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74 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, September 28, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 12, 2004 Jeannine Wencl and her daughter, Jorgan, 5, shop for their church�s food pantry at Food 4 Less in Medford. Part of Jorgan�s homeschooling includes helping those in need. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven At-home learners A growing number of children bypass public schools and get their education from homeschooling By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Jorgan Wencl, who proudly proclaims her age as 5 — and a half — speeds through her morning "flush and brush" routine, eager to hit the books. "I’ve never seen her move so fast in the morning," said mom Jeannine Wencl. "I brush my teeth. I brush my hair. I tie on my shoes," said Jorgan, flaunting sneakers bedecked with rainbows. Then, she explains, she goes "right around the corner," into the spare room that the Wencl family of Eagle Point has transformed into a classroom. Mother and daughter settle in for nearly four hours of instruction in math, science, history and reading, following an evangelical Christian curriculum published by Sonlight Curriculum Ltd. of Littleton, Colo. After lunch, it’s time for outings, like a recent shopping trip to help stock a church food pantry, and tae kwan do twice a week. Advertisement The Wencls are among a growing number of families turning to homeschool. Almost 1.1 million students nationwide were homeschooled last year, up 29 percent since 1999, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education. Some homeschool advocates estimate more — up to 2 million students — are taught primarily at home. In Jackson County, 1,171 homeschool students were registered with the Southern Oregon Education Service District as of Aug. 27. The district, which also serves Klamath and Josephine counties, had a total of 2,080 listed homeschool students, up 22 percent from 1,706 in 1999. Homeschoolers must notify the ESD of plans to teach kids between ages 7 and 18 at home or the student is considered a truant and the parents can face court action. However, they don’t have to tell the district if they return to public or private school or move from the district, so officials say the number is only an estimate. The inability to track homeschool students and their performance presents a potential problem. "There’s always a concern that negligent parents could use homeschool as an excuse for not educating their children," said Phil Long, Medford school’s director of elementary education and curriculum. Such problems are rare, he said. Long’s family homeschools, but he doesn’t discuss the decision publicly. The state requires standardized testing in third, fifth, eighth and 10th grades, the same grades tested in public school. However, the standards homeschoolers must meet — not nearly as stringent as those faced in public schools — are so low, the ESD doesn’t have parents turn in test scores anymore because they always meet the standard. But as homeschooling grows, questions need to be asked about parents’ ability to teach and the quality of materials available to students at home, according to Ted Feinberg, assistant executive director of the National Association of School Psychologists, in an interview with The Associated Press. More research is needed to determine if homeschoolers have too limited an exposure to the world and what effects that might have, he said. But that’s not a worry for homeschooler David Pecheny, who owns Professor Mom’s Homeschool Center in Central Point. "Opponents talk about socialization, but what are (kids) being socialized into?" he asked. He and his wife, Maria, were more concerned about their three children’s potential exposure to violence, drugs, sexuality and materialism in school. A National Center for Education Statistics report found two main reasons families choose homeschooling: 31 percent cited concerns about the environment of regular schools and 30 percent wanted to teach religious or moral lessons. The third most prevalent reason, offered by 16 percent of families surveyed, was dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools. Health problems, special needs and other reasons also were cited. Rogue Valley homeschoolers said reasons for teaching at home are as unique as each family that chooses the option. Most families cite several reasons for deciding that home education would be best for their children. Still many acknowledge two strands within the movement: people whose choice springs from their religion and those driven by educational ideals. "The common vein is that the state doesn’t own our kids; we do," Pecheny said. He opened Professor Mom’s to sell homeschool supplies in July 2003. Since January, he said he’s seen 190 customers who are homeschooling for the first time. Most of his customers keep their kids at home for religious reasons, he said. Only a few of the 275 homeschool students who take classes at Ashland’s Willow Wind Community Learning Center learn at home for religious reasons, said Debra Schaeffer