Bearing Olive Branches: A Case for School-Based and Home Educator Dialogue

Abstract

I AM A teacher. From early in the morning until late at night, my mind reels with concerns about my students: how to meet their needs, how to encourage their curiosity, and how to evaluate their progress. My bookshelves sag with reading material I use to prepare for their questions and to keep my own love of learning alive. And the best reward for all the time and energy I invest is my students' excitement and pride when they get it. When problems arise, though, I miss the support of my professional colleagues, for I am a home educator, and my students are my children. As a university-trained, state-certified, eight-year-veteran teacher, I have experienced a range of traditional school settings. One school had supportive administrators and parents. The students wanted to come to school, and the teachers were enthusiastic about what their students accomplished. In another school, every day was a battle with unsupportive administrators, uninvolved parents, and apathetic students. But I did not leave teaching disgruntled or burnt out. My years teaching in schools, both the good and the bad experiences, made me a stronger person and a better teacher. Being a home educator, though, has enabled me to combine my love of teaching and learning with my desire to be home with my daughter. I can now be an integral part of my children's learning quest and not yield that privilege to someone else. Approximately one-quarter of home-schooling parents are also certified teachers. That means that around 321,000 home educators are certified educators. (1) We are in a unique position to observe from both sides of the home-schooling debate. Although my former colleagues still in the school system talk about their frustrations with the lack of administrative support, discipline problems, and restrictive curriculum policies, they are nevertheless somewhat suspicious of parents who choose to teach their children at home. They often seem to see that choice as an indictment of them as teachers or as hubris on the part of parents who think that they can teach better than trained professionals. Parents who decide to home school their children have become frustrated by the schools' systemic problems. They are dismayed by the large class sizes; by the social, behavioral, and emotional pressures kids experience from peers; and by the amount of time younger kids must spend on academic pursuits, with less and less time for play. They often see their children as not fitting the mold of a child who can sit still, be quiet, and do seatwork. They want their children to have more freedom to be active and curious. Yet they are often insecure about their own abilities to meet the academic needs of their children. Because of my professional background, other home-schooling parents often ask me for advice. Their questions reflect a level of understanding of the abilities and needs of their children that is more sophisticated than the concerns parents typically bring to parent/teacher conferences. Indeed, most home-schooling parents have a good knowledge base in child development, educational psychology, and the various philosophies and methodologies. Though they may not have taken university courses, most have read widely and have been careful observers of their own and others' children. In any meaningful sense of the term, they are as much educators as I am. However, not every parent can be an effective home educator. It takes an incredible amount of organization, dedication, and sacrifice of time and resources to teach effectively--whether in school or at home. Over the last few decades, some distorted images of home educators have emerged. The media have sometimes portrayed home-schoolers as radicals--threats to society and perhaps even to their own children. Concerned citizens have written editorials, called truant officers and child protective services, and lobbied to establish control over what and how parents teach at home. …