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The home-schooling option
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Anonymous user Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments Did you know that home schooling is legal in all 50 states, and is now the fastest growing educational movement in the world? It’s true. Families are choosing to teach their children at home in the UK,  Australia, Japan, Korea, France, Mexico, and many other countries around the world. Here in the U.S., it is estimated that there are 2.2 million or more children being educated at home by their parents right now. Why? Because home schooling works.
Home schooling is a family lifestyle that allows parents to teach their children according to their own religious and moral beliefs. Home schooling promotes family unity, sibling bonding, and positive socialization while providing children with individualized educations and personalized curriculum. Home schooling gives children a high-quality education that is proven and unsurpassed. In fact, according to: www.nheri.org, a 20-year study recently completed found that when compared to the general population (public and privately schooled children), home-schooled graduates were:
• More likely to attend college.
• More likely to vote.
• More likely to be civically involved/do volunteer work, and more likely to believe that their involvement could make a difference in the world.
• More likely than the general population to say that they are “very happy.”
• Less likely to go on welfare.
• More likely to keep their faith: 94 percent of home-schooled graduates keep their faith, and 93 percent of them continue to go to church after high school graduation. But a shocking 75 percent to 85 percent of children from Christian homes who graduate from public schools drop out of church, and do not hold a Christian worldview after graduation.
Additionally, consider these statistics:
• Home-schoolers score on average 15 to 30 points higher than public school students do on standardized tests, and score higher on the SAT/ACT as well — no matter the income level or educational level of their parents.
• Home-schoolers are now actively recruited by most colleges, and routinely accepted into U.C., private colleges, and even Ivy League schools.
• A large majority of home-schooled graduates say that home schooling was a positive experience for them, and plan to home school their own children (84 percent or more).
Home schooling used to be unusual or trendy. But nowadays, almost everyone knows someone who is home schooling, and society has become much more home school-friendly. Home schooling has truly come of age, and Bakersfield is no exception to that. Here in Bakersfield, there are several home school support groups, the largest two being CHECK, or Christian Home Educators in the County of Kern, and HERC, or Home Educator’s Resource Center. Together they serve more than 300 families, and offer mentoring, support, curriculum counseling, meetings for moms, meetings for dads, park days, field trips, co-ops/classes for children, many different clubs for the children (chess club, 4-H, Beta and Veritas honor societies, among others), sports/PE, a home school fair (like a science fair but for all subjects), testing, used curriculum sales, a promotion ceremony, a formal high school baccalaureate/graduation, an online chat group, and more.
Nationwide, June, July and August will be conference season when home-schooling parents look forward to socializing with other like-minded families, listening to quality speakers, and browsing curriculum suppliers. Here in the central Valley, Fresno will hold its annual conference June 8 and 9. Long Beach is the new venue for our statewide conference, which will be held in July. This conference has been an annual event for more than 20 years, and is one of the larger conferences in the state, boasting as many as 6,000 to 8,000 attendees, and 200 or more vendors. For more information, visit: www.cheaofca.org. For more information on local home-schooling support groups, visit: www.checkca.org and www.hercbakersfield.org
If you would like to learn more about home schooling and how it works, consider attending these events:

Home school meetings
Have you been thinking about home schooling your children next year, but you don’t know how to start? Considering Home schooling is a Christian ministry that helps families make informed decisions about education and get started. Free meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month through September. The next meeting will be June 12 at 6:30 p.m. June’s topic is legalities/local support; July will be choosing and using curriculum; and August will cover scheduling and teaching tips. Come and learn about the fastest growing educational movement in America! 

Home school forum
Also, Christian Home Educators in the County of Kern will present at no cost its annual Forum on Home Education at Riverlakes Church, 4301 Calloway Drive (upstairs in the high school room at the east end of the building), July 19 at 7 p.m. If you have ever thought about educating your children at home or wondered what home schooling is all about, this event is for you. Topics discussed will include the whys and hows of home schooling, legalities, local support groups and activities, obtaining and using curriculum, and more. Experienced home-schooling moms will share from their hearts how home schooling has worked for them, and curriculum samples will be available for you to examine. For more information, call Susan Lemons at 827-0540 or send e-mail to: mentormom@bak.rr.com

— Susan Lemons has 15-, 6-, and 4-year-old children, all of whom she home schooled. She holds associates and bachelors degrees in child development and does conference speaking in the areas of home schooling and early childhood educating.

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