EDUCATION IS A BUZZ WORD IN AMERICAN POLITICS THESE DAYS
AND PARENTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN HOPE THAT AS A RESULT, THE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS WILL IMPROVE BY THE TIME THEIR BABIES AND
TODDLERS REACH SCHOOL AGE. DURING THE PAST DECADE OR
TWO, MANY PARENTS, DISSATISFIED WITH THE PUBLIC SCHOOL
SYSTEM, HAVE TURNED TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR THEIR
CHILDREN'S EDUCATION. OTHERS HAVE TAKEN MATTERS INTO
THEIR OWN HANDS.
TWENTY-ONE YEAR OLD CHRISTENA HANSEN (PRON: CHRISTINA)
OF EUGENE, OREGON IS A HOME SCHOOL GRADUATE. SHE WAS
EDUCATED AT HOME FOR SEVEN YEARS -- SIXTH THROUGH
TWELFTH GRADE. MS HANSEN SAYS SHE HAD ATTENDED A PUBLIC
SCHOOL AND A PRIVATE SCHOOL BEFORE THAT AND HER PARENTS
WERE NOT SATISFIED WITH EITHER.
"COUPLE REASONS. FIRST OF ALL, WE REALLY WANTED TO GET
BACK TO ROOTS IN BELIEF IN GOOD AND THE BIBLE. AND HOME
EDUCATION IS A REALLY GREAT WAY TO DO THAT. AND THEN,
ALSO ACADEMICALLY, IT SEEMED TO BE ADVANTAGEOUS BECAUSE
IT'S SUCH A SMALL RATIO STUDENT TO TEACHER AND ATTENTION
CAN BE SO INDIVIDUALIZED."
WHILE THE HANSENS ABANDONED REGULAR SCHOOLS BECAUSE THEY
COULD NOT ACCOMMODATE THEIR SPECIAL WANTS, A LARGE
NUMBER OF FAMILIES CHOOSE HOME SCHOOLING BECAUSE THEY
ARE UNHAPPY WITH THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION AT PUBLIC
SCHOOLS. CAROLINE BARNES OF SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND,
SAYS SHE LIKED THE IDEA OF TEACHING HER THREE DAUGHTERS
AT HOME.
"WE STARTED OUT WITH A PRIVATE SCHOOL AND THEN
TRANSFERRED THEM INTO A PUBLIC SCHOOL. WE WERE IN A
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS AND WERE
UNHAPPY WITH A NUMBER OF THINGS. SOME OF IT WAS
BEHAVIOR IN THE CLASSROOM, SOME OF IT WAS LOW
EXPECTATIONS OF THE TEACHERS... AND WE HAD READ A LOT
ABOUT HOME SCHOOLING AND ALREADY HAD OUR SUPPORT GROUP
OF FRIENDS WHO WERE DOING THIS."
DR. BRIAN RAY, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL HOME EDUCATION
RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN SALEM, OREGON SAYS DURING THE
1980S, THE PERCEPTION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS WENT DOWNHILL
AND A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO COULD NOT AFFORD PRIVATE
EDUCATION DECIDED TO EDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN AT HOME.
"AND THEN IT SNOWBALLED. THE MORE PEOPLE TURNED TO HOME
SCHOOLING, THE MORE SUPPORT SERVICES THERE WERE. THE
MORE SUPPORT SERVICES THERE WERE -- THE MORE PEOPLE
THERE WERE HOME SCHOOLING."
ALSO IN THE 1980S, MANY STATES BEGAN TO CHANGE THEIR
LAWS TO ACCOMMODATE HOME SCHOOLING, OFTEN AS A RESULT OF
A COURT BATTLE BETWEEN PARENTS AND THE STATE.
FOUR YEARS AGO, TEXAS BECAME THE LAST STATE TO
LEGALIZE HOME SCHOOLING. TODAY, HOME
SCHOOLING IS LEGAL IN EVERY STATE, SUBJECT TO VARIOUS
RESTRICTIONS AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN MOST STATES PARENTS MUST NOTIFY THE
SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT OF THEIR INTENTION TO
HOME-SCHOOL AND PROMISE TO PROVIDE A SET NUMBER OF
INSTRUCTION HOURS PER YEAR. AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL
YEAR CHILDREN USUALLY HAVE TO TAKE STANDARDIZED
ACHIEVEMENT EXAMS. SOME STATES USED TO RESTRICT HOME
SCHOOLING TO CHILDREN WHOSE PARENTS WERE CERTIFIED
TEACHERS. BUT THAT RESTRICTION HAS BEEN GENERALLY
ABANDONED. DR. RAY, WHO TEACHES HIS OWN SEVEN
CHILDREN AT HOME, SAYS PARENTS DO NOT HAVE TO BE HIGHLY
EDUCATED IN ORDER TO HOME SCHOOL.
"ANY PARENT WHO WANTS TO, ANY PARENT WHO HAS THE
MOTIVATION TO GIVE THE ENERGY AND TIME TO THEIR CHILDREN
AND ANY PARENT WHO IS WILLING TO LEARN ALONG WITH THEIR
CHILDREN, IF THEY NEED TO LEARN SOME THINGS, CAN
HOME-SCHOOL THEIR CHILDREN."
