Homeschool advocacy groups spin a narrative in which every homeschooled child is well cared for, well loved, well educated, and above average. To hear them tell it, you would think homeschooling is a panacea that has the potential to cure all of society\u2019s ills. They talk of homeschoolers winning spelling bees, entering Harvard, and starting small\u00a0businesses. But while many children do excel in homeschooling environments, not all do. There is a dark underbelly to homeschooling that is usually left unmentioned.<\/p>\n
There are homeschooled children who are physically abused through excessively harsh corporal punishment and homeschooled children who are not well educated, if they are educated at all, because their parents believe godliness is more important than book learning. There are also abusive parents who begin homeschooling specifically to hide their children from the authorities, and families who drop out of school and slip under the radar because of the dent the homeschool loophole has put in local school districts\u2019 ability to curb truancy.<\/p>\n
These are homeschooled children you don\u2019t see winning spelling bees. In fact, these are the homeschooled children you don\u2019t see at all. This page is a collection of links and articles about and by these children. Some end in tragedy, and others will simply induce heartbreak. I\u2019m warning you now\u2014it won\u2019t be pretty.<\/p>\n
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Websites:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Homeschooling\u2019s Invisible Children. Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cChildren Killed or Abused within Their Homeschooling Adoptive Family.\u201d Pound Pup Legacy.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n Feature Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOrphan Fever: The Evangelical Movement\u2019s Adoption Obsession.\u201d Mother Jones, 2013.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHome School Oversight Is Lacking, Investigation Finds.\u201d Dayton Daily News, 2012.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHomeschool Kids, Now Grown, Blog against the Past.\u201d Daily Beast, 2012. Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBarely Literate? How Christian Fundamentalist Homeschooling Hurts Kids.\u201d Alternet, 2012.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHomeschooling, Risk, and the Grand Canyon.\u201d Roger Canaaf, 2011.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cKhyra Would Still Be Alive If Lessons Had Been Learned from My Case.\u201d Sun, 2010.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHome-Schooling Hid Calista\u2019s Abuse.\u201d Detroit News, 2009.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cLack of Supervision Noted in Deaths of Home-Schooled.\u201d New York Times, 2008.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHome Schoolers May Be No Safer in Their Homes Than Other Children.\u201d Akron Beacon Journal, 2004.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cA Dark Side to Homeschooling.\u201d CBS Evening News, 2003.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHome Schooling Nightmares.\u201d CBS Evening News, 2003.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n State Task Force and Judicial Recommendations:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe Nubia Report.\u201d Florida Department of Children and Families, 2011. Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cState Child Fatality Review.\u201d North Carolina Division of Social Services, 2008. Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stephen V. Hamilton v. Tara J. Hamilton<\/em>, 2007. Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n Personal Blog Stories:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cHome Is Where the Hurt Is,\u201d on Homechoolers Anonymous.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Home in San Francisco,\u201d on Date Is a Four Letter Word.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I SHould Have Said 13 Years Ago,\u201d on Strange Figures.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cCopy Kids: The Immortality of Individuality,\u201d on Homeschooler Anonymous.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI Was Trained to Torture Myself,\u201d on Homeschoolers Anonymous.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe End of the Red Stick,\u201d on Becoming Worldly.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cCan Homeschooling Be a Haven for Abuse?\u201d on Running with a Book Cart.\u00a0Link<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWhy Don\u2019t We Prohibit Convicted Abusers from Homeschooling?\u201d on Becoming Worldly.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cChristian Homeschooling and Abuse,\u201d on Deep Thoughts.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI Am a Homeschool Abuse Survivor,\u201d on Experience Project.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOne Girl\u2019s Journey in a Homeschool Cult,\u201d on No Longer Quivering.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cJustice Is No Lady,\u201d on No Longer Quivering.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n Truancy and Educational Neglect:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cParents Use Homeschooling to Avoid Truancy Charges.\u201d KOTA TV, 2013. Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHow \u2018Private Schools\u2019 Help Lower Texas\u2019 Dropout Numbers.\u201d PBS, 2012. Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cTruant Officer on Michigan\u2019s Homeschooling Policy,\u201d Mlive.com, 2012. Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAn Analysis of Illinois Practice of Non-Purposeful Home-Schooling.\u201d Illinois State University, 2011.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEducational Neglect and Compulsory Schooling: A Status Report.\u201d Center for School Improvement & Policy, 2006.\u00a0Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHome School Mom Charged with Allowing Truancy.\u201d The Southern, 2005. Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n