This story first appeared in the Nov. 28 edition of the Kansan.
Home schooler Gail Kliewer says home schoolers get a bad wrap as isolationists.
But she said nothing is farther from the truth.
“They have a lot of interaction through 4-H, church, other community events, and we have a basketball team. Many of the students also are in the Newton Community Choir.
“Socialization or the lack of it is one of the biggest misconceptions of home schooling,” she said.
In fact, the Homes Educators Association based in Newton has a booming, popular cooperative course program that meets weekly at Meridian Baptist Church in Newton.
The association has 51 member families who come from the Harvey and Butler county areas.
Carrie Reida of North Newton said she thinks home schooling and coop classes allow her daughter to avoid some peer pressure should would experience in public school.
“She experiences interests across age groups instead of one age group. She builds her own character. She doesn’t know who Hannah Montana is. She has her own heroes.”
Kliewer said children benefit from co-op classes because instead of socializing with children who are all the same age, they learn to socialize with children of different ages.
“I think they are able to build a good self concept,” Kliewer said, “and interact with a wide variety of people instead of a specific age group.”
The cooperative classes allow parents to bring their talents and expertise to the benefit of other home-school families.
Kliewer, whose four oldest children graduated from home school, is teaching Algebra and Geometry for the co-op.
Other classes include choir, science, physical education, speech and art.
In addition to basketball, the association also took students to one cross country meet this year.
Beckha Loewen, 18, was helping her younger sister learn letters during a recent co-op class in Newton. Beckha graduated last year from home school and is helping her mother at the co-op this semester.
“I really liked home schooling,” she said. “I really liked being with my family. It has allowed me to have a flexible schedule. ... I hope to home school my own kids if I can.”
Classes are small — perhaps with a dozen students or fewer. This allows teachers to spend more one-one-one time with the kids.
“You can tailor education to the individual child, and they can move at their own rate through subjects. They can go faster if they do understand and take more time on something if they need to before moving on to the next concept.” Kliewer said.
