Homeschooling in Pleasanton: The Benefits and Drawbacks

As a young mother, Tina Razzell made the difficult choice to school her four children at home.   

It is her 15 years of experience in homeschooling her children that fueled the content for her book Homeschooling Boys-Gaining Maximum Success With Minimum Cooperation in hopes of helping others who also make the decision to educate their children at home.

Her choice to take the education of her children in her own hands challenged her creativity when one child was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and another son struggled with dyslexia. 

These common but difficult learning disabilities forced Tina to come up with creative ways to cater to her children's learning disabilities that were outside the scope of what standardized school classrooms could provide. 

With the use of a treadmill and bookstand, Tina was able to assist her energetic ADHD son in learning while providing a means to accommodate his innate need to move.

Her dyslexic son struggled with writing up until fourth grade. Due the freedom and flexibility that homeschooling provided, Tina allowed her son to give answers orally until about the age of nine, when he was finally able to write.

Eventually, Tina’s two oldest children attended traditional schools and successfully graduated. She has two other children, one of whom continues to be homeschooled.

With Pleasanton public schools being known for their excellence in academics and student services, the question begs to be asked: Why would a parent choose to homeschool when excellent public education is so readily available?

"There are many reasons why parents choose to homeschool their children: academic, religious, or they just like to be with their own children during the day," Tina said.

"For me, educating my own children is just an extension of parenting them."

A National Household Education Survey organized by the National Center for Education Statistics indicated that parents give many different reasons for homeschooling their children.  

In 2007, the most common reason was a desire to provide religious or moral instruction. Other reasons were a concern about the school environment (such as safety, drugs, or negative peer pressure), dissatisfaction with academic instruction, and other reasons including family time, finances, travel, and distance.

According to Tina, homeschooling offers a greater flexibility to individually cater to each child’s individual strengths and weaknesses. Although all standard subjects such as Math and Language Arts must be taught, it allows the homeschool parent to encourage student in subjects they show strengths in, thus better preparing them for pursuing the career of their choice in college.

It also allowed Tina to work around her children’s natural sleep schedule. While some of her children enjoyed studying early in the morning, others studied better in the evenings.

In addition, Tina shares the importance of sheltering her children and preserving their innocence from potential issues that arise in some public schools, such as bullying, drugs, and alcohol abuse.

“There is nothing wrong with sheltering and protecting young children,” says Tina.  

“Environment is the key to education. Put child into a good learning environment and they will thrive.”

The question of adequate socialization often times comes up in regards to homeschooled children. Tina feels, however, that homeschooling her children taught them to socialize with individuals of a variety of ages and allowed them to become more well-rounded individuals.

There are numerous activities throughout Pleasanton and the surrounding areas that specifically cater to homeschooled families. In addition to subject specific classes individual homeschool parents offer to surrounding homeschooled children, Play Well Teknolgies, 4H Club, and Cornerstone Homeschool  Connection provide both social and educational opportunities to homeschooled families.

Tina’s choice to homeschool is far from unusual.

According to the US Department of Education, nearly 1.5 million, or 2.9 percent, school-aged children across the nation were receiving their primary education from home in 2007. This accounted for a 74-percent relative increase over the eight-year period from prior estimates in 1999, in which 850,000 school-aged children were homeschooled.

Even though a 2002 Gallup poll showed that, as a group, homeschooled students' SAT scores were above the national average, opponents worry about the lack of quality control in the education some students are receiving in home-based schooling.

Regulation of home eduction remains minimal at best.

According to the Education Commission of the States, most states do not require parents to obtain a teaching certificate to homeschool their children. Less than half the states monitor homeschooled students’ educational progress by requiring any sort of evaluation, such as a test, portfolio, or teacher evaluation. (Education Commission of the States, 2009).

California laws do not require teaching certificates for parents that choose to homeschool, nor are homeschool students mandated to take standardized testing or evaluations.

Tina states that she is required to keep attendance and offer core subjects for her children to learn. The law does not, however, define how many days or hours her children are required to spend on school studies.

Amy Delema is a supervising teacher with 's homeschooling (or Independent Study) program that provides assistance and support to students enrolled in the program.

"We combine our homeschool and our independent study programs, and we are at approximately 65 students," Delema told Patch in a previous which brought about a heated debate among commenters regarding regulation over home studies and potential social issues in homeschooled children.

Delema's numbers only represent a fraction of students in Pleasanton who are homeschooled. Parents that choose to homeschool are not required to register with the district and often times choose to register through a charter school or, as in Tina’s case, can register their home as an independent school. Because of this, the number of homeschooled students in Pleasanton remains relatively unknown.

As homeschooling becomes a more popular and viable means of education, Tina suggests one the greatest benefits to home education is the relationship.

“Homeschooling helped my kids create strong family bonds with each other and with my husband and I."