Uwe and Hannelore Romeike are not like other asylum seekers, people fleeing war or torture in places like Afghanistan, Iraq or Somalia. They're music teachers from a village in southern Germany. And yet, in what appears to be the first case of its kind, the couple and their five children were granted asylum in the U.S. last week by an immigration judge who ruled that they had a "well-founded fear of persecution" in their home country for engaging in what has become a popular albeit somewhat controversial American practice — homeschooling their children.

 Kraus strongly disagrees with the asylum ruling, saying it "treated Germany like a banana republic instead of a democratic country with its own laws." He also argues that homeschooling deprives children of important social lessons. "No parental couple can offer a breadth of education and replace experienced teachers. Kids also lose contact with their peers," he says. Advocates of homeschooling, however, argue that children benefit from tailored one-on-one instruction and that they're able to learn at their own pace without distractions in the classroom. The HSLDA goes one step further, saying research suggests that homeschooled children score significantly higher than their peers on standardized achievement tests

What you can do to support home schooling parents in Germany:

1) Phone the German embassy and talk to Ms. Ebba Scholl, the atache of cultural affairs, at +27 (012) 427 8906

2) Send a fax to the German embassy. Mark it for the attention of Ms. Ebba Scholl, the head of cultural affairs, and send it to +27 (012) 343 3606

3) Send an email to the German embassy. Mark it for the attention of Ms. Ebba Scholl, the atache of cultural affairs, and email it to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

4)  Click here to ask the German President why homeschooling is not allowed in Germany

5) Click here to sign the the online petition for the German Embassy

6) If you are on Facebook, join the cause "Stop persecution of Home Schoolers by German Government ". It can be found under causes for Education.