Staying Home for School

SK PARENTS TO TALK about what motivates them to educate their kids at home and you’ll get anything but a simple answer. Ask them to make generalizations about home-school families and they can’t do it. More to the point, they won’t. They, better than anyone, recognize there are as many different reasons to home school as there are different ways to do it. One thing these families do have in common, said Lori Sims, a home-schooling mom with two sons, ages 10 and 12, is a desire to participate fully in their children’s educations.

Thirty years ago home schooling was a fringe idea, most often associated with society’s dropouts. But with the advent of the Internet, which can provide access to online courses and hard-to-find information for even the most isolated families, as well as the ongoing legalization of home schooling in most states – it became legal in Washington in 1985 – the practice is rapidly moving into the mainstream.

In 2001, the U.S. Department of Education reported that about 850,000 American children were being home schooled. The number may be significantly higher, because many home schoolers remain under the radar. In Idaho, the state doesn’t require parents to document their home schooling practices. In Washington, parents must tell the state what they are doing and it’s estimated that Spokane has the 10th largest documented home schooling population in the country at about 500 families.

Spokane Public School District spokesperson Terren Roloff said that number has been constant for years.

But across the nation there are other indicators that the number of homeschooled children is growing.

Given today’s on-the-go lifestyles, not to mention the financial stressors currently drawing so many parents into the work force, why are thousands of families now choosing this lesser-traveled path?

One of the biggest plusses home schooling parents cite is the opportunity to meet their kids where they are academically, said Steve Moitozo, Executive Director of the Home School Association of New England. Because parents know their kids so well, Moitozo said, they are able to provide a custom-designed curriculum that moves at their child’s pace and takes into account his or her learning style. Parents of kids with Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder who want to keep their children off Ritalin or out of special education classes choose to home school for this very reason.

Julie Allen, of Port Orchard, Wash., home schools her adopted daughter, Jessie, to accommodate her learning disability. Jessie’s former teacher suggested Ritalin, but Allen said, “no way.” By home schooling Jessie, Allen said she is able to let her daughter learn at her own pace, without prescription medication. “With home schooling,” Allen said, “kids can work at their own levels.”

John Bagby, of Spokane, took his son out of public school, not because he was a slow learner, but because “he wasn’t a test taker.” Instead of teaching his son full-time at home, Bagby’s family combines home study with classes at The Enrichment Cooperative (TEC), where Bagby teaches engineering and robotics to children K-12.

TEC is a program offered by Spokane Public Schools where home schooling families can enroll their kids two days a week in classes like Latin, music and martial arts – subjects most parents couldn’t teach on their own – as well as requirements like history, English and math. Bagby said his son’s goal is to return to public school as soon as possible and with the help of TEC, the family is working to improve his study and test-taking skills so the return will be a happy one.

Dana Lyman, principal of TEC, believes the program offers the best of both worlds. “TEC,” said Lyman, “is a community connection for families tired of going it alone.”

Parents of gifted children also are taking advantage of the options a home-based education can offer. These kids sometimes find themselves bored by the pace of classrooms in which their own skills may far exceed those of their peers. Home schooling allows gifted students to choose compelling material and advance through it as quickly as they are able, instead of waiting for classmates to catch up.

Lisa McCullough, a Spokane-area mother of four, said she likes the flexibility home schooling provides. McCullough teaches three hours of core subjects per day, then moves on to hands-on projects or the kids’ other interests. “Some days,” she smiles, “are harder than others. Some days you just have to scrap it.”

A family’s moral or religious beliefs also may play into the decision to teach their kids at home.

The National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) in 2001 found that 75-80 percent of home schooling parents would identify themselves as “Bible-believing Christians.” In addition to teaching standard academic subjects, they also incorporate moral and biblical texts into their curricula.

Anna Carmichael, a sixth grader at Lynwood Elementary on Spokane’s north side, said it takes strength not to adopt some of the habits of her classmates. “School can be a blast, but kids use cuss words all the time,” Carmichael said, “I know that if I spend too much time around them, I might start using those words, too, and I don’t want to do that.” Carmichael is the youngest of three daughters in a close-knit Christian family. Like her sisters, she used to be home schooled, but when her mother became ill a few years ago, Carmichael had to enter fourth grade in the middle of the school year.

“It was horrible,” she said, “It was hard because I didn’t always know what was going on and the teacher couldn’t stop and just give me attention. I was used to having my mom be able to help me whenever I needed it, but in school, the teacher couldn’t.” Carmichael plans to return to home schooling for seventh and eight grades, and though she said she’d prefer to stay out of the system, she may attend high school after that.

Terren Roloff, spokeswoman for District 81, said the district has many programs and policies to address the concerns of public school families, ranging from anti-harassment and anti-bullying workshops for school staff to special education and resource support for students with special needs.

TEC is another of the ways Spokane schools help families find the best solution for their kids’ educational needs.

For families who choose to keep their children in the system, “gifted education opportunities abound,” Roloff said via e-mail. “Courses range from honors and advanced placement at the secondary level to weekly or daily gifted programs at the elementary level.”

“Montessori and Alternative Parent Participation Learning Experience (APPLE) programs provide elementary options for families seeking non-traditional settings, while SPRINT offers similar options to middle school families,” Roloff said.

One of the questions home school families hear is, ‘What about socialization?’ Those who don’t home school are concerned that the lack of daily interaction with peers might one day put home schooled children at a social disadvantage in the ‘real world’.

Membership in support groups is one of the most common ways home school families can combat isolation.

In the Spokane and north Idaho area, there are more than 10 groups to which families can turn.

Terri Craig, a Spokane Valley mother of two, said that when her family first began home schooling, their support group, Valley Home Scholars, made networking and curriculum building much easier. Support groups also organize group activities. Valley Home Scholars hosts a number of events for kids including a back-to-school night, a Speech Meet, spelling bees and field trips, as well as parent workshops and conferences.

Parents considering home schooling may find the process intimidating at first, but Karen Allwine said it’s easier than most people think.

Allwine teaches a course three times a year through the Community Colleges of Spokane to help parents meet Washington’s home educator qualification standards. In addition to covering topics such as the legal aspects of home schooling, overcoming isolation, teaching and learning styles and even the college application process, Allwine also addresses the differences between alternative education programs, which are affiliated with public school systems, and independent home schooling, in which families design their curricula and choose and purchase materials without any public school assistance. “I want people to know they have choices,” Allwine said.