Community Voices

Many members of the homeschooling community support oversight of homeschooling, including current and former homeschooled students and current and former homeschool parents. At CRHE, we are working to change the conversation. We believe that the voices of homeschool alumni should play a role in conversations on homeschool policy, and that the voices of homeschool parents who support oversight should not be ignored or minimized.

If you would like to contribute your own personal reflection, you can! We invite homeschool alumni and current and present homeschool parents who support accountability for homeschooling to lay out and explain their reasons. You may use a pseudonym if necessary. Click here to learn how to submit your own call for reform! We would love to feature your thoughts.

To view all of our voices for reform to date, click here.

Homeschool Alumni Reflect 

Homeschool alumni who support oversight have had a variety of experiences, some positive and others negative. Alumni with negative homeschool experiences often want to save other children from suffering the harm they did while alumni with positive homeschool experiences want to ensure that current and future homeschooled children have positive experiences too.

“I support oversight of homeschooling because every child deserves a good education in all subjects.” ~ Jerusha Loftland

“My family knew homeschooled children … who could barely read and who had learning disabilities that their families were not equipped to even identify, let alone address.” ~ Alisa Harris

Without oversight, there was no need to think about compiling a portfolio. Without state standards, there was no benchmark for my progress.” ~ Caitlin T.

“I can tell you that not having anyone really paying attention to my education cost me years of having to make it up.” ~ Bethany Brittain

• Declan: “I want in any way I can to be the person I needed to advocate for me” – I have suffered with imposter syndrome for the last 15 years; feeling like I have somehow lied or tricked my way into getting a seat at the tables where I find myself seated, not being able to feel… Read More
• Candice K.: “I do not think my story is rare or even exceptional.” – “I am sharing my story now because I have seen the society that I live in repeatedly fail its most vulnerable members, those who have no volition over their own lives. I have seen my neighbors’ children endure… Read More
• Valerie: “I know that not everyone in my position is so lucky” – At first, being home seemed fun and easy. However, as the subjects progressed, I felt myself falling behind. I would overhear other kids at the co-op talking about their classes and I was never learning about any of… Read More
• Abbey L.: “If anybody ever saw something concerning, nobody ever said a word.” – If I had been in a normal high school I would have noticed that other people lived differently. I also would have been around mandatory reporters who would have noticed my Dad’s obvious psychosis and the emotional, spiritual… Read More
• Song HyoA: “They mold me into an identity that is perfect for them, but not for me” – “It takes time, dedication, experience, expertise, money, resources, and structure to homeschool your children, not just spending dollars on a curriculum that will not help them get into university. You give your children a future that changes their… Read More
• Amber Moore: “Nobody could help me except myself” – “The cognitive dissonance grew so intolerable that it took me down a road that led me to throw away many of the beliefs I grew up having.” I am 25 years old and I am the middle child… Read More
• Mary T.: “Homeschooling tends to attract parents who value control” – “I was terrified to make my own decisions, unsure of my ability to survive outside of my parents’ controlling framework.” I was my family’s “first.” The first to learn to read at home. The first to complete K-12… Read More
• Sage N.: “My parents were clearly unprepared to be teachers” – “Some level of oversight would have really helped me because I think my parents would have felt compelled to keep up with my education far more than they did, and it may well have prevented my experience from… Read More
• Hope M.: “I don’t even know how many people knew we existed” – “There were certainly several years in which we didn’t take any sort of test. There was no way for me, as a child, to connect with anyone outside of my household. There was no way for anyone to… Read More
• Danielle C.: “The state never followed up on my education” – “Enforcing the current requirements that Indiana has in place could help to prevent children like me from slipping through the cracks.” As Gloria Steinem said, “The final stage of healing is using what happens to you to help… Read More

[Read All Alumni Reflections Here]

Homeschooling Parents Reflect 

Many homeschooling parents also support oversight of homeschooling and see the need for reform. Below, homeschooling parents share their own personal reflections and discuss how the current lack of oversight for homeschooling in most states affects them personally.

“As a licensed civil engineer, I would not think twice about my superior evaluating me. … I think about accountability and oversight of home education in the same way.” ~ Amanda Smith

“Until I left my job to start a small private practice so I could be home more to school my son, I was working with people struggling with substance use disorders and trapped in poverty. Most had not graduated high school and never got their GED. A sizeable portion had left school because their parents pulled them out, allegedly to homeschool them.” ~ Rioanna

“Following a few regulations is not burdensome and provides protection for both the parent and child and ensures a successful homeschool experience for all.” ~ Kieth and Gail Brightbill

“I’m a perfectionist who constantly worries about where he is academically or where he needs to be, and I find myself looking up state standards at least several times a month for guidance. I would so much prefer regulation for homeschooling.” ~ E. Bradshaw

