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MICHELE MILLERFor two parents, teaching their youngsters has been an ongoing learning experience.
At first, the prospect of teaching her three children at home was overwhelming for Debbie Franek.
"I thought there was no way I could do this," she said. "I thought my kids wouldn't listen to me, they couldn't learn anything from me."
Four years after two friends encouraged her to try it out, Franek is homeschooling her children and teaching creative writing and grammar to others at Awesome Acts Homeschool Fellowship, a homeschooling co-op in Tarpon Springs. "The Lord called me to do this," Franek said. "I wouldn't have it any other way.
"When kids come home from school, they're tired and cranky. The parents get the leftovers. Now I don't get the leftovers anymore."
From early on, Loni Kaplan knew her son Adam was extremely bright. She searched high and low for the right school before enrolling him at a Montessori school. Adam did well, but Kaplan thought he needed more.
Homeschooling was the answer.
"I thought, "This is so great that I'll homeschool all my kids,' " said Kaplan, a mother of four boys who has been homeschooling Adam, 7, for three years.
But when it came to son Jarren, 5, the Kaplans decided on a different track: "He just loved school; he loved the socialization. For Adam, it was okay for him to see his friends once a week. But it wasn't okay for Jarren. He wanted to see them every day."
So while Adam is homeschooled, Jarren attends the Montessori school. As for her younger boys, twins, "Who knows?" Kaplan said. "I'll probably get one of each. Education is an individual thing. You do whatever's right for each child."
Homeschooling is working well for these two moms, who recently attended a summer workshop with their children. The two offered some helpful hints for those just starting out:
- Get support. Talk to other homeschooling parents about what's worked for them. Join a homeschooling support group. "It's encouraging to be with a group of people that are doing what you're doing," Franek said.
- Spend some time getting to know your child: how they learn, what their interests are. "Allow your kids to do different things, to explore. Kids who have been in school are so used to being told what they are going to be learning and when they are going to be learning it that they have no idea of what they're really interested in." Kaplan said. You never know how far child-driven education will go, Franek said, noting that her daughters Brittany, 10, and Cassie, 8, started their own jewelry business after taking a homeschooling class in beading. "They've learned so much from that: how to plan, how to realize a profit after buying supplies," she said.
- Visit online message boards, which offer lots of information about who's offering what, from curricula sales to homeschooling days at the Kennedy Space Center, the Florida Aquarium or MOSI. "There's stuff going on all over the state," Franek said. "There's so much going on for homeschoolers that you could be going all the time."
- Check out local homeschooling co-ops, where parents pool their talents to teach a variety of subjects. Co-ops also provide socialization in what many homeschooling parents say is a more real-world experience than school. "When you go out in the working world, not everyone you work with is going to be the same age," Franek said. "This allows kids to develop relationships with kids of different ages, not just their peers."
- Be patient and don't get hung up on "proof" of what your kid is learning. Grades are school things, Kaplan said: "There's no room in homeschool for grades. The goal is to learn and to do it, to use it, not to move on and be done with what we've learned, because we're never done."
- Learn to do things a different way. Kaplan said a saying among home schoolers goes: "For every year of schooling, you need a month of unschooling." Homeschooling parents who attended "regular" school likely will be inclined to teach how they were taught, so those starting out should fight the urge to bring the school home, Kaplan said. "The beauty of homeschooling is that if your kid is really into something - say, writing a story or working on a project about dinosaurs - you can let them work on it for five hours if they want," she said. "There are no time constraints, because you have to move on to another subject. You don't have to worry about the math; you can do the math tomorrow."
- Look out for teachable moments. A trip to the Gulf View Square Mall turned out to be a learning venture, Kaplan said, when they discovered a world map that highlighted all the coffee-producing countries at a coffee shop. "It was great," Kaplan said. "We spent about a half-hour in the place."
- When it comes to curriculum, educate yourself before you buy. "Save your money. Everyone says their curriculum is the best product, but there is no best product, because all kids respond to different things," Kaplan said. Added Franek: "Go to curriculum fairs. See what's out there and talk to people who have used the curriculum. They can tell you what worked and what kind of kid it was good for."
- Educational Web sites and board games are excellent teaching tools. "It's amazing how many (online) educational games there are," Franek said. "You really can save a lot of money on curriculum with these Web sites." Kaplan also suggests board games: "Games are a great way of teaching. There are educational board games for every subject out there."
- Make good use of community resources, such as 4-H clubs and scouting groups. When her children were learning about plants, Franek took them on a field trip to a local nursery that specialized in native plants. "The woman there was like a walking encyclopedia. We learned so much that day," she said. Because prehistoric life is one of Adam's loves, he and his mom attended a special lecture series offered by the Pasco Arts Council in Holiday. "The speaker was so knowledgeable," Kaplan said. "It was so cool." Don't forget the public library, which besides the typical resources of books, tapes and CDs offers a variety of educational programs. "The library is your best friend," said Kaplan, who saves the checkout receipts from their weekly library visits for Adam's reading log, a state requirement. "Just staple the printed receipts together and you've got your reading log."
NOTE: Homeschoolers musts follow accountability laws set by the state, such as registering with their school districts or umbrella schools that, for a fee, maintain and submit records to the state. Parents are required to maintain portfolios of their children's work and provide results of annual evaluations, including standardized tests.
For Florida homeschooling requirements, visit http://www.firn.edu/doe/family/hemain.htm or call program director Mary Lou Carothers at 850 245-0873.
For information on how to register a homeschooled student with Pasco County Schools, call Saybra Chapman at (727) 774-2442, (352) 524-2442 or (813) 794-2442.
For more information on how to homeschool, including a list of area umbrella schools and support groups, visit www.fpea.com the Florida Parent Educators Association's Web site.