Local families choose to home school
Published on September 8th, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - On a sunny September day as most Stoneham children return to their school yards, lunch lines and desks, 11-year-old Chris Kilroy-Bain drinks root beer floats and rides his bike.
"I like science the best..math is pretty easy.. .I like animals too," Chris says, discussing his academic interests. "But if I finish my work at 10 a.m., I can go ride my bike."
Chris is home schooled, along with his three siblings. Around 20 children in Stoneham are home schooled, and a similar number of children in surrounding communities receive their education at home.
Lucia Jenkins of Wakefield home schooled her oldest son Taylor from the start. Taylor is a sophomore at Worcester Polytechnical Institute this year.
Ann Kilroy, ChrisÕs mother, says she decided to home school her kids because she believes she has learned the most in her life outside of or after school.
"You know how kids are curious when they are under six and they are always asking questions and trying to draw," Kilroy says. "Once they get to school, the kids are told what they should ask about, what they should do, and learning is no longer curious Ñ it is a chore.
"My kids never lost that curiosity," she says.
What is home schooling?
"In all my years as a superintendent I have never experienced a home schooling situation which was detrimental to the academic or social well-being of a child," Superintendent Joseph Connelly says.
Parents who wish to home school must come before the superintendent with a plan for the school year, laying out what they plan to teach with what books and materials. The plan must include a minimum of 900 hours of work and provide an example of a typical weekly schedule. When parents meet with the superintendent, the parents themselves are also evaluated.
"You do not need to be certified to teach or even need a degree, but the superintendent must determine if a parent is capable of instructing the child," Connelly says.
Home schoolers are given the opportunity to take public school standardized tests, but they are not required to do so.
"Home schooling can be like school at home, or it can be a lot less structured," Kilroy says.
Jenkins uses a curriculum as does Debra Doherty of Stoneham. Curricula developed by educational companies and used by public school systems can be purchased by private citizens.
Kilroy uses a less structured approach.
"We did math for three weeks straight at one point... then we got a fish tank, and we studied tropical fish," Kilroy said. "This week their grandfather is bringing over a Constitution lesson because September is Constitution month."
Kilroy doesnÕt believe in testing her children. She wants to help them develop their own interests and build their self-esteem.
Diana Kilroy-Bain is 13 years old and, according to her mother, an avid reader.
"She started reading late, but now she loves to read," Kilroy says.
"I pick what I want to learn about when I want to," Diana says.
Doherty tests her kids twice a year. She is concerned with using the most appropriate teaching method for each child.
"My son Jim was reading at three and balancing my checkbook at seven," Doherty says. "But my daughter Amy needs more extra attention.
"Public school wouldnÕt have been right for either of them," she says.
However, the public schools do provide textbooks, use of the school library and, in some systems, opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities or classes.
JenkinsÕ son took a biology course at Wakefield High. Kilroy has taken her children to the Stoneham High library to do research.
"We do pay taxes that go toward the public schools like everybody else," Kilroy says.
Misconceptions
"Originally I worried about kids being socially isolated, but that is not the case," Connelly says. "They are very active usually, with outside activities and collaborative efforts between home schooled families."
On Wednesday, Sept. 1, the home schoolers of Stoneham and a few from Wakefield had a cook out to share ideas for the new school year.
The Kilroy-Bain children are very active in dance.
Jim Doherty has made friends over the years in karate and youth soccer.
Doherty started at the Northeast Metro Tech in Wakefield last week.
"I was nervous, but after being there for a day I feel comfortable," he says.
"People told me I would never be able to do anything," says 17-year-old Sally Dawson, a Stoneham resident who is near the end of her home schooling.
Kilroy says teens can take graduate equivalency tests or the SATs if prospective colleges or employers ask for such validation.
Also, home schooled children often do internships, which provide them with extra credentials other students may not have.
One of JenkinsÕ sons has interned with a television production studio and plans to apply to colleges to study cinematography.
Sally has worked with her father as a mechanic and is unsure of what she wants to do but no longer worried about having options.
Problems and possibilities
"Other kids sometimes resent that they have to be in school and we donÕt," Diana says.
Yet, this attitude of intolerance for people who are different, the home schooling parents say, is another reason why the home school environment is healthier than public school.
But who has the time to teach their children all year? How about work?
"Full-time workers can home school," Kilroy says. "But you have to make it fit your life."
Doherty works full time, nights and weekends. And other home schooling parents could use nights and weekends to teach.
"Just like the kids, the teachers are not locked into the six hour a day morning schedule," Kilroy says.
But Kilroy admits it takes a lot of patience.
"ItÕs like having your kids home for the summer all year," she says.
Not everybody has the time or the patience. And many who do may believe that trained instructors will be more capable of teaching their children.
But, as Superintendent Connelly says, "As long as the conditions set by the school department are met, home schooling should be an option for parents to consider."
For more information
Kilroy says she wants to form an official group of home schooling families to share ideas.
If anyone has questions about the group or general questions about home schooling, Kilroy says she can help. Her phone number is 438-8791.
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