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Hawaii’s World

By A.A. Smyser

Thursday, July 6, 2000

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Home schooling
deserves attention

HOME schooling, by which 2,000 to 4,000 Hawaii students are educated each year, was below my horizon. I wasn't aware of it.

Then two home schoolers finished among the top three in the National Spelling Bee. One won.

Next I learned that a great nephew of mine, home schooled in Atlanta, this year won through testing a National Merit Scholarship to Georgia Tech.

Also that Hawaii produced a home-schooled merit scholar a few years ago and two home schoolers are current presidential scholars at Hawaii Pacific University.

In Hawaii, home schooling is overseen by the Department of Education. Parents get the necessary forms from their neighborhood school, promise to assume responsibility for their child's education, and must have them take the same standard tests as other students at grades 3, 5, 7 and 9.

No high school diploma will be awarded unless the student has returned to high school for his or her final years, but colleges are prepared to accept home schoolers who pass their entrance exams.

Hawaii's biggest private support group for home schooling is a volunteer organization, Christian Home Schools, headed by Arleen Alejado, who has successfully home schooled three of her own children.

She recommends two introductory reference books: (1) "The Big Book of Home Learning," by Nancy Price and (2) "Home School Hawaii," by Liann Mendoza, both available in our libraries. They identify commercial organizations that offer instructional material.

Advantages of home schooling include:

Individually focused learning, which means four-hour days may be adequate.

Instruction and educational visits built around individual interests.

Family closeness. Parents learn, too.

Schedule freedom. Families can travel together at off-vacation times when attractions are less crowded.

Disadvantages include:

Limited socializing experiences for children. This can be eased by group activities with other home schoolers.

Department of Education staff burdens are such that home schooling is loosely policed. Even firm numbers of statewide enrollees are lacking but 2 to 3 percent of all students may be getting their education this way.

SOME home schoolers work part-time. Bus drivers sometimes ask them why they aren't in school. Truancy, however, does not seem to be a significant problem, Alejado says.

Military families, obliged to relocate frequently, may choose home schooling to give their children more continuity in a stable environment.

A businessman home-schools in the back of his corporate jet.

Is it a plus or a minus that some schools may promote home schooling to get rid of problem youngsters who regularly disrupt classrooms?

My conclusion: Home schooling deserves more attention from more of us.

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A.A. Smyser is the contributing editor
and former editor of the the Star-Bulletin
His column runs Tuesday and Thursday.