by Dianne Lockhart
MONTE VISTA. COLORADO-Why is the home schooling system growing? Many parents are breaking away from the national public school attendance model, for various reasons, including quality of education, lack of exposure to belief systems that go against their own, and having the ability to transfer classroom learning to real life situations. A Penn State researcher, specifically seeking answers for her field of expertise, geography, sought answers to that question.

“Until the 1980s, most of the students kept out of regular schools to be home schooled were breaking state laws,” says JoAnn C. Vender, graduate student in geography. “In research on the geography of education, there are very few studies on home schooling because the data are hard to pin down. Homeschoolers represent a significant, but under-studied segment of the education universe - estimated at about 1.1 million students, about 20 percent of the privately-schooled population in the U.S.”

In an article, recently, entitled, Home school Numbers Growing, Tracking Difficult, Vendor explores the reasons, demographics, and legal requirements and how they vary from state to state.

“An outgrowth of the 1960s alternative school movement, home schooling, is on the upswing in the United States, and a Penn State researcher is trying to piece together a snapshot of the movement where in many cases, states require little record keeping. Fundamentalist Christians and other religious groups, who adopted the practice with vigor in the 1980s, pushing states to legalize the practice in the ‘80s and ‘90s, fueled the home schooling movement. A typical home school family is White, middle-class, conservative Protestant with more than two children, in which the mother is primarily responsible for the children’s schooling. But there are also many homeschoolers who do not fit that demographic. Homeschoolers reflect the whole spectrum of American society. They can be divided into two broad groups, those who home school primarily for religious reasons — termed believers by sociologist Mitchell Stevens — and those who home school for ideological, social or simply practical purposes — inclusive. In many cases, believers would enroll their children in faith-based schools if those existed in their area, but many homeschoolers live in rural areas where private schools are limited or nonexistent,” she said.

Home schools in one cluster of small rural towns

One of the arguments against home schooling, historically, has been the lack of social activity. Home schooling parents address that issue by involving their students in band, athletics, and other programs at the public school. This helps the public school by allowing them to receive state funding for the extra students in particular classes, and it helps families provide a rounded education for their home-schooled children. One parent who, for years, home schooled her children in the San Luis Valley, in southern Colorado, said that some home-schoolers only participate in sports programs at public schools. Her own children “were always in band, sports, and the girls were in dance.” Terry and Joyce Wiley believe in the home school concept, and lived it, with their children. “(Public schools) are putting emphasis on different things,” said Joyce Wiley, “our emphasis (in home school) is ‘How do you relate this to real life.’ What’s missing is purpose.” She gave an example of how children in public schools are encouraged to use calculators, instead of doing the math in their head or on paper. When asked if the value of performing math problems without a calculator was an exercise of the mind, she agreed. The value of exercising the brain, instead of using a calculator goes back to purpose- it’s the exercise, in some instances that sharpens the skills of students, as opposed to just trying to make a good grade. “We told our kids that they need math, if they want to be successful in business,” said Wiley. She said that reading was emphasized more, with her own children, “the girls (who are now in a private school) have read forty books in three months. In some schools they’ll spend three months just to read one book. Of course they’re going into all aspects of the book…” She mentioned how learned Benjamin Franklin was, because he was an insatiable reader. She gave an example of what private and home-schooled children can achieve, “One former student of the schools where the girls are attending, created the internet site, Earthlink, by the age of 24.” She said her children achieved better results, at home, because there wasn’t the social pressure detracting from the schoolwork. Her son decided to try attending public school, and has been in public school for two years, in high school. “It’s more fun,” said Wiley, “but school is for learning.” In addition to the band and sports programs, their children are involved in 4-H, allowing them to be a part of another group of young people with a common goal, and learning to be competitive. She said her son enjoys attending public high school in Alamosa.
Bryan and Virginia Christensen home school three children, a fifth- and eighth-grader, and one who is attending half-time at Monte Vista Schools, at the sophomore level. Virginia believes it’s the best thing for their children, “but it’s not for everybody. It’s not the best situation for everybody- if they don’t have the time (because of jobs) or just can’t deal with it, but it’s one choice that works for a lot of people.” Christensen said the best thing about home schooling is “at an early age, you can see what they’re learning or not learning, and repeat it, if necessary.” She said the worst thing is you have to be a Jack-of-all-trades, “you have to be in a lot of paces at once.” Her reasons for home schooling might differ from other parents’ desire to insulate their children from belief systems that collide with their own. For the Christensen’s, the reason is more educationally basic- “to give them a good start.” She said there a lot of good people in the public schools, and other (ideals and belief systems) exposure wasn’t part of my concern, though there are problems in the public schools.” Their motive was a good education, and a desire to teach their children themselves.

“A lot of people worry about socialization, but our kids have taken music, art, ballet, jazz, clogging, and sewing, and they show horses in 4-H, and the boys are involved in motorcycle racing. The eighth-grader does small engines and they hold offices in the county and district levels in 4-H. They get out and visit with a lot of kids,” she said.

Legal requirements

Though legal requirements for attendance and testing vary from state to state, Colorado law has safeguards that are more flexible than some, and more stringent than some. Home-schoolers are required to be tested periodically, using nationally standardized tests such as the Iowa Basic, the Stanford, or the California Achievement test, and the test results must be submitted to the local district or a recognized private school. As an alternative, a certified teacher may also evaluate students.
“By law, they have to be in “school” in their core classes four hours a day,” Christensen said. “If you added art, music, and P.E., that would be more, but all we have to record by law is the core courses.” Christensen records it all, even though it’s not required, just for her own records.
Local school districts are compensated by the state, based on the amount of time the child attends classes there. If students are enrolled half time, the school is compensated by the state for half time, full-time attendance results in full day compensation, and less than half time enrollment results in no compensation to the participating district. Credits counted for compensation cannot include after-school sports or other programs.
Many parents who home school their children are doing so, not because they are anti-public schools, but instead, they want to be the one guiding their children’s education on a more substantial level.

Resources

There are many resources available for researching the topic of home schooling. For more information, visit:

http://chec.org/
http://www.homeschool.com/
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling
http://www.home-school.com/
http://homeschooling.about.com/
http://school.familyeducation.com/home-schooling/education/34389.html
http://www.kevinswanson.com/AboutUs/Index.html

Dianne Lockhart is a freelance photojournalist, writer, humorist, Internet broadcaster, business owner, and marketer, and parent, who resides in Southern Colorado.Her Websites:Meander Media Group: http://www.rockindj.comSolace Radio website: http://www.solaceradio.comSolace Radio listen link: http://www.live365.com/stations/solaceradio

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