From the fringe into the mainstream: homeschooling comes of age

Although only 2 percent of American children are taught at home by their parents, the topic of homeschooling is a hot one – and everyone seems to have an opinion about it.

Whether you think most homeschoolers are overly protective parents, religious fundamentalists, selfless advocates for their children, or people whose children’s needs weren’t being met by the public school system, you won’t have a hard time finding someone who agrees with you. And yet, the homeschooling movement has grown enormously in the past 20 years. Its leaders are politically savvy, and they’ve used the clout of their followers to both enact and defeat legislation. A case in point: as recently as 1983, just four states had laws permitting homeschooling. By 1993, it was legal in all 50 states.

Minnesota is slightly behind the national average in the number of children whose classroom is the kitchen table. Of the state’s 946,961 enrolled in K-12 education, 17,553, or 1.8 percent of them were being educated at home by their parents last year.

Who does it … and why?

Experts say traditionally the homeschooling family was larger than the average American family, overwhelmingly white, fundamentalist Christian, with two married parents, one of whom stayed at home. The motivating factor behind the family’s choice to homeschool was the desire to infuse their children’s education with religious meaning. While families who fit this stereotype still form the majority of homeschoolers, today Muslims, Jews, and atheists homeschool their kids, too, and just over one-quarter of homeschoolers are people of color.

According to a national survey, close to two-thirds of parents homeschool because they are concerned about the environment in public schools or want to provide religious or moral teaching they feel the schools are lacking. Chris Anne Johnson of Lester Prairie, has been homeschooling for four years and shares the views of the majority of homeschoolers. Her oldest son, Caleb, now 9, attended kindergarten for half a year before the Johnsons decided he’d be better off at home. “Wedidn’t agree with much of the secularization of religious holidays and found it difficult to unteach our eldest son the values his teacher was teaching, which opposed our own,” Johnson says. However, the Johnsons haven’t sworn off the public schools totally: “My Luke will attend kindergarten next year at our local school because we adore the teacher in this town.” Johnson sounds a cautionary note about her tolerance for public education: “If he does well, and expresses a desire to attend first grade, I’d have to know the teacher, and feel confident they’d serve his needs well.”

Lisa Botts, a homeschooling veteran from Golden Valley, echoes some of Johnson’s reasoning. “We’re born-again Christians,” Botts says. “We don’t like the secularization of the public schools, and we couldn’t afford parochial school tuition. I wanted to teach my kids through a Biblical perspective with character training. I also just didn’t want someone else training and teaching my kids eight hours a day.” After talking to homeschoolers at their church and doing some research, the Bottses took the plunge into homeschooling when oldest son Greg, now 16, was a second-grader. In addition to Greg, Botts homeschools daughters Kaitlyn, 8, and Kaylee, 5. Lisa can foresee a time when Kaitlyn wants to go to school. “I’d try and talk her out of it.” she says.

Some homeschoolers feel they can provide a better education at home than their children can receive at a private school; Michael Atherton and Christine Ng, who live in Southeast Minneapolis, feel this way. Atherton characterizes both public and private schools as being too slow-paced. He also characterizes his son’s temperament as “boisterous” and isn’t sure a school could handle that. “We were in the process of applying to [a local private school] and decided that we didn’t want to send David even if he were accepted,” Atherton says. He feels that the 4-year-old meets all the criteria for kindergarten and has for six months. “We don’t want to wait another year and a half for him to start school.” He is also critical of the nine-month school year. “We plan to homeschool 12 months out of the year. The traditional summer break doesn’t make sense; kids are wandering around bored out of their mind.”

Would Atherton consider sending his boys to school under any circumstances? “Not unless they ask. If they wanted a ‘high school experience’ we’d make a deal that they could go as long as they’re maintaining our expectations.” Atherton hopes that David, 4, and Christopher, 2-1/2, will be ready for college at 15 or 16; he says that it’s a “myth” that too much academic pressure on a child damages them. “Most schools teach to the lower third, academically,” he says. “Kids in the upper 50 percent are bored and not working up to their ability.”

Another perspective

Minnesota’s 2004 Teacher of the Year, Tom Keating, has given homeschooling a great deal of thought. He worries that homeschooled children are too sheltered from diverse personalities and ideas. He sounds a cautionary note: “I think parents need to consider why they’re doing this I don’t think it’s ever a good idea [to homeschool] in order to run away from the current system. Kids need to be exposed to a diversity of thought. It’s healthy to have a decision about differing views, to discuss different values systems and ask ‘what do you think?’ That should be incorporated into a child’s education.”

The legalities of homeschooling

Many years ago, homeschooling parents in Minnesota were required to be licensed teachers; today, it’s legal for any parent to teach his or her children at home. No teaching certificate, college degree, or even high school diploma is required.

Although the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) lists Minnesota as one of the 12 most highly regulated states in the country for homeschooling, most of the homeschoolers we talked to think the state does a good job of giving parents the flexibility to teach their children, while making sure the basics are taught.

“I’m fine with it,” said homeschooler Krista Boos of Burnsville. “I think it’s a good balance between too loose and too strict. I think it offers enough flexibility so that homeschool families can explore whichever method of learning that they find fits their family … it’s nice to have a basic outline of what we need to be doing, but yet they are not too intrusive and they pretty much leave us alone.”

Johnson agrees: “I think it’s just enough, not too much. Reasonable accountability.”

Atherton, however, thinks the state should be more stringent. “I think the state should demand the same standards of homeschooled kids as in-school kids. We need feedback to know if homeschoolers are meeting certain standards.”

Getting started: Homeschooling 101

Want to homeschool? Here are some tips about where to begin.

Surround yourself with veterans. Join one or more homeschool organizations; seek out Internet resources and email support lists; locate local homeschoolers. Support is key to a successful homeschool experience; without the help and advice of those who have “been there, done that,” it can be overwhelming to figure out the basics like how to structure your day, which curriculums to consider, where to go when you need help.

Look for learning and socialization opportunities. A common criticism of homeschooling is “lack of socialization.” Active homeschoolers say this is a misconception; those who are most successful at homeschooling regularly incorporate outside activities into their days. Botts belongs to a homeschooling cooperative of 50 families; the group regularly organizes field trips. Johnson says, “My kids are in Awana’s at church. We participate in several homeschooling co-ops, as well as field trip groups. My oldest is in sports: baseball, swimming, and a little football. He’s also beginning drum lessons this year. My second oldest is in swimming and will be beginning piano lessons this spring.” And Boos, whose preschooler and kindergartner participate in a number of playgroups and support groups, responds, “Many homeschoolers joke that it’s more like ‘home away from school’ than anything because we are so busy doing things, going places and experiencing life.”

You don’t have to do it all yourself. No one person is good at everything; even the best-educated person has subjects that are weak as well as those that are strong. While most people can teach a first-grader to add and subtract, not everyone can understand the intricacies of calculus or speak French. When it’s appropriate, don’t hesitate to seek out those with the expertise you lack. Likewise, if you think your child may have a learning disability or be a gifted learner, ask for the help you need to help your child succeed.

Homeschooling doesn’t have to be forever. If you get to a point where you think your child would be better off in a traditional school, you can always change your plan. Or you may find that one child prefers to be in school, while another wouldn’t consider it. “It’s always about what’s best for the child,” said Johnson. “As parents, we sometimes have to make the hard decisions in the best interests of our child.”