Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Back to home school

Back to home school

Back to home school

Posted: 31 Aug 2010 03:19 AM PDT

 Robert and Debbie Ryan, of Fenton, had never set out to homeschool their eight children, ages 11 through 27.

 But when their eldest son Nathan was 4 years old and this young family was living in Virginia, Debbie was prompted by a neighbor to watch a TV program about homeschooling, knowing that she was looking at school options for her first-born. "It planted the seed in my mind," said Debbie. "The more I learned about it, the more I felt that it was the right way to educate our growing family."

 Now 23 years and seven more children later, Debbie, 52, is still "mom and teacher" to the youngest three: Micah, 16, a senior; Lydia, 13, an eighth-grader and Elise, 11, a sixth-grader.

 The other Ryan children are either in college or starting their own careers. Tara, 21, is a senior at Hillsdale College, spending a semester in Guatemala to study Spanish. Christy, 23, works as an aquatics director in Chesapeake, Va., having graduated from UM-Flint. Daniel, 25, is also a Hillsdale graduate, visiting in Guatemala for a month, then returning to Washington, D.C. to begin a job with Fox News. Nathan, 27, lives in China, where he works for a Christian ministry and teaches at the university. He and his Chinese wife have a young son.

 The younger Ryan children are well-traveled, also. Heidi and Micah just returned from a month-long mission trip to Africa through their church, Christian Development Center in Flint, and a year ago, spent a month in China.

 None of the Ryan children have ever been educated in a public school, but the Ryans hold nothing against a public school education — they just felt that homeschooling was the right thing for their family. In fact, Robert Ryan, 53, is a public school teacher in Flint Public Schools, teaching at the secondary level.

 "We just so appreciate the flexibility of choice that we have in the U.S." said Debbie. "We can decide on a public school, parochial school, private school or homeschooling environment for our kids."

 It hasn't always been that way. Michigan today is considered a "homeschooling friendly" state, but back in the 1980s and before, families could go to jail for educating them at home and not in school. "You almost had to be 'in hiding' to homeschool before then," said Debbie. "Now there are support groups and resources, extracurricular activities and more. Even public schools are joining the movement by offering on-line classes that allow a student to work at their own pace at home."

 David and Holly Hoffman, of Fenton, have homeschooled their four sons since their first day of school. Davey, 19, is a sophomore at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga. Jacob, 18, is a senior; Michael, 16, is a sophomore and Andy, 12, is a seventh-grader.

 While the Hoffmans homeschooled their children because they wanted to instill in them their own moral values, they have nothing but praise for the staff and resources offered through Lake Fenton Community Schools.

 Their son Jacob has autism, and over the years has attended programs at Lake Fenton. "They have been phenomenal," admitted Holly Hoffman. "It wasn't the actual education that prompted us to homeschool. It was that other parents didn't always step up to the plate, allowing their kids to speak disrespectfully to others. We're not allowed to use unkind words at our house."

 The Ryan family had a similar situation with one of their older sons, whom Debbie agrees would be labeled "ADHD" in a classroom today. "Because we homeschool, we were able to absorb some of his energy in creative ways," said Debbie. "He didn't learn to read until he was 8, when the other kids were reading at 4, but we always encouraged him by telling him he was reading through the pictures. Sure enough, the words came later and today, he is an avid reader."

 "Socialization" is usually the first word to pop up in a negative conversation about homeschooling. Debbie Ryan says that the true meaning of socialization is actually pretty narrow, and she could broaden her children's horizons herself by giving them many opportunities to interact with relatives, other homeschoolers they meet in extracurricular groups and sports. She has found her own kids to be good examples of homeschooled children who are more socially adept than public school children are, because they have been taught well at home, 24/7.

 Of course, the homeschooling issue is not without its pros and cons (see sidebar), but for these two homeschooling families, the biggest drawback isn't that their children are home all the time — it's the fact that at some point they do leave, and there's such a huge hole to fill. "It's very difficult to have just sent my son back to college in Georgia," said Holly.

 Debbie echoes that sentiment. "I'm already sad that only three of our kids are still at home full-time, although Tara still comes home on breaks from Hillsdale College, when she's not in Guatemala!" she said.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Close family relationships

• Ability to instill family morals

• Religious freedom

• Flexibility

• Personal, one-on-one attention for special needs or gifted child

• Opportunity for more rest

• No "busy work"

• Healthy self-esteem without competition and bullying.

Cons:

• Being with children 24/7 may be difficult for some families.

• Time restriction for parents

• Fewer extra-curricular options

• Family closeness makes "empty nest" more difficult.

• Handle the needs of different age groups at one time

• Having the house in disarray all the time from schoolbooks and projects.

• Finances — it costs approximately $2,500 to homeschool a child.

Homeschooling statistics

Michigan has 1,923,463 children (1.92 million) ages 5 to 17, as

of 2007, according to the U.S. Census. An estimated 1.8 percent of them are home-schooled, according to homeschooling sites, or 46,586 as of 2008-09, and the numbers are growing. Genesee County has 106,011 residents under the age of 18, and that means about 1,909 of them are homeschooled, applying that 1.8 percent figure.

(Source: U.S. Census)

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