Homeschool kids well-rounded

'Co-op' educational organizations provide artistic, social, athletic variety

By By ROBERTA HEIMAN Courier & Press staff writer 464-7432 or rheiman@evansville.net
December 1, 2003

For 17 hours each week, Cindy and Pat Heck's two school-aged children are at a private facility training for competitive gymnastics.

It wouldn't be possible for them to do that if they were enrolled in a public school, their mother said. She thinks one of the big advantages of homeschooling is "the sheer flexibility of it."

Besides, Cindy Heck added, if her son and daughter were in school for seven hours a day, "they would be influenced by somebody else. I want to be the one influencing my kids."

Carrie Maurer, who has a degree in biology, is homeschooling her children because she's concerned about "the pigeonholing, grouping and labeling" of children in public schools.

Cheryl Kight is one of many parents who homeschool largely for religious reasons. But she said it is also because "in public school they expect everybody to learn the same way, at the same rate. And that's just not reality."

Marilyn and Craig Woodard found that a public school met their son's needs best. But their daughter, who had health problems, has flourished with homeschooling.

For whatever reasons - and almost directly opposite of other social trends - increasing numbers of parents are choosing to educate their children at home.

The U.S. Census Bureau calls it "an important national phenomenon." In Evansville and across the country, the number of children being homeschooled is increasing by an estimated 15 percent to 20 percent a year. "More and more normal people are seeing homeschooling as a viable option," said Lisa Taylor.

Taylor and her husband, Jeff - she's a nurse, he's a pharmacist - are homeschooling their five daughters. The Evansville couple are presidents this year of the Southwest Indiana Home Educators steering committee.

It's the leadership for a large local homeschool community that has become incredibly organized.

The group has formed orchestras, bands, debate clubs, a drama program, sports programs, advanced math and science and language classes, field trips, a prom, a graduation ceremony - activities to meet both the social and academic

needs of homeschooled children.

Kight edits the association's bi-monthly newsletter that, among other things, illustrates the point that homeschooler Mary Biever makes: "We're a big business - a whole new market."

The "News from The Homefront" newsletter is filled with free ads by local music teachers, dance teachers, foreign-language teachers, private gyms and fitness centers, as well as nonprofit agencies, offering daytime instruction for homeschooled children.

An annual homeschooling conference and an "information day" sponsored by the group attracts not just hundreds of parents but a roomful of vendors selling everything from textbooks and videos to microscopes and chemistry labs, even entire high school curricula via the Internet or cable.

Some of the vendors come to Evansville several times a year to conduct seminars in local hotels.

"Vendors say a unique thing about this (Evansville) area is that here, we watch our money closer. Most of us are one-income families," said Biever, who with her husband, Richard, is secretary of the association.

Parents can spend a fortune on homeschooling if they choose, and some do. But it can also be done on a budget. Robette Adams, a low-income mother, said she has homeschooled her two daughters by making extensive use of local libraries.

"A library card and Internet access are vital," Biever said. "And if you don't have Internet access at home, the library does."

When Carrie Maurer started homeschooling her daughter 13 years ago, she found little instructional material available to parents, and most of it was religion-based.

"It was unheard of to find much material from a secular source," she said. "Religious organizations were on the bandwagon first. But now, secular publishers have realized there's a market out there. "The big difference in homeschooling today is the availability of good, solid material - not just for what the child needs but for you (the parent), to teach."

Among the secular publishers is Indiana University, which since 1999 has offered a fully accredited high school diploma through "distance learning" courses, by correspondence and over the Internet. A number of other universities do, also.

Dan Bopp, director of IU's high school program, said he doesn't know how many of the more than 1,200 students enrolled are homeschool students, but "I would imagine it's a substantial number."

He said IU did not create the diploma program just to serve the homeschool market. However, "We were not unaware of the fact that homeschooling is an expanding phenomena."

There's so much material available, "I do think any parent who wanted to homeschool could do it," said Sheryl Freudenberg. "Whether it would fit with their family's way of life, and their goals, is another matter."

Freudenberg, a former school teacher, and her husband, Gene, a math professor at the University of Southern Indiana, are among a number of local professional educators who are homeschooling their own children. Another is Jayne Gerlach, who taught learning-disabled children before homeschooling her daughter and son. Cindy Crowe taught Spanish at Harrison High School for 13 years before homeschooling her son, Jason.

The teacher-parents don't criticize their peers in public schools. They said schoolteachers do a tremendous job. But they cite a variety of advantages to homeschooling, particularly the one-on-one instruction that it allows.

For the Freudenbergs, however, "It was more of a lifestyle decision," she said. Working outside the home left her with too little time and energy for the kind of family life they wanted.

