Homeschooling in New Orleans

03-Jan-2012

Homeschooling is on the rise, for many reasons. It’s time to toss our preconceived notions.

    Amber Cothran has a secret she’s been holding close to her chest. She homeschools her daughter.

   “I don’t tell people unless I’m asked directly outright,” she says. “I don’t like dealing with the, ‘Why are you doing that?’ People get kind of weird about it. They still think that homeschoolers are all Christian hippies with 14 kids living on a compound.”

   Amber, a photographer, lives in Mid City with her husband Bryan, a medical student, and their daughter Remi, seven and a third grader. She’s coming out of hiding, so to speak, because she’s a fan of homeschooling and is ready to help remove the stigma.

   Remi is new to homeschooling this year. Previously, she had attended a French immersion school. While her French and math skills were fantastique, Amber saw that her English skills had fallen way behind. The desire to get her back on track, together with some future travel issues, made homeschooling an attractive option.

on the rise

Remi has joined the ranks of 9,059 homeschooling students in Louisiana, according to Oct. 2011 statistics from the Louisiana Department of Education; that’s up from 5,865 in 2002. Nationwide, approximately 1.5 million children are homeschooled, an increase of more than 75 percent in the past decade.

   A recent survey issued by the U.S. Department of Education shows that the prevailing motivating factors for homeschooling are concern about the school environment; the desire to provide religious or moral instruction; and dissatisfaction with the academic curriculum at schools. Other concerns include special needs of the child or physical or mental health issues.

   In New Orleans, there are a few organized groups that homeschooling parents can join to seek support and guidance with everything from choosing the right curriculum to group field trips and how to prepare for college admissions. [See our resource list at the end of this article.] But for many, our local resources have seemed a closely held secret, sending families to the NorthShore for their support needs.

   “The break between New Orleans and Slidell is like a gulf—who travels way over here?” asks Katherine Alley, a teacher and counselor of homeschoolers at the Homeschooling Cottage in Slidell. She’s had many from here—including Amber—come to her for help and guidance.

   “We even have a couple of families who will drive over here to take classes.”

 a respite from turmoil?

Katherine homeschooled all five of her kids, from the preschool years through high school. Three of her children have ADD, and none has ever been medicated.  

   “By homeschooling, my son could work for 15 minutes and then go outside and pick up a stick and hit a tree for 15 minutes,” she says. “He never knew there was anything wrong with him. He just knew that he learned differently from his older sisters.”

   Now ages 25, 23, 22, 21, and 19, Katherine’s kids have all graduated from or are attending college, including the Honors College at LSU, Rice, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

   “When I was raising my kids,” she says, “a neighbor said, ‘homeschooling’s great if you don’t want your kids to go to college.’ That really went over well with me,” she says sarcastically.

   Now Katherine spends a lot of her time counseling homeschoolers on the NorthShore and from New Orleans on the whole college process—when to take various standardized tests, how to get transcripts in order, and so on. She says that a lot of kids she consults with have clinical depression and anxiety disorders.

   “[High school] is so intense and they just can’t hack it,” she says. “And their only other option before homeschooling would be a GED or dropping out, but there’s nothing wrong with them intellectually. Homeschool affords them the opportunity to take control of their life, to excel academically and then move onto college, and not sacrifice their future just because they were going through hell in high school.”

 more freedom, better foundation

College is far from Amber’s mind. For the next two years her husband will have month-long away rotations; Amber likes the freedom that homeschooling will give them, allowing Remi and her to join him. But once Remi is caught up academically and her husband’s rotation schedule completed, she anticipates sending her daughter back to “normal” school.

   “I loved playing sports and cheerleading and all that in school,” Amber says, “and I don’t want her to miss out on all that. I want her to get back to normal school before she gets to that age where it’s difficult—that middle school age when kids aren’t as nice and as forgiving to someone who’s different.”

   Besides the opportunity to spend time with her daughter, Amber says that the most amazing thing about homeschooling has been realizing how smart her child is. “I had no idea,” she says in awe.

   Hannah Szubinski of Lakeview is mom to a one-year-old andis  expecting her second child this summer. The oldest of six children, she was homeschooled from fourth through 12^th grade, and has fond memories of her experiences.

   “There was one on one attention from my parents and tutors and I was able to excel on every academic level,” she says. “Also, coming from a Christian home where becoming an individual of good character was just as important as academics, I firmly believe it prepared me to be a successful adult.”

   In 2003, the Home School Legal Defense Association commissioned a study of over 7,000 adults who had been homeschooled which showed that 95 percent were happy they had been homeschooled; 92 percent said they had benefitted as adults from their homeschooling; and 82 percent said they would homeschool their own children. Hannah’s not sure yet.

  “Homeschooling is not for the faint of heart,” she says. “But, I have considered it and it is most definitely a possibility in the future.”

 Leslie Penkunas is the editor of nola baby & family.

 

Resources  

For more information on homeschooling, please visit

Dept. of Education for information and forms for homeschooling. doe.louisiana.gov/curriculum/homeschool.html

 

Home School Legal Defense Association, www.hslda.org, for information about homeschooling including state-specific laws and developments and a searchable listing of local homeschooling organizations in New Orleans.

The Home School Cottage, 1384 Corporate Square Blvd., Slidell, 985.643.0104. www.homeschoolcottage.com. Full support—curricula, testing, tutoring, information on college application process and financial aid, information on homeschool organizations, etc.—for homeschool families.

 Live and Learn Louisiana, offers resources for homeschoolers, including books and classes on a variety of subjects. 504.812.3037 or find them on Facebook.

 Key Homeschool Association Inc., a local homeschooling group based in Harvey, LA. They are secular and offer support, education, and information on homeschooling. www.keyhomeschool.org or find them on Facebook.

---

Comment