BACK TO SCHOOL: More families opting to home school their children

Boston.com News ^ | August 24, 2003 | REBECCA CARROLL

[Kuksool]

BACK TO SCHOOL: More families opting to home school their children By REBECCA CARROLL, Associated Press Writer, 8/24/2003

WASHINGTON -- Scott Butler could not stand high school. On the days he made it to class, it felt like a waste of time.

"It was hard to pay attention," he said. "I really wasn't learning anything -- a lot of distractions."

When he was pulled by his parents from Wilson Senior High School and his education overseen at home, the family joined the fast-growing trend of home schooling. Once considered the realm of the ideologically or religiously extreme, home schooling is becoming a mainstream option.

"I can pace myself more, and I can learn about subjects that interest me," Scott said.

A leading advocate of home schooling says 1 million to 2 million children, representing 2 percent to 4 percent of all U.S. schoolchildren, are taught at home. The latest government numbers, from 1999, put the total at 850,000. But Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute contends the federal figure is low because some home-schooled students do not report themselves.

The easy availability of learning materials -- from teach-yourself textbooks to online courses and distance-learning degrees -- has helped broaden the appeal of home schooling. Companies that cater to at-home learners also attest to the boom.

Alpha Books caught the wave. In 2001, the publisher added a home schooling title to its "Complete Idiot's Guide" series.

Some companies offer full curricula along with the books and materials, and some schools -- private and public -- vouch for at-home learners by granting course credit, degrees and diplomas.

Home schooling options abound, partly because traditional rules do not apply. That is a sore point for critics who say home schoolers are getting special treatment.

Parents can teach their kids almost anything, in any fashion, at home. While 31 states require some kind of academic accountability -- standardized testing, for example -- home schoolers are not bound by any federal rules.

At-home learners can cut some corners when it comes to federal aid for higher education. Traditional students must earn a high school diploma or a recognized equivalent -- a GED, for instance. But home schoolers have a special line in the federal booklet on government aid exempting them from the listed requirements.

"We think the same rules ought to apply to everybody, and this appears to be an instance in which an exception is being made," said Bud Blakey, Washington counsel to the United Negro College Fund. "We don't understand why this group of kids is being treated differently."

Ninety-six percent of colleges reported a steady or higher number of home-schooled applicants last year.

In 2000, 50 percent of colleges and universities had a formal policy for home-schooled applicants. By 2003, 75 percent had such a policy.

"The colleges have responded probably as quickly as I've ever seen them respond to an admission-policy issue of this magnitude," said David Hawkins, director of public policy at the National Association for College Counseling.

Home-schooling methods run the gamut from extremely structured classroom-type lessons to "unschooling" techniques, where the student's interest rather than a curriculum determine the content of the learning. Many home schoolers take at least a few classes at a local school or community college.

Craig and Ann Williams use some textbooks but no set curriculum in the education of their six children.

"We don't believe in just sitting them in a seat and putting them through a cookie-cutter process." Craig Williams said from his home in Vancouver, Wash. "We believe in natural curiosity, and as long as there's curiosity to learn, they will learn."

Last spring, the Williams' oldest child, 14-year-old James, won the National Geographic's Geography Bee. It was the second straight year a home schooler took the top prize.

Critics worry that home-schooled children are not getting a quality education. As school districts face tougher quality standards for teachers, 29 states have no qualification requirements for home-schooling parents.

The National Education Association, which represents 2.7 million teachers and other school workers, says home schooling as a parent's choice "cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience."

Home-schooler Natalie Alexander disagrees.

The 12-year-old has always added to her at-home learning by participating in outside activities and groups, such as community college courses and the New Haven, Conn., youth soccer league.

She competed in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington last spring, where nearly 10 percent of the 251 spellers were home schooled.

She is winding up her home schooling days to start high school at Choate Rosemary Hall, a prestigious preparatory high school in Wallingford, Conn. She said she is giving up home schooling because she's "been doing it for five years, and it's starting to feel more and more small."

