A new school year is just around the corner, so we thought that - for a couple of months, starting now - we'd take a look at education and the Web.
This month's issue is about and for the children for whom "the first day of school" may not be so all-consuming. Their teachers are their parents; they don't sit in rows of desks for hours at a time; their classrooms and textbooks are more broadly defined; and for them "school" is either a negative term, or it simply happens all their waking hours, 365 days a year. They are homeschooled. In fact, some of their parents/teachers don't even like the word "homeschooling," but prefer "unschooling" because they want their children to experience a radically different approach to learning from what they'd get in a school.
But there's another way to look at "unschooling": simply as education obtained in places outside of school. Homeschooling is not for everyone; the education resources on the Web - whether or not they contain the "homeschooling" label - are remarkable ones for anyone interested in learning. This issue includes:
- Homeschooling research
- Tips from one who's been there - Charlotte Williams, homeschooler
- Useful homeschooling Web sites
What the numbers look like
Their ranks are growing. Because of the individualistic, decentralized nature of homeschooling (many US states don't require reporting by homeschoolers or school districts), hard data is hard to come by. There is also still some uncertainty and fear of legal sanctions on the part of parents, though homeschooling is legal in all 50 states - thus the existence of organizations like the Purcellville, Va.-based Home School Legal Defense Association.
But well-educated guesses have been made and statistics gathered, and the HSLDA is one of the best sources; they estimate that 1.23 million children are being taught at home in the United States, exceeding the total public-school enrollment of New Jersey, the state with the 10th-largest population in the US. HSLDA had a little more comparative fun, telling us that the 1.23 million figure is greater than the number of public school students in Vermont, Delaware, North Dakota, Arkansas, South Dakota, Rhode Island, Montana, and Hawaii combined. More significant, it cites studies showing that homeschooled children outperform their public-school peers by 30-37% across all subjects. Another excellent source for homeschooling information is the "School is Dead" site by Karl M. Bunday at the University of Minnesota.
Down-home experience
But enough facts 'n' figures! Let's get to the interesting stuff - the adventures of a homeschooler herself. Charlotte Williams, who lives and homeschools her two daughters, seven and three, in Kansas City, started using a computer in her teaching two years ago. The Williams family wasn't connected back then, and their first learning tools were CD-ROMs like ComfyLand's ComfyKeyboard, Edmark's Millie's Math House, and Knowledge Adventure's Undersea Adventure. Christmas presents would include "CD strips" of six or seven. The Williamses have amassed a library of about 100 CD-ROMs.
But now they're on the Internet. The kids are not allowed on the computer without their mom, unless they're offline with a CD. During "school," they spend anywhere from an hour to three or four on the Web, depending on what they're studying and how interested they are.
How did Charlotte get interested in the Internet? When first connected, she used the Internet to find her birth family. "I was adopted when I was eight.... I was surfing a bit and found a genealogy site and decided to do an adoption search. I had a lot of memories of my birth family and birth mother."
Homeschooling with the Internet? Here are her own words on the subject:
We've decided to homeschool - now what?
by Charlotte Williams
Do you feel lost? Overwhelmed? Inadequate? Apprehensive? If you do, then let me be one of the first to welcome you to the wonderful world of homeschooling. Every homeschooler at some point feels this way, no matter if they have homeschooled for years and are getting ready to embark on a new project or if they are just starting out. Let me assure you that the feelings you are experiencing right now are completely normal. So let's get down to the task of what to do next.
The first and most important thing you will need to know are what the laws are in your state pertaining to homeschooling. The laws vary from state to state, from extremely lenient to fairly strict. So, how do you find out what the laws are for your state? Contact the Home School Legal Defense Association. You can reach them via the Web (at http://www.learnathome.com/hslda.htm or http://www.hslda.org/hslda/index.html), or call them at 540/338-5600.
Now that you know the laws in your state you will need to do a lot of research. It's really easier than it sounds. Your research should consist of reading books about homeschooling, checking out different curriculums or other options if you decide not to use a formal curriculum. There are many, many books I would love to recommend, but the two that I have found to be the most valuable are: "Home Educating With Confidence," by Rick and Marilyn Boyer, and "Beyond Survival - A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling," by Diana Waring. And there are two Web sites I think you will find invaluable: Library-in-the-Sky and Kaleidoscapes.
By this point I hope you feel like the wheels are turning! Now what you need to do is to find all the resources you have available to you - resources that aren't hard to find. There are three basic ones you'll find yourself using all the time:
- The local library. This will be a most common haunt for your family. There is a wonderful world of knowledge on just about anything you can imagine. You will also come to find the library your saving grace when your child looks at you very intently and asks, "What makes steel ships float?" Get to know the librarian and make sure you all have cards. Believe me, you will come to love the library!
- Your computer. This is the gem of all gems! The computer makes the resources of libraries come to life. One of the best things about using your computer is you can literally go anywhere and see anything. Through your computer you can visit Scotland to study castles, you can go to France and check out the Mona Lisa, to Spain for the Running of the Bulls, China to see the Great Wall, and Germany to see the historical tearing down of the Berlin Wall. More and more, the computer is becoming an invaluable resource for homeschoolers. The library is great, but there is so much more available with a computer and the World Wide Web. Through the use of the Web, my 7-year-old daughter learned all about the Statue of Liberty, which then turned into a study on Ellis Island. Voice clips are available so we could hear the voices of the people who actually came through Ellis Island. That isn't something a book can give!
- Your local homeschool support group. This is surely a group of people in your general area, all of whom homeschool. With these groups you will do different group activities - go on field trips, attend meetings, possibly have a sports team - and there will always be someone who can help with any problem or frustration you may have. You will develop wonderful new friendships, and your children will be able to interact with a variety of age groups. This group activity is one way to provide socialization for your children and offer them the variety of activities that the local school offers. You can find your local group by doing a search in one of the search engines (such as Alta Vista or Infoseek ) by typing in the name of your state followed by "homeschool" (i.e. Kansas Homeschool). I strongly recommend that you join a support group!
Now you're armed with the tools to get yourself started. This is the beginning of learning homeschooling for both you and your children. I'll leave you with a quote by a lady named Janet from Colorado who homeschools: "I consider homeschooling the ideal way to educate, since you can be more personal and focused in your work. My recommendations are: Do your own thing, don't try to make your homeschool like regular school with set periods and worksheets, don't think you need to know the subject and 'teach' it to your kids, and make it fun. You'll all have a great time learning together."
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In our research, we've found that homeschoolers are a very communicative, helpful group of people, and there are a large number of useful Web sites to show for it. Besides the ones mentioned above, here are just a few we've bookmarked:
Other homeschooling perspectives (from the left and right coasts)...
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Have you ever homeschooled or considered doing so? We'd love to get your thoughts - feedback or questions for Charlotte or for us. And tell us what you'd like to see in future editions of The Sage Letter.
Look for our next edition, in early September, about 'Net help with homework.
