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Home sweet home schooling |
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Written by Caroline Zentner LETHBRIDGE HERALD
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Monday, May 25 2009, 10:06 PM |
One of the aspects of home schooling that LeAnne Matherly appreciates is that her children can dig into a subject as deep as they want.
One son dug underground to learn about volcanoes while the other dug around inside the human body to discover its workings.
“They learn everything they need to learn as they mature,” she said Monday at a barbecue for home schoolers at Pavan Park.
The barbecue was put on by Wisdom Home Schooling, a school board established by home-schoolers for home-schoolers in 1995.
“Wisdom is a board that supports traditional home schooling, which is parent-directed,” said Joyce Sehn, a home-schooler from Medicine Hat.
“The parents are entirely responsible for how their children are educated,” said her husband Louis, a facilitator for Wisdom.
With about 2,500 home-schooled children in Grades 1 to 12 throughout Alberta, Wisdom provides resources, workshops, and get-togethers for families. He estimates around 8,000 Alberta children are home schooled, a number that’s growing slowly.
Louis, who has a bachelor of education degree and a 17-year teaching career, ensures a written assessment of each child is done twice a year to meet government requirements and that a program plan is completed for each student at the beginning of the school year in his role as facilitator.
“Our ultimate goal is for that child to reach his potential,” he said.
The reasons parents opt for home schooling are as varied as the parents themselves.
“I never liked school when I was growing up and I didn’t want my children to not enjoy learning,” said Angela Williams, a soon-to-be home schooler and mother of three children aged five, three and one with another on the way. “Values is a big reason—wanting to implement our values.”
“Each child has their own learning style,” said her husband Joel. “When you home school you get the chance to work with that learning style. In public school it’s all one way, you just follow the curriculum.”
Trudy Fehr is mother to two boys, aged nine and six. She and her husband divide home-schooling duties so they’re both involved in their children’s education.
“Public school just doesn’t teach the moral values that we want our children to learn,” Fehr said. “I want them to grow up in a biblical home and (I want) to be closer to my children.”
The Sehns decided to home school their children when Joyce’s research showed home-schooled children did well academically, have a strong character and the ability to relate to people of all ages.
“Many people struggle with the impact of the peer group on their children. This is a way to deal with it effectively,” Louis said. “Many parents are home schooling because they’re most concerned with who their children are becoming.”
Parents considering home schooling may wonder about their ability to do it but successful home schoolers often feel that way at the start, Louis said.
For more information about Wisdom Home Schooling call the Sehns at 403-488-6188 or visit wisdomhomeschooling.com.
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