A school closer to home

A school closer to home

Homeschooling does not necessarily mean cloistering oneself and one's offspring in the family domicile for a dozen years of learning. In fact, according to Mid-Hudson participants within the growing educational movement, a key element is freedom, including freedom to participate in the wider world.

Home-schooler Debra Lundgren of Lomontville, for instance, in addition to teaching at home, takes her children Noah, 12, and Silvie, 9, to activities such as fencing and special groups for home-schoolers, including softball sessions and orchestra rehearsals.

Many people unfamiliar with the concept of parents as the main teaching source for their children may think the total educational experience takes place entirely within the home, leading some to conclude the youths involved lack socialization.

"It's a big myth," Lundgren said. "Every home-schooler will tell you that's the number-one myth."

Her son, Noah, agrees.

"If we spent any more time socializing," he said, "we wouldn't have time for school work. Most of the time, we're doing both."

The National Household Education Surveys program reports an estimated 1.1 million students in the United States were homeschooled in 2003, up from an estimated 850,000 in 1999.

Lundren's children are among 18,286 home-schoolers in New York State during the 2006 and 2007 school year, according to Ellen Martin, in the information and reporting service of the state's education department.

Numbers of home-schooled students for the same school year in the following counties are: Ulster, 345; Dutchess, 428; Columbia, 220 and Greene, 213. The previous school year was the first time the department began keeping an electronic database, Martin said.

Families who homeschool do so for a variety of reasons, including the joy of teaching and learning in a flexible environment that allows for more family time, the desire to provide religious instruction, and the hope to avoid negative peer influences.

Again, it all comes down to freedom.

Dawn White, of Rifton, has been homeschooling for years, starting with daughter, Sarah, 20, who is studying photojournalism at Rochester Institute of Technology in the northern part of the state. White and her husband, Brice, an ordained deacon at Christ the King parish in New Paltz, have seven other children as well: Rachael, 17; Nathanael, 15; Josiah, 12; Rebekah, 9; Mary, 7; Gabriel, whose fourth birthday is May 30; and Anna, 19 months.

A recent weekday found Nathanael, who had finished his regular work, tinkering with cartoon animation on a computer in the corner of the family's kitchen, while Josiah studied nearby and Rebekah and Mary worked on a project in the dining area. Rachael was in her favorite study niche, her room, and the baby was asleep.

White, in September, will become the leader of Ulster County Loving Education at Home, a faith-based organization that serves 35 homeschooling families, some, she said, with five or more children who are receiving instruction from their parents.

The organization, which has many affiliated groups throughout the state, is among numerous homeschooling groups in the area. Others include the Woodstock Home Educators Network, Tri-County Homeschoolers, Ulster County Home Education Resource, St. Peters group in Kingston and the Poughkeepsie Area Homeschool Meetup Group.

Not only is White a veteran home-schooler, she has done so in five states: Virginia, where she met and married her husband (then in the military), Connecticut, California, Rhode Island and now New York.

She got into homeschooling because her eldest daughter, who was a "really bright kid," nevertheless would have started school in Virginia at 4, a situation her mother found untenable.

"Originally it was practical (to homeschool)," White said. "But the longer I did it, the more connected with my children I became. I just began to believe it was a calling from God. It's about the opportunity to raise my children to serve God."

Lundgren, on the other hand, started out as a reluctant home-schooler.

"My husband (Peter) was the one who wanted us to homeschool," she said, because his school experience had been so negative. "I was set against it."

Lundgren began homeschooling her son when he was of kindergarten age, and by the third year, she realized she was hooked.

Monique Martindale, who lives in Kingston with her husband, David, and their children Jonah, 8; Gabriel, 6; Jerome, 2; and Nathaniel, 10 months, got into homeschooling in yet another way. Although she has a college degree like White and Lundgren, and taught school, she doubted her ability to provide her children's education, so the family sent Jonah to a private school for kindergarten and first-grade.

Over time, Martindale gained confidence in her abilities, however, especially after talks with mothers and fathers who homeschooled. She said she loves teaching and spending time with her children, and homeschooling, she believes, allows her children the flexibility to better pursue their passions.

"Once I made the decision, I never looked back," she said. "I knew it was for our family."

Jonah said he works hard, studying math, social studies, writing, keeping a journal and learning about his Catholic religion. But he, too, finds advantages to homeschooling.

"In regular school, if you want a drink of water, you can wait 15 minutes," he said, following a ball game with Kingston homeschooling friends, the Davenports, Margaret, 10; Hunter, 8, and Brandon, 6, "and (at home) you don't get 5 seconds at the water fountain. You can get as big a glass as you want."

Noah and Silvie Lundgren said they plan to homeschool their own children some day. For now they appreciate the present.

"You get to go on way more field trips," Silvie said.

She and her brother were on "school vacation" after ending required studies early, advancing beyond grade levels in several subjects, their mother said. Nevertheless, they continued physical education, music, crafts and arts and other special educational endeavors, and they remained in "learning mode." Silvie, for instance, asked the meaning of words like "sardonic," "prom" and "orally" as she listened to her mother discuss homeschooling. Noah looked up at least one word his sister did not know, and she worked on a knitting project while their mother unraveled a skein of yarn and fielded inquiries.

"What is the mantra in the house?" she asked.

"Everything counts for school."

The habit of learning as a lifetime endeavor rather than a morning-to-afternoon experience, Lundgren said, reaps rewards.

"Homeschooling students tend to have very good self-learning skills," she said. "They tend to do better in college, even better than students from private schools."

White said her daughter, Sarah, is a good example.

"She feels like it gave her a work ethic that she doesn't see amongst peers," her mother said.

That doesn't mean getting into college is easy. Although Sarah got high Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and scored in the 90th-percentile range in standard-achievement tests, she was required by New York State to take a General Equivalency Diploma exam before she was allowed to enter college. There were other complications as well, so she got a late start that made it necessary to take a heavy course load in her second semester, while working two jobs.

"She is determined," her mother said, and she was recently awarded a grant.

White, Lundgren and Martindale have no doubts that homeschooling is for them, but the decision is both an individual and family one. And there are challenges. The teaching parent or parents need to be organized, White said, and they need to understand the children likely will be with them - going to the doctor, dentist or elsewhere.

Homeschooling generally means the family will have a lower income as well, especially if one parent does not work outside the . White said she prepares "creative" meals that do not include steak. And, as for school materials, she uses the same curriculum many times over, adjusting for the individual needs of her children. The computer is a wonderful resource, as well, she said, as is the library.

"The Mid-Hudson Library (System) is the best I have ever encountered," she said. "It really is. You can quote me on this. I supplement everything we study because of how good the library system is."

Lundgren said she finds the required paperwork for the school district excessive. And the teaching is hard work.

"You feel you are always at work," she said, "and you never get paid."

She doesn't regret the choice, however, although she speaks with "sardonic" wit.

"It looks like there's no turning back," Lundgren said. "It looks like I'm stuck with this for the rest of my life - or at least until my children start college."