"Homeschooling" mother who killed 2 kids and put them in her

[NoQuiverNoCry]

Bullshit. There is no evidence that this woman was mentally ill. And how does saying that homeschooling shouldn't be aloowed to be used as a method to hide children away harm the majority of homeschoolers?

"No evidence"? This woman abused her kids, killed them, and stuffed their bodies in a freezer. She then lived with this stuffed freezer--apparently it was just inside the front door, and everyone walked around it to enter or leave the unit--until she was evicted. How can this NOT be evidence of mental illness?

[momof2treasures]

These murders happened because mom snapped on the kids and abuse went to far. I think the only reason she put them in the freezer to hide them and avoid detection. The freezer kept the odor at bay .

[Terrie]

"No evidence"? This woman abused her kids, killed them, and stuffed their bodies in a freezer. She then lived with this stuffed freezer--apparently it was just inside the front door, and everyone walked around it to enter or leave the unit--until she was evicted. How can this NOT be evidence of mental illness?

Which mental illness? Major depression, OCD, schizoaffective disorder? Callus disregard and selfishness are not, in themselves, a mental illness.

[sockinshoe]

A potential solution/amendment to existing homeschool laws just occurred to me. Parents would have to apply to homeschool (in the same spirit as an application to be a foster parent etc.). They'd have to show evidence of some sort of educational qualification, present a curriculum (it could be faith based, but not abusive), the home/school would be inspected (perhaps even regularly), and the children would be interviewed about the process. A similar inspection/presentation would happen each year, with updates/achievement scores due regularly, and the possibility of unscheduled surprise inspections. That way homeschools operated similarly to regular schools and parents still maintain control over the curriculum. It would also give greater insight into the quality of education and life these children were getting, which could possibly stop some of these terrible abuses from happening.

[formergothardite]

A potential solution/amendment to existing homeschool laws just occurred to me. Parents would have to apply to homeschool (in the same spirit as an application to be a foster parent etc.). They'd have to show evidence of some sort of educational qualification, present a curriculum (it could be faith based, but not abusive), the home/school would be inspected (perhaps even regularly), and the children would be interviewed about the process. A similar inspection/presentation would happen each year, with updates/achievement scores due regularly, and the possibility of unscheduled surprise inspections. That way homeschools operated similarly to regular schools and parents still maintain control over the curriculum. It would also give greater insight into the quality of education and life these children were getting, which could possibly stop some of these terrible abuses from happening.

That is a lot of what was like in NC when homeschooling first became legal. My parents weren't homeschooling then, but had friends who were some of the first homeschoolers in NC. Anyway it was tough to homeschool and many people talked about it but then decided that they didn't want to go through all the effort so they just kept their kids in public/private school. In the end only the people who were really willing to put in the work of homeschooling their kids homeschooled. I asked my mother just to make sure I wasn't misremembering. Homeschooling parents had to have their house inspected* and had to keep a folder of their children's work and present it to an educational board at the end of the year to prove that they were actually teaching their kids. They also had to have their children tested at the end of the year and the tests could not be administered by the parent. My mom thinks that you also had to present an overview of your curriculum but she isn't exactly sure on that.

*The reason my mom remembers the home inspections so well is because a friend of theirs who was homeschooling had their house inspected and the fire inspector found a problem with their chimney that if it had not been caught very easily could have burned the house down.