MorningStar’s Home Education News

by Mimi Rothschild

Experiential education is defined as purposefully engaging learners in an experience with focused reflection to increase knowledge and skills and to clarify values. Rather than hearing or reading about the experiences of others, experiential learning requires students to discover, research, and experiment with knowledge themselves. Experiential learning then asks students to reflect on their learning, thus developing new ways of thinking and heightened awareness of their world.

Several prominent figures have stated their views about the way experience impacts education. Some thoughts are as follows:

* “What one has not experienced, one will never understand in print.” - Isadora Duncan

* “Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.” - Benjamin Franklin

* The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered. - Jean Piaget

* “All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.” - Sir Walter Scott

* “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” - Mark Twain

If such commanding leaders believe that education must be paired with life experiences, why doesn’t traditional schooling reflect these beliefs? Why do most schools still implement teachers as knowledge-givers and students as information-takers? Rather than teaching what someone else has accomplished, homeschooling families have the exciting advantage of using life experience so that homeschooled students accomplish something meaningful through their education.

John Dewey was one of the earliest promoters of learning through the experience of action and reflection. This type of learning never “caught on” in mainstream education because it differs drastically from traditional education. In traditional classrooms, teachers set knowledge before the students. They hope that students will connect this knowledge with other information they have learned and apply it in their lives. Despite many efforts to alter this type of teaching, studies have shown that most teaching, especially in high school, still involves the teacher providing knowledge and the student as a passive recipient of information.

Homeschooling can provide an escape from “typical schooling” and can help implement experiential education. Regardless of how experiential education is employed, its key idea involves students taking on new active roles that have real consequences. When students are active learners, their adventures often take them outside the classroom walls, which, ironically , makes available a world of learning opportunities. As our children’s teachers, we need to take advantage of these “secret” teaching locations.

Experiential education not only changes the role of the student, but also that of the teacher. Just as students must become active learners, so must the teachers. Teachers must experiment mutually with their students, evoke student reactions to the activities, and respond to those reactions. Because of the necessary closeness between teacher and student when experiencing education in this way, homeschooling families are in the best position to teach and learn through these progressive and effective methods.

Some suggested experiential learning activities are:

* write articles for a local newspaper
* complete a ropes course with your family
* act in the church play or sing in the church choir/band
* organize a service group with your friends
* interview others and write articles on their views
* renovate a homeless shelter
* take self-defense classes with your family
* set a budget and go shopping
* volunteer in a soup kitchen
* launch an environmental campaign
* write to a pen pal from another state or country
* collect money for a local children’s hospital
* plan and run a fundraiser for a charity
* set goals for and play Monopoly
* make beaded jewelry to sell to friends and family
* cook for a bake sale
* have a yard/garage sale
* shadow a professional while they work
* write to your local politician about an issue that concerns you

All of these activities require a variety of skills, from proper speech and language to sociological awareness to financial responsibilities to teamwork and problem solving. Experiential education strives not to isolate one skill set or topic, but to unite acquired skills into a cohesive blend of informative action. Because of this, experiential education can be much more successful than traditional education.

Homeschooling families have the means to take experiential education to a level not possible in the traditional school environment. We encourage you to take advantage of this and allow yourself and your child to learn in the most unsuspecting of places.

by Mimi Rothschild

Whether your child has been home schooled for all or most of his or her school career, or if you’ve just introduced home schooling recently, you’ll need some pointers and suggestions from time to time on how to keep learning interesting and fun for your teen. The key to making sure your son or daughter is retaining all the information necessary to be successful in home school is being attuned to the needs and interests of your child, and incorporating these things into effective lesson plans. Here are some suggestions that you may want to try with your teen to keep both of you motivated.

Customize your teen’s lesson plan

While it is necessary to maintain structure and order when teaching at home, it’s perfectly okay to incorporate your child’s learning style and academic interests into the daily lesson plan. Observe the ways that your son or daughter learn best, and try to include these methods into every subject possible. For example, if your child is more of a visual learner, charts and diagrams are best for teaching everything from Language Arts to Math. If your child learns best audibly, recording examples of proper sentence structure and writing styles, as well as scientific definitions and instructions for solving math problems will help your child to absorb the information. Very few children have just one method for learning, so try to include every way that your child retains information during instruction. Using visual, auditory, and even tactile learning methods on tests will also help your child remember material and make the best possible advancement in every subject.