High school is "going to be scary and fun and -- I don't know -- very wild," she said. "It's so big, and there are so many opportunities to meet people."

Her interest in the social scene speaks to another concern for the critics: that home-schooled children are not getting adequate exposure to other kids or the chance to develop social skills.

[dd5339]

Home school ping....

Semper Fi

[kimmie7]

"We think the same rules ought to apply to everybody, and this appears to be an instance in which an exception is being made," said Bud Blakey, Washington counsel to the United Negro College Fund. "We don't understand why this group of kids is being treated differently."

Don't even try it.

[AngryJawa]

"We don't understand why this group of kids is being treated differently."

There's no way he made that statement with a straight face. Absolutely no way...

[Kuksool]

Funny how NEA educrats demand accountability standards on homeschoolers, yet they scream bloody murder when the same standards are applied to them.

[2Jedismom]

Ping!

Isn't "Back to School" time fun? ;-)

[I still care]

What he means is, I don't have to teach age appropriate AIDS education to my kindergartener. And this is flaunting what they have decided my child should learn.

No joke, this was one of the requirements I had to put down in NY that I taught my young kids. About AIDS.

Now I live in FL where they don't require that I teach that, but they don't have to worry.

I taught my older kids all about AIDS, but probably not in the way they would approve.

[Tired of Taxes]

Her interest in the social scene speaks to another concern for the critics: that home-schooled children are not getting adequate exposure to other kids or the chance to develop social skills.

I was always so worried about the "lack of socialization" (that everyone kept warning me about). But, recently, I compiled their "end of year" reports for 2002-2003 and realized that I probably overbooked them into outside activities just to compensate. I've been pushing the envelope, enrolling them into every single sport available all year long and booking them into every single outside affordable activity, class or program that I can find... This year, I think we'll be cutting back on TOO MUCH socialization and just staying home more often.

[kimmie7]

Isn't that funny? When we first began considering home schooling, that was the one thing we heard the most of. Homeschoolers probably have a much more active and HEALTHY social life than their peers! In fact, the tendency is to overbook! Funny.

[ArGee]

"We think the same rules ought to apply to everybody, and this appears to be an instance in which an exception is being made," said Bud Blakey, Washington counsel to the United Negro College Fund. "We don't understand why this group of kids is being treated differently."

Oh, like every high school in every school district across the country provides exactly the same education to every diploma recipient. Give me a BREAK.

It is fair - if you can get into college you can apply for financial aid. And colleges don't rely on a diploma. They require a transcript, SAT scores (if not more), an application with essay, and an interview before accepting you.

Stop whining about it and demand public schools start providing a decent education. Or home school your children.

Shalom.

[ArGee]

I was always so worried about the "lack of socialization"

Do what I do. Every day take your kids into the bathroom and beat them up and try to sell the drugs.

Shalom.

[ArGee]

"the" = "them"

And that wasn't my original line, but I can't remember where I heard it to attribute it properly.

Shalom.

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP

[Kuksool]

Take a look at some of the socialization skills that homeschoolers are being denied.

"Teacher gets big NEA job despite sexual misconduct"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/951622/posts

"Miami teachers union chief pleads guilty [Bilked them of 650K....]"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/970086/posts

[arthur003]

Have any studies evaluated the benefits of home schooling?
How do these kids compare to the rest of the public and private educated kids? Do they adjust well socially? Are they successful in their higher education and trade job pursuits?

[HungarianGypsy]

When I was in high school I remember hearing of a girl in my gym class who had been sent to an alternative school because of truancy. At the time I wondered why you had to mess up so badly before going to an alternative school. If I had known I could have I would have just finished high school with correspondence courses. I did better in summer school and correspondence than I did during the regular school year.

[Missus]

I'll take your question seriously, as there may be some folks out there who haven't followed the studies for the past decade.

In general, home-educated kids top out the test scores, and average about 30 percentile points above their public-school peers on standardized tests.

