Labor day is just around the corner and most parents are busy with back to school shopping, while kids are savoring their last sweet days of summer. But there is a growing population of children who are not gearing up to return to school. These are homeschoolers. They do not have to wait to see what classes they were assigned. They choose their own courses of study with help from their parents, an eye toward state requirements and college admissions recommendations, and possibly with the guidance of a Homeschooling Consultant.
“Parents new to homeschooling call me to help them plan curriculum, meet state requirements, and figure out how to provide their kids with social opportunities,” explains Rivka Seeman, a private Homeschooling Consultant based here in New York City. “Parents who are already homeschooling may call to discuss something that is not working, or to find creative opportunities for their children to learn outside the home. Sometimes teenagers find my website and prompt their parents to call. It’s all about giving parents a greater diversity of options so they can provide their children with the education that will be best for them,” Rivka continues. “For some kids that will mean going to school, but for some kids it doesn’t.”
Unlike children returning to school, their education will not take place in one building this year. It will take place at home, at the library, at several museums, at sports classes, at an art class at their community college, at the nursing home where they volunteer, at their home run businesses, at their community gardens, and on a walking tour of the city. It will take place while they lie barefoot in the grass happily reading a good book. They will be learning wherever and whenever and their learning will not stop with the ringing of a bell at 3:00.