Make the most of home school

Since you and your teen have more time to spend on schooling and the environment is much more personal and comfortable, use this to your advantage. Take as much time as is necessary to explain a new concept or definition to your child, and use as many hands-on examples as you can. You have the freedom to be a little more creative than a regular classroom would allow, so make sure that your child feels completely comfortable asking questions and thinking out loud. Also, make sure that your schedule meets the needs of you and your teen. If you’re not much of a morning person (or your son or daughter isn’t), starting school later in the day is perfectly fine. Or, if you want to finish school early so that you have most of the afternoon free, this is fine, too. You have the ability to help your child make the most of his or her education, and any thing you can do, big or small, can make home school a great experience for the both of you.

Ask your children what they need

It’s a good idea to have conferences every so often with your son or daughter to make sure that they are learning at the proper pace for their age and grade. These progress reports will also help you to see what needs to be improved in the curriculum. Be sure to be open-minded during these conferences with your child. Ask what you can do to make home school more effective and exciting. If your teen comes up with a creative idea for presenting a lesson plan, try it out to see if it will work, even if you’re a little skeptical. Being both parent and teacher can be difficult, but if you keep the lines of communication open with your teen, he or she will feel the comfort and attention that are hard to come by in a traditional classroom. And, you’ll create a unique bond with your teen that very few parents can claim. If your son or daughter tells you that a particular teaching method is no longer working, don’t get offended; get creative. Ask for suggestions on how you can improve as a teacher, and if need be, give tips on how your teen can strengthen their abilities as a student. Making sure that your teen feels that he or she is a part of the learning process will definitely keep your star pupil focused and motivated about learning.

by Mimi Rothschild

As a seasoned home school parent, you have undoubtedly enjoyed the benefits of helping to educate your children and watching them bloom and grow under your guidance. However, your children are beginning to grow older and you are experiencing increased difficulty in keeping your teenaged students motivated to learn. This process is becoming more and more frustrating and if you are new to the home schooling environment, it might just be enough to convince you to give up.

Take heart, you have selected a wonderful avenue for educating your children; you just need some help. Do not feel inadequate; just about every teacher in America has to find resources to keep students, especially teenage students, motivated.

Online Learning

While your curriculum is likely motivating and challenging, it is also your curriculum. Teenage students are…well…teenagers, and as they go through hormonal changes, they challenge and test their parents. Don’t take it personally when their attitudes or words are less than complimentary toward you. Teenagers need boundaries and limits; however, they also need a chance to learn how to motivate themselves, and you can help them do that. Rather than pushing them to use your curriculum and do a project within your expected time limits, consider several classes in an online learning environment or asking them to develop their own course of study if yours is not of interest to them.

In an online learning environment, the students are responsible for doing their coursework. Give them the primary responsibility of maintaining the online learning material. This will provide them an opportunity to increase their independence, and online tools will allow you to monitor your students’ progress without appearing nosey. You may be amazed at how your students will desire to excel at the hand of someone beside their current nemesis (you, The Parent). While your teaching may be no different or better than the online professor, your students will likely be more motivated because it is an authority outside of the one they are currently testing.

Rewards

Provide your teens with physical rewards, not material ones – for example, an outing, social gathering or event that they have expressed interest in or want to attend. Perhaps a membership or involvement in a club contingent upon continued success in an educational area relating to the club. Do not use food, television or material products for ongoing rewards; not only can this be a costly way to reward your children, it will give them unreasonable expectations for future achievement.

Another method for rewarding your teenagers is to have them pick a reward that they want (again, non-material). As your children work on projects, motivate them by offering a daily award for completed work. Give them something nominal, (a ticket, rock or coin) as they perform designated tasks. The items can be saved and spent as the children wish for the reward of their own choosing. Have a list of rewards available to choose from, like having an afternoon off of their choice or not having to clean their room for a weekend. This will teach your children to work consistently, the importance of saving, and the beauty of enjoying rewards for a job well done. Rather than pushing chores as a punishment, show them how hard work can make their lives easier by providing them with breaks from their usual tasks around the house.

However you choose to keep your students motivated, do not be inconsistent. The number one thing that teenagers get frustrated with parents for is inconsistency. Be sure that this is not a source of contention between you and your teenage students.

by Mimi Rothschild

Home schooling doesn’t have to be all work and no play. In fact, a departure from straight book learning is one of the fundamental principles in home schooling. There are a lot of fun recreational activities that you can give your kids to help them learn every subject imaginable. Not only will they build great memories of having fun in school with you, but they’ll remember what they learn as well because you are utilizing more senses than just visual (reading) or visual and aural (reading aloud while they follow along; videos). Computer programs take it a little bit further by engaging the tactile sense – they use their fingers to key in answers and move the cursor. But how fun is that?

