I just discovered that Banita Jacks’ children were let down by two more people: two of the girls’ fathers. Jacks had filed paternity suits, won & been awarded support. No payments were made.

Here’s another excerpt that takes a critical look at the homeschool scapegoating business:

If complaints are made about a family, it is the responsibility of the local child welfare service to investigate. If no complaints are made, then investigating a family merely for homeschooling is a situation in which you are ‘guilty until enough people are convinced of your innocence.’

Is the Jacks event a tragedy? Oh, yes.

It is a tragedy that Banita Jacks had her first child at 16.
It is a tragedy that she couldn’t get child support from the fathers of two of her children.
It is a tragedy that investigators couldn’t either make contact or complete their investigations.
It is a tragedy that Ms. Jacks’ children were unable to escape from the house as their mother descended further into madness.
It is a tragedy that the parents of the friends of Ms. Jacks’ children weren’t alarmed by the change in their children’s friendships.
And it is horrifying that someone, most likely Banita Jacks, killed Brittany, Tatianna, N’Kiah and Aja, especially in the same general neighborhood as St. Elizabeths Hospital, “the only federal government hospital in the United States for the care and treatment of persons with Mental disorders.”

Most of those factors preceded the homeschooling. To lay the responsibility for the murders at the door of homeschooling in the throes of moral panic is to ignore the seventeen years that led up to the final hours of Brittany, Tatianna, N’Kiah and Aja.

~ Home Education Magazine

More details of the family’s contacts with social aid programs can be found in this timeline (begins on page 3 of the document.) It would appear that the family relied on several programs for assistance, but that their funding was cut by each program over a period of time as conditions for renewal were not met. It would also appear that Ms Jacks was already known to be experiencing mental health issues as early as June 2006 (”behavioral health Medicaid visit”) and had been contacted in December 2006 because she had not come in for a follow-up.

Not surprisingly, social services staff in Washington are less than pleased to find themselves under the microscope in this case:

A spokeswoman the D.C. Child and Family Services agency referred all calls to the mayor’s office. Sabrina Brown, vice president of Local 2401 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents city social workers, said they were extremely overworked and urged people to look for solutions, rather than cast blame.

“We just need to talk, not to blame,” she said.

~ National Examiner

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An intelligent response to the media hooplah around home based education, sparked by the fact that Banita Jacks (who murdered her four children) claimed to be homeschooling her children:

I live in Kansas, one of those states that does not require governmental oversight of homeschooled children. The law only states that I must register my homeschool as a private, non-accredited school. There is no requirement for the State to actually approve my registration, nor am I required to submit annual records to a government office or administer yearly standardized tests.

I have the freedom to homeschool so long as I maintain records available for the government to inspect, should any questions arise. I must provide my child with the equivalent amount of instruction hours that a public school child would receive, a task made rather simple by the fact that we are more often than not doing something educational, even if it’s something as simple as writing a letter to Grandma.

I am required to provide “competent” instruction and, with my college and law degrees, I’m rather certain I’d fall higher on the “competency” scale than many public school teachers in Kansas, and certainly higher than most substitute teachers.

Does that make me more likely to kill my child than, say, a mother who sends her children to public school during the day while she goes to work then rushes to pick them up, get them home, oversee their homework, make dinner and clean house and maybe — if she’s got the time and energy — squeezing in extracurricular activities during those four hours between school and bedtime?

Of course not.

The difference, according to the media outcry, is that homeschooling doesn’t afford other people the chance to observe my children and, through them, decide whether I am parenting appropriately.

~ VenomousKate (I Think Therefore I Blog)

As Kate goes on to point out, there isn’t a whole lot of logic to calls for more regulation of homeschooling. This is about scapegoating.

After the tragedy, people look for someone else, something else to blame.

In this particular tragedy, the media is attempting to blame homeschooling by saying that it has an inherent “lack of supervision”. The fact is that Banita Jacks’ family had more contact with government agencies than most homeschooling families, and every single one of those agencies dropped the ball.

Homeschooling is not at fault for the deaths of these little girls. A lack of supervision is not to blame for their deaths. The freedom and ease with which families in ten states and Washington, D.C., can elect to homeschool their children are not to blame for these deaths.

Banita Jacks is to blame, as are all of the officials and agencies which did have contact with her but did nothing. They had evidence that she was mentally ill and failing to provide for her children, and they failed to follow up on that evidence.

What they have no evidence of is their claim that Banita Jacks was ever truly a homeschooling mom.

