Was Zahra Really Homeschooled? If so, WHY?!

[Kamille]

I think AB agreed to the "homeschooling" because he knew that he was in the country illegally and that by keeping Zahra away from all authorities, he could continue to stay on. The DSS visits must have freaked him out so EB probably convinced him to keep Zahra out of site until they could straighten up the immigration issue.

Selfish, without a care for Zahra's wellbeing IMO.

MOO

 

[DLT88]

I dont think if she was homeschooled it was done out of care that she had an education. I personally think it was more a way of hiding her out. In one of the SW there was mention of a grade notebook. I assume it was done in case anyone wanted to check on her schooling. It may have also been done to convince AB she was actually shooling her. I just dont see EB going to the trouble of having regular school hours taken out of her time JMO

When I read that the charges against E mentioned "aforethought" of murder, I took that to mean that EB was planning the murder for awhile and never let Zahra begin the school year because then she would be missed immediately after she stopped showing up. So I am thinking that the police think the 'homeschooling' stuff was part of EB's plan to murder Zahra and get away with it by not letting anyone miss her for as long as possible. For her, it must have been great to have AB be such a "no hands on" father that he wouldn't even miss his daughter after 2 freaking weeks and not want to at least go in that room and kiss her forehead goodnight. And then he laughs through the 911 call. I just don't know what to think about him but I think no other woman should get involved with him.

 

[Mountain_Kat]

I think AB agreed to the "homeschooling" because he knew that he was in the country illegally and that by keeping Zahra away from all authorities, he could continue to stay on. The DSS visits must have freaked him out so EB probably convinced him to keep Zahra out of site until they could straighten up the immigration issue.

Selfish, without a care for Zahra's wellbeing IMO.

MOO

I believe that he agreed to the homeschooling (and the move to Caldwell County) because he knew damned good and well that Zahra was being abused and wanted to hide it from school officials and DSS. And his immigration status, along with his outstanding warrants, probably played a large part in why he needed to keep the abuse hidden.

But I want to hear, from HIS mouth why he agreed to the "homeschooling". Because I don't believe he could give an answer that would satisfy anyone, save his mother.

MOO

 

[ynotdivein]

Poor little Zahra, sigh. She probably missed school so badly. I am betting school was a place where adults treated her kindly, praised her, other kids played with her, talked to her. Home strikes me as not that place for Zahra. When she lost school, how very sad and lonesome she must have felt.

:shakehead:

Oh tlcox... You said it so well here.

 

[ynotdivein]

As a former HS teacher, I will say that absolutely the most excellent students I ever encountered were those who had been well home-schooled, whether they entered the "traditional" track at 9th grade (freshmen) or 11th (juniors). Where I taught (and maybe everywhere?) home schooling was associated with rigid religious upbringing and was generally scorned by those who didn't know much about it. But I found that every single home-schooled student I ever taught was better prepared intellectually, socially, and ethically not only for the classroom but for real life, than almost all of the traditionally-schooled students I encountered.

Aaaaand we wrap back to the topic at hand by saying.... those who home school effectively, are those who IMO

- care deeply about their children
- take care to record necessary milestones with the state
- ensure that their children are exposed to appropriate social interactions with kids of both genders in age-appropriate ranges and age-appropriate activities

And I do not see EB, or AB, doing any of the above three.

And that is just my :twocents:

 

[tlcya]

Or better yet, a step-parent, because that is really the question I'm asking. Would EB have had the legal right to enroll or withdraw Zahra from school, based soley on the fact that she was married to Zahra's father? If she had legal guardianship, then I would think she did. If she didn't have legal quardianship, I would absolutely hope NOT.

I only know that in my own circumstance, no one questioned whether I was a step or natural parent. My last name was their last name and that seemed to be enough. I am not sure if I would have been questioned had my last name differed. I agree, any local step parents to NC would be a great help with this one.

