We Four Olsons: September 2013

I never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but here they are: Why not homeschool?

If you had asked me a year ago, the picture below would have been my answer. When I started college at a very hippy dippy liberal arts school in Portland, Oregon, there was one student who stood out. Now that is saying a lot considering how hard every student tried to be 'different'. There was the boy from Bozeman who didn't wear shoes (I don't even think he owned a pair) and played the didgeridoo. There was the guy who carried an unsheathed ax with him every where he went (yeah, I'm not kidding... and you wonder why I transferred...). There was my roommate, an extremely wealthy suburbanite from Detroit who wore tribal face paint on a regular basis and on more than one occasion did so many mushrooms she tried to eat the ceiling. And of course there was the one (I mean it, one) black student in our freshman class. But none of those guys stood out. The person who stood out was the homeschooled girl.

Had it just been her handmade corduroy jumpers, the fact that she smelled like Indian food, or her disarming lack of social etiquette-- she could have still managed to fit in with the rest of the misfit toys that made up Lewis & Clark's class of 2007. But what made her stand out was the seal. She didn't go anywhere without her white, fluffy, stuffed animal seal. Carrying it in her hand or in her satchel would have been one thing, but she shoved it down the front of her corduroy jumper so it's head poked out. Every day. It saw what she saw. It went where she went. And it stared at you with those lifeless, beady, black eyes. She talked to it in the lunch line, she asked it questions while studying in the library... the seal was an imaginary friend gone terribly, terribly wrong. And because she was the only homeschooled person I had ever met, naturally, I attributed this incredible oddness to her lack of traditional secondary education.

But fast forward ten years, and I'm sitting on our couch, reading about education in America, thinking Oh homeschooling, have I misjudged you? I say to Ben, "You are going to think this is a terrible idea, but what about homeschooling?" (...even while the words come out of my mouth, I'm haunted by that whiskery little marine mammal face and those beady black eyes...). My husband looks at me, and without blinking says, "Over my dead body." Clearly he has an opinion, and he didn't even know seal girl. But that didn't stop me from continuing my research, which is what I now share with you.

Here's what I know:

I had a delightful, high quality public school experience when I was a kid. And if it were twenty years ago and we lived in Mankato, Minnesota I would make Asher a Roosevelt Raccoon with no reservations. But here's the skinny- education in our country is not good. Education in New Mexico is even worse. Having frequented many mommy groups now, there is a recurring theme that seems unique to this state: homeschooling. So what's the deal?

Education in the U.S. (...did you know it was this bad? I didn't!)

67% of all U.S. 4th graders are not able to read at grade level (2011 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) reading test)
Only 32% of 8th graders and 38% of 12th graders were able to read at or above grade level
Nearly two-thirds of 8th graders scored 'below proficient' in math (NAEP, 2011)
By the end of 8th grade, U.S. students are two years behind in math compared to peers in other countries (OECD, 2009)
Three out of four 8th and 12th graders cannot write proficiently (NAEP, 2012)
Compared to 15 year olds in 30 developed countries, U.S. children rank 25th in math and 21st in science (OECD)
7,000 kids drop out of school every day, with 1.1 million Americans dropping out each year
The U.S. high school drop out rate is 27%, and among Black and Hispanic students it is closer to 40%
12% of U.S. high schools use metal detectors, 61% use drug sniffing dogs, and 85% have video camera surveillance for security
Only 4% of Black students and 11% of Hispanic students begin college without having to take remedial courses in core subjects; a third of all students entering college have to take remedial courses because they lack proficiency in English, reading, math and/or science

Education in New Mexico

New Mexico scored far below the national average in 8th grade reading and math (in 2011)
New Mexico's Department of Education gave 39 of the state's 831 schools an 'A' rating, while 275 got a 'C', 250 a 'D', and 69 an 'F'
In 2005 New Mexico ranked 2nd in the nation in terms of how urgently it needed to improve education in the state
Only 45% of New Mexico schools are making adequate yearly progress, compared to a national average of 70%
44% of New Mexico schools are deemed "In Need of Improvement" compared to 10% at the national level

Conclusion: Our system needs fixin'!

Attempting to 'fix' education in the U.S. is kind of like studying public health. Instead of focusing on one person, one school- you have to attempt to understand and repair the system as a whole. And that'a HUGE job, and not a job for me. Hate me if you want to, but I don't have the time or interest. When it comes to education, I care about one person: Asher. All those facts above, they serve one purpose: to frame my decision-making process about where Asher will go to school. And let me be really honest about something here, this is not about achievement. It's about experience. Is Asher going to be one of the millions of kids who can't read or write? No. But what worries me is how a learning environment with such great disparity can be good for my son. Will he be safe? Will he be challenged? Will he have fun? We are talking about the place he is going to spend the majority of his time for the next 12 years (starting 5 years from now, I know, I think ahead). It's the place where he will not only acquire academic tools, but life skills. He will develop his personality, build confidence, and learn how to think, not just what to think. So the question is, are public schools the place to be?

The Argument for Homeschooling

Since 1999 the number of homeschooled kids in the U.S. has increased 75% and the number of parents choosing to homeschool is growing 7 times faster than the number of kids enrolling in traditional K-12 every year. In Albuquerque, homeschooling is so popular there is a Co-op of parents who have gone this route. So what would the advantages be? Tailored curriculum to your child's learning style and interests, more opportunities for experiential learning (e.g. going to the aquarium to learn about fish instead of reading it in a textbook), and better integration and use of technology. Also, I would definitely teach Asher a language. On a walk about a week ago I asked Ben, "Would it be too Tiger Mother of me to start teaching Asher Chinese?" to which he replied, "I don't know what the hell a Tiger Mother is, but yes." Since then, I've read that Spanish (no surprise there), Portugese, and Hindi are going to be 'in demand' languages in the future. However, I have no interest in learning/teaching those, so Asher would learn Russian, Da, Russian. What are the disadvantages of homeschooling? Um, I would have to homeschool our children (...yikes). There's a chance Asher would end up being a curry-smelling, seal-toting, satchel-wearing weirdo. Hmmm. Obviously the pros and cons list is not exhaustive, I just started looking into this yesterday. But stay tuned. Education has now grabbed my attention, which means I will obsessively read about it until I feel like I have a handle on it.