Home-educated kids don't suffer in an artificial environment--they have social opportunities across the board, and can typically have intelligent, respectful conversation with people of all ages and backgrounds.

Home-educated kids are changing the way some colleges work, as they are typically better prepared to WORK, are self-starters when it comes to learning, and tend to be educational consumers, rather than "undergrads."

They tend toward entreprenuerial things, and many have the chance to run functional and profitable small businesses in their teens, rather than in their twenties. There's no such thing as "waiting to grow up"--they can pursue their interests as kids, being mentored by those who have succeeded in the field they love, and by the time they hit their twenties, they're much more focused and experienced in what they want to do.

The biggest challenge for a homeschooled kid? Learning to conceal their boredom when surrounded by the insipid conversation of their public-school peers. Of course, I went to government school and had the same problem.

As with many families, our family has to work to STAY home while learning--there are so many nifty opportunities out in the world! Rather than read a textbook about animals, we can volunteer at the zoo and see them first-hand. We don't just study history: we recreate it with activities, trips, recipes, and other hands-on things. We don't read a textbook about rocks: we go rock hunting, and set up an evaluation grid, and label everything.

We don't have to worry about "crowd control"--my son's kindergarten class has one student, and one teacher; likewise with our 7yo daughter. My nephew's kindergarten has 25 kids... any bets that the teacher is giving them any sort of individual attention? It's just not possible, no matter how talented and dedicated the teacher--she's put in an impossible situation! I'm not.

Right now, my kids are out in the rain, running a hydrology experiment they set up with their Daddy. Later we'll head to the library and change out about 20 books on various topics, then settle down before dinner with a video on symphonies they've been asking for.

Home education is a great option for us. I don't bash the public school teachers and the pathetic system they have to work in--I surely don't appreciate it when they question my motives and techniques for educating the children I gave birth to. The NEA is one of the biggest problems with public education.

[Eska]

Personal responsibility for one's kids is how it really should be. Trouble is most Americans, conservatives included often do not practice what they preach. Today, Most families expect the public school to instill values, morals,behavior, along with academics.

That is exactly why homeschooling will never replace govt schools.

I have seen kids that were homeschooled come back to public schools too. Many did well, especially the ones that played sports(were accepted). Have seen others that really had problems with socialization and hid in the shadows once in high school.

[agrace]

"We think the same rules ought to apply to everybody, and this appears to be an instance in which an exception is being made," said Bud Blakey, Washington counsel to the United Negro College Fund. "We don't understand why this group of kids is being treated differently."

Absolutely no comment necessary.

[SLB]

I have been tracking the home school threads on Fr for some time now and your response is one of the best. Very well put!

We have home schooled for 16 years and in some ways it is hard to relate the experiences. Like you, we tend to live our classes. For biology we have had our students identify and label each different tree we have. Our 12 year old is reading the Odyssey right now and writing a report on it as she goes. Our 15 year is to select one of Shakespeare’s long plays and three short and dramatize them, speaking and acting all parts herself. Sort of a street mime performance.

Our college senior just returned from a semester at Regent's College a part of Oxford University where she studied English Literature (what else?). She is a 4.0 student both here and at Oxford and will probably (hopefully) graduate magna cum laude next spring. She then wants to complete a graduate degree in Library Science and work as a research librarian. Graduate schools are already contacting her, she is not contacting them.

Next Tuesday a home school graduate who is now a licensed electrician (at age 22) is coming to rewire a light in my father-in-law's house. He runs his own business from home. He set up a bar coded inventory control program for a large agricultural supply company while still in high school. He likes to fiddle with computers but would rather work with his hands doing work like the wiring.

I agree, the boredom the kids have when associating with public school kids is the largest obstacle.

I really feel the biggest issue is the last one you list, the NEA. I have sisters and sisters-in-law who are public school teachers. They are basically trying to do a good job in really pathetic situations. Situations that have a root cause with the NEA.