Co-ops: Homeschooling Alliance - Part II
All that's required is that the parents show Van Wormer a log of learning activities.
"We're not policing, but they have to show they're working," VanWormer said.
In return, the district reimburses families about $500 per student, per year. Also, the district gets to count those students as full-time equivalents, meaning they get more state money.
Leonard also said the program will help make for smoother transitions back into high school, something many families chose to do.
"Unless (homeschooling) parents have done a good job of documenting test scores, it's hard to place (their children) in high school. It's hard to grant them credit toward graduation," he said. "Now we'll have a history on the kid as to what they've been doing."
Mead's Parent Resource Program started after Principal Alison Olzendam happened to see a homeschooling outreach program near Seattle and thought, "We could do that, too."
Though parents in the Mead program also are reimbursed $500, the Parent Resource Program is a bit different than Home-Link.
Mead's program has about 30 kids, though the number changes daily. Former eighth-grade English teacher Karen Petty serves as program director, overseeing a program assistant and five teachers - most of whom also teach at Mead Middle School. Petty said she hopes to have more staff soon.
On Tuesday, Mead homeschoolers ranging in age from 8 to 18 filled a portable at the middle school, having come to work on Spanish and creative writing. The students in Mead's program come five hours a week if they take such classes, or one hour a week for one-on-one tutoring. Mead parents also are required to keep a log and check in with Petty every 45 days to make sure they are sticking to the learning plan they developed for their child.
Since the program is based on parental requests and input, it is constantly evolving.
"The parents say what's best for their kids, and we see if we can support that through the program," Petty explained. "It's really working backward - instead of getting the classes and then the kids, we're gathering students and then saying, `What do you want?'" To that, Mead homeschooling parent Tracy Golman smiled and said, "Exactly!"
Though she admitted to being very leery when she first heard of the support program, Golman said she has so far been pleased.
"I can't teach Spanish, so I love to have that," she said. "It's going better than expected. I'm excited about the new teachers and programs."
"It's kind of a makes-sense thing," Willford added. "I think people are starting to see how there's more than one way to educate a child. And if we can all work together, everyone benefits."
But even if their parents are wary, the students seem to love it.
"I like being able to get out and meet new people," said Golman's daughter Ashley, 12, "and not be stuck in the house all day."
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