There are 21 homeschooled children, ages 8 to 12, enrolled in the junior speech class that Sheryl Freudenberg teaches on Monday nights as a volunteer.

It bears little resemblance to classes in a traditional school. For one thing, it starts at 6:30 p.m. But most notably, there are parents in this classroom.

They come to class with their children. On one recent Monday, there were 19 kids (two were ill) and nine mothers. They all met together for the lesson that Freudenberg presented, then divided into three separate rooms for the kids to present their speeches.

It was the first time most of the kids had presented a speech in front of an audience. And they were nervous. But when stage fright caused an occasional lapse in memory, the moms on the sideline whispered cues.

One mother brought a camcorder to videotape her daughter's first speech. Another hugged her daughter and assured her, "You did great, honey."

When one of the youngest students grew tired and lay across a chair next to her, Freudenberg told her gently, "I think your mother would want you to sit up."

The little girl's mother wasn't there, but someone else's mom went to sit next to her. The mom put her arm around the child and let the little girl lean on her through the final speech.

Mondays are the busiest day for homeschool "co-ops" in Evansville.

Every Monday morning, there's the Praise Ensemble, a co-op offering classes in the fine and performing arts. Every Monday evening, there are speech and debate classes.

Every other Monday, there's CHEER, a co-op sponsored by the nonprofit Christian Home Educators Evansville Region. It offers history and science classes for children from kindergarten through high school.

All three of these co-ops hold their classes at Christian Fellowship Church, which lets them use the facility free of charge. Many of the homeschooling parents, including church administrator Andy Hanson, are members there. But not all. Some are Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran or other denominations. On two evenings a week, a new co-op formed earlier this year offers upper-level math, science and writing classes for homeschooled high school students. They meet at the Oak Hill Evangelical Free Church.

Hundreds of children from throughout the Tri-State attend these co-ops, and most are accompanied by their parents - some of them teachers.

Cindy Heck, co-coordinator of the CHEER co-op, said it has a record enrollment of almost 200 kids from 50 families this year - and had to turn some away. In CHEER, parents are required to participate. Each class has a teaching-team mom leader plus three or four moms assisting - providing a student-teacher ratio of about 3-to-1.

The moms meet in the summer to plan the whole year, from curriculum to snacks.

The Praise Ensemble, with a record enrollment of 112 kids this year, employs teachers for its classes in music and other arts. Instrumental strings teacher Karen Renner also teaches in local public schools. Band teacher Tim Smith is a saxophone player in the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. Choir teacher Lynta Carter formerly taught at Oakland City University. Art teacher Linda Mason is a former public school teacher. She and Renner both homeschooled their own children. The drama class, taught by homeschooling mom Marilyn Woodard, presented its fall play, "Talk Radio," to a full house Nov. 21 in the auditorium/gymnasium of Trinity Lutheran Church at Illinois and Third streets.

This is the first time they've used that church.

"Each year, we pray that someplace will be conducive," said homeschooling mom Dawn Mabrey. In the past, they've used different churches and the Deaconess Hospital auditorium.

Mabrey teaches the beginning debate class for children aged 12 and older. It's a 12-week course that prepares them for advanced debate classes and competition in a nationwide homeschool debate program sponsored by the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association.

"We emphasize debate," explained homeschool dad Jonathan Fulton, "because it's important not just to know something but to be able to articulate it. Debate teaches logic and critical-thinking skills."

Each year a public policy issue is selected for research and debate by the students. But Mabrey said certain issues would not be selected.

"Our league would not pick abortion (for debate) because we won't put children in an ethical dilemma," she explained. "That's how it differs from a public school venue." Cindy Heck said classes sponsored by the co-ops are designed to supplement, not replace, the in-home instruction.

Although some co-ops now employ teachers and have typical classroom structure, the parents said they are not evolving into a private school.

"We have no desire to form our own school," said Lisa Gallant, co-coordinator of the CHEER co-op with Cindy Heck. "It's not really like a school because it's just once a week, not every day, and we're just supplementing what's taught at home."

She said forming a private school would mean giving up some of the biggest advantages of homeschooling.

For Gallant and others, that includes a chance to not just customize their children's education, but to "see them grow, up-front and close," said Jane Gerlach.

"It's about so much more than schooling," said Lisa Taylor. "It's living life, side by side, having total impact on your children for as long as you can."

Marilyn Woodard calls it "hands-on parenting."

Some of what they do is "unschooling." An example was the day a neighbor called Mary Biever and said her cat was having kittens.

"This was a teaching moment," Biever said. "We all went."

Her pregnancy with her son, Nick, was high-risk for both her and the child. She spent four weeks in bed at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. During something like that, Biever said, "You have time to figure out what you want to do with your life."