#homeschooling in Ohio

[cyber-soul-smartz]

Empower Your Child's Education: A Comprehensive Homeschooling Guide

Unlock your child's educational potential with our ultimate homeschooling guide! Perfect for beginners and seasoned homeschoolers, this article covers choosing the right curriculum, understanding legal requirements, and creating a flexible schedule.

Homeschooling 101: A Complete Guide to Getting Started Homeschooling has emerged as a powerful alternative education option, empowering parents with the ability to craft unique and personalized learning experiences for their children. This flexibility to tailor curriculum and schedules to individual needs has resonated with many parents, leading to a significant rise in homeschooling in recent…

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

After investigating the neo-Nazi homeschool network in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, the Ohio Department of Education appears to have concluded that the group is doing nothing wrong.

Logan and Katja Lawrence were unmasked last week as the operators of a neo-Nazi homeschool network with thousands of members, known as Dissident Homeschool on Telegram, by VICE News and the Huffington Post based on research from an anti-fascist research group called the Anonymous Comrades Collective.

The Lawrences openly advocate white supremacist ideologies with the aim of making the children they teach, they’ve said, “become wonderful Nazis.” Katja Lawrence said she initially started the group because she “was having a rough time finding Nazi-approved school material for [her] homeschool children,” and has shared lesson plans that include Hitler quotes, pictures of a cake she baked for Hitler’s birthday, and a recording of her children saying ”sieg heil” in unison.

Days after the news broke, the Ohio Department of Education said that it was investigating the Lawrences and the neo-Nazi homeschool network. Stephanie Siddens, the interim superintendent of public instruction at the Department of Education, told VICE News that she was “outraged and saddened” by the news, adding that “there is absolutely no place for hate-filled, divisive and hurtful instruction in Ohio’s schools, including our state’s home-schooling community.”

But, in a new statement to VICE News, the findings from the Department of Education’s investigation seem to have concluded that there is simply nothing the department can do, or would do, to sanction the Lawrences or anyone else doing something similar due to the state’s homeschool policies.

“While there are certain minimum requirements for home education, the Department of Education is not involved in the excusal of a particular student from attendance in order to participate in home education,” the department said in a summary of its findings shared with VICE News. “Moreover, the district superintendent’s review of home education is limited to ensuring that the minimum educational requirements are met and that the academic assessment report shows that a child is demonstrating reasonable proficiency.”

Eric Landversicht, the superintendent in Wyandot County, where the Lawrences live, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the findings or whether the department spoke to him as part of their investigation. Please send tips about the Lawrences or the neo-Nazi homeschool network to David Gilbert at david.gilbert@vice.com. For Signal, DM @Daithaigilbert on Twitter.

The department’s statement did not reference the Lawrences and the neo-Nazi homeschool network and instead focused on the home schooling regulations in the state. “Parents or guardians who decide to educate their children at home are responsible for choosing the curriculum and course of study,” the statement says. “They select the curriculum and educational materials and take responsibility for educating their children.”

A spokesperson for the department did not immediately respond to VICE News’ question about whether their investigation has not been closed.

The Upper Sandusky Police Department and the Wyandot Sheriff’s office both told VICE News that there are no investigations under way into the Lawrences or their homeschooling group.

There are currently over 51,000 homeschooled children in Ohio. While the state has some rules in place to try and ensure homeschooled children are receiving a proper education, those involved in Ohio’s homeschooling system say that oversight is minimal.

“The amount of oversight is just shocking to me because there's really no oversight, it's basically just a rubber stamp,” Megan, a mother who homeschools her child in Ohio, told VICE News. “Nobody really seems to know what anybody's doing because people like to have freedom and they just do what they want. Everything just seems to happen very fast.”

Megan, whose last name has been withheld due to safety concerns, also said that while other states require homeschool children to take part in standardized testing and meet in person with teachers to assess their child’s development, “Ohio has none of that.”