BRIAN RAY SAYS ACCORDING TO HIS RESEARCH, MORE THAN A
MILLION AMERICAN CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT AT HOME TODAY -- UP
FROM JUST 10-THOUSAND TO 15-THOUSAND IN THE 1970-S.
HE SAYS LARGE STATES LIKE TEXAS, CALIFORNIA
AND OHIO ALSO HAVE THE LARGEST NUMBER OF HOMESCHOOLERS.
DR. RAY SAYS RESEARCH SHOWS THAT WITH A FEW
EXCEPTIONS, HOME SCHOOLED CHILDREN ACHIEVE BETTER
ACADEMIC RESULTS THAN CHILDREN IN EITHER PUBLIC OR
PRIVATE SCHOOLS. IN ADDITION, HE SAYS, HOME-SCHOOLED
CHILDREN HAVE "LOWER BEHAVIOR PROBLEM SCORES" AND
"SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER SELF-CONCEPTS" THAN CHILDREN IN
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
HOWEVER, DR. RAY'S FINDINGS ARE NOT WIDELY ACCEPTED.
ONE OF THE MOST COMMON CRITICISMS OF HOME SCHOOLING IS
THAT IT KEEPS CHILDREN OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE REAL WORLD
AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, THEIR PEERS. RONALD AREGLADO IS
THE ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS WITH THE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA.
"TODAY, MORE THAN EVER, PEOPLE NEED GOOD HUMAN-RELATION
SKILLS IN DEALING WITH A VARIETY OF PEOPLE. IT
PRESUPPOSES THAT WE UNDERSTAND AND INTERACT WITH PEOPLE
FROM ALL KINDS OF BACKGROUNDS. AND WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH
CONCEPTS, AND WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH PROBLEM-SOLVING,
DECISION-MAKING -- ALL IN AN INTERDEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP. WORKING AT HOME IN ISOLATION DEPRIVES, IN
MY ESTIMATION, CHILDREN OF THAT ONGOING OPPORTUNITY."
MR. AREGLADO ADDS THAT HOME SCHOOLED CHILDREN ARE ALSO
MISSING OUT ON A VERY IMPORTANT SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL
DIMENSION THAT COMES FROM BEING AT SCHOOL. CHRISTENA
HANSEN SAYS IT TOOK HER ABOUT A YEAR TO GET USED TO
STAYING AT HOME WHEN HER PARENTS PULLED HER OUT OF
SCHOOL. AND DURING THE FOLLOWING SEVEN YEARS SHE
OCCASIONALLY MISSED SCHOOL AGAIN.
"I WOULD SAY THAT PROBABLY THE HARDEST TIME FOR ME WAS
WHEN I WAS A SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL AND SCHOOLS WOULD
SEEM, KIND OF, LIKE A MYSTICAL, WONDERFUL PLACE WHERE
ROMANCES HAPPENED, AND YOU KNOW -- ALL THIS WONDERFUL
STUFF HAPPENED. AND SO I ACTUALLY VISITED A FRIEND AT
SCHOOL FOR A DAY -- AT THE LOCAL PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL,
THINKING, YOU KNOW: 'YES, I AM GOING TO GET DISCOVERED
BY THE WORLD.'"
MS HANSEN SAYS NOW THAT SHE IS IN COLLEGE, SHE ENJOYS
BEING BACK IN THE CLASSROOM, ALTHOUGH SHE HAS TO MAKE
SOME ADJUSTMENTS, SUCH AS WORKING AT THE SAME SPEED AS
EVERYONE ELSE. BUT, OVERALL, SHE SAYS HOME SCHOOLING
WAS A WISE CHOICE AND SHE PLANS TO EDUCATE HER OWN
CHILDREN AT HOME.
THE FIRST YEAR OF HOME SCHOOLING SEEMS TO BE
THE MOST DIFFICULT FOR BOTH STUDENTS AND PARENTS AND
SOME FAMILIES GIVE UP DURING THAT TIME. CAROLINE BARNES
SAYS SHE HAD TO SEND HER DAUGHTERS BACK TO SCHOOL, MUCH
TO HER REGRET.
"THE KIDS WERE BORED AND RESTLESS AND I KNOW THAT TRYING
TO WORK AND DO IT (HOME SCHOOLING) AT THE SAME TIME WAS
EXHAUSTING.
FAMILIES WHO HAVE TRIED HOME SCHOOLING USUALLY REMAIN
ITS STAUNCH ADVOCATES. THEIR REASONS RANGE FROM
RELIGIOUS TO PEDAGOGICAL, FROM POLITICAL TO ENTIRELY
PERSONAL. MANY PEOPLE SEE HOME SCHOOLING AS A BASIC
GESTURE OF FREEDOM OF CHOICE. PROTECTIVE PARENTS SEE IT
AS ESCAPE FROM NEGATIVE SOCIALIZATION, SCHOOL VIOLENCE,
PREMATURE SEX AND ILLEGAL DRUGS. THE IDEA OF HOME
SCHOOLING HAS A LOT OF OPPONENTS IN THE UNITED STATES
AND CLEARLY DOES NOT WORK FOR ALL FAMILIES. BUT, AT
LEAST FOR NOW, THE NUMBER OF HOME SCHOOLERS IS GROWING.
28-Feb-97