Apples of Gold Home School News

     Homeschoolers are often asked a myriad of questions by non-homeschoolers. Some are asked merely out of curiosity. Some because they are considering homeschooling themselves. Whatever the reason, here are some of those questions as they were recently posed to me. Following are the answers I gave.

     1) When a parent homeschools their child, do they need a teaching degree or have to take any classes?

     2) When a homeschooled child graduates, do they need a diploma? How do they get it?

     3) Is there a cost for homeschooling? Do they have to buy books from companies?

     4) Do parents get paid for homeschooling their children? If so, do you think there will be an increase in the number of parents homeschooling their children because of the economy?

     5) Do you think there is a difference between homeschooled children and children who attend public schools regarding social issues and behaviors?

     6) When a homeschooled child applies for college, do they need to send in an ACT score or transcipt? How do these get sent to the colleges?

     #1. Each state has their own homeschooling laws, so what is true for one state is not necessarily true for all. In Wisconsin, parents are not required to hold any special degree or have particular qualifications to teach their children. Grass roots homeschooling and parenting organizations such as the Wisconsin Parents Organization have worked very hard to see to it that Wisconsin's laws are not intrusive on families. They, and most homeschoolers, believe that parents are innately qualified to teach their own children and know what's best for them.

     #2. Again, as my answers only apply to homeschoolers in Wisconsin, a diploma is not issued by a public school system to a homeschooler unless they are enrolled at home under a public school umbrella system like the virtual schools that are cropping up. However, most homeschoolers don't consider that to be true homeschooling, but rather public school at home.

Therefore, whether or not a student recieves a physical diploma depends entirely on the family. I have had 4 of my 5 kids graduate at home (one more coming in 2012!), and my husband and I have issued each of them a diploma except for the oldest who recieved her HSED through the local technical school. We actually think that a homeschool diploma is more valid than the HSED and GED -- just our personal opinion.

     We purchased our diplomas through a company that designs diplomas, caps & gowns, announcements, tassels, etc. strictly for homeschoolers. They are very elegant. However, I've had friends create their own diplomas on their computers, or simply have a graduation day without the formality of issuing one. I recieved my high school diploma from a large central Wisconsin public high school in 1980. It's been in a trunk ever since. No one has ever asked to see it.

Each of my children has picked different "school colors" for their tassels. Blue/silver, camoflage, pink/black, green/black. During their graduation party, we issue their diplomas so they have an audience.

     #3. Homeschooling can be costly or inexpensive, depending on what you think you need or want. Some homeschoolers purchase full lines of curriculum from curriculum vendors for many hundreds of dollars per child. Some families put together their own curriculum from many sources, new and used and free. Some families depend largely on libraries and field trips and hands-on learning experiences through internships, jobs, projects and so on. The beauty of homeschooling is in being able to plan your own course, pursue your own dreams, and direct your own learning according to your learning style and your family budget.

     #4. Homeschooling is a labor of love. No one is ever paid for it. In Wisconsin we do not recieve vouchers or tax benefits or anything else to help us offset the costs. We do it because we think it's best for our children. Homeschooling usually takes one parent out of the work force entirely or at least in part. Therefore, economics is not a factor in deciding to homeschool. It's more often a factor in deciding not to homeschool. Folks who choose homeschooling are usually frugal types who are willing to tighten the belt even more to make it work. However, homeschooling is much less expensive than private schooling. Small, private schools have taken a bit of a hit as people turn to homeschooling. Also, for every child pulled out of public school to homeschool, the school district loses state and federal dollars, so they try to woo them back.

     #5. Social behaviors . . . the one-hundred-million-dollar-question. Whether you grow up in a homeschool, public school, or private school environment, you are who you are based on your values -- what you learn and believe largely at home. You have good and bad behavior everywhere.

     However; one of the foremost popular reasons families often choose to homeschool is to regulate the types of socialization their children are frequently exposed to. They are looking for POSITIVE social experiences, in order to promote positive behaviors rather than negative ones. Yet, homeschoolers are not sheltered. They understand what the "real world" is like. Most often, though, the school environment is not a picture of the real world. So to use school as the model of what it's like to live and work in the "real world" is not an accurate model. To get to know the real world, homeschoolers participate in it. They go to town meetings, attend church, work part time jobs, hang out with old people as well as young people, and so on.

