by Lorinda K. F. Newton
When my older child, Nate, was a preschooler, I started my research on homeschool education with the first edition of The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. As a former English major, I thrilled at the idea of a literature-based education.
Other resources explained that homeschool education should take less time than classroom education and that students would then have time to pursue their own interests. Some described children becoming more independent in their work, and excelling beyond their classroom counterparts. What a dream it was to think that my children would have more free time and could work independently by age ten! As teens, they might only need to check in with me once a week or whenever they had questions. And it was just a dream.
On June 24, 2004, my son and I embarked on our home-based education adventure. We had our ups and downs, obedience struggles, and learning challenges. By third grade, I jettisoned the classical curriculum when it became apparent that Nate found narrating, writing, and memory work difficult. I adopted an eclectic approach, tweaking curriculum to fit our needs and used co-op classes to augment what I taught at home. But school time lasted longer for us than it did for our friends. We both began to grow frustrated.
The Academic Plan Falls Apart
By middle school, we hit the wall academically. As the schoolwork became more advanced, the more Nate fought against completing it. He’d freeze up like a deer before headlights when an assignment required effort. His academic career crashed and burned in his ninth-grade year. We hired an English tutor to help him improve his writing skills, but her suggestions didn’t help. We sought out a learning specialist and tried some therapies, but they didn’t help much either.
My homeschool dream had turned into a nightmare. At the end of my rope, we considered enrolling Nate in a school, but I was not too fond of that idea.
Enrolling with Academy Northwest
I met a mom at our homeschool co-op who had enrolled her freshman son in Arrow Academic Center, an Academy Northwest learning center in Woodinville. It was hard work, she said, but she liked the hybrid home education program.
Desperate, I made an appointment with Denise Sumner in spring 2014. I was hopeful about the program and enrolled Nate for weekly teacher consulting through the rest of the year. Having someone other than his dad and me encouraging Nate to get his schoolwork done brought me some relief.
To discover the source of Nate’s learning difficulties, the Arrow staff suggested we visit a neuropsychologist. After receiving the recommendations from the specialist, Mrs. Sumner used the results to develop a personalized education plan. We decided to redo his ninth-grade year and listed all his English courses as “basic” (special education) on his transcript because he was unable to complete that subject at the high school level.
Accommodations
Academy Northwest requires competency tests in math and English for graduation. Nate managed to pass the math competency, but we didn’t even bother having him try the English competency that includes writing a five-paragraph paper on an assigned topic. In place of this requirement, he did a quarter-credit course called Basic English Review in which he studied English grammar, usage, and punctuation on a website called English Grammar 101.
By his junior year, we dropped the writing component for English and focused on literature courses. For his junior year, he worked through the Bob Jones University American Literature course, but only completed the multiple-choice quizzes and tests. I used the Eternal Argument: A Framework for Understand Western Literature and Culture by Robin Finley as a guide for his senior English class.
We did try to include writing assignments for both of those years. However, Nate couldn’t make them happen. So, I drew out what he gleaned from his readings by asking questions. Sometimes we used Sparknotes.com quizzes.
Multiple-choice questions work for Nate. If an answer stands in front of him and he knows the information, he can usually choose the correct answer. But if he has to draw information out of his head, he often can’t give an answer. Getting information out of him was like squeezing the last bit of toothpaste out of a tube. He thinks in pictures, not words.
To fulfill the research project graduation requirement, Mrs. Sumner allowed Nate to make a slide presentation instead of writing a paper. It included a bibliography, and Nate gave an oral presentation with the slides to demonstrate his research.
Nate received accommodations in other classes as well. For instance, he received a set of lecture notes for one class because he can’t take notes and listen at the same time.
During his last two years, Nate didn’t attend any co-op classes. He only participated in Arrow classes or did independent studies at home with me. Being extremely introverted, the smaller environment at Arrow reduced the social stimulation and gave him more one-on-one time with the instructors.
Putting Together the Pieces
Despite these accommodations, those four years were filled with tears, anxiety, and stress for both Nate and me. We often fell apart emotionally. Mrs. Sumner supported us with words of encouragement and prayer. When Nate didn’t complete assignments or couldn’t figure out how to meet an expectation, she helped us brainstorm a solution.
For instance, after spending nearly two years on his independent Biology course, it looked like he wouldn’t be able to finish it by the end of the year. So, Mrs. Sumner suggested that he attend the Olympic Peninsula Family Field Studies trip that May. By completing the work for that class, he earned the last quarter credit of biology he needed.
Some ideas failed to work, but Mrs. Sumner kept encouraging us and searching for solutions—and reminding Nate that if he didn’t finish with the class of 2018, he’d have to add four more credits to graduate with the class of 2019 because of revisions in state graduation requirements.
Post Graduation
Nate graduated in June 2018, barely completing the required 20 credits. I felt I had graduated, too. What a relief it was to reach the finish line.
I recently asked Nate, now 21, what worked for him at Arrow. He said that when Mrs. Sumner would help hold him accountable, he’d be motivated to get his work done. He added that if we had started working with Arrow earlier, maybe he would have done better at school. He needed a non-family member authority figure to keep him answerable and on task.
Today, he is working towards an AA in Mechatronics at Everett Community College’s Advanced Manufacturing Training and Education Center (AMTEC) and loving it. He’s only taken a full load for one quarter, but he’s making progress. The hands-on, trade-school educational environment matches his learning style and interests.
Not everyone learns best in a classroom setting or even at a co-op or by following a common home-based education path. To meet state graduation standards, Nate was like a fish being asked to climb a tree. With much boosting by his parents and guidance and support from Academy Northwest, he made the climb.
Lorinda K.F. Newton began homeschooling her children in 2004, and her family joined Academy Northwest in 2014. Her family lives on beautiful Whidbey Island north of Seattle, Washington. She writes about faith, culture, and governing from a biblical worldview at Lorinda’s Ponderings and Lorinda’s Ponderings on Facebook.