"You can just basically pick your curriculum, and the superintendent doesn't really have a lot of say,” Megan said.

Republicans in the Ohio Senate are pushing several pieces of legislation which would relax homeschool oversight even further. A bill sponsored by Republican lawmakers in Ohio would increase the amount of tax breaks that homeschool parents can receive annually from $250 to $2,000.

“If programs that perpetuate antisemitism, hatred, and bigotry are something the Ohio legislature and Ohio Department of Education unleashed when it allowed unfettered access to the structure of Ohio public education, then it must revisit those unwise decisions,” Rep. Marcy Kaptur told VICE News. “Hate should not be foisted on future generations or on Ohio’s communities. Ohio’s state government leaders must address this apparent failure of the system they created.”

Some lawmakers have also sought to downplay the significance of the revelations about the Nazi homeschool network, claiming it is an isolated situation.

“I hope we're long past the point in our society where we take the actions of one person or a small group of people and paint the entire group as though somehow they're participating in that,” Senate President Matt Huffman told News 5 Cleveland, speaking about homeschooling.

Other lawmakers are angry about the lack of guardrails for homeschooling in Ohio.

“I think we can all agree this is a broken system,” Democrat Rep. Casey Weinstein told VICE News in response to the Department of Education findings.

“Unless you support ridiculous conspiracy theories or if you want to make sure your child ‘becomes a wonderful Nazi,’ then it’s time to add some guardrails and transparency to how home schools are managed in Ohio,” Weinstein said. “These people are grooming children to be Nazis and we need to do something about it. Full stop.”

Huffman, who is trying to push a bill through the Ohio Senate that will further gut public school funding and redirect it towards private schools, attacked other lawmakers he claimed were trying to use the revelations to help themselves politically.

“I hope, frankly, that people will not try to take some political advantage or policy advantage... basically trying to decide that a couple of sociopaths somewhere in Ohio who are doing strange things that... somehow should affect the policy of the rest of the state is anathema to me," Huffman said.

But Democrats say that a change in the education system in Ohio needs to start by addressing the issues uncovered by the Nazi homeschool revelations in Upper Sandusky.

“Some Republicans in Ohio are in such a rush to turn our public education system upside down that they're missing the blind spots in other areas of education, like the lack of transparency when it comes to homeschooling that was exposed by the Neo-Nazi curriculum being taught and amplified in Upper Sandusky,” Rep. Jessica Miranda told VICE News.

The Dissident Homeschool group on Telegram operated by the Lawrences was deleted earlier this week. A new group with the same name was set up, but so far no content has been posted in the channel and it’s unclear if the Lawrences are involved.

[brantheblessed]

There's an alleged "Nazi" homeschool group in Ohio. Watch as all homeschoolers get called Nazis now.

[pen-and-camera]

This is a huge honor. Forever grateful. Halfway done with my online spring cleaning. Pardon my dust as my website is up next.

[immaculatasknight]

Remember: 4 dead in Ohio

[auroraluciferi]

On Sunday, VICE News and the Huffington Post reported that Logan and Katja Lawrence were the operators of the neo-Nazi Dissident Homeschool group which now boasts over 2,500 members on its Telegram channel, based on the research from anti-fascist researchers at the Anonymous Comrades Collective. 

The group openly advocates white supremacist ideologies with the aim to make sure the children they teach “become wonderful Nazis.”

The Lawrences share their classroom schedules, homework assignments, and lesson plans with other parents in the group, the vast majority of which are infused with Nazi ideology or open praise for Adolf Hitler.

Katja Lawrence, 37, also shares examples of how her family embraces Nazi ideology, including baking a Fuhrer cake for Hitler’s birthday and sharing a recording of her children shouting “sieg heil.”

