Stopping Common Core and Homescholing

Acronyms to know:

WDE and WYDOE- Wyoming Department of Education,
BOE- Board of Education,
CCSS- Common Core State Standards,
SBAC- Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium,
RttT- Race to the Top,
NCLB- No Child left Behind,
ARRA- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,
NGA- National Governors Association,
CCSSO- Council of Chief State School Officers,
MOA- Memorandum of Agreement,
MOU- Memorandum of Understanding,
OSEP- Office of Special Education Programs,
IDEA- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Who am I?
I am a homeschool Mom

I am also determined to
STOP Common Core

It doesn‟t matter if your kids
attend public school, if you
homeschool, or if you no longer
have or have yet to have school
aged children, Common Core
should be a concern to you.

No Child is
Common
All Children are
individuals

It is all about the
money
CCSS was a string on the
carrot known as the Race
to the Top Grant

CCSS is a part of
the federalizing of
education
CCSS is tied to
federal money

This could
overreach into
homeschooling
Striping our rights as
homeschoolers, and
becoming a gateway to
making homeschooling
illegal in the United States

This generation of
children are the
future of this country
Public Children are
taught only what the
government wants them
to be taught

 “The education of

 “Give me 4 years

all children, from
the moment that
they can get
along without a
mother's
care, shall be in
state institutions.”

to teach the
children, and the
seed I have
sown, will never
be uprooted” Vladimir Lenin

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2013
Increasing Access to High-Quality Early Childhood
Education in
Wyoming
The President believes we need to equip every child with the
skills and education they need to be on a clear path to a good job
and the middle class. That education has to start in the earliest
possible years to prepare our children for later success in
school and in life. To ensure these opportunities are available to
all, President Obama has put forward a comprehensive early
learning proposal to build a strong foundation for success in the
first five years of life. These investments – made in partnership
with States and fully paid for in the President’s budget – will
help close America‟s school readiness gap and ensure that
America‟s children enter kindergarten ready to succeed:

• Providing High-Quality Preschool for All. In partnership with
the States, President Obama’s Preschool for All proposal
would provide every four-year-old child with access to highquality preschool, while also incentivizing States to adopt
full-day kindergarten policies. Providing a year of free, public
preschool for every child is an important investment in our
nation‟s future, providing our children the best start in life while
helping hard-working families save thousands each year in
costs associated with early care and education. This proposal
would invest $75 billion over 10 years without adding a dime to
the deficit.
• Under the President’s proposal, Wyoming is estimated to
receive $4,000,000 in the first year it participates in the
Preschool for All program. This funding, combined with an
initial estimated state match of $400,000, would serve about
* These figures estimate the funds a State could receive in the first year if it chooses to participate in the Preschool for All program.
The 489 children State‟s current population of four-year-olds in families at or below families in the first
estimate is based on the from low- and moderate-income the 200 percent federal poverty level.
Estimates will vary based on the scope of the State‟s preschool expansion and the cost of providing high-quality preschool services.
Thisyear of the program alone.*
estimate assumes that States will expand to 20 percent of their eligible four-year-olds in the first year at a per child cost of
$9,000 a year. The federal share of the total cost is calculated at 90 percent, which is the regular match rate the State would receive
in the first year. Please note that this estimate is designed to be illustrative only and does not attempt to represent how the

• Investing in High-Quality Infant and Toddler Care. In order to
increase high-quality early learning opportunities in the years
before preschool, a new $1.4 billion competitive Early Head
Start-Child Care Partnership grant program would support
communities that expand the availability of early learning
opportunities with child care providers that meet high Early
Head Start quality standards, growing the supply of high-quality
child care for children from birth through age 3
• About 2,428 children in Wyoming from birth to age three
are currently served by the Child Care and Development
Block Grant. Through Early Head Start-Child Care
Partnerships, more of these children will have access to
high quality early care and education.