 

[Mountain_Kat]

Setting aside the whole issue of whether it was AB or EB who withdrew Zahra from school, we still have Zahra not attending school from Aug. 25 - until the estimated time of her death on Sept. 24. And Adam Baker HAD to be aware of that. Elisa didn't fashion a dummy and dupe Adam into believing his child was in school, that's for sure.

 

[Flakes]

...I don't believe for a minute that she was homeschooled at all, but why oh why was she not sent to school? If a stepparent doesn't like their stepchild, for whatever reason, the last thing they usually want is to keep the child at home all day.

This bolded sentence is precisely what perplexes me, and the reason I proposed my theory on the previous page. No-one has responded to that (fair enough if everyone thinks it's bollocks) but I am very curious to hear any thoughts on it.

 

[Flakes]

I am amazed by the number of people home schooling amongst the WS community. It suggests that the popularity of home schooling is considerably higher in the US to Australia. Based on my experience in Australia, I saw the Baker's decision to home school Zahra as an extraordinary choice, which must have been made for very specific reasons, as it's simply not common practice here at all, and is definitely not an encouraged choice. I do not know and have never heard of anyone who home schools their children (until this thread). In Australia we have schools that are government run (free), but approximately 35% of students attend private and independent schools (fee paying) operated by the various churches and cultural communities in this country, plus non-denominational schools. There are schools operated by all manner of religious groups, including some very strict and private groups. Often these private and independent schools assist poorer families with scholarships and bursaries to ensure the children can attend the school. It is seen as a community obligation to offer this education option to the broader community to minimise financial discrimination. Perhaps this variety and accessibility explains why home schooling is not so popular here? Hopefully this explains to you my views, theories and surprise at the decision to home school Zahra.

CORRECTION: I just recalled one friend who home schooled his (then) partner's child for one school year, as the child was a chronic asthma sufferer and was unable to attend school owing to being so ill. Next year she was healthier and able to attend school again. It was intended as a very temporary arrangement, and was done in co-operation with her school, who provided work for her to do at home.

 

[ynotdivein]

Flakes, I don't think EB/AB were in any true sense of the word "home schooling" Zahra while they were here. And I think our schooling options are closer to those in AUS than you might have been led to believe from this thread.

In the US we have several options for schooling kids:

1. "Public" schools (I think these are called "free schools" elsewhere), which are funded by a combination of funds from the federal government and each individual state government. The curriculum here is typically federally mandated with some state mandated testing in those states where standards do not dovetail exactly with federal expectations. (I.e., the feds may require one math test at grade 6 (age 11) for all students in all states while individual states mandate a different math test at that grade level/age level.)

2. Independent schools operate in each state. These may or may not be religiously oriented (Catholic for example). Parents who send their children to these schools still pay taxes to support public schools, but also pay tuition to send their children to these "private" schools. Private school tuition in the US ranges widely and can run into the tens of thousands of dollars per year.

3. Home schooling takes place in every state and is considered by some parents to be the best alternative to either putting their children into public schools where the curriculum is dictated by the feds or state authorities, or putting them into private schools where their children will either be educated in a particular religion or educated in a secular environment. However, each of the 50 states in the US have requirements of varying stringency for parents who choose to home-school.

Hope that helps--I sense that AU and the US are not so far apart as we might think when it comes to education.

 

[Flakes]

Thanks yynotdivein, I agree that Zahra was unlikely to have been truly home schooled by EB. For me there's more curiosity in the motivation for this decision, rather than in whether it ever occurred. Do we know if EB home schooled her other children? I find it hard see it as an idea of Adam's alone, which is why I previously considered other reasons (as mentioned in the other thread) as to why Zahra was taken out of school.

If we determine that EB was responsible for this idea, I'd still think it very strange. What seemed like a good idea at the time would have very quickly turned sour, IMO; as per my post on the previous page where I outline how I think this decision put Zahra at risk because of the ways EB would likely react to these circumstances and responsibilities.

