2 thoughts on “USA: Nearly 10% of all children now go to school in their own Home”

  2. At the Ordinariate Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston for years they had weekly “Catholic Homeschoolers Cultural Outreach” where catholic homeschooler parents & children in 4-6 age groups would show up for a 6-hr day’s activities, including: participation at Mass (with homeschooler choir) given by a priest who loves children; instruction in singing Gregorian (plain) chant, learning the symbolism in traditional sacred art (Western & Eastern) through the ages; learning Latin, and sometimes Greek; participating in team sports; (usually volleyball) public speaking/debating (“elocution”) knitting, folk-dancing; traditional children’s games; eating their sack-lunches together; saying one decade of the rosary (with meditation) before they went home.
    These courses (no grades or report-cards) were taught by retired educators in these fields (there was a retired classics professor who gave parents hints on how to teach classical languages) and sometimes people with special backgrounds (one was a retired zookeeper, who taught nature study) who volunteered from the parish.
    No “safeguarding” issues arose, because all children were with a parent. It was so popular people drove from as far as 100 miles away, every week; there was a waiting list — including some non-Catholics!–because the fire regulations limited capacity in the parish hall where the parish allowed the homeschoolers to meet. (They all had to sign a release for insurance purposes)
    The homeschool parents over coffee loved networking, encouraging each other, sharing resources, and growing in their own faith. The kids loved being with other Catholic homeschoolers. Any parish can do this if the homeschooling parents get together, make a plan, and convince the parish priest to allow it in the parish hall; or, if they have a large barn, etc, where they can meet. . . . It takes little money, but great commitment to organization and homeschool parents tend to be very motivated. . .

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