Expanding Effective Parent and Family Support. Quality
education begins at home as parents support their child‟s learning
and development. As part of a comprehensive early learning
agenda, the President proposes $15 billion over 10

years to extend and expand voluntary home visiting
programs.
These
programs
allow
nurses,
social
workers, parent educators, and other professionals to connect
families to services, supports, and tools that positively impact the
health, development, and education of their children.
Under the President’s proposal, Wyoming is estimated to
receive $6,900,000 in the first year it participates in the
expanded Home Visiting program.** Each year, 2,432 lowincome mothers in Wyoming give birth to a new baby and
may benefit from these voluntary services.
** This figure estimates the funds a State could receive in the first year of an expanded Home Visiting
program. The estimate assumes $15 billion of total funding over 10 years and assumes the same
proportion of total funding is allocated for statutory set-asides, formula and competitive grants as in FY
2012 and States received an equal amount of competitive funding. Please note that this estimate is
designed to be illustrative only and does not attempt to represent actual first year awards. The
methodology and criteria for funding allocations beyond FY 2014 has not yet been determined.

What is Common Core?
“The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what
students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help
them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the
knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With
American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to
compete successfully in the global economy.”
They are also copyrighted.

Building on the excellent foundation of standards states have laid, the Common Core State Standards are
the first step in providing our young people with a high-quality education. It should be clear to every
student, parent, and teacher what the standards of success are in every school.
Teachers, parents and community leaders have all weighed in to help create the Common Core State
Standards. The standards clearly communicate what is expected of students at each grade level. This will
allow our teachers to be better equipped to know exactly what they need to help students learn and
establish individualized benchmarks for them. The Common Core State Standards focus on core
conceptual understandings and procedures starting in the early grades, thus enabling teachers to take the
time needed to teach core concepts and procedures well—and to give students the opportunity to master
them.
With students, parents and teachers all on the same page and working together for shared goals, we can
ensure that students make progress each year and graduate from school prepared to succeed in college
and in a modern workforce.

To appropriately cite the Common Core State Standards, use the following:
Authors: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices,
Council of Chief State School Officers
Title: Common Core State Standards
(insert specific content area if you are using only one)
Publisher: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices,
Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington D.C.

• Along with the National Governor‟s Association and the Council
of Chief State School Officers, New Yorker, David Coleman
has come out and admitted to being the leading architect of the
standards.
• David Coleman has connections to Weather Underground
bomber, William (Bill Ayers), Barack Obama and the Chicago
Annenberg Challenge, headed by Obama and appointed by
Ayers.
• David Coleman is not an educator, but rather a business man.
• David Coleman also donated about $15, 000 to the last [2012]
Barack H. Obama Presidential Campaign.

 David Moore, Director NGA Center for Best Practices
 EXPERTISE
 Moore brings extensive expertise to the NGA Center in numerous policy areas








of relevance to governors. During his time at the Congressional Budget Office
he managed the development and production of policy-relevant research in a
number of topic areas including energy, environment, transportation, the
economics of innovation, the federal government‟s influence on the
pharmaceutical industry, the compensation of public employees and the
private sector‟s role in enhancing homeland security.
The NGA Center is the only policy research and development firm that directly
serves the nation‟s governors by helping them and their policy advisors
develop and implement innovative solutions to governance and policy
challenges. This mission encompasses identifying and sharing information on
states‟ best practices, providing customized technical assistance to
governors, identifying and providing solutions to emerging state issues and
developing evaluation strategies for existing state programs.
BACKGROUND
Previous Positions: Deputy Director of the Microeconomics Studies Division
at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO); Staff Economist, Center for
International Technical Cooperation; Staff Economist, The Analytic Sciences
Corporation.
Education: B.S. in political science with a minor in economics; M.A. in
economics; Ph.D. examinations in economics, American University

 Ryan Reyna Program Director Education Division

Common Core State Standards, STEM, finance and data systems
 EXPERTISE
 Reyna leads the Education Division's work on college and career

readiness, including standards, assessment, accountability and transitions into
postsecondary education and training. He also directs work on dropout prevention
and recovery and resource reallocation.
 BACKGROUND
 Previous Positions: Senior Policy Analyst and Policy Analyst, NGA Center for

Best Practices; Research Associate, Data Quality Campaign.
 Education: B.A. in American Politics, University of Virginia; M.P.Aff., LBJ School

of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin.
 SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
 Reindl, Travis and Ryan Reyna (2011), From Information to Action: Revamping

Higher Education Accountability Systems, National Governors Association.
 Reyna, Ryan (2011), State Policies to Reengage Dropouts, National Governors

Association.
 Reyna, Ryan (2010), Setting Statewide College- and Career-Ready

Goals, National Governors Association.
 Reyna, Ryan (2010),Complete to Compete: Common College Completion

Metrics, National Governors Association.

