The C H A P   E-Newsletter

Welcome to issue two of the CHAP E-Newsletter. We are grateful for the
many kind responses we received in response to issue one. If you miss
any of the CHAP E-Newsletters or want to refer to them at a later date,
they will be listed on the CHAP webpage at http://www.chapboard.org.

In these first few issues of the CHAP E-Newsletter, the topics will
center around the debate over if and how the current Pennsylvania
Homeschool law should be changed. The model for these issues of the CHAP
E-Newsletter is the Federalist Papers which were published by John Jay,
James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton during the birthing of our nation.
Like the Federalist Papers, the CHAP Freedom Papers are intended to
provoke the reader to ponder the issue at hand.


Freedom Paper Number 2 "Frankly, homeshoolers need tight supervision to
be kept accountable," insisted Mr. Teach.

"This is not an issue of government concern. Neither the Bible or the
U.S. Constitution mention a role for government in education," retorted
Mr. Dad.

Pedagogy vs. Parenting One school of thought is that homeschooling
parents should be mini-teachers. A second school of thought sees
homeschoolers as parents who also teach. It is important to understand

the basis of each of these camps and how the underlying philosophy
affects their beliefs about homeschooling.


Pedagogy If you think that the goal of homeschooling is chiefly academic
success, then it would seem that homeschooling parents should be
equipped like professional teachers. It would be good if they had
teaching certificates and if not that, then other advanced degrees. At
the minimum they should have a high school degree themselves.

The teaching methods used by these home teachers should also resemble
those of the classroom teacher: Well-developed lesson plans, educational
objectives and the like would be the hallmark of good teaching.
Pedagogues would favor supervision by an outside expert or group such as
the local school superintendent, the state department of education or an

independent accrediting agency.

Parenting Adherents of this view believe that parents have
responsibility for the way the children turn out.  A subset of this is
teaching. The parent will decide how to best educate their children.
Some might choose to use the pedagogy model, while others might
homeschool realizing that much of the best education in life occurs
outside the pedagogy model.


A family from the parenting model would see little need or justification
for accountability to "outside" experts, because they don't believe
anyone is more of an expert on their children than they are. This does
not mean that these parents don't take their responsibility seriously.
Nor does it mean that those from the parenting model don't value the
wisdom and experience of the pedagogues.

Which one is right? How are these views to be reconciled? First of all
they are not completely in conflict. Almost all homeschoolers use some
of each model, with some leaning more to one side than others. Almost
all pedagogues would use some character model in addition to a strictly
academic model. So perhaps the question should not be who is right, but
rather "What works best?"

In the two large scale studies of homeschooling that have been done, the
question of outside accountability has been addressed. No difference in
outcomes can be found in states with high and low reporting
requirements. This fact doesn't mean that there are no differences in
homeschoolers, just that state regulation cannot be shown to influence
them. Thus, even though it is tempting to regulate homeschoolers it has
not been shown to make any difference.

In summary, regulation of homeschoolers makes no measurable difference
in their outcomes.

Thank you for your time. We hope that this mailing is helpful to you.

What Should You Do? The following are ways that every homeschooler can
help to get a less restrictive homeschool law:

1) Get to know your state senator and representative NOW. Be visible
with their staff. Let them know you are a homeschooler and that you
value your personal freedoms and less government control in your life.
Always be congenial even when disagreeing with their position. Ask them
how you can pray for them or their family. One family that we know of
developed such a rapport with their representative over several years of
time that the representative now has a daughter homeschooling his
grandchildren.

2) Plan on attending the first CHAP HELP Day on Tuesday, November 14,
2000 in Harrisburg. The theme will be Home Education Works for
Pennsylvania. CHAP HELP (Home Educator's Lobby Program) will be a super
day for homeschooling families as they learn how to lobby, visit their
legislators, and have the afternoon free to have a field trip in the
state capital city. More details will be in the CHAP Newsletter and in a
mailing that will go out later.

3) PRAY! This should be #1 on all of our lists as we seek our Lord's
guidance and His will in this matter.



Staff Editor		Bruce K. Eagleson Publisher	Doug Rothgaber



Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania PO Box 115 Mount Joy,
PA 17552-0115 717-661-2428 www.chapboard.org
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