Local Homeschooling Article

This is another group in the area, over on the westside.

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/330299_homeschool05.html
Parents and children who are part of an informal network of about 200 homeschool families gathered to eat, talk and play Tuesday at Wallingford Playfield. (Andy Rogers / P-I)
Celebrating home education
Membership in informal Seattle group has soared in past four years

Last updated September 4, 2007 11:51 p.m. PT

By CAROL SMITH
P-I REPORTER

Kids from toddlers to teens raced around the Wallingford playground Tuesday to celebrate not going back to school, the day before most Seattle youngsters are preparing to go back to class.

But that didn't mean the kids on the playground weren't pumped about their education. For the kids, who are part of the Seattle Homeschool Group -- one of the largest secular groups of its kind in the area -- every day presents an opportunity to learn.

"I like it because I can play and learn at the same time," said Hanz Hosler, 8, taking a break from playing Capture the Flag with about two dozen other kids.

The Seattle Homeschool Group, a loose-knit network of parents who are teaching their children at home, has grown from about a dozen families four years ago to more than 200 families today, said Elizabeth Davies, who is homeschooling her two children. The group meets informally each week to share ideas and resources.

Dissatisfaction with schools is probably the biggest reason people begin homeschooling, said Kathy Woodford, who pulled her two children out of schools in Bellevue to begin teaching them at home in January.

Jennifer McDowell-Wood, a civil engineer and mom of two, elected to homeschool her two children -- who she said were "on the gifted side" -- out of a desire to escape what she saw as the "one-size-fits-all" approach offered through traditional education.

Homeschooling has grown beyond the stereotype of the conservative, religious family teaching their kids around the dining room table, said McDowell-Wood. Today, home schoolers embrace a variety of philosophies -- some religious, some not -- and employ a variety of teaching strategies, from the completely unstructured "unschooling" approach, to a more structured use of curricula.

The parents who choose home schooling come from a variety of backgrounds. They are teachers, engineers, photographers, tech workers, filmmakers, lawyers and farmers. One described herself as "your basic Seattle knee-jerk liberal" who believed in public schools and never imagined herself a homeschooler.

"It was not even on the radar," said Jennifer Thames. But when her son, Nick, now 11, started school, she saw his love of learning start to plummet. So she made a different choice.

What all the parents shared, however, is a common belief that kids learn best with the individual attention of their parents, and the opportunity to guide their own educations by what intrigues them.

For Angelo DeLaurentis, 10, that's Greek mythology at the moment -- and reading. "I just finished 'The Two Towers,' (part of the Lord of the Rings series,)" he said.

For Alaina Woodford, 12, it's writing that has captured her imagination. She just submitted her first piece of fiction to an editor.

Homeschooling is a lifestyle as individual as each family that tries it, McDowell-Wood said. Some take summers off. Some don't. But for all of them -- everything from trips to Hawaii to trips to the grocery store can offer up lessons.

Washington law requires kids to get an education, but doesn't dictate how they get it. Children who are homeschooled are required to take an approved annual exam to chart their progress, but otherwise there are no formal requirements for how they get to graduation. Many progress faster than their "grade levels" and start community college early, parents said.

If parents need extra help, they can turn to outside sources, such as math-tutoring centers -- or each other. The Seattle Homeschool Group regularly taps the talents of other parents, or pools resources to create opportunities for the kids, such as hiring a coach for the chess club.

Many parents said they treasured the education they were getting alongside their kids.

"I'm constantly learning stuff from them," said Maggie DeLaurentis of her three homeschooled children, ages 10, 8 and 5.

One son's recent interest in medieval swords has introduced her to a whole new epoch in history and culture. "There's a lot of stuff I don't know apparently."

While homeschooling apparently appealed to the kids, a few do ask to go back to school.

Cynthia Heckman's 15--year-old son will start high school this year -- his first time in public school -- in part to play baseball and to socialize with his friends.

"It was his choice," she said. "He has a ton of friends there already."

That made Tuesday her first not "not-back-to-school day" picnic. "I'm a little freaked out about it," she said.

But she and the other parents said raising kids independent enough to make good choices was part of the reason they undertook homeschooling.

And the other reason was to ensure their children loved to learn.

On the playground Tuesday, it appeared to be working.

"Learning shows up everywhere," said Bailey Smart-Zimmerman, 11. "If you do it all the time."