Annoying

From Detroit:

Parenting 101

My interpretation: Not a course, but a family. Everything (especially families and children) do not have to turn into Education Speak.

Do some homework if you're considering home schooling

I wish they had.

Detroit News staff and wire reports -->Thinking about home schooling your children? Begin by finding out your state's home-schooling laws (hslda.org)

I wish they'd done their homework and then they'd know that HSLDA sometimes doesn't get the statutes quite right. We don't have "home-school"ing laws in Illinois, despite HSLDA's attempts to do the same. And HSLDA's information on their site for Illinois is a head scratcher. They state 176 days for required days of instruction in the same sentence as it's not mandatory. If it's NOT mandatory, then don't stick 176 days in there. Then in their legal analyis, they quote the administrative code in Illinois. Sorry, I don't want to go there and feel no legal need to. The public school has their job and I have mine. And following the public school administration code is not my job.
Administrative Code example:

§ 226.100. Child Find Responsibility.
23 Ill. Adm. Code 226.100
a) Each school district shall be responsible for actively seeking out and identifying all children from birth through age 21 within the district, including children not enrolled in the public schools, who may be eligible for special education and related services. Procedures developed to fulfill this responsibility shall include:
1) An annual screening of children under the age of five for the purpose of identifying those who may need early intervention or special education and related services.

IF homeschoolers go there, then they're digging a big hole. I'd rather not refer to the administrative code.
Back to the little Detroit blurb:

Be innovative to find help and support. Tap into family and friends. Maybe a relative is a retired certified teacher and would enjoy teaching French
lessons.

That song from Pink Floyd is running through my head: "We don't need no....." Retired Certified Teacher....

Join a home-schooling group in your area. Some groups are so large they have orchestras and offer courses for the more difficult high school classes

You can join a group or not. I didn't join one for a while because a support group didn't make sense when you're hauling around 2 babies at the time. (I know others have the same issues right now. Do you have one of these pictures with your lil darlin's, Kara?)
And there are lots of cool things out there to do when you look that aren't just about a homeschooling group. Museums, community orchestras and sports, theater groups, community college courses and of course, homeschool group activities.

The most important thing to do for new homeschoolers in my opinion is to inform yourself about homeschooling legally in your state. If you check out homeschooling groups and organizations in your locality (check with the library), then you will get a great start and much confidence in beginning your homeschooling lifestyle.

In Illinois, here's the pertinent statute:

§ 105 ILCS 5/26-1. Compulsory school age - Exemptions
Sec. 26-1. Compulsory school age - Exemptions. Whoever has custody or control of any child between the ages of 7 and 16 years shall cause such child to attend some public school in the district wherein the child resides the entire time it is in session during the regular school term, except as provided in Section 10-19.1 [105 ILCS 5/10-19.1], and during a required summer school program established under Section 10-22.33B [105 ILCS 5/10-22.33B]; provided, that the following children shall not be required to attend the public schools:
1.Any child attending a private or a parochial school where children are taught the branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in the public schools, and where the instruction of the child in the branches of education is in the English language;