Kids learn at home, but no one's watchin

With homeschooling on the rise in Michigan, critics want tougher laws and more monitoring.

By Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News


Clarence Tabb Jr. / The Detroit News

"I didn't really find it challenging at all," Kelly Flack, 15, an Olympic figure skating hopeful, says of her time at Stoney Creek High.

Homeschooling
Michigan doesn't require homeschool families to follow the same rules as public schools, which are governed by state and federal laws. It asks that homeschool families register with the Michigan Department of Education, but doing so is voluntary.
What the law says
• Mandatory attendance: Parents and legal guardians are responsible for sending all children ages 6-16 to public school except under provisions of the Nonpublic School Act, which provides for home schools and private schools.
• Exemption: A child may be educated in a parent or guardian's home in an organized educational program covering reading, spelling, mathematics, science, history, civics, literature, writing and English grammar.
• Registering: Those planning to homeschool are asked to voluntarily submit to the state the number of students, the grade, teacher qualification and course of study offered.
Resources
• Choosing a curriculum: Homeschool families may purchase textbooks and instructional materials or an entire course curriculum from teacher bookstores or from a growing number of Internet providers. Support services can be found through homeschool associations.
• Public school classes: Homeschool students may enroll in some elective classes at their resident public school. Such classes may include band, drama, art, physical education, music, computer and advanced placement courses. Special education assistance also is available.
• Testing: Homeschool students may take the Michigan Educational Assessment Program, or MEAP, and the state's Merit Award Board is required to provide test sites. Homeschool students are eligible for the Michigan Merit Award.
• Michigan Virtual High School: Homeschool students may take virtual courses and access online tools for test review, career development, orientation to online learning and skill building.
• Athletics and extracurricular activities: In order to participate in public school extracurricular activities, a student should be enrolled part time in the public school.
• Student records: Parents are encouraged to maintain student records of progress throughout the year but are not required to do so. Most colleges demand accurate transcripts.
• Transfer of grades and credits: The granting of credits and placement of students is solely determined by the receiving public or nonpublic school. Homeschool families are encouraged to determine what the public school policy is for grade placement and granting of credits should a student decide to return to the public system.
More information
• For information about the law, contact the Michigan Department of Education, Bureau of School Finance and School Law Nonpublic Schools Unit at (517) 373-1833 or visit www.michigan.gov/mde.
• For information about Michigan homeschool support groups, visit
Source: Michigan Department of Education


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ROCHESTER -- Kelly Flack twirls on the ice at Onyx Skating Center while her mother teaches elementary school in Illinois.
A heavy practice schedule and dreams of competing in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games have the 15-year-old figure skater living away from her family and taking self-paced homeschool courses on the Internet under the supervision of her grandparents in Rochester.
She's part of what experts say is a growing trend of parents pulling their kids out of the classroom and teaching them at home. But critics complain that because Michigan has one of the nation's most liberal homeschooling laws -- requiring only voluntary registration -- there is no way to monitor how many children are involved and whether they are getting a better education or any education at all.
While providing a religious values-based education used to be the main motivation, many of the newest homeschoolers are simply dissatisfied with the educational experience provided by public schools.