Another thought – if we consider tlcox's suggestion that Adam was planning to leave, and consider that AY stated this (I have also posted that I think this is plausible), then I wonder if he thought taking Zahra out of school was a good way to disappear unnoticed away from EB and back to Australia with Zahra. It's all speculation I realise, but if this was true, maybe EB found out (eg saw the passports in the car) and retaliated by killing precious Zahra as punishment to Adam for having the audacity to leave her? It's a bit out there, I know, but who knows, it could be true! We don't know what they knew of each other's plans, or what they argued about in weeks/months leading up to Zahra's death.

Re: schooling systems, thank you for providing a good basis for comparison of systems. Sounds like our school options are similar in the context of organised schools, though not the less common home school option. Certainly the cost of private schools (confusingly known as "public schools" as per the English model of non-exclusionary education) – $35,000 a year for tuition (+ uniform, equipment, books, camps, etc) for our top schools. The years at school (kindergarten + 13 years) + university (undergraduate 3 years > + 1 year for honors > Masters > PhD) is a little different, and school curriculum is also; however, we are undergoing a phase of experimentation – University of Melbourne is running a trial with an intermediate year before the fully-fledged undergraduate course, which we understand is based on the American model. Within our system we also have curriculum variations such as Rudolph Steiner models and International Baccalaureate (which I assume you also have in the US).

 

[ynotdivein]

Flakes, IMO the decision to "home-school" Zahra was only made by EB/AB to further game the system. They understood that in NC there was perhaps less tracking of home-schooled children from county to county. They knew that withdrawing Zahra from a public school and putatively enrolling her in "home schooling" would earn them a couple of months free of scrutiny while "the system" caught up with them. And that's all I'm gonna have to say about that.

Thanks yynotdivein, I agree that Zahra was unlikely to have been truly home schooled by EB. For me there's more curiosity in the motivation for this decision, rather than in whether it ever occurred. Do we know if EB home schooled her other children? I find it hard see it as an idea of Adam's alone, which is why I previously considered other reasons (as mentioned in the other thread) as to why Zahra was taken out of school.

If we determine that EB was responsible for this idea, I'd still think it very strange. What seemed like a good idea at the time would have very quickly turned sour, IMO; as per my post on the previous page where I outline how I think this decision put Zahra at risk because of the ways EB would likely react to these circumstances and responsibilities.

Another thought – if we consider tlcox's suggestion that Adam was planning to leave, and consider that AY stated this (I have also posted that I think this is plausible), then I wonder if he thought taking Zahra out of school was a good way to disappear unnoticed away from EB and back to Australia with Zahra. It's all speculation I realise, but if this was true, maybe EB found out (eg saw the passports in the car) and retaliated by killing precious Zahra as punishment to Adam for having the audacity to leave her? It's a bit out there, I know, but who knows, it could be true! We don't know what they knew of each other's plans, or what they argued about in weeks/months leading up to Zahra's death.

Re: schooling systems, thank you for providing a good basis for comparison of systems. Sounds like our school options are similar in the context of organised schools, though not the less common home school option. Certainly the cost of private schools (confusingly known as "public schools" as per the English model of non-exclusionary education) – $35,000 a year for tuition (+ uniform, equipment, books, camps, etc) for our top schools. The years at school (kindergarten + 13 years) + university (undergraduate 3 years > + 1 year for honors > Masters > PhD) is a little different, and school curriculum is also; however, we are undergoing a phase of experimentation – University of Melbourne is running a trial with an intermediate year before the fully-fledged undergraduate course, which we understand is based on the American model. Within our system we also have curriculum variations such as Rudolph Steiner models and International Baccalaureate (which I assume you also have in the US).

 

[Kamille]

When I read that the charges against E mentioned "aforethought" of murder, I took that to mean that EB was planning the murder for awhile and never let Zahra begin the school year because then she would be missed immediately after she stopped showing up. So I am thinking that the police think the 'homeschooling' stuff was part of EB's plan to murder Zahra and get away with it by not letting anyone miss her for as long as possible. For her, it must have been great to have AB be such a "no hands on" father that he wouldn't even miss his daughter after 2 freaking weeks and not want to at least go in that room and kiss her forehead goodnight. And then he laughs through the 911 call. I just don't know what to think about him but I think no other woman should get involved with him.

