Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Virtually extinct by the 20th century, homeschooling's rebirth went against the grain for many educational professionals. On today's Home School Heartbeat, Mike Smith describes the challenges HSLDA faced in the 1980s as the organization tried to bring new life to an old idea.

Mike Smith:


By the middle of the 20th century, teaching one's children at home was unheard of. The fact that so many of our nation's founders had been taught at home was all but forgotten by the general population. And even if the point were raised, the modern listener, by and large, would have dismissed it as archaic.


It was into this atmosphere of disdain and suspicion that the modern homeschool movement emerged. Undaunted by legal threats, early homeschooling parents passionately believed that the only acceptable solution to the growing education crisis was to bring their children home for schooling.


When we founded HSLDA in the 1980s, Mike Farris and I faced the difficult task of providing protection for families in a country where only five states considered homeschooling to be legal.


Today truancy issues and visits from Child Protective Services still pose threats to homeschool families, but HSLDA's 20 years of experience provides a proven track record of protecting its members.


In the history of HSLDA, we have never had a member family lose the right to homeschool as a result of government intervention. We cannot take credit for this, however. This is the supernatural protection of God on a movement that is dear to His heart. And until next time, I'm Mike Smith.