The Claims of the CCSSO
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is
a nationwide, nonpartisan, and nonprofit membership
organization. The only one of its kind to bring together the top
education leaders from every state in the nation. Our nation's chief
state school officers are committed to creating a public education
system that prepares every child for lifelong learning, work, and
citizenship. CCSSO's promise is to lead chiefs and their
organizations in this effort by focusing on those state-driven
leverage points they are uniquely positioned to address-and
increasing their capacity to produce students ready to succeed as
productive members of society.
Through decisive leadership and collective state action, we
are committed to delivering on this promise.

Meet the CCSSO Board of Directors

More
CCSSO
Directors…
Have you
found one
from
Wyoming
yet?

Did you notice the lack of WYOMING in those last few slides?
Many of our Republican legislators have parroted
“But the Common Core Standards are „State‟ led…”

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating
it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie
can be maintained only for such time as the State
can shield the people from the political, economic
and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus
becomes vitally important for the State to use all of
its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the
mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the
truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
-Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's chief propagandist.

“But Common Core
Standards have rigor….”

What does the
dictionary say about
these key
words, “Common” and
“Rigor”?

Common:
 Not unusual; Quite usual and average
 ENTIRELY ORDINARY and

undistinguished esp. by anything
superior.
 Falling below ordinary standards;

inferior
 1: belonging to or serving the

community: Public 2: Shared by a
number in a group 3: widely or
generally known, found or observed:
Familiar <~Knowledge> 4: Vernacular
3 <Names of plants>

 5: NOT ABOVE THE

AVERAGE, ESP. IN SOCIAL
STATUS. syn:
UNIVERSAL, GENERAL, GE

Is your Child
Common?

Rigor
 Often HARSH inflexibility in

opinion, temper or judgment
 Severity, Sternness
 The quality of unyielding or
inflexible
 Exactingness without
allowance, deviation, or
indulgence
 The quality or state of being
rigid

Are
Rigorous
Standard
s Right
For Your
Child?

“But the Common Core Standards
are just standards and they are state
led…”
•Standards drive the curriculum
•Assessments {like SBAC} test
both the standards and the
curriculum.
•Common Core was required for
any state that wanted to apply for
the Race to the Top Grant and

 First, under George W. Bush

there was No Child Left
Behind (NCLB)
 Then, under Barack

Obama, and hidden in the
stimulus package (American
Recovery and Reinvestment
Act, (ARRA) , the Race to
the Top (RttT) grant was
introduced.

 In the RttT grant

application, was a
stipulation that any state
applying for the grant
would have to implement
the College and Career
Readiness Standards, later
renamed: the Common
Core “State” Standards.
(CCSS)
 CCSS are the next step in

federalizing education and
the dumbing down of

Report on the General Status
of Wyoming Public Schools
A Report to the Wyoming People and to the State Legislature
Submitted October 15, 2013

http://legisweb.state.wy.us/School%20Finance/2013WyomingQualitySchoolsReport.pdf

• In 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
was enacted, to be reauthorized every five years. With every
reauthorization more compliance on the part of the states was
added.

• In 2001, the reauthorization of ESEA was called No Child
Left Behind, (NCLB) advancing and codifying the testing
movement. Although scheduled for reauthorization and
amendment in 2007, this remains the law of the land. Many
states have opted for greater federal controls as the
condition for seeking a waiver from NCLB.