Science

Science is the easiest subject to include fun and recreational projects. Teach plate tectonics and stratification with Milky Way candy bars. Let them see photosynthesis demonstrated by planting a garden outside and then potting a few plants under the kitchen sink. Gardens teach so many different things that no home school should be without them. Kids can learn the plant names, plant reproduction, nutrition, cooking and even values like patience as they wait for the plants to grow and produce fruit or the concept of giving and sharing by baking zucchini bread with their homemade zucchinis and giving them away to the neighbors.

Math

Teach infinity with grains of sand at the beach or by studying astronomy. Stars and math are embedded within each other and the first makes the second a bit more interesting. Estimation is fun when played by guessing the number of jelly beans in a jar and then using the candy to demonstrate exponents, basic arithmetic – though division and fractions might be better shown on a slightly larger treat.

English

Churn your own butter and learn hand sewing and paper making to make your own notebooks for other work as you go through the Little House on the Prairie series. Experiment with writing plays to enact exciting scenes from favorite books. Use poetry magnets to teach syntax and make your own letter and punctuation magnets to teach punctuation.

Social Studies

Learn other cultures by cooking their staple dishes, re-creating a few of the ancient clothes or jewelry they wore, or comparing customs. For example, compare ancient Christmas traditions between various countries and time periods.

Another idea is to keep up with current events. If there is a drive to build a new playground in the neighborhood, get involved. Start a little home school newsletter and send it to family and friends – even just a few issues by your child will teach her how much work is involved in keeping up with events in the house, reporting facts versus opinion, and deciding what is important to print and what is not.

Field Trips

When there’s a new play in your area, even if it’s done by a local high school, use it to study elements within it. West Side Story offers an opportunity to discuss race relations and prejudices, Puerto Rico, immigration and international relations.

When a new panda comes to the zoo or a baby lion is born, take your child to see it. Keep up with it in the paper as it grows and visit it occasionally, taking pictures to mark its progress. Study lions, where they’re from and their behaviors.

The changing exhibits at museums can help lead you into units as well. Recreate old relics with papier-mâché, dress up as famous historical figures that relate to the exhibit – anything that elucidates what you learn at the museum. Often times, the gift shop can give you ideas. Postcards from your exhibit will serve to memorialize the experience and also make great flash cards for learning.

by Mimi Rothschild

One of the main reasons families opt for home schooling their children involves religious grounds. Religion subjects are no longer part of public school curricula, and because of this, parents feel that they ought to be responsible for teaching their children not just the educational subjects that they need in the future, but religious doctrines as well.

They are right for doing so. A careful study of the Bible will point you to the conclusion that God indeed meant for children to be taught in the home by their father and mother. According to Proverbs 6:20, “My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother.” He clearly meant that children ought to abide by their parents’ laws.

God himself placed authority on parents, and not on any other person or institution. Proverbs 29:17 says, “Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.” This means that if you bring up your child with your teachings, through God’s guidance, you, your child, and society, will find satisfaction.

Because of this, as Christian parents, we ought not to turn our responsibility over to others. It is not the responsibility of the government, or the church, to raise your children and teach them how to live in this world. It is our responsibility, and we ought to take it seriously and not allow other external factors to affect our children.

When God gave us this responsibility, He also expects us to be responsible for our actions. One good example of this is the story of Eli. 1 Samuel 2:22 states, “Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.” When Eli learned of this, he consequently told his sons to stop their wicked acts, but they did not listen. Eli was then punished by God, because it fell on Eli’s shoulders to discipline his sons.

Likewise, it is our responsible to take account for our actions. If we send our children to a public school, where they will learn things that we never meant for them to learn, we ought to own up to our actions. After, all, we were the ones who put them there. Another inevitable part of public education is that at some point, you and the teacher will one day contradict each other, and this will cause confusion for your children. To avoid this, it is best to educate your child in the home.

Home schooling will also help “separate” our children from the worldly society. This is not to say that we ought to stop our children from having friends. This just means that we ought to know who our children associate with, and to keep them from people that might influence them negatively.

These are only some of the scriptural reasons that we, as parents and Christians ought to keep in mind when thinking of educating our children. It is responsibility to teach our children, and we should not reject this responsibility.

by Mimi Rothschild

The most important notion a parent should believe in is that home schooling is something they are doing with their children. It’s a learning experience for both parent and child. Being a home school parent requires having a high level of curiosity and interest about the world to provide a good example to your child’s inquisitive mind. This will entail confidence on the part of the home schooling parent.

