Growing home school community

Bruderheim family part of a growing community of home schoolers

BY JANA SEMENIUK

While families in Lamont County are getting ready to shuffle their kids off to school Aug. 30, the Radcliffe family of Bruderheim have already started the year as part of a growing community of families who have chosen to take on the challenge of their children’s education through home schooling.

“We get to school them (our children) the way we want is the biggest (benefit) to me,” said Jesse Radcliffe. “(We) Teach them things that we believe to be crucial for our children.”

Jesse and his wife Brianna have been homeschooling their children Allison, 5, and Holly, 7, for the past two years.

The girls speak with enthusiasm around new books they are reading, with five-year-old Allison particularly excited around reading her first chapter book.

“Emily’s Big Discovery is what it’s called,” she states proudly.

Seven-year-old Holly said that math is her favourite subject and is also reading her own chapter book.

“I’m on chapter five of Rainbow Rocks,” she said.

According to the Fraser Institute, homeschooling has been steadily increasing in Alberta, rising from nearly 10,000 students in 2006 to nearly 15,000 in 2020. According to Alberta Education enrollment numbers, home schooling totals increased again to just over 24,000 students in 2021, excluding students who were schooling at home due to the COVID restrictions.

Meanwhile, the Radcliffe family were not always in agreement over the best way to educate their children and sought information from a variety of sources before making their decision. Brianna said she spoke with several other home-schooling families in the Lamont County area as Jesse had reservations around the idea.

“I thought she (Brianna) was crazy. What do you mean, our kids aren't going to go to school?” he said.

Taylore Maschmeyer, 29, a home school facilitator with WISDOM Home Schooling, said she has heard many of the same concerns from families considering the home-schooling option.

“Many people who are homeschooling went to school themselves. So they just have a version of what education looks like. (They wonder) how am I going to do school at home?” she said. “It definitely allows you to, as a family, focus on what's important and create your own family goals and work towards those goals in every aspect including education.

“The social element is a big concern for many people, because when you think of the comparison of a classroom setting, kids are interacting with a minimum of 30 students their age through the day and several teachers compared to just their family.”

Brianna said they have socialization all figured out.

“Socialization was his (Jesse’s) biggest concern. But we attend all the playgroups in the area, and the girls are in a dance program,“ she said. “I love that they can interact with babies, and they can interact with teenagers, and they can interact with kids their own age. They're not lumped into a specific group of kids that have to be their friends.”

Maschmeyer said families can choose to adhere to the Alberta Education Curriculum or create their own learning goals through their homeschooling board. While a typical in-school day encompasses learning over an approximate sixhour period of time Monday to Friday, home learning can take one to two hours per day which Brianna said is perfect for her family.

“It’s family values and time for us. With Jesse's (work) schedule, he would have been about a month of not seeing the kids once they were in full time school. Just the way his schedule lined up with the rotating days off. He'd have gotten a couple hours in the evening with them on his days off. And that would be it. We wouldn't have

Lamont county home school facilitator is also a home schooled student

BY JANA SEMENIUK

Lamont County resident Taylore Maschmeyer, 29, has been helping local families navigate the world of home schooling their children for the past three years through her role as a home school facilitator for Wisdom Home Schooling.

She said she enjoys her job and comes from a good place in supporting families with their choice; Maschmeyer, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in addition to an Education degree from the University of Alberta, is a homeschooled student.

“I was homeschooled all the way from kindergarten to grade 12,” she said. “We were going to just do it for one or two years, and then it kind of turned into our whole history. So, I am the oldest in a family of four and my mom home educated us for 20 years total.”

Maschmeyer said her family took part in sports and home school groups in Fort Saskatchewan while she was growing up, as well as a large community within their family’s church. She said that by connecting to other home school groups, she and her siblings experienced a variety of field trips while learning to work hard.

Continued on Page 15Taylore Maschmeyer had a full day off with him until a full month later, at least. So, this way we school around his schedule,” she said.

Funding for students in public school is different than funding for a home-schooling student. According to the PublicSchool Board Association of Alberta, the average funding per student Alberta school boards received in 2019/2020 was $10,400. Elk Island Public Schools received $10,000. Home schooling students are only eligible for approximately $850 per year to offset the cost of materials if they are supervised by a willing school authority and arranged by Sept. 30.

Allison, 5, (L) and Holly, 7, are excited to sit with their mom Brianna Radcliffe and dive into school work at home. The Radcliffe's, who have been home schooling since 2019, are part of a growing community of families who have chosen to home school their children. Photo: Jana Semeniuk