• In 2009, President Obama‟s American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) established Race to the Top
funding and led to the adoption of Common Core State
Standards and other requirements to receive these
federal funds. As most states faced severe education
funding shortfalls, many took this path, accepting the

• In the fall of 2011, Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education and
head of the U.S. Department of Education, offered states the
opportunity to sign on to greater federal control in exchange for
waivers from NCLB requirements. Those federal controls included:
i. A requirement to institute college and career ready
standards, i.e.,
Common Core State Standards,
ii. Adoption of accountability systems in state law, and
iii. The linking of teacher evaluation to student performance
data.
• In January of 2010, then Superintendent Jim McBride, on behalf of
the WDE, applied for $159 million in Race to the Top funding. The
U.S. Department of Education‟s review of Wyoming‟s Race to the Top
application revealed that Wyoming received a low ranting and would
not be considered for Race to the Top monies because Wyoming had
not adopted the Common Core State Standards, did not have
federally approved accountability systems in place, was not linking
teacher evaluations to student performance, and was not meeting

• In response, in June of 2010, without following rulemaking
requirements, the Wyoming State Board of Education
approved the Common Core State Standards. Immediately, the
WDE set out to advise school districts that the Common Core
State Standards had been adopted and began compliance-based
efforts for standards that had not yet been adopted through
rulemaking.

In November of 2010, I [Cindy Hill] was elected as Superintendent
of Public Instruction. I had the audacity to ask why Wyoming was
taking federal money, questioning the merits of federal controls.
• During the two years in which I held general supervision of the
public schools (prior to the passage of SF104), I questioned the
need for increased federal control over education in Wyoming
(e.g., seeking to place emphasis at the local level and on teacher
training; giving parents the right to opt-out of data collections
by requiring informed consent of parents prior to data
collection rather than parents not knowing that data was
being collected on their children; …not signing Wyoming up for
greater federal controls through the NCLB waiver; and a myriad of
other views not in conformity with the effort to federalize Wyoming
education).

With the adoption of SF104 in 2013, the Superintendent of
Public Instruction was stripped of the general supervision of
public schools, and was assigned a handful of ministerial
duties, this report among the duties assigned by the
Legislature.
• A week after signing SF104, Governor Mead flew to
Washington, D.C. to apply for more federal controls over
education through the NCLB waiver. Responding to
public pressure, Governor Mead placed Wyoming’s
waiver application on hold until after the 2014 primary
election.
• The Governor appointed a director of education who had no
degree, no training, and no experience in education, and was
not from Wyoming. He was a state senator from Arizona
whose nutrition-related business relied upon contracts with

February
2009

To qualify for the grant a state
had to agree to implement the
unwritten “College and Career
readiness Standards.

Race to
the Top
Grant

The College and Career Readiness
Standards were later renamed the Common
Core “State” Standards

ARRA
No Child
Left Behind
Waiver

To qualify for the NCLB
Waivers, a state had to apply for
the RttT Grant
We did not get the Race to the
Top Grant.

March 2009

End of
March 2009

• ARRA funds begin to “stream” for Title I, IDEA
and State Fiscal Stabilization Funds.
• The funds were to be sent to the states at the
end of March to mid April. Only about 50%of
the funds would be released at that time
• The second half would be released on specific
conditions and reporting that was established
by the U.S. Department of Education in the fall.

• “WDE continues to work with the United
States Department of Education, the office
of Senator Mike Enzi, and the Council of
Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to
determine the best and legal uses of ARRA
funds.”

May 2009

• Governor Freudenthal signed the “CCSSO and the
NGA Center of Best Practices Common Core
Standards Memorandum of Agreement” (MOA) on May
8, 2009.

June 2009

• The Wyoming Department of Education, and Governor
Dave Freudenthal have agreed to Wyoming’s
participation in the national “common core standards”
effort…

Sept.
2009

• September 25th, 2009 the WYDOE sent out a memo
(2009-150) to all WY school district superintendents and
curriculum coordinators saying that the first draft of the
CCSS was [allegedly] available for public viewing until
October 21st, 2009.

Jan 2010

March
2010

• The Race to the Top Grant application was
sent off on [Jan. 15th, 2010]
• Right before Christmas [2009], the
Department applied for a data grant for $11
million. McBride felt our chances for
receiving either of these grant awards are
excellent.
• If awarded, the grant award would have
been $162 million with $81 million for school
districts.