First time home school parents may obviously not be as confident as experienced ones. However, it is not bad not to achieve total 100% confidence. Eventually you will learn that having doubts once in a while allows you to experiment on other techniques that might be more effective for your child.

Home school parents also learn to maximize their time. The days and weeks of worry or doubt brought about by inexperience will in due course be replaced by focus. Realizing the responsibility they have taken on when they first decided to home school their child pushes them to roll up their sleeves and work. However, having a high-achievement personality might not be helpful, as many home school parents can attest to. Learning to let your family “be free” will prove to be more gratifying than trying so hard to accomplish everything at once. A newbie home school parent can start by letting go of one household project at a time, as educating their children must be their primary concern.

There may come a time when, as much as support groups are helpful, a parent will opt to shy away from these gathering as he/she will develop a competitive behavior towards other home schoolers. A home schooling parent will soon find out that spending time with the family is more rewarding than mingling with people in support groups, which can get rather competitive. It is important that home school parents interact with those who share their key values.

It’s a common pitfall to compare having more than one child versus having only one child. A home school parent of an only child should realize the other facets that make his/her family rich, such as the family’s health or a flourishing marriage. Parents also become aware of the damage that comparing one child to another will cause. Home schooling is synonymous to educational freedom. Parents draw pleasure in seeing their children blossom into young individuals who are pursuing the interests of their choice.

The urge to please other people often plagues new home schoolers. It is understandable that parents may feel vulnerable and afraid of what others may say. A home schooling parent will learn how to deal with this; whether by dismissing offensive queries with short simple answers or trying to help others understand through lengthy discussions. You’ll have to accept that pleasing everybody is an exercise in futility, so it’s better to invest your energy in more fruitful things and concentrate on effectively teaching your child.

The possibility of failure lurks in every venture that we undertake. A home schooling parent will realize that everything else is second to achieving the goal of a quality education for the child. A lot of self-help books are available, along with the experiences that can be shared by other home schooling parents. What matters most is the future of the child that is being molded through home school. That is the most powerful motivation a parent can get. Home school parents understand and keep this in their hearts and minds. From taking care of their children as infants to maturing as reliable parents, the joy of home schooling is as academically beneficial as it is emotionally gratifying.

by Mimi Rothschild

Homeschooling is as ancient as learning itself; it was the first way knowledge was passed from parent to child. Schools were developed to pool resources and give children the benefit of learning things their parents might not know, broadening their horizons; a superior method than having one instructor who, let’s face it, might not have the breadth needed to teach in all subjects. Enter the Internet, the great equalizer, and a way to even the playing field.

Homeschooling is a viable educational alternative in all states, and many state-level and community-level resources are to be found. The Internet augments them all; with sites ranging from those that house thousands of public-domain books to those sites dedicated to specific homeschooling curriculums. Brushing up on what it has to offer should be the first of your homework assignments when preparing to homeschool.

While the types of sites that can be found are legion, there are a few basic categories that will go a long way towards making homeschooling less of a burden and more of a reward.

The first category, and recommended launch site when learning about homeschooling and the resources available, are the Homeschool Sites themselves. These sites seem to be divided into three categories; government and other organization sites that deal with specific programs, “catch all” resource sites that do a wonderful job educating, assisting and guiding anyone involved in homeschooling, and companies that offer entire homeschool programs for sale.

The next category of sites are Reference Sites, those dedicated to “look up” materials when a student is researching North Dakota’s State Bird for their State Project, trying to determine the per capita of Guadalajara, or just trying to confirm the spelling of a persnickety word.

Next are Research Sites, those dedicated (usually) to a particular field of study, or family of related fields. On these sites can be found everything from simple definitions to complex topics (such as the Theory of Relativity) to graphs, formulas and lecture notes that drill deep into the heart of theory.

Finally are Tool Sites, those wonderful Internet gifts that allow you to quickly convert centigrade to farenheight and meters to inches. These sites are filled with calculators for everything from phases of the moon to figuring out the interest on a car loan, and lets not forget the translators! While some philologists wouldn’t swear by their accuracy, they offer a great help in a pinch.

