UNLIKE many of the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” that have sought refuge in America, the Romeike family comes from a comfortable place: Bissingen an der Teck, a town in south-western Germany. Yet on January 26th an American immigration judge granted the Romeikes—a piano teacher, his wife and five children—political asylum, accepting their case that difficulties with home schooling their children created a reasonable fear of persecution.
The piece then describes the laws and attitudes regarding homeschooling in several European countries. Why America is more free in its educational opportunities is not delved into, but some of the commentators do discuss the questions that the headline teases us, "Why some countries welcome children who are taught at home and others don't," such as who is responsible for children, the state or parents? What is the point of forcing children to attend the state-run schools, equal education (or equal lack of learning)? Should children be taught the religion of their parents or secular humanism?
As someone who has taught both in the public school system as well as homeschooled for 7 years, I can tell you that most homeschooling parents take their job very seriously (sometimes almost too seriously) and want to give their children a quality education. They see the low expectations, emphasis on politically correct lessons and pop culture, lack of discipline, and mob rule mentality and want more for their own children. They know that the system is rotten and there is no way that they can change that to benefit their own offspring. So they bypass the system and teach at home. They can do that in many different ways and methods from reproducing a traditional curriculum to following the child's interests.
Studies have proven over and over how effective and successful homeschooling is with higher test scores and being more socially involved, to homeschool graduates stating that they want to homeschool their own children. America has always been a land of freedom and opportunity and homeschooling gives families the ability to be independent, to be innovative. It is socialist big government vs the free market on a micro scale. We choose to be free and it is evident in several comments how far we have lurched politically to the left that they can't see this obvious fact.
Our nation has become great because of innovative thinkers and designers such as Ben Franklin, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Thomas Edison, Samuel Morse, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, and many others who thought outside the box. All homeschoolers want is to encourage freedom, educate their children in the best way they know how, and to be left alone from the educational lockstep of the government schools.
I'm so glad we didn't lose electricity like so many folks in DC and Northern Virginia. We made pumpkin and chocolate chip cookies, dried many loads of mittens and snowsuits, and I was able to quilt for several hours. Another thing I was determined to do was clean. Despite the snow coming in the kitchen door every time a child came in and the mess of wet socks, boots, and snowsuits they hung over every available chair, I was scrubbing the bathrooms and vacuuming under the beds. The light seemed brighter today with the snow and I wanted the inside as clean and bright as the outside. There is still plenty to do, but I'm taking a well deserved rest tomorrow and playing in the snow with the kids.
My big van doesn't have four wheel drive or anything so I was plodding along at 30 miles an hour to the fabric shop and back, only to get stuck on our own road. I had slowed down going up the hill to make way for a car and some children coming down and then couldn't go forward. Luckily I had charged my phone and Tim came to my rescue. I felt foolish having to call, but am so grateful I wasn't saying, "Dear... I ran off the road and am stuck 10 miles away."
Other jobs they must complete are cleaning bathrooms, emptying trash cans, vacuuming the stairs, dusting, and cleaning up the playroom. They get paid on Fridays (I don't assign chores on the weekend), 3 cents per mark. They average about $1 a week, but I am finding that I am slipping back into the nagging mode again so starting tomorrow I am instituting a penalty. If they do the job they get paid, but if they don't do one they get a fine. 
and the Crypt. We all rubbed our foot on the marble star that is the exact center of Washington, DC before peeking into the Old Supreme Court room
for a few minutes before our guide said that our tour was complete. "Won't we would be able to see the Senate and House chambers?" I asked. "Those need separate tickets, we can go back to the office and get them," she replied. Of course by then it was already lunchtime, Julia Ellen was likely getting very hungry, and my childless cousin was probably overwhelmed with the care of the boys. I wished that the staff member who I talked to on the phone had mentioned this to me last week, but I had to decline the too late offer. 
