Day of the Homeschooled Child & April Wrap-Up
This past week in Michigan: a late frost (the last one?), a tornado warning, and days of rain. Flowers are popping up everywhere, and I’ve even started some seedlings for a small vegetable garden. Arugula, kale, beans, tomatoes… let’s hope I don’t accidentally poison them all this year in a repeat of last summer…
Speaking of new things, this is the month of book launches! One of my friends and fellow survivors, Shelly Snow Pordea, has written a new book, The Cheating Wife, and it just released! Here’s the endorsement I wrote to recommend it:
“Too often, those who experience domestic abuse are unseen and unbelieved, abandoned to pick up the pieces of their lives without support, even in the evangelical church. The Cheating Wife shines a light on the nuances of these experiences and how they impact individual lives. From the beginning, I was rooting for the protagonist, Morgan, as she reminded me of many women I’ve known. Morgan and her two children struggle through perhaps the most difficult time in their lives but are ultimately resilient in this story of survival and freedom.”
News about Rift
RIFT: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy is officially out on April 30! (For those who have preordered on Amazon, it looks like copies are already being shipped out.) In preparation for my very first book launch, I’ve been busy planning upcoming events and giving interviews, including the podcasts Let’s Talk Memoir, Hello Deconstructionists, and Kitchen Table Cult:
I was also interviewed by Shelley Irwin on my local NPR station, WGVU! It was my first live radio interview, and it was fast but fun. You can listen here.
A few Substack interviews have come out this month:
I was also featured in the following outlets:
Religion News Service: “In ‘Rift,’ Author Cait West Talks Breaking Free from Christian Patriarchy”
The Christian Century: “Trending Topics: Exvangelical Women’s Memoirs”
Lansing’s City Pulse: “‘Rift’ Provides a Chilling Look at the Tolls of Christian Patriarchy”
Tears of Eden: “Review of Cait West’s Memoir”
Eerdword - the Eerdmans blog: “Interview with the Author - Cait West”
On top of all this, we had the Festival of Faith & Writing here in Grand Rapids, and I got to help facilitate a Lunch Circle on nature writing with
. It was so lovely to get to know our group and connect with others who get nerdy about research and science writing!I also spent some time at the Eerdmans book table where we had early copies of RIFT. It was so fun to get to hang out with other readers and writers and experience my book going out in the wild. And I did my first book signing—for my writing mentor and professor from college, Laura Julier!
Overall, April has been a blur. When I’m not doing interviews, I’ve quite literally been sleeping and resting to recover from my March surgery. I’m feeling more and more like old self again every day, and the surgeon says things are healing well! I’m going back to my regular day job this week as well, and I’m so happy to have a day-to-day routine again.
I’ll be posting tomorrow about the release of RIFT, but I want to also call attention to something else happening tomorrow:
Day of the Homeschooled Child
Day of the Homeschooled Child is an observance held every April 30 to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect in homeschool settings and to call for change to make homeschool safe. It was created by the Coalition for Responsible Home Education (CRHE), the only national organization advocating for homeschooled children. Founded and run by homeschool alumni, CRHE’s goal is to make homeschool safe.
Around 2 million children are being homeschooled in the US. Many homeschooled children come from families who want to give them a quality education in a safe, loving home. But that’s not the case for every homeschooled child. Some homeschooled children grow up in families that exploit lax homeschool laws to isolate, neglect, and abuse them.
No state’s laws do enough to protect homeschooled children:
47 states allow convicted sex offenders and child abusers to homeschool.
11 states don’t require families to enroll their children as homeschooled students with local education officials.
14 states don’t require parents to teach their homeschooled children specific school subjects.
Homeschooled children have no guaranteed access to mandatory reporters.
A homeschooled child can be isolated at home away from extended family, friends, and community, with no one to notice their problems.
Millions of homeschooled children don’t have guaranteed access to child welfare programs that their public-schooled peers have.
What can we do?
Sign the Bill of Rights for Homeschooled Children. It says that homeschooled children have the right to be safe, to learn, to grow, to be themselves, and much more.
Wear green on April 30. Green represents youth, and it represents the vibrant lives homeschooled children should be able to lead. Post a picture of you wearing green on social media April 30 and tag CRHE (@responsiblehomeschooling on Instagram).
Join us for a virtual event tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT.
Thank you, as always, for being here!
— Cait
Last day to preorder RIFT: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy (available April 30, 2024) on Bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble, Eerdmans, and Amazon.