~ VenomousKate (I Think Therefore I Blog)

If adding more regulations for homeschoolers (or any group of people) to follow was intended to “red flag” people who are endangering their children, and bring them to the attention of the appropriate authorities, in the Jacks case it wouldn’t change anything. This family had been red flagged on numerous occasions, and in at least one case the concerns were simply dismissed because the family was living in a van & had no fixed address at the time. (Washington Post)

This is not a problem of one or more homeschoolers not jumping through the appropriate hoops. This case involves a family who had long-term problems, not the least of which are the death of the father and apparent mental illness on the part of the mother. Tighter restrictions on homeschooling would not have kept Nathaniel Fogel alive, nor would they have helped Banita Jacks deal with her mental health issues - be they an illness or the result of substance abuse or loss of her partner.

I’m going to take what may be an unpopular stance, and say that perhaps better funding for the health and social service network would have prevented this tragedy. Treating people less like suspects and more like individuals who deserve not only help but respect in times of need could certainly do no harm, either.

I look at the timeline sketched out by the media & I see a family in crisis, not a homeschooling mother gone wrong. I see a family who had hospital bills to pay, not long after they had been living in a shelter and had applied for food stamps. I see a woman losing her partner and also presumably having to come up with money for medicines and later a funeral. I see that same woman without work, and somehow having to find enough money to pay a mortgage, utility bills, and food for four kids. Why had her foodstamps been cut off?

I’m not looking for pity for Banita Jacks, but I am trying to look at this whole situation from a different perspective. I just can’t see anything that could be achieved by demanding more rules and reporting, or unannounced home visits, or whatever it is that some folks think we homeschoolers need. Nothing, except a whole lot of folks’ rights will be trampled all over. This is painting us all with the same brush - painting us all as mentally ill child killers.

I wonder, how many mentally ill child killers send their kids to public school? And how many of those kids end up sharing the fate of these four girls because, similarly red flagged, the system failed them as badly as it did Banita Jacks’ little girls?

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Another great find from Wicked Pickles! The Gratitude Campaign has a simple goal, and very little is required if you want to take part. This is something that I hope will appeal to all my readers, regardless of political affiliation. Please learn about it, and help spread the word.

I’ve posted the short version of the video below. To view the full-length version, please click on the “Thank you” image on the left. Once you’re done, you might want to take a few minutes to read the story and to learn about the origin of the sign. It’s quite interesting, especially if you like linguistics or know a little something about sign language!

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Last night hubby & I went to our first parents’ meeting for the newly formed Montreal Homelearners group, on the topic of curriculum. There were eight parents in attendance, and an absolute ton of resources to look through! Sonya & Doug were very kind to open their home to us, and for part of the evening we enjoyed the company of their older boy (2-1/2,) who is wonderfully verbal & charming! The 6 month old also came out to say hi for a little bit, and he was all smiles
Discussion was informal but I found it helpful. We all brought resources with us, so others could have the opportunity to look & evaluate materials. This is an especially good opportunity, as many materials homeschoolers on the web talk about must be ordered from special suppliers, site unseen. Some can be very expensive, so it is always preferable to leaf through a book or view sample pages before buying. Not every curriculum works for everybody!

Methodology - Options

For my part, I was pleased that one of the other parents had brought some of the Well Trained Mind (WTM) materials. WTM is a classically oriented method that some folks absolutely swear by. Some combine WTM with Charlotte Mason (CM), finding the CM flexibility & the focus on things like nature study & handicrafts balance out the more rigid structure of WTM. Both methods seem to focus on traditional skills such as copywork & dictation, and on academic excellence and forming good habits. As we lean towards CM in our teaching, I was also interested in exploring WTM. Last night I had the chance to leaf through two of the books, and decided that neither would really be helpful to me at this juncture.

Similarly, I had been wondering about the KONOS books, having seen them in the online catalogue of a supplier I sometimes use but never having heard much about them. One of the mothers had brought a couple volumes with her, and explained that these are unit studies that work around traits such as Attentiveness, Patience and Obedience. I didn’t get much of a chance to look at the books, but from the conversation I learned the books are quite cost-effective, as they are well-priced and take more than one year to work through. The books called for in the lesson plans are apparently quite easily available too, in fact most can be had through the Montreal public libraries. Activities use inexpensive materials such as pipe cleaners, or entail things like a visit to a hardware store or observing spinning things (a lazy Susan, wheels on skateboards or bicycles, a rotary fan, a blender.)

There is a religious component that not everyone may appreciate (mostly Bible quotations to illustrate the lessons, if I understood correctly.) However, it is possible to substitute these quotations with other content. In the case of the mother who brought the books in, she has a second program (Caractère d’Abord - Character First) that uses animals to illustrate character traits in a secular fashion. She uses the two programs together, and finds they are a good fit.

