By SEBASTIAN DORTCH, Times Staff Writer
Published August 29, 2004 Situation: Times Diversity Officer Sebastian Dortch is happy his children are homeschooled.
(This article originally appeared Sept. 14, 2003)
First, a few admissions.
My wife has homeschooled our four children for the past six years. Notice I said my wife. Sibyl has learned, through experiences too varied to go into here, that I'm not the teacher type.
I'm not one for details. And the rules that govern English and math don't particularly move me. Sibyl and I were driving through Tampa recently when I began flipping through Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. Rule No. 4 declares, "Place a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause."
In the interest of sparking conversation, I asked Sibyl whether she agreed with the author's position. She snapped her head back in sheer delight as she exploded into laughter. You would have thought I delivered a line worthy of Jay Leno.
Grammar isn't something you debate, she said. It is what it is, and you follow its rules. This is why she is such a fabulous teacher. She cares. And I, as the detached homeschool observer, get to see my kids thrive under her steady hand.
We were introduced to the idea of homeschooling in the late '80s by a couple who taught their kids at home. We had moved to Dayton, Ohio, in 1994 and sent our two oldest to a small Catholic school in our neighborhood. There was only one class per grade. So if the third-graders weren't up to snuff, you knew to look no further than the second-grade instructor.
The experience was incredible. Unfortunately, we could no longer afford it when the school raised its rates. So we sent our daughters to public school. To our disappointment, their teachers covered what they learned the previous year.
We tried public school again when we moved to St. Petersburg in 1996. Our daughters had wonderful teachers, but the packed classrooms made us long for a smaller setting. After considerable prayer, we felt it was best to bring them home.
Interestingly enough, the decision was a bigger adjustment for us than our kids. You can ask any of them. They'd have it no other way. How many schools allow you to study in your own bed? Or turn a quick trip to the store into a lesson in economics? Or work exclusively with someone who customizes her teaching to your specific learning style?
Still, to outsiders, we're a bit of an oddity, and that took time to get used to. When people heard we homeschooled, Sibyl and I would watch them pause and utter the all-too familiar, "Oh, that's interesting." They'd work through the idea with wide-eyed wonder and inevitably shift the conversation toward what's known in homeschool circles as the S-word - socialization.
Aren't you worried you're hurting your kids by not allowing them to go to schools with their peers? We take a minute to let them in on our family secret. We don't chain them in their rooms. Our kids meet people - whether they're children, teenagers or adults - everywhere, just like your kids.
Faith, our oldest, has met some incredible folks on her mission trips to the Dominican Republic and El Salvador and while competing in tae kwon do. This summer, Arielle, 14, cared for children in an orphanage in Argentina and plays bass guitar in a band. The youngest, Alexandria, 10, and Nicholas, 9, have never met a stranger, whether it's in Wal-Mart or an office complex. They have been homeschooled their entire lives.
My kids are smart, active and, thank goodness, normal. Observe them. Talk to them. Check them out. If you're like me, you'll like what you see. And I credit my wife and homeschooling as a big reason why.
Situation: Times Diversity Officer Sebastian Dortch is happy his children are homeschooled.