Pew, administrator at the homeschool-support program sponsored by the Ashland School District. "Most chose homeschool as a strategy from the start," she said. "They never intended to go to public school." Jeannine Wencl said she and her husband, John, had considered homeschool for Jorgan since she was a baby, although their older daughter, Jamie, 21, attended public schools. In 2001, during Jamie’s junior and senior years, racial tensions and threats of violence brought police to Eagle Point High School several times, disturbing the Wencls. Jamie decided she wanted to graduate from high school, but she asked her parents to homeschool her little sister. The family has hired an office manager for their contracting business so Jeannine Wencl can stay home and teach. Most homeschool families rely on one income, Pecheny said. "It takes sacrifices," he said. "You forgo the nicer house and new car so mom can stay home and educate." Pam Wallace, of Ashland, has spent the last two decades at home educating her five children. She and Daniel, 15, and Laurel, 12, geared up for their studies last week. The three oldest have already moved on. Rachel, 26, has a degree from Azusa Pacific University and lives in Southern California with her husband and two kids. Derek, 24, a Seattle Pacific University grad, is a law student at New York University. Carrie, 22, is wavering between the worlds of work and college, having sampled both. Wallace, said she and her husband, Ken, who serves on the board of the Jackson County Home Educators, a homeschool network, felt called to teach their kids at home because of strong Christian beliefs. "We prayed about it," she said. "It was not so much what we thought of public school, or even private school for that matter. We felt this was a good opportunity for us." When they started, the state didn’t have laws covering homeschooling. "You could just go in under the radar," she said. "We’d just keep the kids at home and not go to the grocery store during the day to avoid questions" about why they weren’t in school. Few curriculum programs were available then. Some homeschoolers relied on discarded school texts or went to the Southern Oregon University library to find education books, she said. Now options abound, with online courses, video instruction, correspondence classes and a curriculum to suit every philosophy. Citing studies by the National Home Education Research Institute in Salem, Pecheny said homeschool materials typically cost about $450 per student per year. Programs for young students are usually cheaper, while high school materials, with complex subjects like physics or chemistry, cost more. The Wallaces did general education at home, but the kids explored special interests through classes at Ashland High School, SOU and Rogue Community College during high school years. Derek studied computer science, Rachel took music and Carrie studied writing. This year, Laurel plans to play volleyball at Ashland Middle School. "People would ask us how long we were going to do this," Wallace said. "In the beginning, we took one year at a time." To cap off their homeschool education, the Wallace kids took General Education Development (GED) tests and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), for college admissions. The National Home Education Research Institute reports that homeschoolers score slightly above the national average on college-admissions tests, including the SAT and the ACT. Homeschool seemed like a natural choice for Traci Thompson of Talent. She has a master’s degree in education and has taught in Colorado and Bend. She expected to return to the classroom after her children were born, but decided it made sense to stay home and teach her own kids. She started when her son, Darian, now 9, was in kindergarten, and now teaches him and his 7-year-old sister, Drew. Baby sister, Ryan, age 1, looks on from a backpack Thompson wears while teaching. "Our family sees homeschool as control over our decisions," Thompson said. Darian favors a thorough, individualized program that caters to his interests. This year, many studies will revolve around a pet hamster he got this summer, Thompson said. Drew takes an accelerated course that includes fourth-grade level work. Both go to Willow Wind for activity classes such as tap dance, art and gardening. They also have participated in soccer and gymnastics at the YMCA and take outside lessons — he in fencing and she in violin and horseback riding. "Socialization — we call it the ‘S’ word — is one of the things we find is a non-concern," Thompson said. "They have friends their own age and are comfortable around people of all ages." Thompson said the family takes home education year by year, even month by month, and is open to returning to public school if that would best meet the kids’ needs. However, Thompson loves the way "teachable moments" she used to strive for in her classroom naturally present themselves at home. "Homeschool happens in every home as you live your life," she said. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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