“I am outraged and saddened,” Stephanie Siddens, the interim superintendent of public instruction at the Department of Education told VICE News. “There is absolutely no place for hate-filled, divisive and hurtful instruction in Ohio’s schools, including our state’s home-schooling community. I emphatically and categorically denounce the racist, antisemitic and fascist ideology and materials being circulated.”

Under Ohio state laws, the Lawrences simply have to inform the local superintendent that they want to homeschool their children and agree to abide by certain broad conditions in order to legally keep their children out of public schools.

The Ohio Department of Education is now actively reviewing compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements as a result of the media reports, a spokesperson for the department told VICE News.

“If requirements are met, the district superintendent releases the student from required compulsory school attendance,” The Ohio Department of Education states on its website. “This excuses the student and family from school attendance requirements in state law.”

[feminist-space]

Article by Fortesa Latifi:

"Being the child of an influencer, Vanessa tells me, was the equivalent of having a full-time job—and then some. She remembers late nights in which the family recorded and rerecorded videos until her mother considered them perfect and days when creating content for the blog stretched into her homeschooling time. If she expressed her unease, she was told the family needed her. “It was like after this next campaign, maybe we could have more time to relax. And then it would never happen,” she says. She was around 10 years old when she realized her life was different from that of other children. When she went to other kids’ houses, she was surprised by how they lived. “I felt strange that they didn’t have to work on social media or blog posts, or constantly pose for pictures or videos,” she says. “I realized they didn’t have to worry about their family's financial situation or contribute to it.”

Vanessa, who requested anonymity to speak freely about her family dynamics, says she helped create content for huge companies like Huggies and Hasbro when her mom landed endorsement deals. When she reached puberty and began menstruating, her mother had her do sponsored posts for sanitary pads. “It was so mortifying,” she says. “I just felt like I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.”

Being part of an influencer family changed everything about her life, Vanessa says. “Sometimes I didn’t know where the separation was between what was real and what was curated for social media.” And her mother’s online presence indelibly warped their relationship. “Being an influencer kid turned my relationship with my mom into more of an employer-employee relationship than a parent-child one,” she says. “Once you cross the line from being family to being coworkers, you can’t really go back.”

...

Khanbalinov has had zero new offers since he took his kids offline. “When we were showing our kids, brands were rolling in left and right—clothing companies, apps, paper towel companies, food brands. They all wanted us to work with them,” he says. “Once we stopped, we reached out to the brands we had lined up and 99 percent of them dropped out because they wanted kids to showcase their products. And I fought back, like, you guys are a paper towel company—why do you need a kid selling your stuff?”

The law has woefully lagged behind the culture here, but there’s signs that policymakers might finally be catching up. In 2023, in addition to Illinois, three other states—New York, Washington State, and New Jersey—proposed bills to protect influencer kids. Contrast that with the flurry of legislative activity in just the first two months of 2024. Seven more states—Maryland, Georgia, Ohio, Missouri, California, Arizona, Minnesota—have introduced similar legislation. Some of the bills are going one step further to protect the privacy of the kids featured in this content. In some states, proposed legislation would include a clause that borrows from a European legal doctrine known as the “right to be forgotten”—it would allow someone who was featured in content when they were a child to request that platforms permanently delete those posts. None of the current legislation introduced, however, would outright bar the practice of featuring minors in monetized content.

...

The movement on this issue was glacial for years, but it finally feels like the ice has thawed. Much of that progress is thanks to activists like Cam Barrett (she/they), a 25-year-old creator (@softscorpio) who uses TikTok to talk about her experience of being overshared in their childhood and adolescence. Barrett doesn’t go by her legal name anymore because of the online history it’s tied to. “I love my legal name,” Barrett tells me. “I just don’t love the digital footprint attached to it.” Last year, Barrett testified in front of the Washington State legislature as a proponent of a bill to protect influencer kids. This year, they testified again—this time, in front of the Maryland legislature.