Review the sites below for a good sampling of what is available:
Homeschool Sites

Kids Town

http://www.hwcn.org/~ab448/kidstown/Profile.html

Everything Homeschooling

http://www.everythinghomeschooling.com/

Homefires

http://www.homefires.com/

Reference Sites

Bartleby

http://www.bartleby.com/

Internet Public Library

http://www.ipl.org/

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

http://www.m-w.com/

Wikipedia

http://www.wikipedia.org/

Research Sites

National Geographic

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/

Social Science

http://www.ssrn.com/index_sf.html

Planetary Science

http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/

Tool Sites

Translators

http://babelfish.altavista.com/

Calculators

http://www.calculator.com/

Converters

http://www.onlineconversion.com/

by Mimi Rothschild

The decision to homeschool is one that is never made lightly. Managing a full life in today’s world can be hectic enough before adding in to the mix having children at home all day, everyday, all year long. Top that with being responsible for developing curriculum’s, teaching, grading, tracking progress, ensuring the right mix of activities and areas of growth, and you have your first year of homeschool. Each year some elements of homeschooling may get easier with repetition and a growing network of resources, but the decision-making can sometimes get tougher. At some point a homeschooling parent has to think, “Will my child do better in public or private school now that they are middle-school aged? How about when they reach high school?” Committing to homeschooling is an ever-renewing process, and preparing for the end, when your child graduates is as important as your first year.

How do you know when you are done? In a traditional school it is very easy to answer that question; you are done when the school system says you are done. When you child reaches a certain age, has completed a certain number of grade levels successfully and, in some states, passed certain tests, then you are certain your child is a graduate. For homeschooling parents, the question becomes a lot more challenging, and the homeschooled child is going to want to know as well.

In most cases the child is learning in an unconventional manner, and often has passed many of his or her friends when it comes to certain benchmarks, such as covering subject matter X by age Y. Using the traditional schools curriculum may therefore be of little help; but benchmarks can still be a useful measure of progress to determine when a child is ready to move on to the next stage in their education and life.

Many homeschool families entered into the practice to avoid what they feel as the route and constipated public school systems in the first place, so imitating the graduation requirements and trappings of the final graduation ceremonies simply don’t make sense. While each state may have specific requirements, such as passing the G.E.D. program and taking the S.A.T.s, each family should decide on what is important to them, what milestones should be reached in order to feel comfortable graduating their children.

Many homeschool parents suggest taking S.A.T.s regardless, to prepare the child for college entrance. Some possible milestones could include: getting acceptance to / applying to certain colleges or trade schools, completing a number of Community College level courses while being homeschooled, reaching a certain number of hours in each subject matter, and demonstrating competency in the those subjects that are important to having a good, overall grasp on life, such as Economics, Math, English Communication skills, etc.

Many families homeschool for religious reasons as well, and benchmarks in understanding their religion and demonstrating character issues are also good ideas. Some homeschooling families have group graduation ceremonies, complete with caps and gowns, photo-shoots and diplomas, while others find personal, home-brewed ceremonies more apropos.

Whatever your decision for the final benchmarks for graduation and how to celebrate it, make it center on what is important to your family, as the final effort of love and commitment to your child’s homeschool education.

by Mimi Rothschild

If you are Homeschooling your children, then you already have stepped outside the norm and made adjustments in your life in order to make it work. One or both parents may work at home or have a job that allows for the occasional odd schedule in order to meet the demands of teaching their children at home. Whether you are a single parent who telecommutes, a stay-at-home parent whose spouse has a day job, or a pair of self-employed homeschooling parents, dealing with Homeschool and Work can be a difficult, but not insurmountable, challenge.

Talking to your boss

If you work for a traditional employer (in a nine-to-five or otherwise), having a conversation about homeschooling is a good idea. Anytime you have an aspect of your life outside of work that has the potential to disrupt scheduling or other work related progress, having a frank discussion with the boss can go a long way towards understanding. Setting the right expectations are important, but understanding first yourself what kinds of demands your alternate education choices may place on your role at your job. If occasional time off to attend a field trip, or to relieve your spouse, is going to occur, then scheduling in advance is the way to go. In any event, if your boss knows the reason behind a disruption (and, of course, if they don’t happen too often!) he or she will be much more likely to be understanding.

Scheduling in advance

By scheduling, as much in advance as possible, you will not only be able to plan for absences from your day job, but also shifts in your work load. If your job requires you to do work at home, and especially if you are a telecommuter or self-employed, then knowing what is expected of you and when by your homeschool commitment will allow you to allocate your time accordingly. Stress is greatly reduced when you have a plan; if you know that you will be able to tackle that pressing work-related issue after you grade papers for an hour, you are more likely to forget about it for that hour and concentrate your attention where it is supposed to be.

