Home School Heroes

This book is a great learning tool to remind us of what our founding homeschooling families did for us. Also Chris Klicka is a great writer. It is a great book for anyone to read.

I am a homeschooling parent of five children, and Lord willing, more. I was homeschooled my high school years, and my brother in his middle school years. My husband's brothers were homeschooled. But, all of this homeschooling took place in the 90s, once homeschooling was already clearly legal. I wanted to know about those who had gone before and suffered the persecution from government, the court trials, etc to win these freedoms. So, this book sounded wonderful to me, but it wasn't quite what I expected. A better title for this book would be the subtitle: "The Struggle and Triumph of Home Schooling in America." Most of the book focuses on the various court cases, examples of contacts with government officials in the various states, legislation passed, etc. It's valuable in depicting the difficulty in securing homeschooling freedom. However, families were in general talked about for only a paragraph or two. The title "Home School Heroes" had made me expect a more detailed look at some individual families, their decision to homeschool, the persecution and trials that came with it, etc. But, this book is more an overview of the "big picture." This book is a testimony to the grace and power of God. Many of the victories won were nothing short of miraculous. And the author definitely recognizes it. Glory is repeated and explicitly given to God. This permeates the book, which is a plus in my opinion. There's also an appendix with a salvation message. There are also a couple chapters encouraging homeschooling families to continue to fight to preserve their freedoms and warning of the dangers of charter schools and other voluntary involvement with the public school system. Very appropriate. At the beginning of the book, in starting this history, there is a chapter entitled "The Home School Legal Defense Association Is Born." Now this makes sense, because most of the court cases starting in the mid-80s involved them, with the author working there all that time. However, the chapter became an infomercial for HSLDA, quite literally. Partway through, you're asked who you're going to call when you need help, told they're on the side of the little guy (with quotes from satisfied members), given membership costs and encouraged to join, etc. Now, our family has membership, and we are fans of HSLDA. But, this detailed sales pitch portion would have been more appropriate in an appendix at the end, or in the final epilogue. All in all, this is a good book for homeschooling families that don't have much knowledge of how homeschooling came to be legal in all 50 states, and how arduous a task it was. It's a wonderful testament to God's mercy. It's not a book that I'm likely to reread in the next decade, but it's one that I'll keep on hand to loan out to others.

Home School Heroes follows stories about Christian Home School families from a variety of backgrounds facing a myriad of legal issues since the early 1980's in America. While some of the cases may seem like extreme examples, clearly the right to home school is not one we should take for granted. This is clearly documented in Christopher Klicka's entertaining read. The author touches on a brief history of home education in Colonial America as well as mentions a few famous Americans from the past who have been successfully home educated. Some may object to the firmly held belief among many Christian home schoolers that they have the God given responsibility to train up a child in the way he should go (i.e. they, the parents, are in essence delegated by God to educate their children). The author lays out Biblical support for parents educating their own children in the first couple of chapters. You also learn a brief history of how the Home School Legal Defense Association began as well as the excellent research work done by Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute which produces such great resources as Home Educated and Now Adults and the Worldwide Guide to Homeschooling: Facts and Stats on the Benefits of Home School 2002-2003 (Worldwide Guide to Homeschooling). Christopher Klicka provides various details about certain cases and how precedents were set one by one, state by state. He also discusses how truancy laws and compulsory school laws impact home education. He talks about truancy officers and how families have been investigated by the police and social service workers, simply for educating their children at home. He discusses the success of grass roots political activism and even documents how home school parents and private school parents tend to be more civically involved than their government school counterparts. This book reminds us that as home school parents, we need to keep abreast of what educational and other parental rights legislation is coming before our state and federal governments. Also, we ought to be diligent in maintaining our right to home educate without burdensome governmental oversight or the requirement to be certified which many seek. One quote in particular from the book highlights the thinking that John Cole, President of the Texas Federation of Teachers expressed in regard to a case where he stated "If as a result of this case anyone can teach children in the homeschool, that will have the natural and inevitable effect of devaluing teaching as a profession." Towards the end of the book, the author also discusses some of the situations that home educators in other countries are facing as well as voices his concern about how educating our children via virtual public charter schools may just be a "Trojan Horse," slowly eroding the rights of parents to direct their children's curriculum and opening themselves, and others up to government scrutiny. The usual voiced concern is "Wha

This is a book that all parents thinking about homeschooling or that have been schooling at home should read. It is full of easy ideas, while letting us know that before us our fellow American's had to fight a huge battle to have the rights to be free to home school their children. It was a tough battle that we continue fighting for every day of our lives. I would highly recommend you reading this book.

Written by Christopher Klicka, a senior counsel of the Home School Legal Defense Association, Home School Heroes: The Struggle & Triumph of Home Schooling in America is the true story of mothers and fathers who braved powerful legal opposition against the practice of homeschooling, particularly in the 1980's and 90's. Klicka presents numerous true stories of his work for the Home School Legal Defense Association in which he intervened to prevent social workers or police from entering homes without a warrant or interviewing young children without a court order, or worse, taking children away from their loving parents. A devout Christian as well as a legal defense counsel, Klicka also speaks of the strength and comfort provided by God and Jesus Christ in the most dire hours of need. Home School Heroes recounts milestones of progress reached for the right to homeschool, offers practical advice concerning what to do if state agencies attempt to interfere with the legal right to homeschool a child, and is strongly recommended for any parents seeking to pass on a religious, homeschooled education in their children.