• Drafts of the K-12 Common Core English
Language Arts and Mathematics Standards
were released for public comment on
Wednesday, March 10, 2010. The comment
period will be open only until April 2, 2010.

June 2010

Oct/Nov.
2010

• WY SBOE voted to adopt the CCSS
• WY SBOE approves the adoption of the CCSS in
English Language Arts and Mathematics in the next
revision of the WY Content and Performance Standards
to be completed by December, 2011.
• The Common Core Standards will be included, in their
entirety, in the WY Content and Performance Standards
• The Standards Review Committees School District
Superintendents continued to review and recommend
revisions to the WY Content and Performance
Standards through December 11, 2011, after which, the
State Board of Education will be asked to adopt revised
Wyoming Standards

• On Oct 6, 2010 (Entered into Nov. 29, 2010) then
Governor Dave Freudenthal & Superintendent of Public
Instruction Jim McBride, signed the “Memorandum of
Understanding [of the] Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortium [and the] Race to the Top Fund
Assessment Program: Comprehensive Assessment
Systems grant Application”

Procedure to Exit the Smarter balanced
Assessment Consortium.
This summer, Wyoming became a governing
member

• the SBOE voted in favor of adopting the revised
standards for health, mathematics, and
language arts. The revised standards include
April 2012
[the] CCSS in mathematics and language arts

February
2013

• Stop Common Core in Wyoming is formed when
concerned Wyoming Citizens FIRST began to hear
about Common Core and became concerned about
it

• Wyoming Freedom in Education becomes official!

July 2013

• When we look at the timeline of CCSS and the
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium are
not Wyoming led initiatives.
• There are far too many strings and stipulations
attached, and if this truly was „state led‟, there
would not be a need for either.
• Wyoming should chose, without bribes, the
standards we expect our children to
achieve, our state, and our children are
unique, and our standards and subsequent
curriculum need to reflect that.

Refuting the article in the Powell Tribune:
Common Core Controversy
For example, Common Core Standards say one of the things
kindergartners will learn is how to count to 100. How
kindergartners learn to count — through
activities, worksheets, music or other ways — is up to local
teachers.

Not really, in a couple of slides we will hear from a teacher
who is excited because her military students that transfer
in and out of school will benefit, because every school in
every state [that has implemented Common Core] will be
taught the same things, the same way… The other
thing, is if teachers have the freedom to teach the
standards the way to, why are we spending tax payer
money on trainings to teach teachers how to teach to the
Common Core Standards?

Teachers determine the curriculum for their classrooms,
aligning it to the Common Core State Standards, Mitchell said.
The Truth: The local school boards choose the
curriculum, not each individual teacher. Depending on
the district, parents and teachers may or may not be
allowed to participate in choosing the curriculum.

Notice, they can’t even keep their lies straight, Mitchell contradicted
the propaganda message he is supposed to be promoting:

Because our
Governor,
Legislators, The
Wyoming
Department of
Education, &
State Board of
Education, have
been contacted
by people like
you, they felt the
need to put out a
video about how
wonderful
Common Core
is… What we
need to learn
from our history is
that when the
Government
needs to sell you
on something, it

Because our
Governor, Legisla
tors, The
Wyoming
Department of
Education, &
State Board of
Education, have
been contacted
by people like
you, they felt the
need to put out a
video about how
wonderful
Common Core
is… What we
need to learn
from our history is
that when the
Government
needs to sell you
on something, it
isn‟t anything you

 About the National Governor‟s

Association: nga.org
 And try to find the role Dave

Freudenthal and Matt Mead
played in writing the Common
Core Standards
 Mainly that neither were in the
NGA Center for Best Practices
 About the Chief Council of

State School Officers:

ccsso.org

 The Standards themselves:

corestandards.org
 Read the memos on the WDOE

website: edu.wyoming.gov
http://edu.wyoming.gov/Communications.aspx

 The Race to the Top Grant

Application requiring states to
implement the unwritten “College
and Career Readiness
Standards”, renamed the Common
Core State Standards.

