.

Sign your name and help Sweden's homeschoolers

Your mad editor has not been asleep at the wheel — she’s been working through a lot of pain and worry, and apologizes for the prolonged absence. She also apologizes for her occasional tendency to slip into the third person. Thank you for your patience.

Below is an open letter I’d like to send to Sweden’s government, and also possibly a Swedish newspaper. (Our friends in Sweden can help with translation, thank goodness.) In order for it to have as big an impact as possible, I’d like it to have as many signatures as possible.

Will you please sign it, and pass the word around?

I will send the letter to the government contacts my friend in Sweden has given me, along with the names (but not any contact information) of those good enough to offer their solidarity to the homeschoolers in Sweden.

To “sign,” please send me your name along with any titles that might help said name pack some extra wallop. If you’re an MD or a PhD, do mention it. If you have a university position, have written books, head up a group or organization, are a social worker...say it loud and proud. Name, title if any, and an acknowledgement that you agree to sign this letter. Again, any contact information remains absolutely private. My email address: deborah @ 2ds dot org

Some of the ideas this letter expresses may not seem optimal. Please bear in mind that it was written in order to speak to the concerns — fears, really — that the Swedish government has about homeschooling, and to raise awareness about homeschooling in a country that knows very little about it. Sweden’s population is about 9 million people; out of that, there are maybe 200 homeschooling families. Either the government sees them as some kind of threat, or they figure that it’s not worth worrying about the rights of so small a group. Or both. We’re trying to convince them otherwise.

America has a decent homeschooling population, and our homeschooling success story was often brought up as a case in point when England was fighting anti-homeschooling legislation. Let’s hope our reputation will work in our favor and help our homeschooling neighbors in Sweden.

Here’s the letter:

We are Americans who are shocked and saddened that Sweden is considering making homeschooling virtually illegal. How could a country that seems to us a paradise of beauty and egalitarianism refuse to let its citizens choose how their own children will be educated?

Though homeschooling is completely legal in every state in America, we homeschoolers are still a tiny minority. Only about 3% of school-aged American children are homeschooled. If you fear that homeschooling as a completely legal option means that the vast majority of children stop attending school, take it from us: this isn't the case. American parents appreciate having homeschooling as an option, but we know it's not for everyone. Freedom of choice is what makes life rich and interesting.

The homeschooling community is ethnically, religiously, economically, and philosophically diverse. Please don't draw your ideas about homeschoolers from stereotypes. Every homeschooling family is different; we all have our own reasons for wanting to educate our children independently. This serious decision is not made quickly or easily. All of us researched and considered our options before we made up our minds to homeschool. We homeschool our children for the same reason other parents decide to send their children to the school of their choice: we think this is what's best for our family. We love our children and want what's best for them -- not because we're homeschoolers, but just because we're parents.

Our children are like their schooled peers: they spend time with friends, take music and art lessons, enjoy team sports, volunteer their time for good causes, live, learn, and love. Many of them will go on to college; all of them will continue to learn, wherever their lives and careers lead them.

Homeschooling is a great deal of work. It takes commitment, time, patience, and energy. As such, it's a very personal decision to make -- almost as personal as the decision to have children in the first place. We firmly believe that the freedom to make such decisions for oneself is an integral part of being a genuinely free nation.

We the undersigned urge you to accept and support homeschooling as a legal option in Sweden.