As a Realtor Living in Brentwood I often get asked about the schools. It is always hard to explain that my kids do not go to school in the Brentwood public schools. I have nothing against the Brentwood public schools. I hear very good things about them, have always had a positive experience when dealing with them, and know some very fine people who work in the Brentwood Public Schools.
But my kids go to CAVA (California Virtual Academy), a charter public school that involves self study at home.
Before I had kids I had wanted to home school. I did not want to have kids to send them off to someone else for the day. I have wanted the joy of helping them learn and the freedom and flexibility to run our family our way (also a reason I have been self employed for over 15 years). My wife, who used to work as part of the GSA professional staff felt the same way.
There were also some more practical reasons. My oldest son from my first marriage was not cutting it in public school. He is smart, but a dreamer. He tends to look at the world in a different way and see things others don’t while missing the obvious. (My second son goes to public school in Walnut Creek were his mother lives.) My third son was born pre-mature and diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder. This is an issue prevalent in children born pre-mature and they were looking for it. (It is also genetic and I suspect my older son has it to a degree I certainly have some of the markers). Son 3 is also very smart and seems to be very musically inclined, but we knew he would not cut it in a highly structured environment. I am not blaming teachers here, if you are going to manage 20-30 kids you need structure.
My wife and I felt we needed some structure if we were going to home school. We heard about CAVA and signed up. They provide a computer, printer, books, supplies, teachers to consult with, and on-line teaching sessions, and social activities. They use the K-12 curriculim that is available nation wide and developed by a group Bill Bennet is associated with. It is very traditional and we can input our own religious training for the kids.
People are often concerned about the kid’s socialization, but my kids have plenty of interaction with other people. We are part of some home school groups and they have many friends to play with. We keep track of PE time (actually my kids extra curricular sports stuff takes care of that). My oldest son can still wrestle at Edna Hill Jr. High, part of the local Brentwood Schools.
We are required to log attendance and my kids take test on line or under our supervision. They meet with teachers periodically for in person review. What I like is if my son does not pass an assessment he has to go back and study some more and pass the test before he can move on.
My perception was that Home Schoolers where primarily conservative Christians. I have actually found a lot of people are atheist, left wing free thinkers, libertarians, etc.: A broad band of people who do not fit in or do not want to fit in to the established order. On average home school kids test much higher than public educated kids, but what many do not know is that kids home schooled with an accountability program score higher than those on their own.
We knew we needed some structure and opted for CAVA. It is not easy and my wife bears most of this burden, but we would not choose another way. There have also been a lot of rewards.
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