I've wondered if the "aforethought" of murder has something to do with whether Zahra was actually dead on the 24th and why EB was in the area of the dump sites on that date. Perhaps she was there that day digging the hole in preparation but LE has some absolute proof that Zahra was still alive after this time? :waitasec:

AB seems to continue to contend that he saw Zahra more recently than 2 weeks and so far he has not been charged with anything. I guess we'll never know until a charge is laid or when it goes to trial.

MOO

 

[lauriej]

Another thought – if we consider tlcox's suggestion that Adam was planning to leave, and consider that AY stated this (I have also posted that I think this is plausible), then I wonder if he thought taking Zahra out of school was a good way to disappear unnoticed away from EB and back to Australia with Zahra. It's all speculation I realise, but if this was true, maybe EB found out (eg saw the passports in the car) and retaliated by killing precious Zahra as punishment to Adam for having the audacity to leave her? It's a bit out there, I know, but who knows, it could be true! We don't know what they knew of each other's plans, or what they argued about in weeks/months leading up to Zahra's death.

..zahra was enrolled to begin grade 5 august 2010-----never showed up. if keeping her out of school was adam's plan on "disappearing with her back to Oz"-----why had he not left yet?

..if EB killed his "precious zahra", as punishment to him, i would think he'd put his one fist through her face, while using the other to make a real 911 call.

..we also don't know where LE retrieved the passports from. the 1st search warrant that had them listed was for the vehicles AND the house together.

..thankyou for beginning this topic "noetic", from the posts i've read it's even more glaringly apparent that adam fails as as a parent once again.

..you'd think he could have poked the "something in the bed" once in awhile for a quick "hey-----how ya' doing?" and, "oh good, you're awake-----how's school going??"

..although, from his recent interview-------adam would have us believe that he's sticking around to assist LE.

Steve: are you going to stay around?

Adam: "I’m still waiting, I’m going to stay here as long as the hickory police and everybody else needs me here, um, once I’ve helped them with anything else they need to be helped with, then hopefully I’ll be going back to Australia. Um, try pick up a few pieces of my life and save some money so I can come back here for when the trial happens."

..he really is forced to stay, as he has court again April 11th for the running people off the road/threats and another court date April 29th for "worthless chqs".

..i'm hopeful that during this time, LE is putting together charges against him for being a "worthless father"-------child neglect, for starters.

 

[Capri]

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/oct/15/no-record-zahra-was-home-schooled-ar-458423/

Libby Brown, public information officer for Caldwell County Schools, said school personnel try to find a child who does not show for school within the first 10 days of a school year.
"We did contact the family," Brown said about Zahra's parents, Adam and Elisa.
Brown could not divulge a lot of information, but said, "a parent withdrew the child and said the family had moved to a different district."
Brown said the parent indicated Zahra would be home schooled.
That's when the Caldwell County school system's jurisdiction ended.
However, Brown said the system did review elements of home schooling with the parent.

I tend to beleive that it went more like this, Zahra doesn't show up for public school she went to last year, so 10 days of the first of this school year(per North Carolina's guidelines), EB/AB are contacted by the state, questioning Why Zahra is not in school. My guess is they probably just answered questions, and when the state reminded them of the requirements in NC, either public school or enrolled with the state as being homeschooled, EB/AB probably took that and said ok, she is being homeschooled. We know she was never enrolled with the state by a parent. It is highly doubtful EB planned to truly homeschool Zahra( and as we know, she's not so good with paperwork evidenced by lack of filing for divorce multiple times, yet getting "remarried.")It was just the easy way out, getting Childrens Services off of her back.

 

[2goldfish]

I am a homeschooler also (in the UK) and this is one of a number of cases where a parent suddenly takes a child from school to "homeschool" and the child winds up dead, often after a few too many questions have been asked. I didnt believe it for a second in this case!

It makes me angry cause obviously these cases hit the news hard & lead mainstreamers to think worse of homeschooling than they typically already do.