Home is where the school is
By Devin Felix
(Logan Herald Journal: Sunday, August 31, 2008)
In the memories of most American adults, crowded cafeterias, big yellow buses and recess are as much a part of education as long division, biology or phonics.
What would childhood be without assemblies, school bells and teachers?
If you ask Gillian Whitney and her two sons, it would be just fine.
The Whitneys are a home schooling family, one of dozens in Cache Valley that chooses not to enroll their children in any public or private school, opting instead to teach them at home.
Though such a decision seems strange to many, most home-schoolers are passionate about it, and quick to talk about why they love it.
Though such a decision seems strange to many, most home-schoolers are passionate about it, and quick to talk about why they love it.
Public school wasn’t working for Joshua Whitney. Gillian Whitney knew her son was anxious and ready to learn, but he found conventional school left him bored and uninterested. They tried a private school, but had problems with bullies, and Joshua’s love of learning seemed to be languishing.
Finally, Whitney started to consider home schooling, though tentatively at first.
“We thought only certain weird people home-schooled,” she said.
Soon, however, she found a social group of about 100 families in Arizona, where the family lived at the time. She met them, talked to them about home schooling and realized that there were indeed normal people who home-schooled, she said.
But she was still uncertain. She worried about her sons missing out on the traditions she grew up with: Halloween parties, Valentines from classmates in their desks, school picture day. Once she began, however, she discovered those things weren’t necessary for a full education, she said.
Now, five years later, 12-year-old Joshua and his 10-year-old brother David both learn at home.
“All my fears were not founded,” she said.
Her fears touched on the main question asked by those not involved with home schooling: What about socialization? How will they learn to get along with others if they don’t go to school?
School is not the only way for a child to learn to interact with others, Whitney said. In fact, a lot of “negative socialization” goes on at school, she said.
Most home-schoolers participate in other social activities and take part in activities with other homeschooled children, said Sally Bishop, a Logan woman who teaches her 12-year-old daughter at home.
“One false assumption is that they’re never going to leave their home,” Bishop said.
Cache Valley Home-schoolers, a loose-knit group of parents and children, plans activities such as family camp-outs, museum trips and others to give kids a chance to meet together.
Parents in the group also lead cooperative study groups. Whitney’s younger son David will take part this year in “Knights of Freedom,” a twice-a-month meeting that involves a group of home-schoolers studying the lives of the nation’s founding fathers. Joshua will take part in “Newton’s Universe,” a group that will study the history of math and science.
In addition, the boys will take part in Boy Scouts, 4-H activities and participate in classes and events at the family’s synagogue in Ogden.
Regulations governing home schooling vary from state to state.
Home-schoolers took up arms earlier this year after the 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled in a child protection hearing that parents in California must have teaching credentials to legally teach their children at home.
After an outcry from the state’s estimated 166,000 home-schoolers and others across the country, the court agreed to reconsider its position and reversed the decision earlier this month. Parents in California can still teach their kids at home if they file for status as a private school.
Utah law places fewer restrictions on families that choose to teach their kids at home. At the first of each school year, parents must file a notarized affidavit with the school district in their area saying they will teach their children at home.
Home-schooled students are not required to take standardized tests or follow the public schools’ schedules. They’re not required to report back to the district on student progress.
The affidavits function mainly to exempt students from truancy laws, which would otherwise require them to be in school, said Dave Forbush, director of special education for the Cache County School District, who handles relations with home-schoolers for the district.
Mostly, the district accepts the affidavits and allows home-schoolers to govern themselves, said Deanna Peterson, Forbush’s administrative assistant.
Some worry that such an unregulated system will lead to abuses, but home-schoolers say abuses are extremely rare. While some envision lazy parents who pull their children out of school and let them stagnate in front of the television all day, that almost never happens, Bishop said.
“I’ve never heard of anyone who pulled their kids out of school without a plan. In fact, there’s a lot of overplanning among home-schoolers,” Bishop said.
The unregulated nature of home schooling is exactly what makes it so appealing to many, Bishop said. Schedules, methods and even subject matter can all be tailored to fit the interests and needs of each child.
That usually means the day of a home-schooled kid looks much different than that of his neighbor enrolled in a public school. Though families’ methods vary widely, most parents allow learning to follow their kids’ interests, Bishop said.
Using a more flexible approach to learning was a boon for Bishop’s children, she said. Her son was failing fourth grade and her daughter was also struggling. They hated school and Bishop worried that if things continued, their desire to learn would be killed.
She began to teach them both at home, focusing on their interests and allowing them to work a the speed that best suited them. It wasn’t long before they were excelling in areas where they previously failed, she said. Serena, her 12-year-old who had once struggled to read, has read a 2-foot-tall stack of books in the last year.
But if the subjects a student is required to learn aren’t dictated by the government, will they end up learning everything they need to? Whitney and Bishop say yes.
Whitney makes a curriculum plan with each of her boys at the start of a school year and they plan out the course of study. Core subjects such as math and English are studied every day, while others, such as music, art and geography are studied one day a week. The kids have a special interest in history, so that gets studied every day as well.
The plan is there as a guide, but it’s flexible, Whitney said. If an activity takes longer than anticipated, there’s no need to stop in the middle because it’s time for a new subject. If the boys discover something while learning that takes them in an unexpected direction, it’s OK, she said.
Children are born to learn and they want to learn, Bishop believes.
“I have a lot of faith in the inherent curiosity of children,” she said.
Bishop and Whitney both agree the methods work. Whitney administers Iowa standardized tests, a nationally accepted test given to students throughout the U.S., to her boys each year to ensure they’re learning. Last year, both scored above the 95th percentile nationally.
Bishop’s son chose to return to public school last year, and after failing every subject years before, he got straight A’s, Bishop said.
What works for them
“Home schooling in any form challenges a lot of assumptions,” Bishop said.
Conventional schooling is the only method most people have ever known, and many people are surprised that it’s possible to education in a different way, she said.
Often, people assume her choice to educate her kids a different way means she judging them or condemning public schools, which is not true, Bishop said. In fact, many home-schooled kids are involved in activities such as orchestra, band or science classes at public schools, Bishop said.
“I’m not anti-public schools,” she said. “I just prefer my kids at home and we’re having a great time.”
Whitney agrees.
“I feel home schooling is right for me and my children, but I don’t believe it’s right for everyone. But I believe everyone should have the choice,” she said.
E-mail:
dfelix@hjnews.com