“As a former content kid myself, I know what it’s like to grow up with a digital footprint I never asked for,” Barrett told the Maryland House of Delegates Economic Matters Committee in February. “As my mom posted to the world my first-ever menstrual cycle, as she posted to the world the intimate details about me being adopted, her platform grew and I had no say in what was posted.” And yet, Cam says her activism has been healing.

For Cam and other influencer children, getting a paycheck won’t give them back what they lost—a normal childhood unobstructed by the cameras pushed into their faces. But it could be the beginning of some version of restitution. “My friends say I’m fighting for little Cam,” she tells me. “It feels very healing because I didn’t have anyone to fight for me as a kid.”"

Read the full article here: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a60125272/sharenting-parenting-influencer-cost-children/

[thoughtportal]

Homeschooling in Ohio

Contact senator Brenner 614-466-8086 Brenner@OhioSenate.gov Twitter @ BrennerForOhio

https://www.vice.com/en/article/z34ane/neo-nazi-homeschool-ohio

[boimgfrog]

i need to express my bewilderment and amusement at this better and i cant so im just telling you like this. u r so crazy to me

I know it seems insane that I don't know where Boston is and that I thought it was in New York or maybe Ohio but. the thing is. I was homeschooled. the last time I took a geography class I was 12 years old gluing paper together and cheated on most of it. and I've never had 2 know where anything is if I have questions I look at a map or use my GPS?? honestly I didn't even realize Boston creme was named after Boston I realized that just now answering this ask bcos previously I had not thought of Boston maybe in years until I saw that poll

[haveyoureadthispoll]

Burning Butch is the courageous story of a trans / non-binary butch on a quest to survive conservative, religious, American culture while questioning if there is room in their heart for the traditional faith they were raised with, and what it means to come home again. When divorce moves young Rebecca Mertz away from rural Pennsylvania and their abusive father, Mertz and their mother find a new life in a conservative Catholic subculture outside of Washington, D.C. There, Mertz's adolescence is dominated by fundamentalist Catholicism. Life becomes God, saints, and babies – except, of course, for the showtunes they latch onto, voices that permeate their childhood boundaries, singing about different worlds. Mertz spends their childhood split between Pennsylvania, and Maryland – between mother and father, between Catholic homeschooling and secular Americana, between safety and violence, between their real life and the "world" they keep being warned against. It’s in homeschooling that Mertz learns what good, Catholic values are: anti-feminist, pro-life; anti-queer, pro-Jesus. The more babies, the better, so as to prove a stronger devotion to God. In an attempt to get away from their father, to interrogate their faith, and to repress the growing feelings Mertz has about a woman in their community, Mertz chooses the Franciscan University of Steubenville, a conservative Catholic school in Ohio. As Mertz comes of age at an oppressive, gender-dependent Catholic college in the early aughts, they grapple with attractions, sexual encounters, and relationships with friends and teachers – men and women whom they trust and admire, who romantically engage with them while in the same breath renounce the sacrilege of Mertz’s identity. Ever the outcast during their college years despite their affinity and aptitude for poetry, Mertz is forced to face their sexuality and what it might mean within the confines of their strict faith. As Mertz struggles to navigate this repressive environment, and questions what role they could play in this community, the vulnerable identity they create begins to threaten the life they know in potentially irreversible ways.

