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Are You Ready to Homeschool?
Leaving the System to Create Your Own
By Tara Swords
"Socialization to me is going to the grocery store and being able to communicate with the cashier," Kasson says. "Socialization is the Girl Scouts."
Erica has her own group of friends, some of whom are home schoolers, some of whom are not. She even belongs to a community service organization run by other home-schooled kids.
"Besides," says her father, "I don't think the public schools are the best place to have your child socialized."
For a growing cohort of parents, faith in the school system is eroding. And it's not because they believe schools have fallen victim to social ills – they believe the problems are far more fundamental.
"Everything revolves around rewards and punishment and there is no self-directed learning in school," says Elizabeth Bernard, who "unschools" her 14-year-old daughter Virginia in their Louisiana home. "They teach you for the purpose of giving you a test, not to learn."
A year ago, Virginia's desire to learn had dried up. After attending a strict private school through the eighth grade, her mother decided it would be a good idea for Virginia to attend public high school. But months into the school year, a progress report in the mailbox notified Virginia's parents that their daughter was flunking everything, save choir and physical education.
"I discovered that she had had too much structure in all her academic life," Elizabeth says. "She had no interest to do anything, no motivation."
