|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
The first day of school, at home
More than 57,000 students headed back to Loudoun County's public schools this week for the first day of the new school year.
But another group of students – home-schoolers -- didn't have to wait for the bus or pack their lunches as they started their lessons again.
"It was a little bit hard to get up today," said 10-year-old Grant Marcus, who is home-schooled by his dad, Brad. "But home school is a lot better. It's more interesting."
According to statistics from the public school system, there are about 1,100 home-schoolers in Loudoun County this year.
Grant, who does his work in a makeshift classroom in his Broadlands basement, didn't like public school, but he said he loves learning from his dad.
"He throws in some jokes," he said. "The teachers would just give a handout and they wouldn't explain it."
Brad Marcus, who runs a business from home, said his son ends up learning a lot more one-on-one.
"I realized that if I did it myself, he could do more advanced courses," he said. "Now he's more motivated to learn, think and do things."
Grant and his dad use an online curriculum from K12 Inc. and work from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. each weekday. Subjects include math, language arts, history and science.
Marcus supplements his son's learning with computer programming and music. The two also take field trips to learn about the Civil War and visit Washington, D.C.
Kasey and Hallie Dineen are home-school students in Leesburg taught by their stay-at-home mom, Arlette Dineen.
This year, they started one lesson, algebra, at the end of August and will gradually add more classes.
"A lot of families phase in school at home," Dineen said. "They are like normal kids. They moan and groan a little bit about starting back up, but by the end of the week, they're into it."
Her daughters are taking two classes from her at home this year, algebra and literature. They also attend Covenant Learning Co-op, a Leesburg home-school group that meets once a week starting Sept. 8.
There, they take science, history, grammar and writing classes from different teachers who give in-class lessons or tests and assign the rest of the course load for the week.
"We're pretty independent now with what we do," said Kasey, 13. "Sometimes we get done early before lunch and sometimes not. With home school, you work on it on your own time."
This level of flexibility is necessary for the Dineens, who have both been home-schooled for the last eight years.
It allows them to do other activities such as spending Wednesdays at Lopez Studios in Reston, where they take music and drama classes.
Hallie, 12, said she likes being home-schooled.
"There's definitely a difference between my mom when she's being mom and when she's being a teacher," she said. "But it's fine."
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.