 Learn who their partners are

 The Smarter Balanced Assessment

 Notice that the exact authors of

Consortium, of which Wyoming is a
Governing Member:

the Common Core Standards
are never named

smarterbalanced.org

wyomingfreedomineducation.org

Data Mining/Data Collection

Data Mining is not in the
Common Core Standards…
HOWEVER… There is a
direct correlation

Data Collection

http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/technology/files/201
3/02/OET-Draft-Grit-Report-2-17-13.pdf

Data
Collectio
n

Pg. 32
http://www.ed.gov/edbl
ogs/technology/files/2
013/02/OET-Draft-GritReport-2-17-13.pdf

Data
Collectio
n

Pg. 43

Data
Collectio
n

Pg. 44

Data
Collectio
n

Pg. 44
Pg. 45

Wyoming Education Coordinating Council
The Wyoming Education Coordinating Council (formerly
known as the Wyoming P-16 Education Council) is a nonpartisan, non-governmental, 501(c)(3) organization made
up of a partnership of state leaders from
business, education, and government. The Wyoming
Education Coordinating Council seeks to illuminate
and influence the challenges and opportunities to
achieve a robust educational system.

Short Term Goals
•Work with Early Childhood stakeholders
and ask how Council can bring a broader
educational voice to their Early Childhood
issues and impact state policy. (i.e.
Kindergarten readiness).
•Influence the Statewide Longitudinal
Data System (SLDS) Task Force to
complete its work so that the Council can
produce a report about the key indicators
that predict and document success in the

This non profit
happens to be in the
Hathaway Building…

P20 Stands
for
Preschool to
20+ years of
age.

Meet Wyoming‟s P20 Council
(Wyoming Education Coordinating Council)
Committee Members

Meet Wyoming‟s P20 Council
(Wyoming Education Coordinating Council)

•
•

Mr. Waters provides technology direction for the State
and is responsible for oversight and management of
enterprise technology initiatives.
Mr. Waters has worked for the Wyoming Division of
Criminal Investigation. He developed software for use
in identifying predators that targeted children. That
software has been used by hundreds of law
enforcement agencies across the world. He has won

awards for his innovative technologies from the
U.S. Department of Justice, the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children and
International Association of Chiefs of Police

the

Taken from the
NCES Handbook
this is under
Domain: Student

This is a
FEDERAL
website. (In fact
the site was
unavailable
during the
government
shut down.)
Why does the
Federal
government
need to know
what kind of
IEP a child may
be on?

These can be found at
NCES.ed.gov

Look up your child’s school at:

http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/

Did you know that FERPA [Family Educational Rights
“Privacy” Act] Over rides HIPPA?

Read More about HIPPA and FERPA at hhs.gov
Look up:
Joint Guidance on the Application of the
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
And the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
To Student Health Records

 About the Wyoming Education

Coordinating Council: wp-

16.org
 Read about their committee

and council
members, including Sen.
Hank Coe
 Go to

http://nces.ed.gov/progra
ms/handbook/toc.asp web
site, and look under Domain:
Student to see what data is
being collected on your family.

 Read more about FERPA

and HIPPA at hhs.gov
 Read Chapter three of

„Promoting Grit, Tenacity and
Perseverance: Critical Factors
for Success in the 21st
century.‟

http://www.ed.gov/edblo
gs/technology/files/2013
/02/OET-Draft-GritReport-2-17-13.pdf


What can you do to
•Keep your children‟s information from being
gathered without your consent?
•Let the officials in Wyoming know that you are
serious about stopping Common Core in
Wyoming?
•Make sure that the academic standards set
for your child, fit your child and their abilities,
their strengths and weaknesses?

 Our unelected state Board of Education (BOE) voted

to implement the Common Core “State” Standards
and all of the strings that go with it (such as joining
the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium).
Contrary to the “state led” myth, the CCSS takes local
control away from our schools.