• Faye Marcinko: “Homeschooling in America is full of contradictions and extremes” – “The idea that I have the ‘right’ to do anything I want with my child, without respect to his/her or society’s well-being, strikes me as utterly barbaric.” I am a former attorney homeschooling my child because I love… Read More
• Linda P.: “I wish I could paint a happy ending to this story” – “I want families who choose this route to have a tremendous homeschool experience. After hearing about the Turpin case, like many others with homeschool experience, I believe changes needed to be made in the laws.” My name is… Read More
• E. Bradshaw: “Some kind of oversight for me would help me out” – “I’m a people-pleaser and a rule-follower. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with everything [my son] is required to know, and some kind of oversight for me would help me out. I think some oversight for the people in our co-op… Read More
• Roianna: “I think complete dysregulation is dangerous and harmful” – “While I was researching what I would need to do to homeschool, I was stunned to find that in Texas homeschooling is completely unregulated. . . . Professionally I am a counselor. [At one point] I was working with people struggling with substance use disorders and trapped in poverty. . . . A sizeable portion had left school because their parents pulled them out, allegedly to homeschool them.”
• Amanda Smith: “I want a professional looking at what I’ve done” – “As a licensed civil engineer, I would not think twice about my superior evaluating me. It simply wouldn’t be safe for the public if I were to design something without that design being checked by my superior. I think about accountability and oversight of home education in the same way.”
• LaDonna Sasscer: “We home educators should welcome accountability” – “The homeschool community should be leading the way in demanding accountability in home education. We who are not abusing our children, we who are providing a quality education, we who want to be accepted participants in community life, should demand politicians put in place a process that differentiates between quality home education and child neglect, and in the worst cases, abuse.”
• Lara Kondor: “I had never actually intended to homeschool my son” – “Christian believes homeschooling did benefit him. He was allowed to explore reading, math, history and science at his own pace and to develop a great passion for learning. However, he worries that this may not be true of all homeschooled children. He especially worries for the girls he knew that were being told as young as five that they would not go to college because their duty was to be a good wife and mom.”
• Jackie Cordon: “I always felt very fortunate with Iowa’s homeschooling laws” – “As a Christian homeschooling parent of four, I always felt very fortunate with Iowa’s homeschooling laws. I homeschooled my children in Iowa for fifteen years, all the way up until my youngest graduated three years ago. I’m writing because Iowa’s homeschooling law benefited my own children in a real way, and I want present and future homeschooled children in Iowa to have these same benefits.”
• Keith and Gail Brightbill: “We are strong believers in accountability” – “Space does not permit us to discuss the many more positive benefits homeschool parents and their children receive by having accountability procedures in place. Following a few requirements is not burdensome and provides protection for both the parent and child and ensures a successful homeschool experience for all. Remember, the goal is to prepare our children to be educated, moral, productive members of society.”

[Read All Parent Reflections Here]

Across the Country

The personal reflections featured here are written by individuals across the country. While the level of oversight in each state varies, nearly every state’s system of homeschool oversight has serious flaws and loopholes. These reflections shed light on a wide variety of problems that plague current homeschool accountability measures, and touch on points for change.

Alabama

• Giselle Palmer: “Good home schools will show progress”

Alaska

Arizona

• Jane N.: “We were completely cut off from the outside world”
• Jeremy C.: “For a long time, I did not support regulation of homeschooling”

Arkansas

California

• Faye Marcinko: “Homeschooling in America is full of contradictions and extremes”
• Rai Storm: “There was no gratefulness. There was no escape. It just went on and on.”
• Alex H.: “I often wonder at what cost”
• Jessica A.: “Homeschool is an abusive parent’s dream”
• Bethany Brittain: “It didn’t take long for me to lose my excitement”
• Sierra S.: “My mom … was obviously overwhelmed”
• Ryan Stollar: “Not everyone had parents like I did”
• Jeremy C.: “For a long time, I did not support regulation of homeschooling”
• Arielle G.: “I was a homeschool poster child”

Colorado

• Linda P.: “I wish I could paint a happy ending to this story”
• Eleanor Skelton: “I saw no balance”
• Cynthia Jeub: “I wasn’t really taught anything after I was ten years old”

Connecticut

• Amber Moore: “Nobody could help me except myself”

Delaware

Florida

• Samantha Field: “It was far too easy to outright lie”
• Sierra S.: “My mom … was obviously overwhelmed”
• Giselle Palmer: “Good home schools will show progress”
• Kieryn Darkwater: “It’s so easy for people like me … to fall through the cracks”
• Kathryn Brightbill: “I’ve seen how wonderful homeschooling can be”
• Amanda Smith: “I want a professional looking at what I’ve done”
• LaDonna Sasscer: “We home educators should welcome accountability”
• Lara Kondor: “I had never actually intended to homeschool my son”
• Keith and Gail Brightbill: “We are strong believers in accountability”

Georgia

• Amy W.: “Supporting homeschool oversight is the least we can do”
• Catherine S.: “Everyone needs a checks and balance system”
• Amanda Smith: “I want a professional looking at what I’ve done”