     Homeschoolers are, for the most part, very socialized. It's a MYTH that they lack social opportunities. Most homeschoolers are involved in sports; in clubs like 4-H; in music lessons; in group activities with other homeschoolers like gym days, field trips, play productions; church activities, community projects, and so on. Most homeschoolers have just as many social opportunities as your average public schooler.      

     What they don't do is sit on a school bus for 1-2 hours a day, hang out wasting time in the school cafeteria or in "study" halls, stand in lines in the hall while they wait for someone to get disciplined, get involved in cliques and gossip circles, and all that. And they still hang out with friends, go to the mall, mosh at concerts, attend parties, and all that fun stuff.

     Here are some examples of social things my kids were involved in as homeschoolers:

     • 4-H, which included trips to Washington D.C, the state capital, winter camp, the fair, and they also used it as a resource to perform plays, give speeches, promote their art and music, and so on

     • Church camp and youth group

     • Prom

     • Played on volleyball teams

     • Played on basketball teams

     • Played on Ultimate teams

     • Played in a band and produced a CD

     • Homeschool ski days

     • Homeschool bowling days

     • Homeschool gym days

     • Homeschool rollerskating days

     • History fairs, art fairs, science fairs, spelling bees

     • Campouts, hunting trips, swimming, canoe trips, and so on with friends

     • Visited nursing homes

     • and yes, they even dated (yikes!)

     One of the things my family loved about homeschooling, is that, having the freedom to choose our schedule, we could get together for adventures with our homeschooling friends or other folk whenever we wished. We even had a friend who never did school during September, October, and November, because that's when he hunted and trapped with his dad and brother and had outdoor adventures with his friends. He wasn't a huge summer fan, so he did his school then. Did it hurt him? Well, he's a geologist now, and has tons of friends, so I think he's doing pretty well.

     #6. Every college is different on what they require to get in. If a homeschooler is going to a traditional college in the UW system, he or she will likely need to take the ACTs or SATs. Homeschoolers often do that too. However, I've seen them take alternative routes as well. Here are some examples: One young man I know went to a two-year community college. All he had to do was take placement tests and round up a rough transcript of his homeschooling experience. After he graduated, he was able to continue his education at Michigan Tech for four more years to recieve a degree in surveying.

     My son went to an avionics school in Denver. He was admitted without tests or transcripts, though we did submit a transcript later once he actually started school, just for their records. He was admitted purely on a telephone interview.

     Some homeschoolers go the route of internships, some prefer private colleges which have been extremely accepting of homeschoolers because of their tendency to be self-guided, self-motivated, and well rounded. In fact, more private universities court homeschoolers because of these factors. They will often require either a transcript of home studies, a portfolio, or some other testing for admission instead of the ACTs or SATs.

     Some students decide not to go to college right away. When they do decide to go, they are sometimes admitted without having taken the ACTs, because they are older. This happened with my daughter who was out of high school for 4 years. She took placement tests in various areas and was admitted. She's now going on for her master's degree.

     Some homeschoolers take CLEP tests to get ahead. Some take college correspondence courses while in high school, like one of my son's who studied his passion -- birds -- through Cornell University's Ornithology correspondence course.

     Some homeschoolers continue homeschooling even when they get to college, preferring to do their college course work online or by correspondence. My nephew will graduate with honors this spring with such a degree from a well-known eastern university. He's planning to travel there to walk the aisle.

     Some homeschoolers, just like other kids, decide to go straight into the work force or marry and start a family. It's all good. One benefit that these homeschoolers have is that they probably had more opportunity to work part time jobs while in school and those experiences help their resumes to stand out. Because of their flexible schedules, they could usually work at odd times when other-schoolers couldn't. My youngest son began working for a landscaping company learning some terrific skills when he was 14. He'll probably continue working for them as he goes through tech school and fits in time to promote his band. (3 of those guys were homeschooled, too.)

     My 2007 graduate will be going to trade school next fall. He's only 20, but he's worked as a logger, a ship yard security patroller, a carpenter (roofing), and a flooring laborer (he layed floor in a home featured on Extreme Makeover Home Edition). He's had some great work experiences for a young guy. Some of these things couldn't have happened if he had first been getting home from school at 4:00 every day.

     Homeschoolers are just average kids. Even those that go on to do amazing things aren't usually overly brainy, just fortunate to be able to put their goals into motion.