”It seems like I was always doing this,” says Cheryl Leaton of Glendale Heights, a mother of three who teaches two of her children at home.
”Before, I was doing it from 3 (p.m.) until 9 (p.m.). I decided to change it from 9 (a.m.) until 3 (p.m.).”
Leaton`s two youngest children no longer attend public school but rely on their mother to provide their education. Her oldest child, whom she taught at home for two years, now is a freshman at Glenbard West High School. He chose returning to public school, Leaton says, ”for the experience of going.”
Some 300 families in Du Page County now teach their children at home, estimates Jan Arduini. She is head of Edge, a Lombard-area support group for such families. Based on membership in these support groups, which many home schooling families use to stay in touch with one another on issues that concern them, it appears home education in the county is flourishing, Arduini said.
Leaton`s Du Page teen support group more than doubled in numbers this year, to 60 from 25 last year. And a Glen Ellyn area support group called Choice split into three separate chapters this fall.
The Du Page Educational Service Region has different numbers, estimating 300 students are being taught at home in Du Page County. But because home-schooling parents are not required by state law to register, these figures may be incomplete. Though state law requires children ages 7 to 16 to attend school, public school officials have no way of knowing if they do, so unless someone complains that children are not in school, or if the children previously attended public schools and no longer do.
Chris Klicka, senior counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association in Washington, D.C., estimates that nearly one million students are being taught at home nationwide, with a 25 percent annual growth rate in that number. Around 7,000 of these students live in Illinois, Klicka said.
What causes parents to opt for the home classroom?
”There are as many philosophies as there are people involved,” said Nancy Hekkema of Glen Ellyn, who teaches her five children at home.
For most, the need to ensure that Christian values are taught is at least part of the reason for home schooling. Studies done by the Home School Legal Defense Association indicate that 90 percent of home-school parents are born again Christians.
To many, the lack of any references in the public school curriculum and texts to values or Christian history leave a critical gap in their children`s understanding of the world.
”They (public schools) leave Christianity out as if it doesn`t exist and doesn`t have any influence on our society,” said Arduini.
But why do parents still choose the home-school route rather than sending their children to a private Christian school? Klicka of the Home School Legal Defense Association cites two primary reasons: The feeling among some parents that private Christian schools have adopted too many of the public schools`
teaching methods, and the fact that private schools are expensive.
Beyond the need to ensure the passing of values and principles, parents may teach their children at home to have a surer hand in what and how their children learn. These parents say it is a way to be sure that their child`s individuality is honored, and the child`s interests are used as springboards for learning rather than as rough edges that need smoothing to fit into the classroom mold.
Esther, a mother who asked not to be identified, feared ”the leveling effect” of the classroom, of being asked to always fit in with the group,
”to be the same to get along.”
Leaton noted that home schooling gets around such problems. ”I can individualize every inch of their (children`s) curriculum,” she said.
Home school proponents say home school can eliminate much of the pressure on children caused by a group setting with group priorities. Children who are shy, or slow to grasp reading, or eager to go beyond the classroom in pursuit of challenge, are free to develop on their own timetable, under the guidance of their parent-teacher, they say.
Pressure such as starting school at age 5 can be completely taken away by teaching the child at home. In home schooling, the parent makes many of the child`s educational decisions on an individual issue-by-issue basis.
In Illinois, there are two stipulations that cover the legality of a home school, which is categorized as a private school. The home school must teach the branches of education corresponding to the public schools (language arts, biological and physical science, math, social studies, fine arts, health and physical development) and, secondly, the classes must be taught in English. The person doing the teaching does not have to have any college degree.
Although home schooling is legal, home-school parents form an almost underground network. There is a policy of confidentiality among home-schooling parents.
In many cases, inquiries are handled indirectly, with the parent calling back any interested party rather than leaving a phone number. And meetings of the support groups are kept private. Home-school parents say this is because they fear government intrusion into the home school.
Some parents have had run-ins with the police. Neighbors may notice school-age children playing in the yard during school hours and call authorities, questioning truancy or neglect. One home-school parent reported that her own mother called authorities in order to get her grandchildren into the public school.
By having taken on the responsibility of teaching their children themselves, many parents fear the financial and emotional strain of being taken to court to defend their actions.
Leaton said, ”It would take a lot out of a family to have to go to court to defend what they are doing.”
Home schooling is not endorsed by the educational community. Berardo J. DeSimone, Du Page regional superintendent, is concerned about children who
”fall between the cracks” as far as the quality of what the home school may offer.
”The classroom teacher carries out the more sophisticated way of teaching (in terms of) her reasoning and her questions, her lesson plans and her goals.” This is a product of her training as a teacher, he says.
A concern of Thomas Scullen, Naperville District 204 superintendent, is the amount of time spent in each subject area.
”It takes extreme discipline for someone to stay at home and put in seven hours a day teaching, and 50 minutes a day on math,” he said. What ends up happening is that subject matter begins to overlap and become grouped or bunched together.
It is the system of learning that Richard Short, superintendent of Unit District 200 in Wheaton, feels that the public school offers. The system of education provides levels of understanding and knowledge that are accomplished at each grade level, Short said.
Even if the subject matter is being taught effectively, another concern among educators is whether the child is learning the social skills he will need as an adult.
Joan Witherbee, principal of Lincoln Elementary School in Glen Ellyn, says she worries how the home schooler will experience the nuances of social skills developed through group discussions. She pointed out the classroom benefit of learning to work cooperatively with peers.
Exactly how the home school functions is a product of the parents`
approach to education and skill as a teacher. Some home schools mimic the structure of the school day, from the pledge at 9 a.m. to dismissal at 3 p.m., with set times in between for each subject. Most are less rigid in presentation.
Parents must find their own teaching materials, ranging from correspondence classes to established, possibly Christian, home-school curricula, to texts borrowed from the public school.
For some parents, the world is the classroom, with hands-on learning at the local pond or museum; support information is then gathered from the library after interest has been established.
Parents who intend to have their children rejoin the public education system at some point often adhere to the public school grade level goals, but this is not required by law.
Home-school parent Jeri Sisson of Waukegan, executive director of Illinois Christian Home Educators, a support organization with chapters in Naperville, Lombard, Wheaton, West Chicago and Lisle, doesn`t minimize the teaching commitment required of parents.
”You must be committed to finding your educational philosophy, to finding your own (educational) materials. You must be committed to each day doing `education.` You can`t just go shopping,” Sisson said.
