Maumelle family finds fun in learning at home

By Jeannie Stone

LITTLE ROCK — (Editor’s Note: This is the first in a three-part series on families who homeschool.)Dan and Tamara Hocker of Maumelle didn’t approach child rearing with the intent of homeschooling; the decision just evolved.

It is a decision, however, the family is happy with, and three of the children still living at home, Joshua, 16, Sarah, 13, and Abigail, 6, wouldn’t have it any other way.

It all began when the eldest of their five children was in sixth grade.

“We had an incident in the school that challenged our values. We tried a private school, but that was cost-prohibitive, and so we decided to try a home approach,” Tamara said.

Today, the Hocker children are among nearly 2 million who are homeschooled inthe United States. According to www.learnin freedom.org, a Web site promoting homeschooling, approximately 2 percent of all school-age children in Arkansas receive their education at home.

Hocker knows a thing or two about educating children. She has years of experience teaching preschool and volunteering in the public school as a math and reading tutor and has homeschooled for 13 years.

In addition, the U.S. Census Bureau reports, although 33 percent of parents cite religion as the primary reason to homeschool, 50 percent of parents who home school do so because they are concerned with the quality of education offered in the public schools. These parents were “motivated by the idea that home education was a better education,” according to the Census Bu-reau. It cites a poor learning environment as their primary concern in regard to public schooling, and 11 percent are convinced public schools are not capable of challenging their children.

The Hockers are natural learners. By their own admission, they look for ways to satisfy their natural curiosities by planning family outings and turning life situations into learning opportunities.

“We play trivia. We like to find out why things are the way they are,” Tamara said. “We like to quiz each other.”

The family visited The National Museum in Washington, D.C. Sara, who wants to be a zoologist, was in heaven. “We saw a baby panda, and I just loved it,” she exclaimed with typical teenage exuberance. Her mother added that whenever they travel, visiting the local zoo or aquarium is always on the agenda. Sara’s favorite place is the Butterfly Pavilion in Colorado and the Denver Aquarium.“The Denver Aquarium is the best,” she said. “Except for the one in Baltimore,” Joshua interrupted her. “Now, that aquarium is the best!”

Tamara said, “My husband likes to take them hiking at Pinnacle. They’ve even gone on an Owl Prowl and dissected owl droppings to figure out what the owl had been eating.”

Sara said, “I found a whole head!”

“You found a shrew’s head,” Tamara pointed out.

“Yeah, and all I found were pieces,” Joshua said dejectedly.

“We’ve even visited an oldtime one-room school house,” Tamara said. “It had the little tin pails the children used for lunch.”

Spanning the ages is easier to do than one would think, she said. “Even though there is such an age difference, my oldest are really good about accommodating each other and practicing patience regarding their little sister,” she said.

Abigail, 6, is the little sister, and, although her coursework isn’t as involved as her siblings, she is not left out.

“I held a real tarantula on me, and her name was Rosie,” she said. Her mother elaborated. “She petted an alligator, too, and touched a snake.”

Tamara shared the best rewards of homeschooling were getting to know her children and being the major influence in their lives. Growing in their Christian faith is important to the family and, although they don’t participate in the local homeschool support group, the family takes plenty of opportunities to expand their faith.

Sarah and Tamara have traveled to Texas with a church mission team. They lived in an abandoned apartment and taught vacation Bible school to children from low-income families. Joshua and Dan have taught vacation Bible school to inner- city kids in Kansas. The family also participated in summer church camp and Joshua, Sarah and Tamara even attended clown school through their church.

Joshua, 16, is the oldest child at home after the two older sons grew up, graduated and moved on. He shared his school strategy.

“I can get up in the morning if I want to, but I‘d rather get up around 10, complete all my studies by 2, so I can play with my friends when they get home from school.”

“He is service-oriented,” Tamara said. “Throughout the year, he helps the youth pastor plan activities. Joshua likes to help our neighbors; everybody knows him. He is Mr. social.” Joshua aspires to become a missionary in Japan and a marine biologist. He wants to learn Japanese and Spanish and is starting with the Spanish first as part of his 10th-grade curriculum.

Sara, 13, contrasts with her brother. “Me and Josh are total opposites,” she said. “I’m a night owl. I like to get my assignments done at night, so I can sleep in or read all day.”

“She loves to read,” Tamara said. “Sarah is my quiet one.”

“You should see her at church or on a youth trip,” Joshua replied.

Tamara said, “Sara helps me with the children at church. She is really good at planning crafts.She is quite the little lady,”

“A lot of people have the misconception that kids need to be continually monitored and tested,” Tamara said. “But most parents, across the board, care so much about their children’s well-being, they won’t jeopardize their schooling.”

Although she hesitates to criticize the public school system(because there are some really good teachers, she said), Tamara has seen children who have not mastered their coursework promoted to the next grade. Her concern is that a “one-size-fits-all curriculum” fails the majority of the student population.

The homeschooled students in Arkansas must take standard tests in fifth, seventh and 10th grade. The test are provided by 15 public school educational cooperatives around the state. “A lot of area churches open to host the testings,” Tamara said. “Last year, the tests lasted three whole days.”

“By this age,” Tamara said, pointing to the two elder children, “they’re pretty much independent workers, and I’m just there if a problem arises.” Tamara said every now and then she likes to get out with her girlfriends. “My husband is very respectful of that, and we go on a date night every week. He’s a very integral part of this family.”

The entire Hocker family is excited about learning. “My husband and I work really well together as a team, but I absolutely love pouring over the coursework with my kids. History is cool, chemistry is fun, math is great. I like it all,” Tamara said. “You can do so much book learning, but it’s so much more fun to go exploring and find out things up close and personal.”

Abigail said, “My favorite thing to do is the homework,”

“She loves filling out worksheets,” her mother said, smiling.

One of Tamara’s philosophies is this: “Don’t tell a child he can’t accomplish something, A child needs to be stretched and challenged.”

River Valley Ozark, Pages 129, 134 on 08/17/2008