Rule the School

When Going to Class Means Staying Home


Laurie Isola
Photo by Lori A. Cheung

There is a certain morning every August when dusty alarm clocks start sounding way too early and thousands of sleepy-eyed, tousled-haired teens, tweeners and tots kick off covers and begin getting ready for school.
    Some students, however, stop at the front door, never making it to the bus, carpool, bike or skateboard that would transport them to school. Instead, they spend their day in the company of a parent-teacher and are homeschooled.
    Misunderstood by some and embraced by others, home education is the choice of many parents as an alternative to public or private school.
    Legal in all 50 states, homeschooling educates an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million children in the nation, according the National Home Education Network. In California, parents who intend to homeschool can choose from five legal options, including establishing a private school in their own home.
    Like the approach, the reasons for homeschooling vary, says Alameda-Oakland Home Learners President Andrea Veltman. “Originally, a lot of people did it for religious reasons,” she says. “Others do it not so much because the schools are wrong but because homeschooling is a different approach to teaching and learning.”
    Veltman, who homeschools her 8-year-old son, says the impression is that homeschooling is very difficult.
    “Teaching a few children is very, very different than a whole class,” she says.
    With the support of organizations like the Alameda-Oakland Home Learners, Veltman and Alameda homeschooling families schedule play days; collaborate on language, science and music classes; organize field trips and participate in annual activities like the Not Back to School picnic in September.
    One Alameda member, Monika Rothenbuhler, has homeschooled since her oldest son, Jacob, was about 3. She  and her husband wanted to send Jacob to Christian school but could not afford it.
    “I thought, well, I’ll homeschool him a year and then maybe we will have the money and, yeah, 15 years later,” she says, laughing.
    Jacob, 17, now takes classes at the College of Alameda and will transfer to the University of California, Los Angeles in the fall to begin his junior year in the university’s honors mathematics program.
The remaining four Rothenbuhler children—Joseph, 14; Micah, 11; Anna, 7; and Elisabeth, 3—start each weekday around 10 a.m. with group class, which includes geography, Bible study, literature, German and a SchoolHouse Rock video.
    After lunch and chores, the three oldest children split up to work on individualized lesson plans. Elisabeth spends the rest of her day being 3.
    “I really emphasize independent learning,” Rothenbuhler says. “I want the children to be able to learn on their own, but that doesn’t mean I just let them drift.”
    Rothenbuhler answers questions, re-searches lesson plans and corrects finished work. “We just keep hammering away until it is done,’’ she says.
    As for socialization, Rothenbuhler is not worried. “It doesn’t mean I want
to raise my children in a cave.” Rothenbuhler says her children not only have each other but also neighborhood children and relatives. They participate in an array of activities including Boy Scouts, church, swimming lessons, museum trips and gymnastics.
    “My emphasis is trying to keep the social stuff to a minimum because it can take up all our day,” she laughs. “I don’t think they are isolated, either.”
    And the Rothenbuhler children say they don’t feel as if they are missing out by not attending a traditional school.
    “My mom is always my teacher,” says Joseph. “When you get taught by only one person, you get a lot more attention.”