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Burning Butch by R/B Mertz

goodreads

When divorce moves young Rebecca Mertz away from rural Pennsylvania and their abusive father, Mertz and their mother find a new life in a conservative Catholic subculture outside of Washington, D.C. There, Mertz's adolescence is dominated by fundamentalist Catholicism. Life becomes God, saints, and babies – except, of course, for the showtunes they latch onto, voices that permeate their childhood boundaries, singing about different worlds. Mertz spends their childhood split between Pennsylvania, and Maryland – between mother and father, between Catholic homeschooling and secular Americana, between safety and violence, between their real life and the "world" they keep being warned against. It’s in homeschooling that Mertz learns what good, Catholic values are: anti-feminist, pro-life; anti-queer, pro-Jesus. The more babies, the better, so as to prove a stronger devotion to God. In an attempt to get away from their father, to interrogate their faith, and to repress the growing feelings Mertz has about a woman in their community, Mertz chooses the Franciscan University of Steubenville, a conservative Catholic school in Ohio. As Mertz comes of age at an oppressive, gender-dependent Catholic college in the early aughts, they grapple with attractions, sexual encounters, and relationships with friends and teachers – men and women whom they trust and admire, who romantically engage with them while in the same breath renounce the sacrilege of Mertz’s identity. Ever the outcast during their college years despite their affinity and aptitude for poetry, Mertz is forced to face their sexuality and what it might mean within the confines of their strict faith. As Mertz struggles to navigate this repressive environment, and questions what role they could play in this community, the vulnerable identity they create begins to threaten the life they know in potentially irreversible ways.

Mod opinion: I haven't heard of this memoir before, but it sounds interesting.

[dollysattictreasures]

A Life Of Faith Dolls

So recently I fell down this little rabbit hole and I want to share it. I don't have any of these dolls (and I don't really have any interest do) and there's little information about the company, so I got even more interested.

Background:

Created by homeschooling parents Lee and Bill Bereza in 1998, when they established Breezy Point Treasures. Together they based a custom doll on the Elsie Dinsmore book series by Martha Finley. Later they worked with Sandra Bilotto to design the dolls, and Lloyd Middleton to produce the dolls.The second character in the series was Mildred (shortened to Millie) Keith, Elsie's oldest cousin.

In 2003 Mission City Press purchased the company, and Elsie and Millie's appearances were changed. The dresses were more striking and stood out with lace and frills. Additionally their appearances were changed as Elsie was given pincurls and ribbons. Millie went from being a brunette to having blond hair and blue eyes (similar to Kirsten Larson) and the dolls got darker eye makeup and longer eyelashes.

Since the 2 original dolls were based off a book series, the original Elsie Dinsmore and Millie Keith series were re-released. One thing that seperated them from American Girl was that the story would follow their life- starting from childhood into their 20s and so on.

Additionally 3 new characters were introduced- Violet Travilla (Elsie's daughter in the series), Laylie Colbert and Kathleen Mckenzie. During this time the Elsie Dinsmore Collection was renamed to "A Life of Faith."

Once again the dolls were changed, this time with much more simpler outfits in contrast to their past look. After struggling to stay afloat, Mission City Press ceased production of the dolls in 2006.

Dolls:

Elsie Dinsmore- hazel eyes, brown hair with pincurls

Elsie is an 8 year old growing up in the mid 1800s in the South, on a plantation. They kinda gloss over the fact that she literally has slaves on her property and refers to them as just "servants." Anyways, Elsie is very wealthy but grows up without a mother, and for much of the story she waits for her father to return, as she's never met him. Her collection contained many dresses, coats, undergarments, a grand piano, some more furniture and accessories.

Millie Keith- blond hair, blue eyes

Aside from being a Kirsten Larson clone (I'm only half kidding) Millie Keith is a 12 year old girl living on the Indiana frontier in 1833. Her story follows as she is forced to move from an established town in Ohio to the unknown frontier. Her collection also features many outfits, coats, a horse, a table and chair set and many accessories. As far as looks are concerned, Millie does look very similar to Kirsten Larson, with one of her outfits even displaying her wearing loop braids.

Laylie Colbert- black hair, brown eyes, different face mold from the other dolls

Laylie Colbert is a 7 year old who's story follows her escape from slavery. In the story her family escapes and meets Millie Keith (who is 15) and the two become friends. Her meet oufit is supposed to be one that Millie gave her. Her collection literally has nothing- it has one nightgown, a robin hood costume (????) and a few accessories. She has the smallest collection out of them all.

