It was last fall when she decided to take her son out of public school and homeschool him, and she hasn’t looked back since.
Kylie Maddox transferred her son, Matthew Maddox, out of Franklin schools last year due to the district’s mask mandate, and sent him to Indian Creek Middle School. Then in the fall, when Indian Creek schools instituted its mask mandate, Matthew Maddox developed severe anxiety. His mother pulled him out of the school, deciding to teach him herself.
Other factors, such as Kylie Maddox’s fear teachers would push their opinions on her son and teach him elements of Critical Race Theory, also played into her decision, she said.
“Since homeschooling, he has thrived and flown through his classes,” Kylie Maddox said. “He’s been able to do a lot more than in public school, like Matthew has been teaching himself Danish over the last few years for a foreign language credit.”
The Johnson County Public Library will hold a resource fair this weekend for parents who are homeschooling their children. The fair, which is scheduled Saturday at the Franklin branch, will include representatives from seven homeschooling groups, including the Indiana Association of Home Educators and Southside Christian Homeschool Academy, among others, said Jody Veldkamp, library spokesperson.
Matthew Maddox is challenging himself to attain his high school diploma in the next three years. He’s taking high school-level geometry and chemistry, and is taking a coding class through the University of Michigan, Kylie Maddox said.
Homeschooling is preferable to a traditional school schedule because it allows for greater flexibility, Matthew Maddox said.
“It was kind of stressful because I had to be in class every day,” Matthew Maddox said. “I normally like to do every class every other day. One day I’ll do chemistry and I’ll do that two days a week, and then I’ll do history two days a week. I like guitar and music. I’m learning guitar and the Danish language and coding and programming; I do that every day. Theology, I do that every day.”
Matthew Maddox maintains a social life through texting friends he met in public school, volunteering at the Artcraft Theatre and taking part in Sea Cadets, where he has learned to scuba dive. After attaining his high school diploma, he hopes to attend the University of Copenhagen, he said.
While parents can choose to teach certain subjects at home, there are still options for teachers to handle the subjects they can’t, such as at Greenwood’s Southside Christian Homeschool Academy, or SCHA, where students can take classes in Spanish, American Sign Language, the sciences, math, history, English language arts, government and economics, said Peggy Bryan, who is on the academy’s board.
Classes are offered à la carte, at $100 per class per quarter, she said.
“I think the real benefit is some parents don’t feel comfortable doing chemistry lab in the kitchen. We have a really good chemistry teacher who has the experiments worked out,” Bryan said. “I teach anatomy and physiology and we’re doing heart dissection. It’s a fun way to learn and for parents who don’t feel confident with physics and harder calculus classes. Generally students who graduate from SCHA go on to college and have done really well.”
Similarly, the SEEK Homeschool Cooperative offers classes in the core academic subjects, along with life skills, personal finance, public speaking, drama and art, to students for $300 a school year, though they have to enroll in at least two class periods, said Heather Ruble, an adviser for the cooperative.
“All of our classes are geared to prepare kids for college or vocational training. Our primary focus is on academics,” Ruble said.
The Greenwood cooperative will also hold an open house for prospective students March 2, she said.
Though parents may be hesitant about homeschooling, thinking it will diminish their child’s social opportunities, that is a misconception, said April Windisch, programming assistant for the Johnson County Public Library.
“The biggest misconception about homeschooling is that homeschooled children are unsocialized. There are just as many opportunities for homeschooled children to be out in the world as children in traditional school. Homeschooled children likely receive more real-world experience in their socialization,” Windisch said.
“A major advantage to homeschooling is the freedom it gives your family. You don’t have to wait to take your vacations when school is on break and everyone else is on vacation too. If there is a major event in your family, you have more flexibility to deal with it. You can plan fun field trips that relate to your studies and see the things you are learning about in real life together.”
Amanda Sorlie, a homeschool parent who pulled her children out of Franklin schools in September due to bullying and academic struggles, has found ways to incorporate fun activities and field trips into her children’s education, she said.
She’s also found social opportunities for her children, having them participate in social events for homeschooled kids at Urban Air and Franklin Skate Club, she said.
“We’ve had field trips to Conner Prairie, Hunter’s Honey Farm and Indiana Caverns to learn about caves, and in two weeks, we’re going on a maple-tapping field trip to learn how maple is tapped from trees and turned into maple syrup. (Wednesday), we started art lessons, and we’ll have three months of (that),” Sorlie said.
“There’s more fun things they get to do and more experiences. We go to libraries. We took out a bunch of books and I read aloud to them. They get to hear fun stories. It’s been great so far.”
