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2017 EDUCATION MAGAZINE
LINCOLN DAILY NEWS MARCH 1, 2017
o delegate those subjects to other instructors such
as I did with Spanish (taken with a home-school
group) or Japanese (taken at Heartland).
• If you mean: was it challenging to find the right
curriculum and learning style for each student and
my teaching style? There is an element of trial and
error for this. If something didn’t work for us (a
particular spelling program or math program),
we’d try it for a while and then modify it or find
something new.
• Was it challenging for my kids? Well, they
weren’t too enthused about leaving the only school
environment they knew to do school in a way they
had never seen before. It was sometimes hard
for them to see “mom” in “teacher” role. It was
definitely challenging on days when the neighbor
kids were home for a teacher’s institute day but we
had school. (I honored all snow days though!). But,
they also enjoyed being able to sleep a little later,
finish school early (compared to the public school
system), study some things differently than before
and study more topics of personal interest.
From a high school level student’s perspective
Q: Was home schooling a challenge for you as a
student and was it challenging for your parents?
Michael:
Not really. Schoolwork is schoolwork.
It’s just in a different setting. It is quiet most of the
time.
Q: Since it is almost over, how was your experience
with being home-schooled?
Michael:
The experience is an excellent one. I can
learn what I am interested in for a career, along
with the rest of my schoolwork. I can flex my school
around most parts of the day, and I still have time
to do what I enjoy.
Q: What opportunities does home-school afford you
and the kids that typical public school education
would miss out on?
Alice:
-free time - sibling bonding - teachable
moments - field trips on off-peak days - short
class schedule - nice days off, like snow days but
beautiful -late night activities, sleeping in, naps
- random local events (Veterans’ Day service) -
volunteer/work availability, - lunch home with
dad - mobility during school work - birthdays
are holidays
Teresa:
I’ve already referenced that home-
schooling gave us the freedom of what curriculum
we were going to study, the flexibility to change it
if needed (we still covered all of the same subjects
taught in the public school), freedom of pace and
flexibility of schedule.
We could go on vacation
at non-traditional times without falling behind
and having the stress of catching up like kids who
otherwise miss school. We could take a field trip
when and where we wanted.
The biggest opportunity that I felt home-school
afforded us was the chance to develop closer
relationships as a family. Because of our discussions,
we got to know each other at a deeper level and got to
develop a stronger bond.
Continued
u