LIFE LESSONS: Shelly Pond of Plantation home-schools her three children - Ally, 5; Kathy, 8; and Kyle 10 - at their dining-room table. They are among about 3,000 home-schooled youngsters in Broward. CANDACE WEST/HERALD STAFF
Posted on 08/09/2003 2:24:02 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Shelly Pond expects her children at the breakfast table at 8 a.m. for Berry Burst Cheerios and a Bible lesson, followed by servings of geography, language arts and multiplication.
The Ponds' wooden dining room table doubles as a desk for research, an art table for collages and a workbench where science experiments sometimes go wrong.
LIFE LESSONS: Shelly Pond of Plantation home-schools her three children - Ally, 5; Kathy, 8; and Kyle 10 - at their dining-room table. They are among about 3,000 home-schooled youngsters in Broward. CANDACE WEST/HERALD STAFF
The Pond children are among an estimated 3,000 home-schooled children in Broward, which has more than any other Florida county. In Miami-Dade, the number is about 2,400. As families look to the start of the traditional school year this month, more are considering teaching their kids at home.
''The School Board would like children to attend public schools,'' said Rosemary Miranda, the liaison between home-schoolers and the Broward public school district. ``But if a parent chooses to home-school their children, the state allows them to do that.''
Plantation mom Shelly Pond has taught her children -- Kyle, 10; Kathy, 8; and Ally, 5 -- for six years.
''I like the fact that I can share my values with my children, work on their character and have a strong family unit,'' said Pond. ``But as their teacher, I also know my children's strengths and weaknesses, and I don't have to wonder how my child is performing in school.''
EXPENSES, RECORDS
Parents considering home-schooling have a lot to think about. There are expenses, such as books and curriculum kits that can cost from $100 to more than $1,000. And home-schooling often means the loss of outside income for the parent-teacher.
''Somebody has to be there to do it,'' said Vivian Astray-Caneda, who heads Parent Assisted Learners, a Miami-Dade support organization for home-schooling parents. ``Many people are trying to do it in their spare time between jobs, but their children are not making it.''
Some parents have cut costs by finding materials on the Internet and using free books from the school book depository or the library.
Home-schooling parents must be organized enough to keep detailed records and ensure their students are properly evaluated. The state requires parents to keep samples of their children's work sheets, essays and artistic projects every year. Home-schooled children must also be evaluated annually, either by a certified Florida teacher who would assess the portfolio, or through a standardized test such as the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills or the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Home-schooled students may also undergo a psychological evaluation to measure their progress.
Parents who take on the responsibility of teaching their children must be prepared to give up time -- a lot of time. ''Home-school takes commitment and sacrifice,'' said Christine Bucher of Davie, who has been home-schooling for 14 years. ``It's not an easy undertaking. It's like a job -- there are good days and bad days. But my benefits are great.''
Many parents fear they aren't qualified to teach certain subjects, especially in the higher grades.
SUPPORT GROUPS
Support groups like the Broward County Homeschool Parent Support Group and Home Educators Lending Parent Support organize cooperative teaching efforts that take advantage of parents' qualifications in a particular area to teach small groups of students. This year, at the end of their co-op unit study of the human body, the Pond children will get a dissection lesson from a dentist whose children are home-schooled.
If students still have trouble with a course, parents can hire a tutor.
Dr. Mary Lynn Collins, a professor at the Fischler Graduate School of Education at Nova Southeastern University, worries that home-schooled kids don't get all of the experiences they need.
''These kids miss out on an important human-socialization factor that is not there whether you are learning alone or with your siblings,'' she said. ``Home-school is teaching a child to be by one's self in a world where we need leaders.''
Home-schooling advocates dismiss such naysaying. Support groups sponsor field trips to museums, zoos and historical sites to give children social opportunities. And teens who are part of the Parent Support Group plan a prom, publish a yearbook and host mall outings and monthly teen meetings. Home-school students may also participate in sports and extracurricular activities at their neighborhood public school.
AVOIDING TEMPTATION
''Some people feel you have to go to school to be properly socialized,'' said John Kernohan of Hollywood, whose five children, ages 3 to 15, have always been home-schooled. ``If being exposed to drugs, premarital sex, violence against teachers and students is a definition of proper socialization, that is not mine. My children are not ignorant of what goes on in the world, but they don't have to be exposed to it on a day-by-day basis in order to be properly socialized.''
Even the most ardent public-school supporter would agree that many minutes of every day in school are spent in activities unrelated to learning. Still, students must spend the day at school. At home, students end their day once they complete the assigned work, which can allow more time for other interests.
OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES
Kernohan's daughters -- Brittany, 15; Grace, 11; and MacKenzie, 7 -- are involved in dance lessons and competitions. His 9-year-old son Johnny is a Cub Scout. And all of the children, including 3-year-old Dillion, are active in their church's youth group and attend physical education classes sponsored by the Christian Homeschool Athletic Association of Florida, which provides phys ed for home-school children.
''I don't feel I'm missing out on anything,'' said Brittany. ``If anything, I get more. I don't face peer pressure, drugs or the pressure of having a boyfriend. . . . I can get along well with adults, I have a close bond with my family, and I have more time to dance.''
Junior and senior home-schoolers may dual-enroll at Florida community colleges to complete a few of their core college courses at no cost. Home-schoolers are also eligible for the state's Bright Futures Scholarship Program.
Home-school graduate Mallika Bucher, 19, completed some of her core courses at Broward Community College and will enter Miami-Dade Community College this month to train as a nurse/midwife. She has positive memories of her home-school experience.
She was president of the 4-H Club, a camp counselor for her church's sleep-away camp, a member of the Parent Support Group's prom committee. She even had enough free time to work as a full-time supervisor in a Plantation health food store.
''Home-school helps children have self-discipline,'' she said. ``They're respectful to adults, and they get along with children of all ages. It certainly did not take me away from anything socially, and it was such a positive experience that I want to do this with my children.''
I see they haven't quit recycling that tired old discredited talking point.
Disney, Homosexuals and the Free Market
To: kattracks
Until then, conservatives opposed to the homosexual gathering will need more than righteous indignation to make their point.
I thought conservatives were supposed to support the Constitution, in particular the right to freely assemble.
2 posted on 08/08/2003 12:03 PM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
To: mvpel
Exactly, and they also may support their right not to assemble.
3 posted on 08/08/2003 12:12 PM PDT by kattracks
The government schools raise students to be subservient to the government, and teach them that their parents don't matter.
It's lame but it still gets wide circulation.
I thought that an odd remark. I guess they've added "leadership" to their bumper sticker grading system.
Dr. Mary Lynn Collins, a professor at the Fischler Graduate School of Education at Nova Southeastern University, worries that home-schooled kids don't get all of the experiences they need.
''These kids miss out on an important human-socialization factor that is not there whether you are learning alone or with your siblings,'' she said. ``Home-school is teaching a child to be by one's self in a world where we need leaders.''
All the experiences they need? School is for education, not socialization. Children can get socialization by going outside in the evenings and weekends, playing games, going to the mall with friends, playing sports, going to birthday parties, etc, etc.
In government schools, they'll learn how to be politically correct, how not to offend anyone, be exposed to Britney Spears lookalike whore teenagers, drugs and smoking, incompetent people as teachers and administrators and the fear that the SCHOOL might say that their kid is ADD/ADHD and needs ritalin.
Government schools are nothing more than indoctrination centers.
Does that mean that if they want to, the parents may choose; or does it mean the state may require it?
Ookie stuff, that FL law. Even Massachusetts is better.
A Commonwealth of Massachusetts Senator Paul E. Tsongas Scholar, and recipient of academic merit scholarships from the National Rifle Association, the Ladies Branch of the New Bedford Port Society, the Massachusetts Police Association, the New England Association of Facilities Engineers and others, Miss Post-Maher served as Cadet Chief Engineer for the class of '03 -- the first woman to earn the position in the Academy's 160 year history, according to MMA spokespersons. She was awarded the Leadership Medal from the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States in May of 2003.
Miss Post-Maher has trained aboard the California Maritime Academy ship "Golden Bear" as well as the MMA training ship "Empire State" , visiting China, Japan, Hawaii, the Azores, Spain, Greece, and North and South American destinations. She crewed aboard the Italian Navy sail-training ship "Idea Due" on a trans-Atlantic voyage from Massachusetts to Portugal in 2000, and was crew aboard the Tall Ship "HMS Bounty" in 1999.
Earning credit toward a degree in Marine Transportation, Miss Post-Maher is currently aboard the supertanker "SeaRiver Long Beach" as a deck officer trainee, and will be making the "Valdez Run" from Alaska to California until late August 2003.
Shanna Post-Maher received her high school diploma from her homeschooling parents.
Update: Shanna was given command of the Longbeach--sister ship to the Exxon Valdez--on a recent exit from the Port of Valdez, right past Hazelwood's reef. She's 21 years-old. So much for the leadership jive.
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