TOS: Thank you, Mike Smith so much for agreeing to speak to our homeschool readers. I know that many of them would be very interested in finding our more about your organization, especially since homeschooling is such a "hot topic" where legalities are concerned. I have had many homeschool mommies express their concerns to us, over homeschool laws in general, and that is one reason we link directly to your website - so they can have access to their own state laws. Can you tell us what your organization provides for families who homeschool independently?

MIKE: Home School Legal Defense Association is a non-profit advocacy organization established to advance and protect the right of parents and guardians to responsibly educate their children at home.

Our members have 24-hour access to our office regarding any issue that relates to home education and parental freedoms, including social services contacts. Our members are entitled to legal representation for any threat to their right to homeschool from any state, local or federal governmental agency.

We also monitor and lobby homeschool and parental rights legislation in each state and before the U.S. Congress. We established a division called the National Center for Home Education, which, among other things, presents homeschooling honestly and in a favorable light to the media.

HSLDA has financed several studies which chronicle the success of homeschoolers both academically and socially.

TOS: We have heard a lot in the news, regarding new and upcoming laws for homeschoolers. In fact, the owner of an internationally run education company was telling me a few weeks back that he is concerned, because in South Africa and Australia, laws are becoming stricter to the point of families having to quit altogether. Are there any reasons for concern in this country? What is the latest "behind the scenes" condition of homeschooling in America and Canada?

MIKE: There are significant reasons to be concerned about the future freedom of homeschooling in this country. A recent survey of public school administrators by Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, disclosed that the large majority of superintendents and principals of public schools do not believe that homeschooling is a viable option.

A recent Gallup poll indicates that still only 40% of Americans believe that homeschooling is good for children. The National Education Association continues to advocate for every child being taught by a certified teacher, which would eliminate over 90% of homeschooling in America.

Last year we saw efforts in Main, Michigan, and Virginia to require homeschoolers to take state-mandated tests administered to public school students to determine whether homeschool students are meeting public school standards of learning. There will be continuing efforts in the future to bring homeschooling under the control of state and local education officials in states where there is relative freedom to homeschool.

The good news is homeschoolers are organized in every state and in Maine, Michigan, and Virginia, the homeschoolers rose up I protest against these infringements by the state and the legislation was stopped.

TOS: "Horror stories," or rumors of these stories, have crossed the paths of most homeschool families. You always hear of the family who was "singled out" by the law, with CPS getting involved and worse. What can families do to protect themselves against becoming a possible growing statistic of a "horror homeschooling story?"

MIKE: Homeschool families are concerned that because they are homeschooling, they will be targeted by social workers or education investigations. The good news is that our experiences do not bear this out.

In the last year, a little over 500 member families have been contacted by Child Protective Series throughout the 50 states and Puerto Rico. The average HSLDA family has a little over three children per family, or somewhere in the neighborhood of 1600 HSLDA children have been investigated. Based on these figures, less than 1% of our 70,000 member families have been investigated on an annual basis.

The rate of children reported and referred for investigation varies considerably throughout our nation. For instance, 5.2% of California families are investigated, while 10% in the District of Columbia and Idaho are investigated. The lowest state is Pennsylvania with less than 1% of the families being investigated.

Be that as it may, there are still areas where homeschoolers are especially susceptible to being reported for child abuse and neglect and this occurs because our children many times are in public during school hours. The following are 10 ways to minimize the potential for an investigation by Child Protective Services:

• Teach our children diligently.
• Limit our children's playtime outside our home during normal school hours.
• Do not let the smaller children play outside unsupervised.
• Do not leave children too young home alone or in a car without age-appropriate supervision.
• Make sure children have on proper clothing when playing outside in cold weather.
• Attend appropriately to proper health, hygiene, and cleanliness.
• Keep our houses reasonably clean and uncluttered.
• Be cautious in the choosing of babysitters.
• Be in compliance with your state's homeschool law where possible.
• Use reasonable and age-appropriate discipline.

Ultimately, we should realize that the majority of child abuse and neglect is reported in the public school setting and unfortunately, increasingly more abuse is occurring in the school setting.

Therefore be reassured that your choice to homeschool your children is the right choice for many reasons, and one those being the ability to protect your children from abuse to children that takes place outside the home.

We at HSLDA would encourage you to join us in advocating the continued freedom for parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children in a way that is in the uniquely best interest of your children.

TOS: We appreciate your advice, Mike, and are thankful that you took the time to speak to our readers. We also want to welcome you to our permanent staff as our new "Homeschooling in the News" columnist. We'll look forward to many articles to come, and having you keep us all up on the latest in homeschooling news and legalities. God bless your organization!

Mike Smith is the President of Home School Legal Defense Association, an organization which he has been involved with since its beginning. HSLDA was established to protect the right of parents to teach their children at home. HSLDA now represents over 69,000 member families. Mike became involved in defending homeschoolers after he and his wife, Elizabeth, decided to homeschool their children. They have four children. Three have been homeschooled and have all graduated from college. Mike has been doing keynote speaking to homeschoool conferences for over 15 years. His desire is to communicate in every message the benefits of home education and his overriding belief that God has raised up this movement for a special purpose at this time in history. Mike communicates that the benefits of homeschooling far exceed the burdens, with a special emphasis on encouragement.