Get everyone on the same page

Having a family meeting about how homeschooling and work will be designed to operate together is a good idea. Depending on the age of your children, you could keep things as simple as “After School Time Mommy has to have some Work Time, so play quietly” (and then make sure they have something engaging to do), or if your children are older you may even involve them in your work, helping you get your assignments done and teaching them even more in the process.

Use those time management skills!

You already have to plan out school days around work schedules and family time (non-school related), so time management is nothing new. Print out dedicated schedules highlighting work time so that your children can know when they need to play quietly or do self-directed study. However you decide to blend work and homeschooling, keep the communication lines open, use your tools, and schedule in advance as much as possible, and you are sure to be successful at it.

by Mimi Rothschild

Many famous people were educated through home schooling. It can be somewhat surprising how these individuals managed to soar high into their chosen professions by studying not at the prestigious universities and colleges, but right in the comfort of their own homes. For example, just recently, Justice Erika Tatum of the Texas Supreme Court and Appellate Court and Attorneys Chris Warne and Heather Barber, all confirmed “home schoolers”, met as delegates in the 49th Annual YMCA Youth and Government Conference to compete in the annual ‘mock trials’ at the state level.

John Adams (1735-1826), the second president of the United States, was taught to read at home and later on at the kitchen of a neighbor woman, along with his playmates. When he reached 15 years old, he was accepted at Harvard. His namesake, John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), the sixth president of the United States, was thought of as a delinquent when he attended a university. His father would not have any of it and decided to have tutors teach young John at home, occasionally letting him attend lectures at the university. Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States, had tutors and maintained a self-study program for himself.

In the arts, photographers Ansel Adams (1902-1984) and Edward Curtis (1868-1952), unquestionably the greatest photographers of the 20th century, shared an affiliation for home schooling. Adams, bored and unable to stand the sense of captivity of the classroom, deliberately disrupted his lessons with wild laughter and overt scorn for the incompetent lectures of his teachers. His father employed several personal tutors to teach young Ansel at home. Curtis, on the other hand, was not wealthy like Ansel. Despite this, he managed to self-study the realms of photography and became the most celebrated photographer of his time.

In the field of literature, Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), author of Little Women and Little Men, was for the most part educated by her father Bronson Alcott at their home. Among other writers with a home schooling background are modern mystery author Agatha Christie (1890-1976), author of Murder on the Orient Express, who was privately educated at home, Gloria Steinem (1934- ), feminist, writer and co-founder of Ms. Magazine, Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), and C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), author of Chronicles of Narnia. Lewis’ mother, and a tutor who helped him prepare for Oxford, taught him at home.

Many mathematical and scientific geniuses were educated through home school. Modern scientist Erik Demaine, an assistant professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the top scholar in the emerging field of origami mathematics, was home schooled by his father. He started taking college courses at the age of 12, and graduated with a post-graduate degree at the age of 20. Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdos was kept out of school by his mother because she feared that attending conventional schools would contaminate her young son’s mind. Benoit Mandelbrot, a Harvard mathematician who pioneered the study of fractal geometry, didn’t do very well in school so his uncle decided to start home schooling him at the age of 12. Aside from these modern examples, great scientists like Thomas Edison (1847-1931), who was taught at home by his mother, a former teacher, is included in the long list. Other inspired examples include: Benjamin Franklin; printer, inventor and statesman, who attended grammar school from age 8 to age 10 before dropping out and being home schooled, Countess Augusta Ada Lovelace (1815-1852), educated at home by governesses and tutors hired by her mother, and Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), who got ill with tuberculosis, was forced to drop out of school, and taught himself French, Italian, German, Chaldean, Syrian, Arabic, and algebraic math while recuperating.

Home schooling certainly did not stop athlete Todd Lodwick, Nordic skier, from winning the World Cup and a medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics. Chess maters Susan Sofia and Judit Polgar were home schooled as well.

Renowned violinist Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999), remembered very little of his first and only day at school. From the day that he stepped into the classroom, he knew that it would not work for him. He started formal home schooling at the age of six, but was being taught at home even before he went to school that fateful day.

All of these “famous home schoolers” seem to have one thing in common: a thirst for knowledge and a determination to improve themselves. The question will always remain, would they have succeeded in the more traditional educational environment? If one analyzes this on an individual basis, the answer seems to be probably not – given the extraordinary individuality cultivated by the home schooling approach in each case. But of course, we can never be 100% sure….