Thirty-three students from kindergarten to 4th grade wait outside the door of the school gymnasium for their turn to watch the children's theater performance. Following the program these students will go back to their classrooms, not at school, but at home. These children are part of the Ames Community School District's Home-Based Education Program.
In 1991 the Iowa Legislature enacted a bill that set in place a unique option for Iowa's home-schooling families—dual enrollment. Dual enrollment offers (but does not require) the opportunity for Iowa home-schooling students to enroll in their school district for academic or instructional programs, to participate in any extracurricular activity offered by the district, and to use the services and assistance of the appropriate area education agency. What that means for families and school districts is that home education can be a team effort in alternative education.
How the Partnership Began
Ten years ago my husband, Harvey, and I decided to educate our children, Anna and David, at home. Although we chose to home school, we wanted to remain active members of our public school community. We were committed to the Ames School system: our oldest daughter, Shelly, continued to be educated there, and we believed that at some time we might choose traditional schooling for one or both younger children. In a larger context, we believed that we must support quality education for all of our community's children.
Not only were we committed to our district, but we found that our district was committed to meeting every child's educational goals—even in nontraditional settings. Working with our elementary principal, Judy Haggard, we began an informal program that allowed home-educated children to participate in special activities within the school system. As a group we met after school hours to use the gym, computer lab, and media center. Ten years later our program serves 37 families—77 students in kindergarten through 9th grade.
The Particulars of Dual Enrollment
- At every one of our seven elementary attendance centers and at our middle and high school, home-educated children are present during some part of the day. These children usually choose to attend school “specials”: art, music, PE, chorus, and band. We do have a few students who choose to attend specific classes and labs.
- Home-educated children participate in sports and other extracurricular activities.
- Dual-enrolled students have access to our school textbooks and resources.
- The Ames District offers free standardized testing to dual-enrolled students.
- We offer an enrichment class especially for dual-enrolled students. Our primary unit, for kindergarten through 4th grade, meets twice a month. Our intermediate unit is for 5th through 9th grade and also meets twice a month. Our enrichment classes are designed around units of study, but each class time has a discrete lesson. This year both groups are working on math activities that reflect our district's emphasis on problem solving.
- Our program emphasizes being a part of our community. We take frequent field trips and rely heavily on our community's abundance of gifted resource people.
- We offer support for families through a variety of programs. Throughout the year we hold presentations on topics of education and how to be more effective as home educators. We offer individual support to families who may have questions or concerns. We also support the mentoring of experienced home-educating families with those just beginning their home-education experience.
Prickly Issues
Of course, dual enrollment is not without problems. One major issue is whether the state aid for dual-enrolled students is enough to cover the district's expenses. Another is the amount of time a student can attend school and still be considered “home schooled.” On a more personal level are the concerns that home-educated children represent an extra burden for teaching staff and the school schedule. Some critics even argue that home-educated children do not have a place in our school buildings.
Nevertheless, taking the team approach to home education has real benefits for the public school. In Iowa, the school district can receive state aid for those home-schooled children who choose to be part of their school community. Even more important, home educators who feel connected to their schools will support those schools more fully—and support of the community is critical to public schools.
Home educators in our district attend school functions and feel that they are part of our Ames School District community. We even have home-educating parents who volunteer in classrooms.
If parents decide to put their children in school, the trust and respect generated by our Home-Based Education Program allows families to feel more comfortable in choosing public school as their educational choice. And working with home-educating parents shows that we all recognize that our goal is to help each child reach his or her educational goals.
Can we see new possibilities for the public school acting as an umbrella for some types of alternative schooling? Can we search together for our new directions in education? The challenges will be great, but what an exciting journey we have begun.