Truant: : one who shirks
duty; especially : one who stays
out of school without permission

Read more about
the Wheatland truancy prosecutions, and updates
on Brayden‟s family at:

wyomingfreedomineducation.
org

GETTING
STARTED
•
•

•
•



Join HSLDA (Home School

Legal Defense)
Figure out the learning style

and method that is best for
your individual children and
your family
Choose your curriculum
Write and send in your Letter
of Intent to your local Board
of Trustees
•
A Letter of withdrawal
may be needed if your
child is currently enrolled
in the public school
system.
•
DO NOT fill out any
paperwork given to you
by the school or school
district Your written
Letter of intent and the
letter of withdrawal if
your child(ren) is/are
currently enrolled in
public school is all they
need. Never give them
more information than
they ask for, by learning
the state law you will
know what you are
required to answer and
what you are not. Ask an





HOMESCHOOLING IN
WY IS FAIRLY SIMPLE
BUT SURE THAT
THE VERY FIRST
THING YOU DO ONCE
YOUR FAMILY HAS
DECIDED TO
HOMESCHOOL IS JOIN

HSLDA (HOME
SCHOOL LEGAL
DEFENSE)

Choosing the style and method that is right for you


GETTING
STARTED
•

•



Figure out
the learning
style and
method that
is best for
your
individual
children and
your family
Choose your
curriculum

First, know the reasons why you are homeschooling and discuss your goals
with your spouse.
Learn about the different styles and methods:
 Traditional
 In the Traditional Approach, graded textbooks or workbooks follow a
scope and sequence that covers each subject in 180 daily
increments over a span of 12 years. Textbook curricula assume you
will run your home school like an institutional school.
 Classical (includes Principle Approach)
 Living Books
 Charlotte Mason
 The Living Books and Life Experiences Approach of Charlotte
Mason treats children as persons, not as containers to be filled
with information.
 Eclectic
 The Eclectic Approach takes a cafeteria-style view of home
schooling and chooses suitable teaching materials from all different
approaches.
 Unit Studies
 A Unit Study takes a theme or topic (a unit of study) and delves into
it deeply over a period of time, integrating language
arts, science, social studies, math, and fine arts as they apply.
Instead of studying eight or ten separate, unrelated subjects, all
subjects are blended together and studied around a common theme
or project.
 Relaxed/Unschooling
 Unschooling refers to any less structured learning approach that
allows children to pursue their own interests with parental support
and guidance. The child is surrounded by a rich environment of
books, learning resources, and adults who model a lifestyle of
learning and are willing to interact with him. Formal academics are
pursued when the need arises. Christians who favor less structured
schooling, but with definite goals, prefer to be called “relaxed home
educators,” not unschoolers.
http://www.homeschoolmarketplace.com/e-zines/ejournalapr2706.htm

GETTING
STARTED
•

•

Figure out the
learning style
and method
that is best
for your
individual
children and
your family
Choose your
curriculum

A great place to start is Cathy Duffy Reviews. There
you can compare and contrast curriculum, to see
which is best not only for your family, but for
individual children.


Traditional: The curriculum you find with traditional (both
Christian/religious and secular) is more likely to be aligned with
Common Core. If this is a concern of yours, be sure to call the publisher
and ask where they stand concerning Common Core.



Classical (includes Principle Approach) There are both
Christian/religious and secular approaches to Classical education, be
sure to know which is right for you and really research the curriculum
you are looking into.
Living Books



Charlotte Mason allows you to foster a love of
learning, through reading. Charlotte Mason can be catered to
the interests of the children.
 Robinson is more structured and is also reading based
(specifically historical books: biographies and historical fiction)
with a heavy emphasis on math, and writing. Science in the
early years takes a unit study approach, and is based on the
child‟s interests.
Eclectic
 You can mix and match, piecing together curriculum to suite the
individuality and learning styles of each child.
 The McGuffey series is considered to be Eclectic, but could
also be considered Classical (just more modern, in that is
1800‟s education, not middle ages)








Unit Studies
 Unit Studies and Lapbooking are a great way to educate according
to a child‟s interests in a hands on way.
Relaxed/Unschooling
 Unschooling is not the absence of education, it is allowing the child
to take the initiative to learn through the world around them, and the
things that interest them. Children will learn when they are
interested.

