It was a conversation with a second-grade teacher from the local grade school that convinced Drake Shepard to teach his two sons at home.
Though there’s no way to know exactly how many children are schooled at home, Chicagoan Dorothy Werner, who has taught four of her six children at home and leads several home-school networks, estimates there are 3,000 such kids in Chicago. Some parents teach their own kids because they want to intertwine religious and book learning. Others want to protect their kids from gangs and drugs. Many, like Shepard, feel schools squelch curiosity and retard development. Like all true believers they tend to be a tad self-righteous and very dedicated to their cause.
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Luckily for Shepard, Illinois has few rules or regulations governing home schooling. “In other states parents are required to have their children regularly tested, or they have to clear their curriculum with the local school districts,” says Werner. There are no such requirements in Illinois. Instead home schools are treated like private schools: they’re bound only on their honor to teach from the same branches of education as the public schools–language arts, math, social science, physical science, fine arts, gym, and health.
To compensate for the social limitations of his home school, Shepard’s sons participate in scouting and recreational Park District activities.
“I used to think that I’d be the kind of dad who goofs around with his kids, like Peter Pan,” says Shepard. “But I learned that’s not me. I’m not casual; I’m strict. I believe in discipline. I feel I need structure and sticking to a schedule. I think that’s good for the boys.”
“At the regular school they would say Grant’s too young to do that,” says Shepard. “But all kids want to know; they all want to learn. Most kids at age five can memorize entire videos. Why not put those skills to some usefulness?”
When the subject of the Ninja Turtles somehow arises, Shepard quickly points out that Colton knows that the cartoon characters are named for famous painters. “He also knows who those painters are and what they did to make them famous. Right, Colton?”
