How can a homeschooled graduate get an accredited high school diploma?

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She should take the path that will allow her to get the best and easiest employment.

I'm trying to understand what you're saying here. She has earned a high school diploma that is lawfully recognized by the state of Washington. Are you saying that in order to get this job (which appears to be a state regulated job) she should be required to go and get an additional document that carries the same weight that her diploma does under those laws? (By "same weight" I mean demonstrates that she has met all of the requirements set forth by the state for her primary education.) How would it be "best and easiest" to go through those additional steps and expenses when she has already lawfully met the requirements?
 
Oh, okay. I view it differently. I *do* believe in my freedom to home educate *my way*, but I believe that when dealing with grant and scholarship monies, the benefactor has the right to put forth requirements. We are free to choose whether to meet those requirements or find another way. While I believe that requiring such a benign half credit was ridiculous, (ESPECIALLY since she already had more than the necessary credits with a 4.0 and a 32 on her ACT) it is their prerogative because I *do* have the option and ability to provide that course for my child. I suspect you don't agree, which is fine by me. :) I (we) have no regrets.

I completely agree. If or When I set up a scholarship specifically for home schooled children, I will set the qualifications and specifications one must meet. Unfortunately, it is agencies of our government, foreordained by God, that have set the requirements for some of the monies homeshoolers seek.
 
Dudes, she's a young girl. It's our generation that messed stuff up. She'll have enough trouble without fixing all our mistakes.
So the next generation should just live with the mess we have made and accept it as is?
 
So the next generation should just live with the mess we have made and accept it as is?

No, but it's better not to live out our kid's lives. 6 of my own have GEDs and Diplomas that I signed. Six. And I'm around dozens of others, from workers to a daughter in law. I know what the kids need and do and think; they talk about it all the time. "It's easier" to get such and such a job with a GED, so they get one. If they were slouches unaccustomed to standing up for right they wouldn't be homeschooled. They would have rebelled. It's a given these kids have done their share, and to demand or even suggest they get lawyers involved when they can take the easier way out is living out your life through them.

There are plenty of injustices out there that someone with passion can take up as a cause.
 
to demand or even suggest they get lawyers involved when they can take the easier way out is living out your life through them.
I disagree. It is not living out our lives through others when we council or encourage others, young or old, to think about their choices in a realm bigger than themselves.
 
to demand or even suggest they get lawyers involved when they can take the easier way out is living out your life through them.
I disagree. It is not living out our lives through others when we council or encourage others, young or old, to think about their choices in a realm bigger than themselves.

Does God require them to base their life choices on such considerations? Christians in the bible like Daniel and Joseph did not shy away from using an evil system for their benefit if they were not personally required to sin. The goal of schooling for christians should be to enable them to learn the skills and qualifications to take care of themselves, their family and others in the world. Christians will face enough difficulties in earning a living in a sinful world without placing additional burdens upon themselves.
 
Christians will face enough difficulties in earning a living in a sinful world without placing additional burdens upon themselves.
Granted it is difficult, but you are saying the we should not place additional burdens our ourselves for future generations?
 
I don't understand the connection between taking the GED and "caving in". Is the GED just another test, like the SAT? You study for it, take it, and move on. I suppose if we have fundamental disagreements with the GED requirements, then perhaps that can conflict with the home school education since a home schooler might not be prepared to take a GED. But I don't see how it can really "invalidate" your home school eduction. It seems like it would validate that the education your received at home is at least on-par with the GED requirements.

Am I missing something? And I would like to hear an answer that sounds more sober. Some of the up-in-arms about fighting for our rights talk sounds a little bit too exaggerated and paranoid at times. Just being honest. Perhaps I should be more paranoid, but scripture tells me not to worry. ;)
 
The difference is that a home school diploma truly is a valid document and the state wants to overlook it and make students take the GED. A student with a government school high school diploma would not be required to take an "extra test" because they see that diploma as valid. Every time a home school student "caves in" and submits to this extra requirement, they are helping to further the invalidation of the home school diploma because they are growing the statistic. Cases in court and in the chambers of Congress use these statistics in the attempts to push more regulation on home schooling.


Some of the up-in-arms about fighting for our rights talk sounds a little bit too exaggerated and paranoid at times.
Some see others as paranoid, others see some as asleep at the wheel. Just being honest as well.
 
What nasa30 said.

The GED demonstrates for the state a proficiency in Language Arts/Writing, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts/Reading, and Mathematics.

The homeschool diploma that I will print off in my home office for my children will demonstrate for the state a proficiency in Language Arts/Writing, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts/Reading, and Mathematics. And most likely quite a bit more.

The laws in all 50 states conclude that home education meets the requirements of the state to educate children. Asking for the GED on top of that invalidates the work my wife and I will have done for 18+ years with each of our kids and cheapens that very success.
 
nass30,

I understand that we should move towards acceptance of GED, but isn't there something to be said for working with the people we are trying to win over, rather than fighting them at every turn. The example in this thread is of a father who decided that it would be best for his daughter to take a GED in order to get the financial aid they wanted. Perhaps, in an ideal world, Christians who homeschool would be treated fairly, but we all know that we live in a fallen world where sometimes comprimise needs to be made when working with the "world" in matters such as this. I agree, move towards justice and fair treatment of Christian homeschoolers, but I also see that the legal system and working through administrative red-tape can be expensive, and time consuming, and sometimes we have to make a choice (not being asleep at the wheel), to comprimise and make choices that work for life to proceed with matters that can be of equal or greater importance.