Hawaii

Idaho

• Arielle G.: “I was a homeschool poster child”

Illinois

• Maria M.: “I’m still playing catch-up”
• Amanda Smith: “I want a professional looking at what I’ve done”
• Megan P.: “I do not wish my experience on anyone”
• Jamie G.: “I want to see that change, now”

Indiana

• Danielle C.: “The state never followed up on my education”
• Rachel Coleman: “Good homeschooling … is not something that happens automatically”

Iowa

• Jackie Cordon: “I always felt very fortunate with Iowa’s homeschooling laws”

Kansas

• Jane Morgan: “I was the homeschooled kid who grew up to become a homeschool mom”
• Jerusha Lofland: “Ignorance leaves people vulnerable”
• Amethyst Marie: “The students most affected … were girls”

Kentucky

Louisiana

• W. S. Hunter: “Parents are flawed people, like all of us”

Maine

Maryland

• Jennifer P.: “My parents broke the state’s homeschooling laws knowingly”

Massachusetts

• Jackie H.: “You owe your child a proper education”

Michigan

• Jerusha Lofland: “Ignorance leaves people vulnerable”

Minnesota

• Hope M.: “I don’t even know how many people knew we existed”
• Bea M.: “Unchecked power is perilous”
• Cynthia Jeub: “I wasn’t really taught anything after I was ten years old”

Mississippi

Missouri

• Amber Moore: “Nobody could help me except myself”
• Jane Morgan: “I was the homeschooled kid who grew up to become a homeschool mom”
• Chandra B.: “Protections are a necessary part of all educational systems”
• Amethyst Marie: “The students most affected … were girls”

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

• Jennifer P.: “My parents broke the state’s homeschooling laws knowingly”
• Caitlin T.: “In New Jersey, things fell apart”

New Mexico

• Samantha Field: “It was far too easy to outright lie”
• Alisa Harris: “Even growing up, I knew I was one of the lucky homeschoolers”

New York

• Rebecca F.: “The physical abuse and neglect was obvious to me from a very early age”
• Jesse M.: “Some of these things would most likely not have been done if they were not required”
• Elizabeth W.: “I am a survivor”
• Jennifer P.: “My parents broke the state’s homeschooling laws knowingly”

North Carolina

• W. S. Hunter: “Parents are flawed people, like all of us”
• Emilie Huffman: “This has been a love letter to my mom”
• Sarah Jones: “I’ve been lucky”
• Holly S.: “If there had only been some protection in place”
• LaDonna Sasscer: “We home educators should welcome accountability”
• Jane Morgan: “I was the homeschooled kid who grew up to become a homeschool mom”

North Dakota

Ohio

• Abbey L.: “If anybody ever saw something concerning, nobody ever said a word.”
• Sarah: “The school never did anything to enforce their regulations”
• Elle S.: “Some years I had science, most years I didn’t”
• Lillie S.: “I was never once asked if I felt safe at home”
• Teresa M.: “P only cared about her check clearing.”

Oklahoma

• Jane Smith: “I am haunted by the question of what might have been different”

Oregon

• Kimberly R.: “Every abuse had a magnified effect on us”

Pennsylvania

• Jesse M.: “Some of these things would most likely not have been done if they were not required”
• Rebecca A.: “I feel I have been denied the opportunity to live up to my potential”
• Sarah M.: “These assessments turned out to be easily avoided”
• Jane Smith: “I am haunted by the question of what might have been different”
• Megan P.: “I do not wish my experience on anyone”
• Jennifer P.: “My parents broke the state’s homeschooling laws knowingly”
• Caitlin T.: “In New Jersey, things fell apart”

Rhode Island

• Jennifer I.: “All that was required was a note every year”

South Carolina

• Holly S.: “If there had only been some protection in place”

South Dakota

Tennessee

• Giselle Palmer: “Good home schools will show progress”

Texas

• Amber Moore: “Nobody could help me except myself”
• Joan T.: “My dysfunctional and emotionally abusive home was my school.”
• Erika S.: “Verbal and physical abuse was a norm”
• E. Bradshaw: “Some kind of oversight for me would help me out”
• Roianna: “I think complete dysregulation is dangerous and harmful”
• Eleanor Skelton: “I saw no balance”
• Jane Morgan: “I was the homeschooled kid who grew up to become a homeschool mom”
• Lana Martin: “I suffered severe depression, suicidality, and disordered eating”
• Amethyst Marie: “The students most affected … were girls”

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

• Abbey L.: “If anybody ever saw something concerning, nobody ever said a word.”
• Lynne A.: “I wasn’t protected at all”
• Sarah Jones: “I’ve been lucky”

Washington

• Katrina B.: “My parents sincerely tried their best”

West Virginia

• Brittany Randolph: “As time went on, our schedule became looser and looser”

Wisconsin

Wyoming

The personal reflects presented here are the opinions of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the positions of CRHE.