Getting to Know Homeschoolers

Homeschoolers are everywhere! Hundreds of homeschooling parents, many with kids in tow, attended the recent Growing Without Schooling national conference in Waltham, Massachusetts. It's a sea of white middle-class folks representing almost every state. Vendors are doing a brisk business, selling all manner of educational resource materials--encyclopedias, homeschooling curricula, art and science activity kits. It feels like a political rally.

Where's Dad?
Moms are the backbone of this movement (I guess you could call approximately one million homeschooled kids a national movement). The moms are the ones who stay home. They are the principal teachers in almost every family.

During the conference's second day, a fathers' workshop is hastily added to the schedule, a seeming afterthought. I ask a luncheon table of homeschooling moms why there is such a lack of fathers. They all give me that "tell me about it!" look as one confides, "It's something this movement, this conference, should confront. But this group never talks about it. It's almost like a taboo topic."

Gatto, Gatto, He's our Man
In workshops, parents share "forced-schooling" horror stories (insensitive, burnt-out teachers, and rote, boring busywork). It's impossible to ignore the us vs. them conference undercurrent. Keynote speaker, John Gatto, former teacher turned educational revolutionary (1993 New York State Teacher of the Year), stirs up the crowd. He passionately chronicles the injustice and inhumanity in our public school system, while encouraging his devotees to be prepared to spill blood if necessary to save their children's lives. He's mobbed after his call to arms.

The "Goat Boy's" Folks
Who's the Goat Boy? And why are his parents so famous? I found out fast at the conference. David and Micki Colfax are the parents of the Goat Boy. They both left their jobs as academics in 1973, built their own house, raised some goats, and homeschooled four sons. When their first son got accepted by Harvard, the headlines screamed "Goat Boy Goes to Harvard." They are movement pioneers, role models, poster parents – and stars of the homeschooling conference circuit.

Their boys have all attended college (three at Harvard) and now distinguish themselves in the fields of medicine, law, and culinary arts. Big–name colleges coveted their kids. I can almost hear the audience saying as one, "Maybe my kids, too." With the Colfax's two books in hand (Homeschooling for Excellence, Hard Times in Paradise), parents wait patiently in long lines for their heroes' autographs and a dose of inspiration.

What's in a Name?
Homeschooled? Unschoolers? Deschooling? Spirited debates ensue over what to call this movement, these children. "I'm tired of referring to what we do as what we're not," complains David Colfax. "We shouldn't use the word school at all," offers one parent. "Isn't what we do all about teaching and showing our children how to live life well?" questions another. Colfax challenges the group to come up with a better term.

The Unrecipe
There is no typical homeschooled child or homeschooling experience. There is no recipe. Parents at the conference said it was all about 'customizing' learning for their kids.

Some homeschooled kids participate in selected public–school classes and activities. There are parents who replicate the regular school day with class periods and packaged alternative curricula. Other parents encourage their children to pursue their current interests and avocations (creating complex Lego villages, modeling clay, writing plays, learning about Native American architecture) as avidly as possible, believing self-directed learning to be the most joyful and rewarding. Immersion in the natural world and volunteerism were mainstays of other homeschooling environments.

Read Carleton Kendrick's bio.

More on: Making the Decision to Homeschool