The definition of a homeschooler seems to have become so blurred, that I feel compelled to write once again about this issue. I am going to be very straightfoward in order to be clear. Are you a legal homeschooler when you sign up for a charter school program?
Because the charter school programs are calling themselves homeschool programs, true homeschoolers have been made more vulnerable. For over 18 years now HSLDA has fought for the rights of families to homeschool with minimal regulations. If homschoolers contiune to rely on these government programs to help them homeschool their children, homechooling liberties will continue to be whittled away.
When I say that those in charter schools are not true homeschoolers, I am talking legal terms. Legally, if you are enrolled in a charter school program, you are not homeschooling but are in the public school. It may seem as though the words and definitions are no big deal, but in fact the words we use have huge consequences as they describe what is actually legal and true. For example, if one enrolls in a public school charter, HSLDA does not recognize them or even allow them to join. Why is this so? After all you are at home with your children all day. This is not to be unfriendly but just because it would be futile and silly to defend “homeschoolers” in public school programs. Please know and understand that you are no longer a homeschooler if you are enrolled in a government program. You are infact setting up a little public school in your home.
