Homeschooling Spells Success
By Michael F. Haverluck
CBNNews.com
June 5, 2007
CBNNews.com - Homeschoolers aren't immersed in a structured classroom setting amidst dozens of other students. Most of them don't even have credentialed teachers or state-approved curricula.
But homeschoolers Evan O'Dorney and Caitlin Snaring don't feel deprived. In fact, their education at home has given them the freedom and passion to pursue the thing they love to do most...learn.
See this year's national spelling bee finalists go head to head by clicking on the video player.
Homeschoolers swept this year's
Scripps National Spelling Bee and
National Geographic Bee.
Beating the Odds
Even though homeschoolers represent about 3 percent of this nation's students, they comprised nearly 13 percent, or 36 of the 286 contestants, in this year's national spelling bee.
What's more, first, second and third place went to homeschoolers in 2000, with one winning the bee the following year, as well. They have been in the top 10 every year this decade.
This year's favorite, homeschooler Samir Patel, appeared in his fifth consecutive bee.
But Samir ended up giving way to another homeschooler, Evan O'Dorney, of Danville, California.
Like many homeschoolers, Evan pursues his passions without the restrictions that his traditionally schooled peers face in standardized instruction. He is by no means your one-dimensional dictionary worm.
Among his many talents, the child prodigy enjoys composing piano concertos and studies classical music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Evan's instrument of choice is the piano because it allows him to play a number of notes simultaneously.
"I like it because I'm hearing chords in my head and I can get it all out," said the champion.
Jennifer O'Dorney helped prepare her son for the contest by going over Latin roots and complex words from the dictionary, but spelling isn't the only thing that triggers Evan's interest.
"He's like a sponge; early on, he always wanted to learn more and more," she said. "He's so fun to be with and work with."
Despite his tenacity for putting letters together, the gifted 13 year old has an even greater passion for numbers. His eyes beamed brightly when he shared about his upcoming summer math camp and University of California at Berkeley calculus class.
"My favorite things to do are math and music, and with the math, I really like the way the numbers fit together," Evan said. "And with the music, I like to let out ideas by composing notes, and the spelling is just a bunch of memorization."
Evan also enjoys juggling. When asked how long it took him to learn, the whiz kid wisely replied, "I don't think you can assign any specific beginning or end to learning."
Evan had no problem juggling the letters at this year's contest in Washington D.C., as he correctly spelled "serrefine," to take the 2007 title. What does it mean? Small forceps.
A Showcase of Talent
Spelling bees provide an avenue for home learners to demonstrate their academic merit against traditionally schooled students.
"In a competitive situation like a spelling bee, kids can measure their skills, and it gives them some sort of concrete feeling of accomplishment," said Cato Institute education researcher Andrew Coulson.
Twelve-year-old Josiah Wright of North Carolina has a love for both spelling and homeschooling.
The formidable competitor, who won a regional bee, touts 'humuhumunukunukuapuaa' as his favorite word, which is a fish found in Hawaii.
Josiah's mother doesn't give him any special spelling training because she has her hands full with three younger adopted children, diagnosed with Downs syndrome, and a two-year-old daughter.
"I have never taught him spelling," said Anne. "We never sat down and said, 'I before E except after C.' Every year we would go through the spelling words provided in the curriculum, and he would just nail them."
If there's anyone who appreciates the opportunity to learn from home, it's Josiah.
"I can finish my school work early rather than be stuck in a classroom for several hours a day," said the spelling whiz, who noted another perk, "No bullies."
Another homeschooler, 12-year-old Rebecca of Virginia, whose mother organized a local homeschool spelling bee, trained for this year's big event.
"I study one-on-one with Mom a lot," Rebecca said. "She calls out the words, and I spell them and put them into the computer so I can study them later."
The extra instructional time allows Rebecca to apportion two-and-a-half hours to her spelling daily, while leaving more than adequate time for other subjects.
"You can't drop history and math and study spelling all day," Rebecca's mom added. "When we finish with a subject, we move on to the next one. You don't have to wait for 30 kids to get finished."
Regional spelling bee champion, Florida's Justin Murdock, also sees the advantages of homeschooling.
"I don't miss going to school with the other kids," the 12 year old said. "I can do my school work really fast if I'm by myself and then have a whole lot of time to do my spelling."
And who says learning isn't fun?
"Sometimes I catch myself making up words, using what I know about prefixes and suffixes," Justin said. "Then I look them up in the dictionary to see if they're real words."
There's No Place Like Homeschool
Homeschoolers also know their geography. Redmond, Washington's Caitlin Snaring won this year's National Georgraphic Bee in the nation's capital on May 23.
The relentless 14 year old answered every question correctly during the two-day competition.
Caitlin's vigorous homeschool routine lets her allot four to six hours a day to geography. The devoted competitor can even be seen studying after church, at her brother's baseball games, and in her bed with a flashlight.
She beat out nine boys in the finals to take home a $25,000 college scholarship.
Here is the question Caitlin answered to win the 2007 title:
"A city that is divided by a river of the same name was the imperial capital of Vietnam for more than a century. Name this city, which is still an important cultural center."
She answered Hué. The rest is history.
Homeschool advocates say this proves students taught at home can easily compete with their traditionally schooled peers.
Sources: Washington Dateline, The Danville Weekly, AP
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