For these students,
there’s no place like home

By Diane Villano
Times Staff Writer

In 1988, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed Act 169, allowing parents and guardians to homeschool their children as an option to compulsory school attendance.
Since homeschool students make up only 1.1 percent of Pennsylvania students, many people might think that it is only a rural or suburban option.
Not so, according to two moms who attended the recent Northeast Philadelphia Homeschool & Cyber Charter School Support Group holiday party at the Max Myers Recreation Center, Bustleton Avenue and Hellerman Street.
"Living in the city facilitates homeschooling with all of the museums," said one mother, Rossana, who declined to offer her last name.
A friend and co-member of the group agreed, explaining that the organization can network for field trips to use group discounts.
About 90 children who live in the Northeast are homeschooled compared to 20,000 in the traditional school setting, according to Fran Darby, director of instruction for the Northeast Regional office of the School District of Philadelphia.
"It’s a parent’s prerogative," Darby said.
Parents should first make sure the proper paperwork is completed before the start of homeschooling, so that their child won’t be considered truant in the public school system.
"We want to make sure the child can be tracked, then the parent is welcome to borrow books from school," Darby explained. "I try to make sure they understand their obligation from that point on."
Starting this month, a new state act requires the school district to also provide extracurricular activities to youngsters educated at home.
The roots of the Northeast Philadelphia Homeschool & Cyber Charter School Support Group started to grow in early 1999, when a local woman recruited others who shared similar homeschooling philosophies.
The first meeting at the Northeast Regional Library included a Jew, a Catholic, a Muslim and a Protestant, who got together to discuss homeschool issues. The group gathered to obtain home education information, not to proselytize.
"I have been very adamant about remaining secular," said the founder of the group, who identified herself only as Eileen. "You defeat the purpose of a home education support group if you start excluding people."
Today the group has grown to 128 members who live in the area and communicate primarily online with a message group. Only a fraction of the group attends monthly meetings at the Max Myers Recreation Center.
"People get together. We help each other. Parents are involved in other children’s lives," said one mom, who has homeschooled her 18-year-old son since kindergarten.
Many friendships have formed, and spin-offs from the support group include Girl Scout Troop 386 and the Trip Group Trailblazers.
"The socialization issue —- what home educators refer to as the ugly ‘S’ word — is not a problem," Eileen said.
Darcy agreed.
"There are no cliques. It’s a very creative, freewheeling group of kids," said Darcy, who has homeschooled her children since her daughter Kayla was in the third grade.
Kayla, who is gifted, had attended Montessori schools and wasn’t happy with the Philadelphia schools.
Her mother liked the ability with homeschooling to telescope assessment.
"We take the assessment first and go from there. We make learning exciting and fun and centered around the child. My children have never tested below grade level," Darcy said.
Kayla, who just turned 14, is taking 10th-grade math, but eighth-grade English.
In the spring, she will take classes at Bucks County Community College — to work toward her high school diploma and her college associate’s degree at the same time.
"It also gets me out of college earlier. I want to work with anime (a Japanese style of animation), translating and editing them," the teen said.
Timing is another reason Kayla enjoys homeschooling.
"It’s fun. I’m done at one in the afternoon. Friends like these (at the party) are available. Other friends are insanely jealous," she said.
A typical day for Kayla is waking up, doing 30 math problems and reading chapters in biology and varying subjects that her mom assigns.
As to homework, "there’s no saying the dog ate it unless it really did," she said, adding that a missed homework assignment will get her kicked off the computer or grounded.
Homeschooling also allows for a lot of extra things.
In 2003, Kayla took second place in the All-Philadelphia Harry Potter trivia contest.
"We see the midnight show every time," she said, referring to each premiere of the Potter film saga.
During the party, Kayla headed to the dance floor to join the moms and kids doing a line dance.
"Moms are widely considered as cool, so they are allowed to participate. There’s a great sense of camaraderie," she said.
The Northeast homeschoolers also welcomed Barb and her 13-year-old daughter, who attends a cyber charter school. She found out about the Girl Scout troop and also the support group.
While diehard homeschoolers don’t consider cyber charters as homeschools, Eileen feels that they need support as well.
She has homeschooled her children for nine years. While she thinks schools are a wonderful idea, she wasn’t happy with the safety or direction of the schools.
Harris Lewin, the regional superintendent for public schools in the Northeast, understands the reasons that parents may choose homeschooling.
"My sense is that ten to twenty percent rotate in and out of schools," he said. "Parents use homeschooling for a variety of reasons. They are dissatisfied with the school, for religious reasons, whatever circumstances they find themselves in."
The state requires a log with dates and times of instruction, as well as a portfolio of the child’s work. Parents also must hire a teacher to review the child’s work and write an evaluative report, according to Darby.
Lewin said he believes the paid report leaves room for credit to be given where the school district would not. Another problem he sees is the wide range of ability on the part of adults to properly educate their children.
"They do a better job in the younger grades. As children get older and the depth to the subject matter becomes more difficult, there is a broad range of homeschool proficiency," Lewin said. "While we see high quality, middle range and low quality, there is no oversight to really establish a baseline for homeschooling."
Eileen wants people to see the commitment of home educators. She’s frustrated with educators and legislators who assail families as incompetent to teach their children, or insist that homeschooling fails to afford a link to check for abusive situations.
"Anybody who takes on the responsibility of educating their children are not the ones you need to worry about," she said. ••
For more information about homeschooling, visit http://www.pde.state.pa.us/home_education/site/default.asp
For more information about the Northeast Philadelphia Homeschool & Cyber Charter School Support Group, check out http://www.geocities.com/nephillyhomeschool/
Reporter Diane Villano can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dvillano@phillynews.com