By BETH HENDERSON
Lifestyles Editor
Bernie Weed sits at her large dining room table surrounded by scattered stacks of textbooks and workbooks. She is poring over a thin green book, trying to organize lesson plans for the next few days for her students.
But, she's not planning for just any students. Hers are special. They are her own three sons - David, 13, Mark, 11 and Luke, 8 - and they are home-schooled.
More and more parents are opting to home-school their children nowadays, and statistics show the trend is on the rise. According to estimates by the Population Divison of the U.S. Census Bureau, as many as two million American children are schooled at home, with the number growing as much as 15 to 20 percent each year.
Families make a major decision such as home-schooling for a number of reasons, including flexibility, the power to positively influence their own children, financial responsibility and just wanting to spend more time with their offspring.
"I sent my kids to Carroll Academy last year," Bernie said. This is her first year to attempt to home-school her children. Her husband, Brian, is a local recruiter for the U.S. Air Force. "We got here on Labor Day last year from England, and my sons had always gone to British schools. We found out they were already one year ahead of other students their age."
David, the oldest son, was promoted to eighth-grade math after only one month in the seventh-grade math class at Carroll.
"We had been thinking about home-schooling for a long time," Bernie said. "I only had a high school education, so I wasn't sure if I could do it. But I did some substitute teaching at Carroll and saw how they did things and I thought, 'I can do this.'"
She ordered the entire Beka curriculum, and following an early morning devotional with the entire family, she and her sons camp out at the dining room table. They engage in eight different subjects each day, including history, math, language, penmanship, reading, spelling, science and health.
They pretty much follow a structured school schedule, starting schoolwork at 9 a.m. and finishing around 2 p.m. They each spend one-half hour on each subject each day.
This week, Luke, the youngest, has been engaged in a science project to test the sensory effects of the body, while his two older brothers work on cursive writing and other subjects. They are preparing to select books to read for a book report, and David is working diligently on algebra, which is presenting more of a challenge to his mom than it is to him.
Bernie admits she would be nowhere without her planner. She sits down each day and prepares lesson plans, and she admits she doesn't follow the curriculum to the letter because her sons have their own pace of learning.
"It's not rocket science, but you do have to be organized," Bernie said.
She also admits that the decision to home-school has to be a joint one.
"If it's not, it won't work," Bernie said. "It wouldn't be good for the children if both parents didn't support the idea."
Michelle Sheppard and her husband, Bill, made the decision to begin home-schooling their children last year. They have a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old who actively engage in schoolwork, and a 1-year-old who "helps out a lot."
"We began home-schooling our children because of the extreme pressure of completing large amounts of homework and feeling totally frustrated that there was simply no time to explore other avenues of learning," Michelle said. "Then, I also realized that I was the person to have the most influence on my children, but I did not spend the most time with them. The school got all of the 'good' hours. There was not a lot of time for interpersonal communication. And, I had them because I wanted to be with them."
After much praying, talking and thinking - and then praying again - Michelle and her husband got the answer they were seeking, and they took off on the adventure of educating their own children.
Paul and Lane Lyon are another couple that are starting their second year of home-schooling. Lane admits that, so far, this year is going better. They have two school-age children, Gaston, 8, and Callie Lane, 5. And, there's Smith, who is 2 1/2. Paul and Lane are also expecting their fourth child next month.
Lane admits she has relaxed a bit from last year, and she's pleased with the results.
"Gaston takes two subjects on the computer, which is a very new thing, and it's awesome. He loves it. In fact, I can't get him to slow down," Lane said.
While Gaston completes his computer work, Lane is able to work with Callie Lane. She remembers well the days of going to school and what a hassle it was in the afternoons.
"We would get home about 4 o'clock, and from 4 until 8, Gaston was just mentally drained and we were fighting about homework," Lane said. "Now he is done with his schoolwork by lunchtime every day. And, in the afternoons, the children wind down with a book, maybe a nap, and then it's off to our various activities, which include tennis, golf, soccer and gymnastics."
Many people believe that home-schooled children are isolated from their peers and have no social skills, but Paul and Lane engage their children in these afternoon activities for that very reason.
"They see everybody all the time," Lane said. She also said that Gaston has a "physical education" time around 10 a.m. every morning. He might jump rope, run around the block or participate in other physical activities.
"Boys in particular are needing to release energy. If they could get more of that at school, it would be good. I just think it's better on his brain."
Paul says he likes the opportunity it affords his family to interact one-on-one.
"We have more time to influence our children," Paul said. "It's like a young tree. You put it right out in the elements and it may struggle. But if you put it in a greenhouse, it may do better. It may have a better opportunity to flourish.
"For us to have the amount of time we desired to influence our children the way we wanted to, we decided we needed to do it at home," Paul said.
Lane does admit, though, there are times when kids will be kids, and attitude and discipline problems such as fussing or not following instructions do come up.