Violet Travilla- black hair, brown eyes (well really red but I'll get to that later)

Violet Travilla is a 14 year old in the 1870s, and is the daughter of Elsie Dinsmore. She loves art, school, her family and God. Violet is the oldest doll out of the whole collection, so her story is supposed to feel personal to teenagers, so she's also very anxious about her future, and feels misunderstood. Her collection has many outfits, accessories, a sofa and a cat.

Kathleen Mckenzie- hazel eyes, curly brown hair, freckles, different face mold

Kathleen Mckenzie, the last doll to be released, is an 11 year old (although her face mold makes her look a lot younger) growing up in 1929. She has a lot of similarities with Kit, as her story talks about economic struggles, and she enjoys writing. Her collection has a lot of outfits, accessories, but no furniture.

Current State:

the Violet Travilla dolls have a defect in which over time her brown eyes have changed to a BRIGHT red. (seriously, look it up)

as I talked about earlier, A Life Of Faith bore some similarites to AG. With Kathleen's story being similar to Kit, Millie, the frontier doll's redesign looking very similar to Kirsten.

They promoted themselves as a Christian alternative to AG, with each doll coming with a dol-sized Bible, and each story talks about how the dolls overcome their struggles through God.

I want to say I have no problem with Christianity, or religious dolls. What I am going to judge is how they painted AG to be bad in their eyes, with the Baptist Press stating that AG donates to "homosexual and abortion-rights causes."

I also have a problem with how Laylie Colbert literally had no collection. A Robin Hood cloak to put over her original dress and a little nightgown just feels wrong. Every other doll got such large collections with such beautiful outfits and she got basically nothing in comparison.

catalogue from 2007 -> https://prokukol.ru/wallpapers/images/katalogs/alof2007/alof2007.pdf

From right to left: Elsie Dinsmore, Millie Keith, Violet Travilla and Laylie Colbert

Not Pictured: Kathleen Mckenzie

I know this was a long post, if you read it- thank you so much! I found this fun to research and fun to share :)

[thehappysorceress]

Absolutely chilling and stomach-turning.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Earlier this month, while the rest of the country was celebrating the achievements of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., parents and children in the “Dissident Homeschool” network opened a lesson plan and were greeted with the words: “As Adolf Hitler wrote…”

The contents of the MLK lesson plan would be shocking for almost anyone, but for members of the 2,400-member “Dissident Homeschool” Telegram channel, this was a regular Monday at school.

“It is up to us to ensure our children know him for the deceitful, dishonest, riot-inciting negro he actually was,” the administrator of the network’s Telegram channel wrote, alongside a downloadable lesson plan for elementary school children. “He is the face of a movement which ethnically cleansed whites out of urban areas and precipitated the anti-white regime that we are now fighting to free ourselves from.”

Since the group began in October 2021 it has openly embraced Nazi ideology and promoted white supremacy, while proudly discouraging parents from letting their white children play with or have any contact with people of any other race. Admins and members use racist, homophobic, and antisemitic slurs without shame, and quote Hitler and other Nazi leaders daily in a channel open to the public.

VICE News joined the group simply by clicking on a link, though the list of members was not publicly visible.

What’s even more disturbing, however, is that the couple who run the channel are not only teaching parents how to indoctrinate their children into this fascist ideology, they’re also encouraging them to meet up in real life and join even more radical groups, which could further reinforce their beliefs and potentially push them toward violent action.

‘MR. AND MRS. SAXON’

The “Dissident Homeschool” network is run by a husband and wife team who use the aliases “Mr. and Mrs. Saxon.” This week the antifascist research group Anonymous Comrades Collective published a detailed report that unmasked the Saxons as Logan and Katja Lawrence, who live in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, with their four young children.

The researchers were able to identify the Lawrences through biographical details they shared in the Telegram channel’s group chat and on podcast appearances. One of the key clues to identifying them came when they revealed that they owned a German Shepherd called Blondi—the same name as Hitler’s dog.

