Connie Harris began homeschooling her eldest daughter Darby after on year in preschool.

Homeschooling: it brings to mind sheltered, homebound kids who barely have contact with others their own age and who have a hard time adjusting to the outside world.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Instead, homeschooled students are no different from their public- or private-schooled peers, academically or socially.

“Homeschooled students may even be better prepared for college because they’re self-motivated and self-reliant,” says Connie Harris, a Chesterfield mother of three and homeschooler. “They’re really prepared for independence.”

The Harris family first started homeschooling with oldest daughter Darby, 17, after a year in preschool.

“At first, we didn’t really want to. Darby was very gifted in preschool, and loved it; but at the end of the year, she was having problems, and a pediatrician recommended we try homeschooling for a year,” Harris says. “But then we got hooked.”  The Harrises would continue homeschooling Darby through high school; and now that their eldest is in college – having taken classes at John Tyler at 14 and who is now studying at Richard Bland to get her associate’s degree – they’re also homeschooling their two younger children, who are twelve and four years old.

For the Harrises, and for many families like them, homeschooling provides a much more flexible and customized educational environment. “If a kid is strong in one subject, you can accelerate them; if they’re weak in it, you can take more time to get them more comfortable with it,” says Bill Harris. Thousands of curriculums to choose from – and the freedom to switch between curriculums at will – let parents find the educational approach that works best for their kids.

Connie Harris says, “It really creates a love of learning.”

As for the stereotype of homeschooled students being less socially adjusted than their peers? Nonsense.

Local homeschool support group the Tri-Cities Home Educators keeps kids active in sports like softball, soccer, ice skating, and bowling; offers art classes, field trips, and picnics; and even organizes proms, yearbooks, and graduation ceremonies. Through these events, Darby Harris has met plenty of other homeschooled friends, but she also counts public school peers, fellow church youth group members, and college students among her social network. “I’m on the dance team at Richard Bland, so I have a lot of friends there,” she says. “Of course, it’s easier now because I couldn’t go anywhere without my parents before I was 16, but my friends would always offer me a ride! Everyone has been really, really accepting.”

Though homeschooling has been the right choice for the Harris family, they do admit that it’s
not for everyone. “You have to be 100 percent committed and focused, both parent and student,” says Bill Harris.

“It’s really a lifestyle,” Connie Harris says. “Everything we do revolves around learning.”
Such dedication has paid off, however. “People say, ‘Don’t your kids want to be in public school?’” Connie Harris says. “And the kids always say no!”

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