"We just close the book and handle the rebellion when it happens," Lane said. "You address the issue or the attitude, not the schoolwork. But, it's normal."
Along with computer subjects, Gaston also does two textbook subjects. School starts in the Lyon home around 8 or 8:30 a.m., and they don't necessarily do every subject every day.
"He's so ahead in language, that sometimes we just take a break from that," Lane said. And, math is one of his favorite subjects, as well.
"He loved school, but he loves this, too," Lane said.
"And Paul travels a lot, so when he's home after traveling, they can see him and spend time with him because he may be at home for a whole day following a trip," Lane added. "If they were in school, they wouldn't be able have that time."
Vikki and Jay Pilecki have a 3-year-old daughter, Anna, and they are considering the home-school option when it's time.
"I don't know a whole lot about it, but I am interested," Vikki said. "Private school is so expensive. I was always a career person with a job, and we had two incomes. Then, Anna became sick and I had to quit work to stay home with her. And, we found out we can live on one income. To put her in private school, I would have to go back to work."
Vikki does admit, however, that she's a little apprehensive about finding time for herself if she's devoted to educating her child on a daily basis.
"I know that I can't be a good mom or a good wife if I don't have some time for myself," Vikki said.
Bernie Weed compensates for this by sending her sons upstairs at 7 p.m. each night. They read for a while and then go to bed, and they are not allowed to come downstairs until 7 a.m. the next morning. That's when Bernie gets up.
Lane Lyon also suggested having baby sitters on hand for various activities.
"Family baby sitters are better if you can get them," Lane said. "Paul and I go out to eat a lot. If we find an open window, we're going."
Mark and Brenda McCaleb, who live in Carrollton, have been home-schooling their children for five years. They have two sons: Evan, 13, and Isaac, 8.
"We're getting really good now," Brenda said. "When Evan was in school from kindergarten until third grade, it would take me two hours to take him to school and pick him up from school, and I found that we can do the majority of our schoolwork in that time."
Although Brenda majored in elementary education, she admits that "anybody can do this. If you have trouble with a subject, then hire a tutor. We have so many sources of education now. We have a mother in our group that teaches a creative writing class."
The "group" she is referring to is the North Central Christian Home Educators. There are similar groups throughout the country that allow families to bond with other families in their area who are participating in home-schooling.
Brenda says her sons stay busy, not just with schoolwork, but with so many extra things to do.
"We have Halloween parties, Easter egg hunts, tennis every Friday and lots of field trips," Brenda said.
She added that home-schooling has been good for her family, because everyone has learned how to interact with each other.
"They learn to play together, get along together, and they learn how to get along with their parents," Brenda said.
Brenda says that while Evan made wonderful grades in school, he had tons of homework and no time to play and "just be a kid."
"I figured since I wasn't going to work and I majored in elementary education, I felt it was foolish to send him to school when I could be teaching him myself. It just gave us more hours in the day to be free.
"And, Evan said he was bored in school. He did a lot of waiting."
Brenda also pointed out that the home education can be specialized to fit any child.
"If you have a child with ADHD, (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) do you think they are paying attention for eight hours in school? No, they are not. This way, you can do school when they are at their most alert. When they lose interest, you can let them play. You don't waste time," Brenda said.
The McCaleb home-school schedule is very flexible.
"We don't stay on a rigorous schedule. We usually do a couple of hours of school in the morning and a couple in the afternoon and then a couple of pages of homework after. supper. We have long breaks," Brenda said.
Brenda uses a variety of educational materials, including Beka and Bob Jones, which is a biblically-based system, and she also goes on-line to get supplies and materials.
Like most other families who opt for home-schooling, the Sheppards, as well as the Lyon and Weed families, also use a Christian-based program.
Since the state of Mississippi does not require any testing and curriculum stipulations for home-schooled students, measuring a student's success may be a little more challenging, but there are ways to do it. Brenda, along with many other home-schoolers, chooses to have her kids tested each year by way of the achievement test.
Ellen Hey, who is the president of the North Central Christian Home Educators group, administers the test in April of each year.
One question that is entertained by home-schoolers regularly is that of whether they will ever return to a traditional school.
"I really don't think I will put my kids back in school," Brenda said. "In fact, Isaac, our second child, has never been in school. And Evan has no desire to go back to school. This time has given him the opportunity to research what he wants to pursue in college. He already has his major picked out."
"We would consider putting out children back in school," said Michelle Sheppard. "We try to take each year and each child on an individual basis."
Paul and Lane Lyon say they are also taking things one day and one child at a time. They know that at some point, they will want their children to participate in organized school sports, and that may mean returning to school.
The Weed family is content with where they are now.
"We don't believe in the things that a lot of other people believe in," Bernie said. "Our church is great, and we do play soccer, and we have great friends."
