modern life
not turning in homework. It was then they
knew they had to do something drastic.
Even though it wasn’t working for Josh,
the parochial school was the best around.
The local public school was a year behind
curriculum-wise, so switching him there
would have made matters worse, and the
Levells wanted a religious component to
his education. When Chris brought up the
idea of homeschooling, Michelle Googled
the subject and got 11. 9 million results.
That was daunting, she admits. “I didn’t
know any homeschoolers, so I just had to
figure it out.”
Over several weeks Michelle surfed
hundreds of websites and read dozens of
books. She liked the Charlotte Mason philosophy, an approach that emphasizes
learning through reading great literature.
She purchased the Robinson Curriculum,
a K- 12 homeschool program that applies
many of the general tenets of Charlotte
Mason. Of course, she was still nervous.
Her first order of business was to get
Josh interested in learning again. During
the summer after third grade, their local
In the meantime the twins started
having school-related difficulties in the
first grade. Almost every day Zachary
asked to stay home with Josh. Margaret
often compared her grades with Zach’s
and called herself stupid when he got
higher scores. Even though she was in
the highest level math and reading
groups, her parents’ reassurances did
little to soothe her.
At the end of that year Chris took a
new job that meant relocating the family to New Hampshire. Since Josh was
steadily progressing, Michelle decided
to try homeschooling the twins too.
(They were due to start second grade.)
Right after they got settled in their
new house, Michelle attended a local
homeschool support group to sign her
kids up for archery. There she plugged
into an organization of 100 families that
sponsors play sessions, book clubs and
library outings, and ultimately became
involved in a statewide e-forum that lists
events, enrichment classes, field trips
and other social opportunities. She also
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the Scottish War of Independence by
reading a book called In Freedom’s
Cause. Margaret learned about how the
pioneers moved West from Little House
books. Zach loves classics like David
Copperfield. They all do science experiments with store-bought kits.
Occasionally Michelle allows a free-choice activity. Margaret usually opts for
sewing or latch-hooking. Zach draws or
plays around on the piano. Josh likes to
work at perfecting Chinese characters
or to e-mail his numerous pen pals.
Michelle says that it’s not what most
people think of as school—learning
does not have to take place according to
a checklist of what should be taught
when. Homeschooling can be keyed to a
child’s interests in ways that are impossible in a traditional classroom setting.
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zoo hosted a field trip. Josh was fascinated
and asked the group leader tons of questions. He talked about the day for weeks
afterward. Michelle was thrilled to see
her son excited and engaged.
By the fall Josh was waking up and
beginning his schoolwork on his own.
“Finally, I didn’t have to struggle to get
him to open a book,” says Michelle. “It
was just enough to make me think, I can
do this,” she says. Naturally, some trial
and error was inevitable. She had to experiment to find a way to teach spelling,
for instance, and finally succeeded with
phonics-based drills.
did a stint as a district representative,
helping new homeschoolers learn the
legal requirements and answering their
start-up questions.
At home the days have a comforting
rhythm. Michelle creates new lesson
plans each week. Mornings are reserved for reading, writing and math;
Josh adds religion and a foreign language (this year it’s Mandarin). Traditional texts are used for math only; all
other subjects are explored with books
the kids choose.
Josh, for example, is passionate
about history, so he opted to study
As Josh gets older the Levells are
considering sending him to a private
high school, but Michelle is confident
she can provide a rich education for
him if they decide to continue with
homeschooling. Zach and Margaret
will continue being homeschooled,
and the Levells will decide about their
high school education later.
Although the kids admit they miss
seeing friends every day, all three are involved in lots of different social activities.
Josh participates in his church youth
group, and Zachary and Margaret still
take archery with other homeschooled
kids a few afternoons a week. Josh and
Zach play community football, and
Margaret does cheerleading. The children have earned high 90s on all their
standardized tests, and none of them
misses traditional school. “Overall, I’d
give homeschool a 9. 25 out of 10,” says
Zachary. Not a bad score. M