Sure, if we meditate long and hard on principles and fighting for future generations, it can seem like we are fighting the fight that is worth fighting for, even for smaller things such as choosing to fight for homeschooling rights vs. taking a GED for financial aid. But when I step back and try to take a more sober, long-term look at this, ten years down the line, that father's daughter will be graduating from college with financial-aid that helped her reduce debt so that she can start life without that additional burden. And when she has a career and is working for 5-10 years, it won't matter wether she took a GED class or not. Other things will be of far more importance.

Should every person's situation be turned into a fight for home-schooler rights, or is there some way to discern when it's appropriate to comprimise, knowing that this is a fallen world and perfect treatment is not something that we will attain in this life.

---------- Post added at 09:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:52 AM ----------

Asking for the GED on top of that invalidates the work my wife and I will have done for 18+ years with each of our kids and cheapens that very success.

As a homeschooling father, I can totally understand feeling this way. But how about this comparison for perspective: does getting a marriage certificate invalidate the union that God has made. Does the state saying that your marriage is valid cheapen the union that God has created?

I strongly agree that the homeschool diploma should be enough. But I don't necessarily agree that getting a GED would cheapen what I had done. I think it can validate and add to what I have done and help get through sticky spot where people don't know what to do with a homeschool diploma. But again, those can be good times to work towards having the homeschool diploma accepted by such institutions that are giving home-schooling families troubles.
 
it won't matter wether she took a GED class or not.
It might not matter to her but her children who try to home school might have more red-tape hoops to jump though thanks to that decision to compromise.


But when I step back and try to take a more sober, long-term look at this
I hardly see your line of thinking as being "more sober" or "long term".
 
nasa30,

So you advise that in all such situations to fight for the home-school diploma to be accepted. Would you see any situation where it might be appropriate to compromise?
 
Yes I do and I can't think of one with my understanding of "appropriate".

How would you answer this question I asked earlier of someone else?

Granted it is difficult, but you are saying the we should not place additional burdens our ourselves for future generations?

to comprimise and make choices that work for life to proceed with matters that can be of equal or greater importance.
It is all going to come down to the importance placed on it.

You think people standing up for rights could be considered paranoid while those same "paranoid" folks could just be placing more importance on the rights of future generations than you are.
 
You think people standing up for rights could be considered paranoid while those same "paranoid" folks could just be placing more importance on the rights of future generations than you are.

But you would have to draw the conclusion that standing up for rights in a particular situation will directly result in improved rights for future generations. That's not always the case. Even lawyers try to discern whether a case is worth fighting and investing the time and money. We have limited time and we can't all afford to spend all our time fighting for home-school rights. I would think that we would need to balance our desire for home-school rights with other things such as loving God and loving your neighbor and spreading the good news, making disciples, etc. The court system seems like the type of place that will just suck up your time and effort and before you know it, your life is behind you. Some people are called to such endeavors, fighting for justice in the courts, but I don't think we are all called to do such things, and I don't think every situation warrants the average home-schooling Christian parent to jump into such things.

How much effort would it take to fight for home-schooling diploma acceptance in situations such as the one mentioned in this thread? A couple phone calls, a week, a year?
 
We don't have limited time and we can't all afford to spend all our time fighting for home-school rights. I would think that we would need to balance our desire for home-school rights with other things such as loving God and loving your neighbor and spreading the good news, making disciples, etc.
The bolded section lets me know that we are not going to get anywhere in our discussion and we should end it right here. Really, do you think that I would advocate anything over that?
 
Actually, I don't know you. So I wasn't drawing any such conclusions. But I do know that us Christians get caught up in all sorts of affairs in this world that require us to re-evaluate, and make adjustments. I would suspect that you are no more exempt from such difficulties of sanctification as the other person. Forgive me if you have arrived at such a place that you don't need to make adjustments and perhaps I should adequately recognize your position as wiser and more learned than me. I'm new to this forum.
 
Actually, I don't know you. So I wasn't drawing any such conclusions. But I do know that us Christians get caught up in all sorts of affairs in this world that require us to re-evaluate, and make adjustments. I would suspect that you are no more exempt from such difficulties of sanctification as the other person. Forgive me if you have arrived at such a place that you don't need to make adjustments and perhaps I should adequately recognize your position as wiser and more learned than me. I'm new to this forum.
You actually joined a few months before me and I am not being snippy or sarcastic in my responses and I will overlook yours. It was just that that comment launches the discussion into a whole differnet arena than where we were which makes it difficult to openly discuss it. It is not an issue of loving God or home school rights.

I would still like to hear you answer to my earlier question.
How would you answer this question I asked earlier of someone else?


Granted it is difficult, but you are saying the we should not place additional burdens on our ourselves for future generations?
 
Yeah, we should place additional burdens, but with careful discernment when the burdens are not related to our primary activities as Christians. And each person is called to different things, so that discernment might look different for someone who needs to spend more time doing X, Y or Z.

The original post asked, "How can a homeschooled graduate get an accredited high school diploma?".

- One position is, don't do it, fight for the rights of home-schooling.
- Another position is, do it since it's easy, you'll pass and it helps.

- My position is, fight for home-school rights if you prayfully feel it's appropriate to do so and if it doesn't cause burdens that significantly interfere with what you see that God has called you to do or with things that of higher priority.

I would certainly urge such people to strongly consider fighting for home-schooler rights with the GED option being the much lesser desired option, but I certainly wouldn't want them to feel guilty if they carefully consider it and decided to get the GED. After all, this is a fallen world, and we have to choose our fights, knowing that ultimate victory is never going to be achieved in this fallen world.
 
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