Army Families find flexibility in home-schooling

By Spc. Jennifer AnderssonMarch 12, 2012

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1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Jason Fucella, a home-educated high school senior, begins his classwork Jan. 31 in his virtual classroom, a home office. Jason and his sister, Jessica, have been home-schooled since kindergarten. The Fucellas said home-schooling offers them flexibili... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Meagan Wightman, an associate instructor for SKIES Unlimited, teaches a science lesson during a weekly enrichment program here at Taylor Youth Center Feb. 15 open to Fort Campbell home-schooled students. Some military Families choose home education t... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (Feb. 14, 2012) -- It's the story of every school-aged military brat: children of Servicemembers find themselves the new kid at school - again. Military children may not complete two full school years in the same school before having to transfer, which can have detrimental effects on their educational progress.

Some military Families have found home-schooling to be a great way to provide a stable environment in the midst of frequent change for their children. It allows for more flexibility in the students' schedules, without detracting from their education.

"We work off our own timetable, not off (a school calendar)," said Staff Sgt. Cecil E. Gordon, the career counselor for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, who has home-schooled his children for several years.

Gordon is certainly not the only one who appreciates that.

"I don't have to plan my leave around school breaks," said Sgt. First Class Dan Fucella, the senior supply sergeant for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 7th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 159th CAB. "I can take my leave when I want to, and it doesn't affect the kids' schooling."

When parents of traditional school students redeploy or go on rest and relaxation leave, they may take the children out of school, which could cause them to miss important lessons or tests, Fucella said. However, he said home-schooling has allowed them to learn as they travel.

Gordon said traveling sometimes allowed them to hold classes they would not have received in an indoor setting and would pull over to have a "field trip," sometimes focusing on topics like biology, natural sciences or even history.

Leaving friends behind is part of military life. For a traditional-school student, that means not just having to make new friends, but getting assigned a new school, new teachers and new classmates. Not so much for home-schoolers, said Fucella's daughter, Jessica, 16, who has been educated at home since kindergarten.

When the Gordons moved to Fort Campbell, they searched the Internet to find other home-schooling families in the area.

Thanks to technology, home-schoolers can locate resources -- including support networks -- with a simple click of the mouse. Students instantly have something in common with others their age.

One misconception of home-schooling is it can cause the child to lack social skills and grow up friendless.

"People think if you're home-schooled you're socially awkward and that you don't get interaction with other people," Fucella said. "Well, it's simply not true."

"They've never had a problem making a friend," his wife, Dana, said.

For most people, making friends often takes time when moving to a new area, an event which happens all too often with military Families. Being the "new kid" could be unnerving, especially for someone who is naturally shy.

Cheyenne Lambert, now 15, started school at a public middle school when her mother, Diane Puckett, and stepfather, Spc. Michael Puckett, a truck driver for Company A, 563rd Aviation Support Battalion, 159th CAB, moved to Fort Campbell two years ago. Cheyenne had always been in traditional schools until the middle of her seventh grade year.

Lambert, who is extremely shy, said she was concerned about how she was going to adjust to the new environment and making new friends. Lambert struggled through the first semester at the traditional middle school.

Her mother wanted to home-educate, but was concerned about Lambert's shyness worsening. They opted for a part-time school setting allowing both interaction with other students and home-school opportunities. Cheyenne spends her mornings in traditional classes Aaron Academy in Hendersonville, then finishes her remaining classes at home in the afternoon.

Puckett said she noticed her daughter has begun to blossom socially since the change in school settings.

"She doesn't seem to be as worried about how her makeup, her hair and her clothes look," Puckett said. "She can concentrate on more important things, and she seems to be happier about it."

If anything, home-schooling requires the students to step even farther out of their comfort zone than they might in traditional schools in order to make friends, said Jessica, now a junior in high school.

Concerns about socializing home-schoolers has led to enrichment programs for the students, such as the one here at Fort Campbell.

Child and Youth Support Services offers a weekly enrichment program to Families who home-school their school-age children, Kindergarten through 12th grade. The enrichment program not only supplements the students' education, but also allows for interaction with other home-schooled students of similar ages.

To ensure their children met the educational benchmarks at certain stages, the Fucellas would have Jessica and her brother, Jason, now 18, take the same standardized tests offered in public schools.

"Every other year or so, they would take an achievement test to compare them nationally," Fucella said. "They would score right about where they should be, or even above it. It's a national test, not just for home-schoolers."

Master Sgt. Addison Reynolds, the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program manager for 159th CAB, and his wife chose yet one more option: alternating home-schooling with traditional education. This allows their children the opportunity to experience both settings while ensuring they were on the same educational timeline as their peers, he said.

"They were able to experience a more structured setting in a school setting," he said. "Initially, it was hard for them, coming from the relaxed environment of home-schooling."

The Reynolds were not concerned about their children absorbing the material -- they understood it very well -- they needed to learn how to complete tasks within time constraints.

"At home, if your work was not finished, you simply worked on it until it was," Reynolds said. "At school, you're timed. That was difficult for them, but it was a positive because it gave them insight. It took them a while, but they were able to grasp it and run with it."

Reynolds takes a proactive role in his children's education even when they are in traditional schools, as they are now, by visiting his children's school, sitting in on classes and interacting with their teachers regularly. He said even when his children attend traditional school, his role in their education is just as important, if not more, as it was while they were home-schooled.

Just like military life, home-schooling requires commitment and a willingness to sacrifice in order to reap its benefits, and Reynolds said he is thankful he has the freedom to choose it for his family.