An interesting aspect of KONOS is the 5 D’s: Do, Discover, Dramatize, Dialogue, Drill. In some ways I think perhaps this is similar to the 5E’s approach of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BCSC): Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate. Both methods emphasize hands-on learning and begin with the student’s own experimentation before any attempt is made to teach the specifics of a subject.

Because KONOS is based in unit studies, it is a good choice for those on a budget (also those who are still working out what kind of curriculum they want to use.) A separate math program will be needed, as well as either phonics (for pre-readers or emergent readers) or grammar (for established readers.) I imagine you may need to add physical activities as well, and possibly something for arts education if you wanted to include this.

I don’t know that KONOS is necessarily for us, though I think I’ll look into it a bit more. It might make an interesting alternate, for summer and times when we need a bit of a break from our regular studies. Unit studies do make it easier to accommodate two or more students at different levels, so that will be an advantage when my youngest joins us. By then I’ll be looking at teaching K-3-6 all at the same time!

Subject Areas - French

We briefly touched on the options for geography and history, and also for teaching French. These are subjects of special concern to parents in Canada - particularly Quebec. Most of us have found that the second language materials available are too simplistic. Unfortunately, the materials intended for francophones are far too difficult for children who haven’t been speaking French in their daily lives for several years. The rule of thumb which I had previously heard for French Immersion, to select materials for the next grade level down, doesn’t seem to work. Even though Dojogirl was in a bilingual school the past four years and had always done well in French according to her teachers, the books for third grade French are years beyond her in terms of both grammar and vocabulary. No one seemed to have an answer to that problem, except to try to muddle through with a second language program and hope the ability will come. Even the ministry of education (MELS) has no approved materials for French as a second language….

Subject Areas - Canadian Social Studies Resources

As far as social studies are concerned, one mom was saying she’s discovered she likes to use workbooks and has found few materials that would fall into this category. I avoid workbooks because it’s just way too easy for kids to do the bare minimum to answer questions correctly, but not learn or retain anything. Of course, I can see how using some workbooks can allow time for individual instruction or to get planning or chores done!

Even using what CM called living books it’s more difficult to find materials that deal with Canadian geography & history at the primary level (a lot of books intended for adults will be quite accessible to high school students.) We’ve been looking at H.E. Marshall’s Our Island Story this year, as a lead-up to the chapters of Our Empire Story that deal with Canada. Some other resources can be found at Old Fashioned Education, a simply fabulous resource put together by Miss Maggie (formerly of the Hillbilly Housewife, and now of Frugal Abundance.) Parents in need of geography resources may find the Ontario Teachers Manual gives some ideas for teaching, as does Home Geography for the Primary Grades.

Parent Preparation

One thing I discovered at the meeting was that several of the people in attendance either have pre-school aged children, or kids who are still in public school and will be starting their homeschooling after the current school year ends. Some parents who plan to educate their children at home are investigating their options several years in advance, and put a good bit of energy into building a support network and learning about resources. Anyone who accuses homeschoolers of taking the easy way out, certainly has not met this bunch!

Join Us Next Time!

Sonya & Doug have been organizing both parents’ & kids’ meetings for Montreal homeschooling families since late fall. They have now put together a web site, Montrealhomelearners.ca, which will serve as a resource, a calendar, a forum & more. Here’s the description Sonya wrote on the site:

Welcome to the Montreal Homelearners Group! This is a place for homelearning families to find each other, share information, offer support, make plans and discuss our homelearning adventures…

Our members include French and English families, kids and babies of all ages, and all styles of homelearning. We ask that respect is shown through our differences and choices. We are a not a faith-based group, and while religious homeschoolers are welcome to join us, our meetings, discussions and activities will be entirely secular.

If you are a homelearning family, or you are considering homelearning and want to know more, feel free to join us!

Regular meetings: on the 2nd (TBA) of each month, the parents get together for an evening of sharing, advice and support. On the 4th (TBA) of each month, we have a daytime gathering with both parents and kids.

If you would like to get involved wander on over to the web site & sign up for a free account. Better still, pop into one of the parents’ or kids’ meetings. You’ll get a chance to meet some of the other members, and have a good time
Meeting information is always posted here in the list of events on the upper left of my blog. If you get an account at the Montreal Homelearners web site, you can also sign up for events & see who else is planning to attend.

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Thanks to Gerky at Wicked Pickles for the pointer to this news story! A mother of a 19-year old boy in Iowa has sold his new car after she discovered a bottle of alcohol under the seat. She has received a lot of positive feedback from other parents, from nurses, school counselors, and others -  all congratulating her on the firm stance she has taken. In the ad she placed, the woman refers to herself as the “meanest mom on the planet.”

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