The Home Educator and Sports
Recently, Ohio enacted a new law requiring school superintendents to allow home educated kids to participate in extra curricular activities offered by their local public schools. Prior to this, it was up to individual school districts to set their own policy. Some allowed homeschoolers to participate if they enrolled in one or two classes, some chose to not allow it at all.
As a fiercely independent home educator, I was, at first, reluctant to consider allowing my kids to participate in anything associated with public schools. But I have a son who loves swimming and wanted to compete, and there is not much in the way of sports for just homeschoolers, or if there is, it's far away or expensive, so we ventured forth on a new home educating adventure. I contacted the swim coach, who enthusiastically encouraged us to come to the informational meeting. We signed all the paperwork (and it's a lot), paid 100 bucks (way cheaper than swimming for the YMCA), and he was off! Six days a week in the pool, 2-3 hours a day; the kid worked hard. The coach taught him a lot, his times dropped, and he became an even more graceful and beautiful swimmer. He made a lot of friends, many of whom spent evenings at our house, and who encouraged each other to excel and do their best.
My son has worked a couple of jobs for 2 years, and is involved in other activities where he is with kids his age, but this was the closest we had come to him "going to school." I worried about peer pressure and peer dependency, and whether or not the other kids would accept him or like him.
My worries were unfounded. If there was any peer pressure, it was about anything swim related. If there was any peer dependency, it was about building a team atmosphere where you could depend on your teammates. They accepted him right away, although, at 6'3", they were a bit intimidated by him at first. And they liked him. They were curious about him, and asked him a lot of questions. A few teased him good-naturedly, and that kept him on his toes. A few even asked him to pray in the locker room before a meet. He made it clear that he was a young man of principle, and they respected him for it.
Now, every kid is different, and so is every school district and coach, but the entire experience for us was excellent. A few things made things go smoothly for us. One, was to establish contact with the coach well before the season started, so as to be in the loop on the schedule. Another, was to meet with the Athletic Director and establish a good working relationship. This is important in any case, but especially now because the law is so new to the school and home educators. Thankfully, I found the AD for our school to be very friendly and easy to work with. In addition, we tried to make our home a place to hang out so as to get to know some of the team members and encourage them. Lastly, going to as many meets as possible allowed us to get to know other parents and have fun cheering for our kids.
I think another factor in this venture being a success, and one that is more of the team's doing than mine, is that when kids are on a team, they are working. They have common goals and are too busy working to reach those goals to get into much trouble. The coaches, who were also working toward the same goals, kept a sharp eye on the kids and made it clear that they expected good behavior at all times. There was hardly any time to goof off!
I would encourage my fellow Ohio home educators to check out the extra curricular activities offered by their local schools. And it doesn't have to be sports oriented; there could be theater, band, or clubs offered as well. Our tax money has long supported these activities and I saw it as a chance to get involved in my community. In fact, I saw it as a chance for home educators to be a bit more visible in the community, and take away some of the misconceptions people may have about us. I found this to be a great way to maintain my fierce independence but get my son involved in the local school at the same time; I reached a bit out of my comfort zone and found its boundaries a bit bigger than I thought.
As a fiercely independent home educator, I was, at first, reluctant to consider allowing my kids to participate in anything associated with public schools. But I have a son who loves swimming and wanted to compete, and there is not much in the way of sports for just homeschoolers, or if there is, it's far away or expensive, so we ventured forth on a new home educating adventure. I contacted the swim coach, who enthusiastically encouraged us to come to the informational meeting. We signed all the paperwork (and it's a lot), paid 100 bucks (way cheaper than swimming for the YMCA), and he was off! Six days a week in the pool, 2-3 hours a day; the kid worked hard. The coach taught him a lot, his times dropped, and he became an even more graceful and beautiful swimmer. He made a lot of friends, many of whom spent evenings at our house, and who encouraged each other to excel and do their best.
My son has worked a couple of jobs for 2 years, and is involved in other activities where he is with kids his age, but this was the closest we had come to him "going to school." I worried about peer pressure and peer dependency, and whether or not the other kids would accept him or like him.
My worries were unfounded. If there was any peer pressure, it was about anything swim related. If there was any peer dependency, it was about building a team atmosphere where you could depend on your teammates. They accepted him right away, although, at 6'3", they were a bit intimidated by him at first. And they liked him. They were curious about him, and asked him a lot of questions. A few teased him good-naturedly, and that kept him on his toes. A few even asked him to pray in the locker room before a meet. He made it clear that he was a young man of principle, and they respected him for it.
Now, every kid is different, and so is every school district and coach, but the entire experience for us was excellent. A few things made things go smoothly for us. One, was to establish contact with the coach well before the season started, so as to be in the loop on the schedule. Another, was to meet with the Athletic Director and establish a good working relationship. This is important in any case, but especially now because the law is so new to the school and home educators. Thankfully, I found the AD for our school to be very friendly and easy to work with. In addition, we tried to make our home a place to hang out so as to get to know some of the team members and encourage them. Lastly, going to as many meets as possible allowed us to get to know other parents and have fun cheering for our kids.
I think another factor in this venture being a success, and one that is more of the team's doing than mine, is that when kids are on a team, they are working. They have common goals and are too busy working to reach those goals to get into much trouble. The coaches, who were also working toward the same goals, kept a sharp eye on the kids and made it clear that they expected good behavior at all times. There was hardly any time to goof off!
I would encourage my fellow Ohio home educators to check out the extra curricular activities offered by their local schools. And it doesn't have to be sports oriented; there could be theater, band, or clubs offered as well. Our tax money has long supported these activities and I saw it as a chance to get involved in my community. In fact, I saw it as a chance for home educators to be a bit more visible in the community, and take away some of the misconceptions people may have about us. I found this to be a great way to maintain my fierce independence but get my son involved in the local school at the same time; I reached a bit out of my comfort zone and found its boundaries a bit bigger than I thought.
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