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KINGSTON TWP. — Brothers Ethan and Aiden Campbell begin their school day by sitting on the sofa with their mom and reading about World History.
The boys represent a growing number of children whose parents have taken control of their education by opting out of the public and private school systems.
The cozy atmosphere of the Campbell family home does not detract from the lesson on Mary Tudor, the 16th century Queen of England.
“Who was her father?” Leisa asked her sons.
“King Henry VIII,” Ethan answered.
The scene is repeated throughout the nation and across the state.
A study by the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics reported 1,770,000 students nationally were home-schooled in 2013, an increase from 1.5 million in 2007 and 850,000 in 1999.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education reported 22,136 students were home-schooled during the 2006-07 school year.
Home-schooling should not be confused with cyber schools, Leisa said.
“With home school, parents choose and pay for the curriculum required by (state) law to have their student’s school work evaluated at the end of the school year by someone qualified under the Pennsylvania Department of Education guidelines,” Leisa said in a written email. “Cyber school is public school done at home on a computer with none of the Pennsylvania Department of Education oversight and no input from the parents.”
Academics
The ability to curtail academics to fit a student’s individual needs is a benefit to homeschooling, Leisa said.
“The state dictates what students have to study as far as what subjects are covered,” she said. “But home-schoolers can choose what curriculum to use and tests.”
For example, Ethan decided to study botany for his science credits this year.
“There are tremendous resources out there, she said. “You can review the materials available and see what best fits the children’s personalities.”
Shannan Wakely, a Dallas Township resident and mother of four, is homeschooling three of her children, Sara, 16; and 15-year-old twins, Garrett and Grace. Oldest daughter, Taylor, 21, graduated from public school in Wisconsin and now attends Misericordia University in Dallas.
Last year, Shannan used the Rosetta Stone Spanish program to meet her children’s foreign language requirement.
Home-schooled students are still subjected to the state-required standardized testing for third, fifth and eight grades.
Standardized testing results are combined in the student’s portfolio that includes chapter tests, samples of assignments and field trips provided to an evaluator for review, Leisa said.
Deciding point
Leisa and her husband, John, pulled their sons out of public elementary school due to curriculum and behavioral issues of other students.
She recalled an incident when Ethan was in first grade. He brought home a worksheet with a drawing of two different-sized fruit bars, Leisa said.
“The question was which one would you pick,” Leisa said. “Ethan circled the smaller one, and it was marked wrong. They (the teacher) wanted him to be greedy and pick the larger one.”
Leisa questioned her son about his answer.
“He said he wasn’t sure if he would like the taste and didn’t want to take the larger one only to find out he didn’t like it and then waste it,” she said. “That is logic to a first-grader.”
In third grade, Ethan brought home stories of a female classmate bragging she had stolen from her mother and a male student who threw a desk in the classroom.
“We didn’t want them growing up in that kind of atmosphere,” Leisa said.
While living in Wisconsin, Shannan and her husband, Paul, opted to home school Sara when she was in first grade due to her special needs.
“She liked school but was struggling academically,” Shannan said.
When the family relocated to Dallas Township three years ago, Shannan and Paul incorporated the twins, who had previously attended public school, into their homeschooling program.
The transition from public school to home school was difficult for Garrett, Shannan said.
“Garrett is very social and had lots of friends (in Wisconsin),” she said. “He wanted to go back to public school.”
Settling into the Back Mountain, Shannan made it a priority to get her children involved in activities right away. She found a church and homeschooling support groups to help her children make new friends.
Sara, Garrett and Grace all play basketball on the Rock Solid Academy team and soccer through the Back Mountain Soccer Association.
Garrett is a member of the Dallas School District’s summer swim team, she said.
He has adapted to home-schooling and enjoys “a more relaxed, but busy schedule,” Shannan said.
“Socialization gets a bad rap for homeschoolers,” Leisa said. “I don’t think they miss out on a lot.”
Leisa keeps her sons busy between two different church youth groups and Boy Scouts.
Both Leisa and Shannan participate in group field trips and other activities through local homeschooling support groups such as the Wyoming Valley Homeschoolers and Christian Home School Association of Pennsylvania.
“You do what you need to do to connect them (with other children),” Shannan said.
