Home Schooling

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One serious exception is Michigan, which insists parents must be certified to teach their children. The HSLDA handled 12 court cases in Michigan in 1991 and won them all.

The third category is what Klicka calls the "approval" states, which includes Maine, Rhode Island, Utah, Massachussetts, and South Dakota. These have no home-school law, but require approval on a case-by-case basis from the local school superintendents. "There really isn't any language (in the law) that would allow home schools as private schools," Klicka explains. "It is up to the whim of the local superintendent to determine who can or cannot home school. It is very frustrating and very arbitrary—a lot of states used to be like that."

The HSLDA gets a lot of the credit for changing the laws and making the environment in many states a little friendlier toward home schooling.

—Karen House

Tapping Inborn Interests

All through those years of elementary and high school, we were encouraged to develop our own inborn interests that had no direct connection with school. Often, Dad would start us off by bringing home a special book from the library that he thought might interest one of us. Extracurricular studies were diligently pursued—sometimes so diligently that our lessons suffered. We immersed ourselves in astronomy, paleontology, blacksmithing, auto repair and maintenance, geology, carpentry, dairy-goat husbandry, and so on. In between, there was never television. We'd collect everything we could lay our hands on; press leaves and flowers; build model aircraft, ships, and houses; learn to cook and bake bread; wash dishes and cut the winter's wood. We also caught each other's colds and chicken pox and had our share of arguments and fights.

As for disciplining us when we turned in poor work or goofed off, the worst Dad did was tell us to go think about it. "Come back when you're prepared to work," he'd say. Sometimes he only had to quietly look at us and we'd know that the shoddy piece of work wasn't nearly good enough. I can still remember his expression when I passed him a one and a half page, gradefour composition on Robinson Crusoe. He read it, looked at me, and asked how long it took. I said, biting my lip: "Three hours." (I'd spent most of the time looking out the window.) His comment: "You can do a lot better than that." I remember wishing the floor would open and swallow me whole.

The High School Years

With Calvert School ending at grade eight, we had to consider high school. We were at a loss. I well remember the hours Dad and I spent discussing the options. Public high school was never considered. Finally, we chose the University of Nebraska Extension Division and embarked on a new phase of the journey.

My years with the University of Nebraska Extension Division were years of hard work and challenge. The courses were above par and for the first time I was sending in weekly assignments to be marked. That, for me, was a very different experience. I must admit that an added attraction was the fact that most of my instructors were young women.

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