Educate Yourself on Teaching Kids at Home

By Shannon Massey Special to Bartlett Appeal

Parents are teaching their children at home in ever-increasing numbers.

Bartlett, Lakeland and Arlington are no exception.

Homeschooling is legal in all states. According to a national survey conducted in 1999 by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), more than 1 million students were being taught at home.

Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute said, “I estimate there were 35,000 to 46,000 K-12 homeschool students in Tennessee during the 2004-05 institutional school year.” That number is increasing by 10-15 percent each year. At this rate, the number of homeschooled students could be close to the number of students enrolled in private schools statewide in just a few years.

In the Bartlett area, teaching children at home is a popular option.

A survey published in 1999 lists four main reasons:

1) To provide the child a more academically challenging education and better learning environment than what parents feel is offered in public and/or private schools;

2) Religious reasons, including that many families want to teach their student a Christian-based curriculum but private education is not financially an option;

3) Family reasons. Some parents with children who have learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, etc. find that working one on one with their student provides a better approach educationally.

4) To teach character and morals. The absence of peer pressure, especially among high schoolers, is another attractive byproduct of educating students at home.

Parents like the flexibility of homeschooling.

In Tennessee, a parent who chooses to educate children at home must choose one of three options to have the student legally acknowledged as registered with a school.

The first option, a parent can register with the local public school district in which they live.

The second option is that they can associate with a church- related school.

Thirdly, they have the option of operating as a satellite campus of a church-related school.

Many Bartlett homeschool parents say this third option is the easiest.

When registered as a satellite campus of a church-related school, the parent is recognized as a “private school teacher,” or employee of that school, working at home. The child is legally recognized as a student of that church-related school being taught at home with the parent as the teacher.

There are four area church-related cover schools with which parents can register their students: Faith Heritage Christian Academy, Homelife Academy, Lighthouse Academy and Gateway Christian. When registered with one of these organizations, a student is legally enrolled in school.

Basically, these organizations are the keepers of students’ quarterly or semester grades, as well as final yearly grades. The cost of registering a child with one of these schools can cost as little as $20 per student depending on which school is chosen.

Faith Heritage has a Christian academy on-campus and requires students to take an annual achievement test. Achievement tests are not required with the other schools.

There are support groups that provide information, encouragement and social opportunities. There are several support groups in the Bartlett area, including the Bartlett-Wolfchase Support Group, Raleigh Support Group, Calvary Chapel, Central North Church, Faith Baptist Church, Blessed Sacrament at Church of the Nativity and Mid- South Classical Educators.

Although most support groups hold monthly meetings at Bartlett churches, that does not automatically mean that they are affiliated with that church, but some are.

The largest homeschool support group in the Bartlett area is the Bartlett-Wolfchase group, which meets monthly at Faith Baptist Church on N. Germantown Parkway.

Annual fees for support groups are usually minimal. Bartlett- Wolfchase membership is $20 per family.

Parents who are considering teaching their children at home can find their questions answered, along with a wealth of other information through the Memphis Homeschool Education Association. The MHEA is a Christian, nonprofit organization dedicated to serving home educators with support services and encouragement.

Parents new to homeschooling are often concerned about lack of socialization and are surprised at the level of extracurricular activities offered locally for home-taught students. They are usually pleased to learn that virtually any subject or activity offered in the traditional school setting is available to homeschooled students. Within the Bartlett area, many places offer programs catering to homeschooled students.

Bartlett Bowling Lanes has a homeschool league. 386-7701.

The Bartlett Recreation Center offers homeschool swim time on Thursdays 1-2:30 p.m. It is free to members and $3 for nonmembers. 385-6470.

Singleton Community Center in Bartlett offers programs, as well as ACT preparation, for homeschooled students. 385-5594.

The Art House in Cordova offers homeschool art classes in the mornings. 758-8818.

Lichterman Nature Center in East Memphis, 767-7322, and the Memphis Zoo, 276-WILD, offer days with no admission charge.

Helpful materials can be found at these local stores:

Used educational material can be found inexpensively at JustKidzBooks, 5800 Stage.

New materials and curriculum can be ordered at Family Christian Bookstore on Bartlett Boulevard at Stage Road. They will match a price printed out from discount Web sites on new materials.

The Tin Cottage Store in Atoka houses thousands of new and used books and curriculum.

Many vendors of commercial curriculum, such as Abeka, Alpha Omega and Bob Jones, will hold local book fairs for ordering and purchasing. Many of these curricula are used in private schools as well.

Everything can be found online as well.

For information regarding homeschooling, visit memphishomeschool.org or call the MHEA at 362-2620.