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By MARCIA MURRAY
bwahannoelt N«w» Contributlnf Writer ! When you close your eyes and think of “school” you $an see a group Of moppets poring over books, exclaimE"
lg, “Wow!” at a science experiment, or hopping onto a us for a field trip. These delightful school experience *re increasingly taking place outside the school-as-institution setting as some parents opt for independent learning, sometimes called “homeschooling.”
I Opinion
J ■ In Rappahannock, Fauquier, Culpeper, Warren pnd surrounding counties, as well as nationwide, the ^umbers seem to be rapidly growing. National estimates vary but recently have been put at about two million children, and local estimates are of dramatic Increases. In Rappahannock County homeschooling families are a diverse group, as they are across the nationBffluent or of modest means, conservative, progressive ^r libertarian, highly educated (and some are private or public school teachers) or of little formal education, and a large contingent of middle-class two-parent families. | Parents give a range of reasons for exercising this . {option. Some cite academics-personlized learning, the Intimate, close teacher-student communication, elimination of boredom. Others give social reasons—parental involvement in education, control over peer pressure, Avoidance of distractions. Still others emphasize values; , they want more control over objectionable behaviors and ideas their youngsters may learn in today’s schools. I Indications are that the vast majority of parents pnd children who have tried it are happy with the results. In informal discussions with Rappahannock children and eight parents who homeschooled last year all agreed it was a postive, satisfying experience, and all said they planned to continued.
Academics is a strong suit, as shown by trends in Virginia. According to 1992 statistics released by the national Center for Home Education, Virginia homeschool«rs, kindergarteners through highschoolers, scored 20 to 40 percentile points about the national average on standardized tests. When compared to public school student averages^Virginia homeschoolers ranked 15 to 32 (feints higher. These results have been repeated in statistics from many other states.
Karen Cottrell, an admissions officer at the University of Virginia, recently reported the university is happy to entertain applications from homeschooled students and has no bias either against or in favor of them. She mentioned that since they have no class rank to rely on, the independently educated applicants should plan to take several standardized achievement tests to demonstrate their academic skills. Standardized aptitude and achievement tests will be given increased weight in the Admissions decision, she said. ■ ‘ A 1986 national study of homeschooled children
| Opinion
88.7%