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Home schooling

Area home schoolers have lots of options

Andrea Johnson/MDN Preschoolers work on an art project

Home-schoolers in North Dakota today have a lot of educational options, both inside and outside the home.

Some home-schoolers learn about science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics as members of one of Minot’s 11 Youth Robotics Leagues.

Kaydn Turnbow, 12, from Berthold, said his group meets regularly at the Minot Public Library. Kids between the ages of nine and 14 meet to design, program and compete with robots.

“It’s a lot of work, but once you get it done … you get that feeling of, ‘I actually did something today.” said Turnbow.

The robotics leagues meet in other locations in the area and include students who attend public or private schools as well as home-schoolers.

Andrea Johnson/MDN Students from the Prairie Christian Home Schoolers group meet on Thursdays for group classes at the First Church of the Nazarene in Minot.

Other groups of home-schoolers have organized supplemental lessons for their children and meet regularly with other home-school families.

The Prairie Christian Homeschoolers in Minot meets on Thursdays at the First Church of the Nazarene in Minot.

Kids in the group, who range in age from preschoolers to high school students, take group classes that are taught by parents who are members of the group.

“Parents are expected to either lead a class or to participate in some other way,” said Kaydn’s mother, Kate Turnbow, who helped start the group with three other home-schooling mothers in the area about four years ago.

The group grew from a handful of families to about 30 families, who come from Minot and the surrounding area.

The church lets the home-schooling group rent out space for class sessions on Thursdays. Each family pays a nominal fee to participate.

During one session in September, a group of home-schooled teenagers learned about finances, while students in another room learned about history with a Christian perspective. One girl worked on an art assignment in yet another classroom for a watercolor class, while preschoolers created artwork in another area.

“We also have a book club,” said Kate Turnbow.

Home-schooled kids in the group also benefit from other electives that they might not get at home, such as drama and speech.

Some children from the group also attend a gym class at the Minot Family YMCA.

Turnbow said approaches to home-schooling vary. Her family uses a “Biblically based curriculum” called “My Father’s World.” Families in the Prairie Christian Homeschoolers group often want to incorporate God in their lesson plans in a way they could not if their children were in public schools.

Families might blend approaches to home schooling.

Some kids take some classes, like band or choir or a science class, at their local public school or a private school and are home-schooled for other classes. Many home-schooled kids also participate on public school sports teams.

Kate Turnbow said Kaydn takes an online science class and other home-schooled students also might take some courses online.

Reasons for home schooling vary from family to family. While some do so for religious reasons, others do so because it allows a family more flexibility in scheduling activities or because they want to offer their children educational options that a public school does not.

State law requires parents who want to home-school their children to notify their district of residence 14 days before starting to home-school a child. Parents are required to cover all the subjects that are mandated to be covered in public schools. They must teach a minimum of four hours each day for at least 175 days per year. Students have to maintain up-to-date educational records of what the child is being taught and of assessments.

Parents who hold a high school diploma or a GED are allowed to home-school a child without monitoring. Parents who have not graduated from high school or earned a GED can teach their children at home, but must have a home monitor for the first two years. The monitor must be a licensed teacher and must spend an average of one hour per week in contact with the child and the child’s parents. The monitor must report to the district on the child’s progress twice per year.

Parents are now allowed to opt out of giving a standardized achievement test to a child who is being home-schooled for philosophical, moral, or religious reasons. Prior to the last legislative session, parents were not permitted to opt out of testing unless they held a four-year degree or had passed a teacher’s exam. Becca Winter, from Carpio, who home-schools her 12- and 10-year-old sons, said she testified in favor of changing the law. One of her sons has special needs and is unlikely to do well on standardized testing. She said he has made more progress at home with her teaching him, but didn’t think standardized testing was helpful. Winter is a nurse and has a two-year degree.

Now that the law has changed, she is able to opt her son of the testing if she wants.

Other parents can still choose to follow the state requirement that home-schooled children take a standardized achievement test in grades four, six, eight and 10. If the test is one used by the district of residence, the testing is paid for by the district. Parents can also choose their own standardized test, which they must pay for. Results are filed with the district of residence.

State law also lays out requirements for home-schooling a child with a developmental disability.

Kate Turnbow said the North Dakota Homeschool Association is also a great resource for people who are interested in home schooling in North Dakota. More information can be found online at https://www.homeschool-life.com/nd/ndhsa/

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