A Class of One

As a stay-at-home mom, I often engage in small talk with the other parents at the park where I take my kids. But recently I engaged in more meaningful conversations with an intriguing group of parents who homeschool their children. My response to their revelation elicited much head nodding and eyebrow raising as I surreptitiously scanned their kids for obvious signs of social isolation and generalized quirkiness.

The idea of homeschooling for many seems like an option reserved for the fringe of our society, an elusive group with wild political opinions and religious convictions bordering on the fanatical. For me, the images of homeschooling conjured a scary bunch living on a compound in Montana, teaching their young how to fire guns and overthrow the government.

But the children I met at the park were markedly different from what I’d expected. They were kindly, well behaved, smiling and bright. The older ones took an interest and care in my own child that I had rarely seen from other children their age. I decided I needed to investigate.

Turns out homeschooling is on the rise. Results from the National Center for Education Statistics placed homeschooled students at 1.1 million in 2004, an increase from 850,000 in 1999. And apparently they’re quite bright. In a study comparing test scores of homeschooled students to their public/private school counterparts, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills shows homeschoolers score up to 79 percent better. And in 2004 the 7,858 homeschool students taking the ACT scored an average of 22.6, compared to the national average of 20.9.

Maybe the 951's most famous homeschooler is Miss America contestant and recent CalBaptist graduate Dustin-Leigh Konzelman. She says homeschooling provided her an education she couldn't get in the local public school system. And no wonder, California's public school system ranks 48th out of 50 states on student achievement in all standardized tests, according to a 2005 study conducted by the RAND Corporation. It’s a far fall from 30 years ago when California lead the nation in academic achievement.

But does escaping a poor school system necessarily mean you'll get a better education at home? In Dustin-Leigh's case, her mom was a school teacher by profession and so used those skills to Dustin-Leigh's advantage. But what about all the other homeschooling moms out there: the former PR professionals and nurses? Can they do a better job educating their kids than the public school teachers who've been trained in teaching?

Individual results may vary, so the disclaimer goes, but Marilyn McGrath Lewis, director of admissions at Harvard University seems to think so. Out of the pool of over 23,000 applicants per year, Harvard accepts just over nine percent. From the couple of dozen applications from homeschooled students, Harvard accepts anywhere from two to 10 students a year. “We are really trying to get the best applicants, and that includes homeschooled students,” says Lewis. “Great students come from all sorts of backgrounds.” Incidentally, Lewis was herself a student at Harvard when three homeschooled brothers — the Colfax boys — gained renown by being accepted into Harvard. They became Fulbright and Rockfeller Fellows with high honors. One son finished his studies and became a doctor. The boys were raised and schooled at — of all places — a goat farm in Northern California.

Many top-tier colleges and universities like Stanford and Yale readily accept homeschooled students. Most applicants take the SAT or other standardized college-entry exams and present a portfolio of their accomplishments. But the absence of the traditional school paper trail has hindered homeschoolers who want to be admitted to the University of California system.

Two UC Riverside professors, Keith Hollis and Frank Vahid want to change that. Their new recruiting program will make UC Riverside the first system campus to actively pursue homeschooled applicants.

LaRae Lundgren, director of admissions at UCR supports their cause: “I hope we can make this program standard procedure from here on out.”

Who in the world homeschools their child?

Statistically, the motivations for today’s homeschooled family include a desire for a better education (49 percent) and religious reasons (38 percent), according to a 1999 survey by the National Center for Education Statistics. But homeschooling families are not as easy to categorize as conservative or liberal, religious or secular. Though modern homeschooling grew first out of political protest over the perceived secular influence of public schools, there’s a growing number of parents who homeschool to alleviate the time constraints and negative social pressures often associated with traditional school. And for homeschooling parents, the socialization aspect is the primary question of curious outsiders.

Navigating the social dynamics of school can be a trying process, where children must learn to adapt and conform to a group to seek acceptance. No one can argue that teasing and childish cruelty are prevalent in school, and for some, these pressures can present obstacles to learning.

I thought about my own high school experience. Being accepted by my peers was my primary goal — almost to a point of obsession. Education was just something done between snack and lunch periods. I thought about all the negative influences: sex, teen pregnancy and drinking, the unmotivated teachers and students. All the challenges of navigating the social minefields of high school more than distracted me from preparing for a college education — and I paid for it. I had to become self-motivated and learn to study hard to survive college. After a few years of junior college, I was accepted to Loyola Marymount and graduated with honors. Many of my peers were not so fortunate. And I will always wonder if, without all the pressures of high school life, I could have gone even farther.

But William Shearer, a psychologist and former high-school teacher who specializes in social anxiety issues in children, argues that socialization is one of the benefits of traditional school and warns against homeschooling to shield a child from negative social experiences. “If homeschooling is pursued because of social difficulty, it exacerbates the problem. Kids with social problems need therapy,” recommends Shearer. He especially is doubtful of homeschooling during the teen years, when children should learn to deal with stress. Taking them away from the stress, Shearer contends, does not solve the problem. “A big part of schooling is the psycho/social aspect. Emotional intelligence is just as important as education.”

