TEACHING YOUNGSTERS AT HOME OFFERS GREAT ALTERNATIVE

Kimberly Lovig and her son, Calvin, of Jackson also attend the home educators meeting. The meetings are held six times a year as a way for parents to share ideas about better ways to teach their children.

School started last month, but not all school-age children in Jackson went, at least not to the kind of school most of us think of. Janice Schario of Jackson has chosen an alternate method of educating her children -- she does it herself.

It's called home education and, as its name suggests, it's simply parents teaching their children at home. Schario is member of Mississippi Valley Home Educators, a group of parents who feel, as Schario does, that home education definitely has its advantages.

"One-on-one teaching is more effective than one teacher and a large group of children," Schario said. Schario spends three or four hours every day teaching her children math, history, science and language arts but she says learning happens all the time.

"One night we left the porch light on and a tree frog jumped onto our porch," Schario said. "We watched it and talked about it and that's something you wouldn't be able to do in a classroom."

Also when the eclipse happened, Schario and her children were outside through its entirety, while students of public schools may not have had that opportunity.

Schario says to skeptics that her children are learning as much as children that attend public schools. "I think they definitely learn as much," Schario said. "I'm not bashing public schools -- the teachers have a very difficult job -- but for my children, I thought this was the best way to go."

Closer siblings is another advantage, Schario said. Children don't learn to put down other children for the simple fact that the other child is younger, she said.

Schario learned of parent education when she was living in St. Louis. Some of the members of her church there were doing it and she noticed how the older brothers and sisters looked out for their younger siblings.

There are several ways people can go about educating their children at home, Schario said. One way is enrolling in a correspondence course, but Schario opts to keep transcripts. This means keeping a record of your child's work.

Under this method, the law requires that home educators teach certain subjects and keep a log book. People do it in a variety a ways, but, by law, you must keep samples of their work and records of their evaluations.

Those parents interested in teacher education can find books on the subject at Riverside Regional Library, Schario said. There is also a home schoolers magazine and a Home School Manual available through various outlets.

The meetings of the Mississippi Valley are for the children, who get to socialize with other children, but the meetings are for the parents, too.

"We share ideas and discuss the kids," Schario said. "It's for parents that are interested in learning better ways to teach."

Schario said a good parent teacher must have patience and a good relationship with the child.

Schario says she's not sure if she's how long she's going to teach her children.

"It'd be presumptuous to say I'll teach them all the way through high school," Schario said. "I obviously can't offer them football or marching band.

"That will be their decision."

But Schario said teaching children all the way has been done. She mentions an article about a family who had learned by parent education. All the children in that family had their masters degree by the time they were 21.

So Schario knows parent teaching works.

"I think a lot of people think that home educated kids are just free labor for the farm," Schario said. "It's not that. It's just concerned parents who want to teach their children at home."

Schario's oldest son, Matthew, says he enjoys being taught at home and he doesn't want to go to public schools.

"I think it's pretty neat," he said. "I learn about math, science, history -- and I read a lot of books.

"But my favorite subject is history."

Randy Schario, 8, also likes being taught at home. "I like learning about the Middle Ages," he said. "I like the battles and the armor."

Like most kids, Randy Schario already has an idea of what he wants to be when he grows up.

"I want to be a baseball player," Randy Schario said. "But not for the money; I want to play because I like the game."

Janice Schario said anyone interested in home education could get more information by writing to the Missouri Department of Education and they will send information about state-wide and local groups.

Schario said her children aren't the only ones learning.

"I've learned so much about history," Schario said. "I am regularly challenged but I think it's worth it."