The researchers found photos that Katja posted on Facebook with her German Shepherd, and were also able to confirm Katja Lawrence’s ownership of this dog through the Wyandot County dog licensing website dog search feature.

The Lawrences did not respond to multiple emails, text messages, social media messages, and phone calls from VICE News to discuss the contents of the report and their neo-Nazi homeschooling group.

Katja Lawrence, who is in her mid-30s, launched the channel in October 2021, because she “was having a rough time finding Nazi-approved school material for [her] homeschool children,” as she told the neo-Nazi podcast “Achtung! Amerikaner” last year.

Later in the same podcast episode, Lawrence expanded on her view on why she wanted to educate her children at home. “We have our children’s best interest at heart and nobody can do a better job than we can because it’s our child. We are so deeply invested into making sure that that child becomes a wonderful Nazi,” she said.

When VICE News asked for comment on the Lawrences and their channel, the host of the podcast, Gordon Hahl, replied: “I think you should kill yourself instead.”

Katja Lawrence, born Katja van den Berg, is originally from the Netherlands and moved to the U.S. after meeting her husband at the Oktoberfest festival in Berlin, according to an old LiveJournal blog uncovered by the researchers. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2017.

Logan Lawrence works as an agent for a local, family-run insurance agency. When reached by phone, an employee at the company told VICE News that they would not be commenting on the story.

Logan is also a member of a local Masonic lodge and features in a number of pictures on its website, where he is listed as an officer of the lodge. The secretary of the lodge did not respond to VICE News’ request for comment.

Both Katja and Lawrence have a limited presence on mainstream social media platforms, and the one Facebook account that was operated by Katja was deleted this week after the Anonymous Comrades Collective report was published.

Katja Lawrence is the main poster on the “Dissident Homeschool” channel, posting classroom schedules, book lists, lesson plans, and other educational resources for like-minded parents.

RACIST LESSON PLANS

Lawrence uses every lesson plan as an opportunity to push racist ideology. In one “math assignment,” children were asked to interpret “crime statistics,” the goal of which was to “realize the demographics to be cautious around.” Another lesson called “IQ Unit Study” discusses IQ scores. “The blacks—on average—have a much lower IQ than whites,” Lawrence wrote.

Last week the group chat channel belonging to the “Dissident Homeschool” network was shut down, but VICE News has reviewed an archive of the chats dating back to October 2021, showing that initially the channel was populated by a small number of core members who contributed most of the comments and content.

However, by the time the chat archive ended on Jan. 4, there were hundreds more people contributing to the conversations, and discussions had expanded from children’s education to the dangers of diversity and how “Indiana Jones” movies are nothing more than “Jewish revenge porn.”

One parent posting in the group last year thanked the Lawrences for their work and explained why they agreed that public school education was not for them.

“This is why I want to make the switch. I don’t even want my kids exposed to the gay loving, anti-family, Jew factory that is public school, I can’t stand it.”

Other parents offered their own educational resources, with one member writing: “Here is an overview of 10 Reason why Hitler was one of the Good Guys:”

When one parent named Nancy recommended three preachers that the group might find interesting, another member responded: “A ni**er, a race mixer, and a guy who literally says that Israel should rule the world. You're 0 for 3.”

Katja Lawrence then added: “Nancy, did you know you are in a chat of dissidents who fully support white nationalism? We do not support Israel and do not listen to black preachers.”

The members of the channel have also expanded beyond the U.S. to include members from other countries, though only those from European countries with acceptable ethnicity, such as Norway, Germany, and the U.K., are welcomed.

At one point in the chat, Katja Lawrence told a UK-based member of the group that she would help put him in touch with the head of one of the biggest white nationalist groups in the U.K., suggesting the Lawrences have made connections with antisemites and white supremacists outside of their own homeschooling community.

