WHEN the King Country News called the children had broken off from studies to join a morning tea comprising hot scones out of the oven. From left Donald Gavin (Rhonda’s dad), Rhonda, Bria, Julia, Samuel, Torren and Micah Walker. Joshua Walker was absent. PHOTO: PAUL CHARMAN
CAN home schooling provide a good start in life for rural children?
We asked Ōtorohanga dairy farmers Torren and Rhonda Walker to share what they have learned in nearly 12 years home schooling their five children.
The couple’s two eldest, Bria, 17, and Josh, 15, credit “school at home”, as they call it, with helping to jump-start their dreams.
With her heart set on a career as a paramedic, Bria has earned the equivalent of University Entrance, won five national level trophies as a St John cadet, completed useful polytech-level courses and notched up more than 1000 hours of community service.
Meanwhile, Josh, who hopes to achieve his university entrance at the end of this year, is evaluating whether he goes for an apprenticeship as a diesel engineer. For now, Josh splits his time between studies at home and working two days a week at Pumpn, Ōtorohanga. From this and other jobs, he has already earned enough to buy his own utility vehicle, though he is still too young to drive it.
The teens’ dad Torren doubts whether they would have had the time to rack up these achievements if it had not been for home schooling.
He and Rhonda said the practice had helped keep them bonded as a family, and they believed the next in line Micah, 13, Sam, 10 and Julia, 8, were also happy and thriving educationally.
“When Bria turned five, we sent her to a beautiful local country school for her first year of education, but we missed her and she missed us,” Rhonda said.
“The idea was born, because we do everything else as ‘The Walker Crew’, so we just thought why not do home schooling too. Also, as dairy farmers we were moving around a lot and some years the children would have had to change schools as often as almost every six months.
“Home schooling ensured that they received continuity of academic studies without the stress of having to repetitively make new friends every six months. That’s why we started but once involved we just sort of loved it so much.”
Home Schooling New Zealand provided the umbrella for Rhonda to get started as head teacher.
“We register with them, and they hold the children’s academic records. I send in all the tests the kids do [every three weeks] and once a year I provide a workbook sample, just to show I have been moderating the children correctly and following procedures.”
Home schooling can take many forms.
Some families choose the NCEA curriculum, with their children going into college and doing exams alongside students there, while some choose the Cambridge International curriculum.
For the Walkers, university entrance is their minimum qualification, with the children achieving a UE equivalent certificate accepted by New Zealand universities.
The main resources are Accelerated Christian Education textbooks the Walkers purchase from the States. Rhonda uses these materials as a base, though they are supplemented by buying in specialised New Zealand courses, in areas such as New Zealand social studies, history and politics.
She is fond of the ACE teaching method, which she had during her school years at a Christian school in Taupō, because it is based on child directed learning.
“Once we get to secondary level, we sort of follow the advice of Home Schooling New Zealand; we pick and choose based on where the children want to go. So, we tailor their academic programme to the pathway they want. For example, aiming for a career as a paramedic, Bria studied additional subjects such as advanced biology, plus accredited te reo and counselling courses.
“We use the same curriculum I trained under at school because I love the way it is designed to build upon success. They teach things in small steps and the children in effect teach themselves because they move forward setting their own goals.
“Generally, you have 12 books in a subject which represent a year of work. The children know their mum expects them to do a test every three weeks and they need to set their goals accordingly.”
At the start of the day, they had what they needed to do laid out and just worked their way through it.
Rhonda checks their workbooks to ensure they have a good grasp of things, then every three weeks they do a test. If they get at least 80% they get to move on to the next module, and this way they progress all the way through to Year 13.
What is the demand on Rhonda’s time?
“The expectation is that they get up each day, sort out their breakfast and do their chores, in order that the house will be clean before they are ready to begin schoolwork at 8am. They usually work till between 12 and 1pm and then are free in the afternoon.”
Afternoons are all about rest, sports, arts and field trips and joining in with outside groups.
Rhonda refutes claims that home schooled children received inadequate socialisation opportunities, pointing out that associating only with one’s age group was not necessarily ideal.
“You don’t gain healthy perspectives without the influence of people older than yourself, and it is also useful to be able to show compassion and identify with children who are younger than you are.
“I was talking to my home schooling advisor last week and he said the second most common reason people called him to ask about home schooling was about socialisation. [The first concern tended to be quality of academic achievement, which the Walkers insist is not deficient in any way].
“But so many kids at school are being bullied [at school] and they can’t escape. What is socialisation anyway? If it is the ability to connect with other human beings, my kids get to do that every day.
“They get to associate with their peers at home schooling trips and events organised on Facebook. We are part of a network of home schoolers around Te Kūiti, Ōtorohanga, Te Awamutu and all the way up to Hamilton.
“When we first started, we were told we were damaging our children by removing them from contact with other children their age on a daily basis. That was the way many in society viewed it and it put us under a lot of pressure. But now post-Covid, I get a stream of requests from parents who say, you home school? How do you do it? We want to do it too.
“So many are putting in their applications to home school and giving it a lash. For our social scene, it’s really good because there are just more and more people for us to meet all the time.”
Meanwhile, local schools had been supportive as well.
