The Abridged version:
- Homeschooling is increasingly popular, but parents who choose to go that route typically face their own learning curve.
- Parents, many of whom do not come with credentials or classroom experience, often turn to online resources or even brick-and-mortar charter schools for support.
- Advocates say the goal is not to recreate school at home but rather to design a more customized, flexible education environment.
Homeschooling is in a modern heyday, with more and more Sacramento area families opting to educate outside the public school system.
But once parents decide to go that route, they have their own studying to do.
“You’re researching a lot” at the outset, said Jamie Heston, a homeschooling consultant from Hayward.
From understanding subject material to figuring out the structure that works best for each child, the learning curve for parents can be daunting, according to multiple families who made the switch.
They also said there are more resources than ever, easing some of that stress. Plus, for those who want the flexibility of homeschooling but a bit more support, there are in-person and virtual charter schools offering a middle ground.
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Something different
One of the most prominent criticisms of homeschooling is skepticism of whether parents, many of whom do not carry credentials or classroom experience, are able to sufficiently educate at home.
Many homeschooling parents and advocates push back, saying their reasons for leaving public school included dissatisfaction with conventional classroom learning.
“There are families who are looking for something other than the box that is public school,” said Alicia Carter, principal of PACT Academy, a Natomas charter for homeschool families.
At PACT Academy, students do most of their core subjects, like math, science and reading, at home. Families get their curriculum from the charter school’s catalogue. Then, they can come to the North Natomas campus for extracurricular activities, socializing, adviser meetings or extra help on schoolwork.
‘It’s a leap’
Kristen Oleary moved her two kids, both diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, to homeschooling last school year, after deciding they needed a more flexible schedule and lesson plan.
“It’s a leap in the beginning,” Oleary said.
“But once I got educated,” she added, “I caught on pretty fast.”
Oleary enrolled her 10-year-old son Noah and 7-year-old daughter Olympia at PACT Academy. With the help of an adviser and other staff at the school, she said her nerves were settled within the first couple of weeks.
Read next: Sacramento area families continue to embrace homeschooling
The family’s favorite subject is art, she said. Math is more of a challenge, so Oleary uses a teaching manual from PACT Academy’s extensive library to assist.
“It teaches me, and I can teach them,” she said.
A year in, Oleary said she has already seen a change in her son, who used to struggle with English class but is now writing proficiently and reading books to his little sister.
Not trying to replicate school
Heston, the Hayward consultant, began homeschooling her two now-adult children when they were 3 and 5 years old.
“I had no teaching experience whatsoever,” she said. “But I had a desire to give my kids a different experience.”
Now a volunteer board member for the Homeschool Association of California, Heston regularly advises parents just getting started with bimonthly Homeschooling 101 webinars.
In these meetings, she emphasizes that the point is not to recreate school at home.
Heston tells parents not to feel bound by a typical bell schedule, textbook-based learning or other facets of a classic classroom. Instead, she recommends tailoring education to each child’s interests or curiosities and incorporating “real life” experiences, like chores, cooking or budgeting, into lessons.
And, she said, it’s “trial and error.”
“You will miss something,” Heston said. “Schools miss things.”
Knowing limits, using resources
As their students get older and the subject material advances, some parents may start feeling out of their depth. For Heston, that point was somewhere around seventh grade math.
She said she outsourced, turning to online math courses.
“I knew what my limit was and didn’t try to go further,” Heston said.
Teachers for parents
One popular choice for homeschooling families in Northern California is Visions In Education, a mostly online education provider covering nine counties and chartered by the San Juan Unified School District in northeast Sacramento County.
Credentialed teachers at Visions help parents with things like planning out the school year, meeting regularly with students to keep track of their progress and administering state testing in the spring.
Brittany Thurman, a Sacramento resident, just finished her first year as a teacher with Visions, during which she said she spent the majority of her time supporting the “grown-ups.”
“What I hear most often is, ‘I never knew I could do this,’” Thurman said.
Savannah Kuchar is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged by PBS KVIE team and contribute to a crucial local news source.