But many homeschooling parents disagree and give their children other — and in their minds — more productive opportunities to socialize, like playing sports and volunteer work. “High school is a strange situation where you can’t really escape from [teasing]. There are invisible walls,” says Vahid. He thinks that home-taught children are less pressured to conform to a group that might have a negative influence on them.

And with the rise of more homeschooling parents have come many support groups where children meet and play with other homeschooled children. One such organization is Riverside Area Home Learners (RAHL). RAHL members meet regularly at parks for play dates and parent discussions. The organization also participates in community services like picking up litter surrounding Riverside’s historic Citrus Park.

The families I spoke with who do it would educate their kids no other way. It is the best option for them. But homeschooling requires discipline and commitment that many kids — and parents — just don’t have. “It’s hard work,” says the mom at the park, “but it’s so rewarding.” And that’s, ultimately, what education — and parenting — is all about.

Frequently Asked Questions...

If all the raves and new data about homeschooling have got you motivated to try it for yourself, here’s a few oft asked questions that we’ve found answers for:

Is homeschooling legal?

The short answer is yes. Homeschooling is legal, but each state requires homeschoolers to have some type of accountability with their local school boards, and criteria vary from state to state. According to the National Home Education Network (nhen.org), California has no specific law on homeschooling, and families have several legal options to choose from.

The American Homeschool Association maintains a file of homeschooling laws by state, which you can access online by visiting: http://www.homeedmag.com/AHA/HSIF/aha_lws.rgs.html

What does a parent do when it’s time to teach their child a subject they haven’t mastered?

Today’s homeschoolers have a variety of resources if they don’t feel confident instructing their children on certain subjects.

Homeschool families often form clubs/groups where they will all learn the subject together and use any resource —libraries, museums, etc. — to make the learning more productive and fun. Parents in these groups also “trade” for subjects in which they are strongest. For instance, one might be a math whiz, another excellent in communication skills. These moms would "trade" for a few hours a week, each one sharing their skills with the students. There are also online courses, subject videos books or even signing up with a charter school for certain subjects.

What support is available?

Home Education Magazine has compiled a vast list of resources—websites and support groups on their site: http://www.homeedmag.com/HSRSC/hsrsc_grps.html The magazine advises that contacting a local support should be the first thing you do if you’d decided to take the lead into homeschooling. In addition, Homeschool Association of California (hsc.org) offers a free, downloadable booklet, Starting the Homeschool Journey.

An evening with the Vahid family, Corona

Frank, his wife Amy, and their three children Eric (14), Kelsi (11) and Mya (7), just returned from an extended vacation with his wife’s relatives in Chile. All three children have been homeschooled — Kelsi and Mya have never sat inside a classroom.

We all gather in the family room. Eric is handsome and the most gregarious of the bunch. Kelsi and Mya sit tentatively. There’s musical equipment across the room. So I ask the kids to play. Eric gets on the drums, Kelsi grabs a guitar and stands in front of the microphone, little Mya sings backup. “Do you need some help on the bass?” asks Frank. He grabs a guitar and the perform Avril Lavigne’s, “My Happy Ending.”

It’s this type of family closeness that often is the trademark of the homeschooled family. As a professor of computer science at UCR, Frank often travels for research. Because he and his wife homeschool, they all have the freedom to come along. Frank sees it as an opportunity to bond with his family and expand his children’s real-world learning experience. Frank recently took his family to Spain and before that, it was off to Boston to study the origins of the United States. “We use the world as our resource,” says Frank. The family also frequents museums of science and art and loves to read.

Learning also happens through lots of conversations. Amy, who has her master’s degree in education, prefers the children to learn in a natural, organic way. “For homeschooled children, learning is just a natural part of life.”

This liberal view of learning may fly in the face of traditional standards, but Amy insists that’s the beauty of it—children can learn at their own pace and progress according to their abilities. “When people ask about grades, I say my kids get all A’s. That’s because we don’t proceed until they’ve mastered a particular subject,” says Amy. She also insists that her children aren’t geniuses; rather, their academic success is a result of personalized attention, which allows her to intuit the special needs of each child, an impossible task for a school teacher with 30 students.

Amy also mentions that teaching at home saves time. She spends about two to three hours with traditional ‘textbook’ learning, and the children have the remainder of the day to pursue their interests — music, soccer, basketball and volleyball.

Vahid believes that the trend in homeschooling will increase significantly in the coming years. He predicts that it will soon become a popular alternative to public or private school. “People are used to choice in almost every aspect of life, but with schooling, diversity is limited to public versus private. [Homeschooling] isn’t just a temporary fad — it’s a great option for some families,” says Frank.