TEACH homeschool group

Homeschooling can start at any point in your child’s education. For Heidi St. John’s family, their journey started after noticing detrimental effects public school was having on sibling relationships. One fateful day, she missed the cut off period to enroll her second daughter in school, and the rest is history! Now with only one homeschool student left, Heidi is helping other homeschool parents find community through her organization, the Homeschool Resource Center. Listen to the full episode here: https://www.hslda.org/post/homeschooling-changed-our-view-of-family-ep-151

What is your favorite part of being a homeschool family?🥰

Have a homeschool student graduating this year? Check into becoming a member of TEACH **now** if you're interested in joining our beautiful graduation ceremony (plus many other senior-year activities!) Already a member? Fill out the 2025 Graduation Application as soon as possible😊

www.teachtc.org

Had a great time kayaking down the Crystal River for our first field trip of the school year!

At our park day yesterday, we (the moms- yes, it's for us, too😂) had great conversation around a picnic table in the shade. One person admitted to being so relieved to learn they were NOT the only ones who did school through the summer, contrary to her child's complaints. Some of us do just a subject or two (like math!), some keep it going full-steam with a couple-week break, some take September off instead, some prefer every drop of extreme freedom they can squeeze out of mid-June through early September. What does your family do?

Photo: This is Finny on the way home from park day😂

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Looking for book recommendations? You've come to the right place. 📚️ We've collected every book list on our blog and compiled them into a free PDF for you to download and reference whenever you want! 💻️⁠ Click the link to view the PDF: https://bit.ly/2023ccbooklists
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Lists Included:⁠
📕 10 Best Read-Alouds for the Whole Family⁠
📗 6 Great Books to Read While Studying Ancient History⁠
📘 12 Great Books to Read While Studying the Civil War⁠
📙 13 Great Books to Read While Studying World War 1⁠
📕 11 Amazing Books to Read While Studying World War 2⁠
📗 12 American History Books for Middle School Students⁠
📘 10 American History Books for Younger Siblings⁠
📙 6 American History Challenge Books⁠
📕 29 Classics Every Middle Schooler Should Read⁠
📗 67 Classics Every High Schooler Should Read (for American History, Modernity, Antiquity, and Christendom)⁠
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Visit the link attached in the bio to view the free resource! ⬆️⁠ These lists can be used with our History and Literature classes as well!

UPDATE/ EDITED TO ADD: This morning, Wednesday, April 10th in the Senate, Senator Polehanki offered a floor substitute for a 3rd version of the bill with no discussion. The substitute was adopted and advanced to a third reading... meaning IT WAS NOT YET VOTED UPON, BUT THE NEXT TIME IT IS BROUGHT UP WILL BE FOR A VOTE. The Senate has adjourned for today & the rest of this week, but will meet again next Tuesday morning, 4/16-- at which time they could likely bring it up for a vote.

The new version added an option for parents to delay starting a 5 year old only for that school year, if they notify their public school district.

NOTE: There remains an exemption from compulsory attendance for homeschoolers:

"(3) A child is not required to attend public school in any of the following cases: …" BUT because they deleted exemption B (about not having to attend school if you don’t live within 2.5 miles of a public school with no transportation furnished by the school district), all the following exemptions move “up” a letter, meaning most homeschoolers would now need to claim exemption E instead of F… which still reads: "(e) The child is being educated at the child’s home by the child’s parent or legal guardian in an organized educational program in the subject areas of reading, spelling, mathematics, science, history, civics, literature, writing, and English grammar.”

Here is the current version of SB 285, so you can read what is being proposed for yourself:https://legislature.mi.gov/documents/2023-2024/billcurrentversion/Senate/PDF/2023-SCVBS-0285-00D47.PDF

ALERT: S.B. 285 (Mandatory Kindergarten bill) is on the floor of the Michigan Senate and is on the agenda to be discussed (today!) Wednesday, April 10, 2024!

Please contact your state senator NOW and ask them oppose this bill! Parents, not government bureaucrats, know when their children need to start formal academics. The state estimates this will increase Michigan's tax burden by $43.3 million per year, making things even more difficult financially for families who are already struggling to get by. Public kindergarten is already an option for any Michigan family who wants it, but this should NOT be forced on young children without their parents' consent.

For homeschoolers, this will require you, by law, to teach reading, spelling, literature, writing, English grammar, mathematics, science, history and civics, in an organized educational program...to your 5-yr-old! Many young children are not ready for that kind of academic focus. Please respond now before the state senate votes on this bill!

https://senate.michigan.gov/FindYourSenator/

S.B. 285 would change Michigan’s compulsory attendance law and would require ALL 5-year-olds in Michigan to have formal academic instruction (either in school or at home). If you choose the homeschool option, you would be required by law to teach 9 academic subjects in an organized educational manner to your age 5 child (current mandated age is 6). We believe this choice of formal instruction should be made by parents, not the State. This bill is out of committee and ready for a vote on the Senate floor. Please contact your senator and ask them to oppose this bill.

Find your Senator here:

https://www.michn.org/find-your-state-representative-state-senator

MiCHN responds to this issue here:

https://www.wilx.com/2024/03/22/kindergarten-may-soon-become-mandatory-michigan/

Track the bill here:

https://tinyurl.com/ndjhxauf

🎳Fun and fellowship field trip at Lucky Jack's today!!! We had a great time with our TEACH family🥰