BAKING A ‘FÜHRER CAKE’

When the Telegram channel reached its 1,000th subscriber, just months after it launched, Katja Lawrence posted a picture of German schoolchildren performing a Nazi salute in a classroom, writing: “It fills my heart with joy to know there is such a strong base of homeschoolers and homeschool-interested national socialists. Hail Victory.”

The Lawrences also described how their family celebrated Hitler’s birthday by baking a “Führer cake.”

“We had a lovely dinner followed by Führerkuchen,” Katja Lawrence wrote. “Our children celebrated Adolf’s birthday today by learning about Germany and eating favorite German foods.” She later added that she had baked “quite a few swastika items, my latest a swastika apple pie.”

In one chilling, now-deleted post on Telegram, Katla Lawrence posted an audio message of her children shouting “sieg heil.”

While Katja and Logan Lawrence claim in Telegram comments that they warn their children not to discuss their Nazi views with those outside the family, they also don’t limit their activities to the online world and help others to connect with fellow white nationalists in the real world.

SECRET ‘POOL PARTIES’

“There is a huge network of people like us,” Katja wrote on the Telegram channel. “If you are asking what you can do: get vetted and join a local pool party. I would say that’s the best decision Mr. Saxon and I made last year. We joined a pool party and our children now play with other white children where they can speak and play freely.”

A “pool party” is the name for a secretive meetup organized by white supremacist group The Right Stuff and its political wing the National Justice Party. Katja Lawrence even goes so far as to share the direct email for a contact at The Right Stuff who deals with vetting, while an account named the “National Justice Party” posts updates that include calls for “Dissident Homeschool” members to join its supporter group and updates on its Christmas charity drive.

“It has been huge for us to get into that real life network. Contribute by joining. It makes all the difference,” Katja Lawrence wrote.

It is hard to gauge the influence of the “Dissident Homeschool Network,” but in leaked emails from people attempting to join the white nationalist group Patriot Front, applicants list the “Dissident Homeschool” as being “Influential figures, media outlets or platforms.”

The Right Stuff and the National Justice League were described by the Anti-Defamation League as “virulently antisemitic”, while 31 members of Patriot Front were arrested last year inside a U-haul truck on their way to an LGBTQ Pride event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, carrying shields and smoke grenades.

Yet Katja attempts to describe these group’s activities as entirely wholesome.

“To dispel some misconceptions: these groups do not encourage or solicit people to commit illegal activities,” Katja wrote. "It is a nice group of wholesome white people getting together for cookouts and such.”

[immaculatasknight]

Sprouting little Nazis in Ohio

[fundieshaderoom]

Fundie Families and Adjacents I Follow: Stockdale

Timothy C Stockdale "Tim"- 1959ish

Kathryn Barbara Miller "Kathy"- November 19, 1962, died 2017

The couple shares 4 sons (3 living), 1 current daughter-in-law, and 5 grandchildren.

In 2008, the Stockdale family participated in the show Wife Swap. They displayed their conservative, homeschooling, farm lifestyle in rural Ohio. On June 15, 2017, Jacob Stockdale (age 25) shot and killed mother Kathy (age 54) and brother James (age 21). Jacob shot himself and survived.

1- Calvin John- July 31, 1988ish

2- Charles M "Chaz"- 1991ish

3- Jacob T- 1992ish

4- James William- March 4, 1996, died 2017

Calvin married Katie Trammell on May 21, 2011ish. They raise their 5 children in a similar way to the way Calvin was raised.

1- Timmy- February 2012

2- Jeanie- 2013/2014

3- Lillian "Lily"- 2015

4- Mo- 2017

5- Ransom- 2019

Charles married Giana in 2015ish. They got divorced before June 2017. They never had any children. He was in a relationship with another woman from 2021-2024.

Jacob pled guilty to two counts of murder in 2021. He was sentenced to 15 years to life and will not be eligible for parole until 2048. Tim, Calvin, and Charles have publicly stated that Jacob has their full forgiveness.