Parents enjoy experience of teaching children
Decision to home-school youngsters is personal, and requires dedication
BY TOYNETT HALL
Staff Writer

TOYNETT HALL Home-school parents and students join librarian Veronica Stevens (back row, second from right) at the Howell library during a meeting of the Bagels, Brownies and Books club. The parents are Sherry Prioli (back row, left), Mary Lou McGuinness (back row, middle) and Arlene Borg (r).

She once stood in front of a classroom filled with about 30 students. Now she stands in front of a room with only five children, ages 2, 4, 7, 9 and 13, who call her mom. Sherry Prioli of Howell has never sent her children to school. Instead, she educates them in the privacy of her own home.

After years of working in the public school system and watching students get left behind, Prioli made a decision. As she put it, "I was determined that was not going to happen to my children."

Prioli is not the only parent who has chosen to home-school her children. Arlene Borg of Aberdeen chose this educational alternative for her three children when the cost of their private school education became too high.

Borg, who has been home-schooling her 9-year-old daughter, 11-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter for a year, said the effort has been worth the outcome. According to Borg, "Because of home-schooling, my children have bonded more. They are more respectful of each other."

Mary Lou McGuinness of Brick Township, a former elementary educator, said she had always been interested in the idea of home-schooling her son, Liam, 11. It took a while to research the topic, but McGuinness eventually began educating her son at home when he was 9.

Parents choose to home-school their children for a variety of reasons. However, according to information found on the Education Resource Information Center's Internet Web site, the need for parents to pass on their religious ideologies appears to be the most substantial reason for home-schooling a child.

Borg, McGuinness and Prioli take full advantage of the freedom home-schooling fosters. In addition to teaching their children math and reading, these women also give the youngsters lessons in Catholicism.

While home-schooling appears to be working for these children and their families, the women note that it is not for everyone.

"It's kind of this dance that you do to figure out what works for both of you [parent and child]. It has to be a match for the adult and the child," McGuinness said.

According to the New Jersey Department of Education, parents or guardians are not required by law to notify their public school district of their intention to educate a child outside of school. They are, however, solely responsible for the child's educational outcome.

Due to the fact that parents are not required to notify their public school district of their intention to home-school, there is not enough data to accurately determine how many children in Monmouth County are being educated at home.

However, according to Richard Vespucci, a spokesman with the state Department of Education, an annual survey of each school district is conducted by the state.

Each county collects information on the number of home-schooled children and presents those numbers to the department. The survey gives state education officials an idea of how many children are home-schooled.

According to state records, Monmouth County reported that in 2005-06 there were 140 children being home-schooled.

The National Household Education Surveys Program reported in 2003 that there were more than 1 million children being educated at home throughout the United States.

For its part , the National Education Association (NEA), which represents teachers, does not believe home-schooling gives a child instruction that is equivalent to what is received in a public school setting.

According to the NEA, "Home-schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience. When home-schooling occurs, students enrolled must meet all state requirements. Home-schooling should be limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses being borne by the parents or guardians."

Ian Slatter, a media relations representative for the Home School Legal Defense Association, disagrees with the NEA's position. In fact, Slatter credits home-schooling for its emphasis on independent study and said that is the reason why many colleges are recruiting teens who have been home-schooled.

According to Slatter, "Colleges are actively seeking home-schooled students. There is an overwhelming majority of colleges with home-school admission officers and/or home-school policies. That's evidence that home-schoolers are indeed succeeding and meeting college standards. These educated, self-directed individuals find work in all walks of life. They come to college ready to do independent study and research on their own. Self-directed learning and home-schooling helps them to go beyond materials presented to them."

Howell K-8 school district communications research officer Cherylyn Murphy said there are at least 10 students in kindergarten through sixth grade who are being home-schooled.

"We are not required to collect data, and parents do not have to tell us they plan to home-school. The figures we have are from parents who chose to give us that information," she said.

Howell Assistant Superintendent of Schools Susan Vonsover said parents should have a say in how their children are educated.

"If parents feel it is important to home-school their children and they present a valid curriculum to the district, then they have every right to do so," Vonsover said.

The Howell library offers home-school parents and children the opportunity to meet and interact at regular meetings of the Bagels, Brownies and Books club, where also students discuss books they have read as part of their curriculum and they enjoy the social interaction with other youngsters who are being taught at home.