Some Parents Opt for School in the Kitchen

The following came from my state associations e-newsletter. Since it was about some "local" families, I wanted to post it to my homeschool blog instead of my educational issues blog. The next week’s article will examine the issue of the proper socialiation of homeschooled children, as well as their prospects for higher education, according to their website. BTW, Park Cities is over in the Dallas area.

Issue Date: April 27, 2007, Posted On: 4/27/2007

Some Parents Opt for School in the Kitchen
Locals bypass private, public choices to educate their children at home
This is the first in a two-part series examining the experiences of local residents with homeschooling.

By Karen Eubank
Special Contributor

What do a plastic surgeon, a talk show host, a veterinarian, an artist, and the maitre d’ at The French Room have in common? They have all chosen to homeschool their children.

The face of homeschooling has changed dramatically in the past 10 years.

According to the National Home Education Research Institute, in 2002 almost 2 million students of all ages were being homeschooled. This is a 500 percent increase from the 1990-91 school year.

Tim Lambert of The Texas Home School Coalition reports that about 300,000 children are educated at home in Texas and cites research from NHERI showing a national growth rate of 15-20 percent per year.

Why are the homeschooling ranks growing at such a rapid pace?

The Fraser Institute, a Canadian independent research and educational organization, has published some of the most recent information on homeschooling. In the report “Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream” by Patrick Basham, findings indicate, “the principal stimulus [for homeschooling] is dissatisfaction with public education.”

WHO’S DOING IT?
Park Cities resident Amy Pruitt and her husband, Bryan, a plastic surgeon, are in their ninth year of educating their five children at home. They had three main reasons for homeschooling: academic excellence, instilling their own spiritual values, and efficiency.

“We can accomplish more at home, in less time, and we feel we can offer academic excellence that will surpass what a private school can offer,” Pruitt said.

She customizes a curriculum for each child and in doing so maximizes their individual potential.

“No one loves our kids more than we do, and I felt I had the dedication, commitment, and discipline to educate them at home,” she said.

Homeschooling has allowed the Pruitt family the flexibility to travel and educate along the way. They have had American history lessons brought to life on trips to Washington, D.C., and Boston, and the family headed to France for the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

New York, Philadelphia, Rome, and Florence are on the agenda this year.

BECOMING A QUALIFIED TEACHER/PARENT
Even parents who long to teach their children at home often doubt their ability. Parents don’t have to be teachers, college graduates, or even high school graduates to homeschool their children.

The Fraser Institute’s research shows, “having at least one parent who is a certified teacher has no significant effect on the achievement levels of homeschooled students.”

The children of parents who never completed high school still scored 55 percentile points higher than public school students from families with similar educational backgrounds.

Parents don’t have to take on calculus, either. There are tutors, co-op classes, online courses — something to fit every need and level. Most families take advantage of co-op classes at some point in the homeschooling years.

“Co-op classes are not designed to take the place of parents educating the children at home, but to provide enhancement opportunities in the overall education of the student,” according to the Richardson Home School Teaching Co-op registration packet.

The class descriptions read like a syllabus from the best private school. Latin, Government and Justice, Introductory Logic, and Multimedia Art are included in the extensive catalog.

Most of the teachers hold degrees in their fields, and the classes are run in an organized manner, meeting one or two times a week. Students get to select one class or several and experience a classroom situation.

“Before children are school-age, most parents have taught them to walk, talk, and count. They’ve already ‘homeschooled’ their children. It doesn’t take someone with a teaching background to be a homeschool parent. It just takes someone who is willing to work at it, learn along the way, and who loves their children,” said Cindy Eckhoff, a mother of four who has homeschooled for 14 years.