•Write and send in your Letter

of Intent to your local Board of
Trustees
•A Letter of withdrawal may
be needed if your child is
currently enrolled in the
public school system.
•DO NOT fill out any
paperwork given to you by
the school or school
district Your written Letter
of intent and the letter of
withdrawal if your
child(ren) is/are currently
enrolled in public school is
all they need. Never give
them more information
than they ask for, by
learning the state law you
will know what you are
required to answer and
what you are not. Ask an
experienced homeschooler
if you are unsure.

THE GOOD NEWS
•Write and send in your Letter of

Intent to your local Board of
Trustees
•A Letter of withdrawal may be
needed if your child is currently
enrolled in the public school
system and is to be sent to the
principal of the school they are
enrolled in.
•DO NOT fill out any paperwork
given to you by the school or
school district Your written
Letter of intent and the letter of
withdrawal if your child(ren)
is/are currently enrolled in
public school is all they need.
Never give them more
information than they ask
for, by learning the state law
you will know what you are
required to answer and what
you are not. Ask an
experienced homeschooler if
you are unsure.

 Parents

Here are
some good
things to know
about
homeschoolin
g in Wyoming


do not need a
degree in order to teach their
own children in the home.
 We do not need to report
grades or keep track of days
 Our children are not required
to take standardized tests
 Homeschooled children can
participate in school
sanctioned sports, activities
and special services

Michael likes to bake, here he
is making chocolate chip
cookies (on his own). Rachael
is “supervising”

Stonehenge built out of
clay

Each child will also
get to choose
other things that
interest
them, such as a
foreign
language, art, ho
me ec, etc...
The children also
learn how to
cook and bake
by helping out
with meals.

The kids built a boat for their lesson on the
Epic of Gilgamesh. The story of
Utnapishtim is much like the story of Noah
(this would be maybe 7 generations after
the flood) We took the boat to
Independence Rock, to show it resting on

I recommend:
•The McGuffey Eclectic
series
•McGuffey
Readers, Primers and
Speller
•Harvey‟s Grammars
•Ray‟s Arithmetic
•Spenserian
Penmanship
• The Blue Back Speller
(1824)
•The New England Primer
(1777)
•Making Math Meaningful
•Learning Language Arts
Through Literature
•A Reason for Handwriting
•Apologia Science
•Answers in Genesis
Science (this is better if
you have multiple children
at different levels.)
•The Mystery of History

Michael had to do a report on his state for Language (Learning Language Arts Through Literature). He hates to write, so I
allowed him to make a lapbook instead.

Cheyla was interested in tornadoes so, she
researched and made a lapbook
Cheyla working on the timeline for history
(Mystery of History Vol I)

The boat from the Epic of Gilgamesh
lesson became a sarcophagus for a
lesson on early Egypt. Here Joshua was
wrapped up as a mummy by his siblings
and placed in the sarcophagus with his
“most cherished” possessions.

Josh and Rachael worked on cutting
and pasting skills during a math
lesson (making graphs)

 Go to HSLDA.org to become

a member and learn more
about homeschooling in WY
 Go to Cathy Duffy Reviews
(cathyduffyreviews.com) to
compare curriculum (**She
does not include whether or
not the curriculum is aligned
with Common Core in her
review**) The Education
Freedom Coalition has a list of
where different homeschool
curricula stand concerning
Common Core.

 Research different

homeschooling methods
 Go to
triplethreatmomma.com and
shop my store for curriculum
and more. (No Common Core
in my store)
 Find a local homeshool group
there is a list of „support‟
groups in WY at:
homeschoolersofwy.org
 Call me, e-mail me, send me a
private message on Facebook
with any questions you have.

So what can you do with all of this information?
•Sign the petition to Stop Common Core in Wyoming
and donate to help us with our fight
•Write to your legislators, our Governor, and the State
Board of Education and ask them why there are federal
strings and mandates in this “state led” initiative.
• Ask how much the implementation of the Common
Core Standards and Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortium will cost the citizens of Wyoming.
• Homeschool! Pull your kids out of the public
schools, and the schools will no longer receive funds
for your child (est. $1600/child a year). When enough
parents pull their kids out of school because of
Common Core, there will no longer be a benefit for the
state to keep it.


Stopping Common Core and Homescholing

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