Nationally, home schooling is the fastest-growing educational choice, with the number of home schooled students rising by 7 percent each year for the past four years. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that between 1.7 and 2.1 million students nationwide are being home schooled.This year, 324 students are being home schooled in Falcon District 49, up 6 percent from 305 last school year.Colorado law is home-school friendly, with fewer requirements for home schoolers than some states. The law requires parents intending to home school their children to give a written letter of intent to the school district in which they reside 14 days prior to beginning. Parents educating their children at home are required to do so for at least 172 days of the school year with an average of four hours per day. The law also requires that students be tested or evaluated in the third, fifth, seventh, ninth and 11th grades. (Concerned Parents of Colorado – http://members.aol.com/treonelain).Home schooling may be the most demanding and the most rewarding of all alternative educational choices. Many would say the rewards far outweigh the demands. According to the National Home Education Research Institute Web site (www.nheri.org), “Teaching specific philosophical or religious values, controlling social interactions, developing close families and high level academics are the most common reasons for home schooling.”Home schooling families in Colorado have the freedom to choose their own curriculum from many different publishers. The state requires children be taught in the subjects of reading, writing, speaking, math, history, literature, science and the U.S. Constitution. Parents can choose a specific curriculum emphasizing their own values or beliefs.Perhaps the greatest benefit of home schooling to a child is that it allows a parent to teach the child according to his weaknesses or strengths. If a particular subject comes easy to the student, the teaching parent can cover it quickly, reserving more time for the subjects the student finds difficult. Home schooling allows parents to spend more time with their children; thus, getting to know them better and on a different level than they would if their children were away at school all day.Because of the individualized attention that children receive, fewer hours may be spent home schooling than would be spent in a classroom setting. This allows for more extracurricular activities and more time for “real life” training such as homemaking, gardening, auto mechanics and volunteer work. Many believe that home schooled children are well rounded because of this extra time.Home-school support groups often offer opportunities for students to be involved in activities that are more conducive to larger groups. They coordinate large groups of home schoolers for band, choir, sports and field trips. These activities provide the socialization to larger groups and various authority figures – something the home-schooling naysayer fears the students miss. Support groups also often arrange for the standardized tests or evaluations that are required by law.School District 11 in Colorado Springs offers help to the home schooler. The Home Education Support Program (HESP) is an enrichment program for the traditional home schooler. Students from second through seventh grades may attend the program one day per week and receive instruction in language arts, science, art and a choice of Spanish or music. The enrichment program accepts students from all districts all year long.District 11 also offers Digital School at the Citadel Mall, where high school students 16 years and older may sign up to receive additional help and instruction in most courses. Kim Henessey, D 11 home school liaison, said, “The program is ideal for students who work at a slower pace or who have fallen behind in a particular subject.”District 11 has a lending library of textbooks available for home schooling families to check out on a short term or semester-long basis. All programs of the district are available through its Web site www.d11.org or by calling the home school liaison at 520-2216.Some businesses cater to home school groups. Brunswick Zone at Circle and Galley streets; for instance, has three home school leagues and at least one summer league for home schoolers. Wendy Whatton of Brunswick Zone said, “They are such a great bunch of kids.”Home-schooling families enjoy greater flexibility in their schedule since they are allowed to set their own hours and days for schooling. Going to the movies in the middle of the day or going on a vacation during the off-season is not a luxury for families with children in classroom settings. Flexibility is necessary for families whose schedules demand it. One Falcon family home schooled their children so everyone could accompany the dad, an over-the-road truck driver, on his trips. Farming families often home school so the children are available at various times during the day to help with chores.For children challenged physically or mentally, home schooling can be a welcome sanctuary, providing loving attention in a non-threatening atmosphere.A nationwide study done by NHERI in 1990 found home-schooled students scored at or above the 80th percentile on standardized achievement tests. The national average on the same test was in the 50th percentile. Data collected by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) in 1994 showed that 16,311 students from across the United States scored on average in the 77th percentile on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, with the national average being the 50th percentile. According to the NHERI Web site, “In study after study, the home educated score better, on average, than those in conventional state-run schools.”However, making the decision to home school does not guarantee well-educated students. As stated earlier, home schooling may be the most demanding of all educational choices.Home schooling demands a serious time commitment on the part of at least one parent. When several children are being educated, more than the requirement of four hours per day may be needed. With traditional home schooling, plenty of time can be spent in lesson planning and the grading of papers.The financial cost of home schooling varies relative to the family. If the teaching parent gives up a full time job to educate his or her own children, the cost can be great. Traditional home schooling is not underwritten by public funds, so the family bears the entire cost of curriculum and supplies. Used curriculum sales are often held by home school support groups or other organizations, but usually workbooks and tests must be bought new.The school district where a home schooler resides is required to accept the student for whatever courses or extracurricular activities in which he or she would like to participate, but according to Concerned Parents of Colorado, Colorado law allows the district to charge up to 150 percent of the standard fees.However great the sacrifice, many families home school multiple children from kindergarten to graduation with great success.Cynthia Trafton, a resident of Paintbrush Hills, home schooled her three children for nine years, beginning when her youngest was in fourth grade and continuing until all three graduated. “The best thing about home schooling is you can work at their pace,” Trafton said. “You don’t have to wait for others to catch up.” She said it gets easier as they get older, and by the last couple of years, they’re independent enough that they almost school themselves. “A lot of people say they don’t socialize, but because they spend so much time around adults, they’re more mature, so they fit in well in the workforce,” Trafton said.All three of Trafton’s children were accepted to colleges based on their ACT and SAT scores, and all three entered college with scholarships funded by the colleges. Her son, Cole, is majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, earning a 4.0 grade average last semester. Her daughter Rachel is a sophomore at Adams State College, majoring in music education. Trafton’s oldest child, Tamara, graduated summa cum laude from UCCS and is currently on a full scholarship working on a doctorate in economics at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.It was a good choice for the Traftons.
