In part one I explained the four legal options a parent can choose from to educate their child at home. This article focuses on the choice of an independent study program through a public school. The recent appellate court ruling stating parents must have a teaching credential to homeschool has created such an outcry in the state that the court has decided to reopen the case and will begin hearing oral arguments this month. Whatever the outcome of this second trial though, it won’t affect students on this option.

Kristina Kersey, who lives in North Orange County on the border of Los Angeles has homeschooled her ten-year-old son for the past two years. She has several reasons why she pulled her child from her local public school but the teachers are not one of those reasons.

“I love public school teachers,” said the red-haired, classically trained dancer. “My Dad is a retired high school teacher, my mother taught third grade before becoming a full time mom and my brother and his wife are also public school teachers.’ ‘I’m surrounded by them!” she laughed.

What does bother her is the situation teachers face everyday when trying to educate the children in their classes. According to Kersey, the number of students, the varying ability levels and different learning styles plus classroom discipline force teachers to slow down the pace of the curriculum. “There’s a lot of wasted time,” she said.

Besides the government’s “No Child Left Behind Program” has limited the creativity and alternative resources teachers were once allowed to use to inspire their students. A first grade teacher confided in me recently that, “Heaven help them if they weren’t all on the same page in the provided text book if the principal made a grade level inspection.”

This is also one of the reasons Kersey took her son out of their local school. She can choose the curriculum she wants to as long as she still meets the goals in the state standards.

“While my son is young and impressionable I want to give him a strong, solid foundation in morals and self confidence,” she said. Therefore, she uses a thematically based curriculum using character traits as the theme.

One of the recent traits they studied was courage. They read the book, Keep the Lights Burning, Abbey by Connie Roop, a story about a young girl in the 19th century who had to single handedly keep a lighthouse lit in a storm despite her fears.

Since Kersey has the freedom to take her children where she wants to during the day, they visited the Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro and were given a privately led tour. They plan to visit several lighthouses in the local area as well.

This is something that regular public schools can’t do. They’re usually limited to one or two field trips a year and quite often it’s well after the subject has been studied. Therefore, parents who homeschool have the advantage of increasing the number of experiences that generate understanding of concepts being taught.

Kersey has her son enrolled in an ISP (independent study program) at CHEP (Community Home Education Program), which is part of the Orange County Department of Education. Although located in Orange County it serves students who reside in bordering counties such as Los Angeles, Riverside or San Diego.

How the program works is Kersey and her son meet with a credentialed teacher once a month. During that time she’ll give samples of his work in every subject area so she can show they are meeting his objectives according to state standards. The teacher is also available to help with instructional methods and resources.

Due to this accountability along with supervision by a certified educator, the recent court ruling does not affect CHEP’s program. According to Pat Novak, CHEP’s principal, she confirmed that the outcome of this trial would not impact their school.

The first year Kersey homeschooled she let them provide the curriculum as she was new to teaching. However, now she has the confidence to choose her own program.

Andrea Coleman, on the other hand, chose Connections Academy. This charter school has a rigorous curriculum which parents are required to commit to if they want their child to be in their courses. Although based in Maryland, Connections serves students in grades K-12 from all over the United States.

Coleman’s son has been diagnosed with Autism. Despite her petite stature she has been a fierce advocate for her son’s education even legally taking on her local school district in fair hearing on several occasions. When she didn’t prevail in her last fight with the district and the placement they were offering for her son was not beneficial she chose to homeschool.

“Sometimes homeschooling is the only option for children with disabilities,” said Coleman.

Coleman specifically chose Connections because they are a “virtual” school. This means they can conduct classes via the internet with instructors interacting with their students on real time along with easy communication through email for Coleman. Because of this, she’s been able to provide quality lessons for her son along with credentialed teacher input all in the comfort of her own home.

Coleman maintains her role as an advocate for her son and activist for the disabled by serving on the school board of Connection’s southern California office located in San Juan Capistrano. Although located in Orange County, such as CHEP, it is the main office for all of Connection’s Southern California students no matter what county they reside in.

She has been involved in the hiring process of teachers along with dealing with various legal matters that pertain to any school board in the state. Because of her participation on the board she is knowledgeable about their student population as well.

“Not only children with special-needs homeschool,’ she said. ‘We have students who are actors and athletes who need more accommodating schedules and homeschooling provides that flexibility.”

The recent court ruling against parents teaching without a credential was against a family who chose this alternative setting due to religious reasons. However, there are a variety of incentives for parental choice to homeschool. Homeschooling parents and government officials will be carefully watching the outcome of this new trial. No matter what the result, students enrolled in a school that provides credentialed teachers who oversee their home programs need not worry.

Photo by A Mother’s Heart

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