Home Schooling After All These Years?

A call from a high school student came into our office a few years ago. Would we help her, she asked? She was smart, a hard worker, and serious about her education and future. Her problem was that her place of learning, the public school, wasn't helping her meet her goals anymore. Actually, it hadn't for quite awhile. This was her senior year, and now she was quitting and wanting to home school after all these years.

For a lot of people her decision just didn't make sense. They were thinking, "You've been here eleven years and now you're just three quarters away from being presented with that coveted public school diploma." She didn't value or covet it enough to continue attending six hours of classes a day with students who had largely "checked out." In her words, it was a "party atmosphere" most of the time.

She wasn't angry. She didn't describe her situation in "us" verses "them" language. She was simply ready to move on quietly, not with bitterness. She still wanted some recognition for the work she had accomplished, the grades she had earned. She wanted some direction in what final courses she should take to complete her education at this level. Her parents supported her decision.

I think what I saw in her was someone who, at the beginning of adulthood, had come to realize that school, learning and education aren't always a package deal. School is largely an artificial environment where learning sometimes takes place, and sometimes it doesn't.

    * Mark Twain said, "Don't let school get in the way of your education."
    * Shakespeare, through the mouth of Hamlet said, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

That November I met with her and her family. We discussed her goals and where she saw herself in the next few years. I helped them think through the pros and cons of the decision she was about to make. I explained what it would take to meet our graduation requirements, and what books and other means she could employ to complete this phase of her education. Even though our program was still a structure, it was one with a lot more freedom and meaning.

After our meeting she picked out her books and got right to work. She didn't need any prodding. I met with her and her family a few more times that school year to look at her work and do the necessary documenting. That June, with her parents standing with her, she was presented her diploma.

Some might say she really wasn't a "home schooler." I would say in response, "Who cares what you call what she was doing." The important thing was that she wasn't afraid to seek professional help and make a decision that would change the course of her education, to "home school" after all these years!