Bee Branch family enjoys homeschooling lifestyle

By Jeannie Stone

LITTLE ROCK — (EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the second in a three-part series on families who homeschool.)

From a successful career as a trial lawyer in Los Angeles to a homeschooling mom in rural Bee Branch, Beverly Lester is living a life she once didn’t know existed.

Lester homeschools her three children, Chloe, 16, Athena, 14, and Elijah, 2 1/2, in a traditional two-story house she and her husband, Guy, built in a sleepy neighborhood.

As a child, Guy’s family moved to California to follow employment, but after his father died his mother wanted to return home. Guy and Beverly decided to make the move with her. “I am an L.A. baby and never had plans to move,” Beverly Lester said. “We didn’t leave because we didn’t like it. We just felt pulled,” she said. “My husband got a job as an engineer with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, and our house in California sold immediately. It was meant to be.”

Moving to Arkansas made sense to the Lesters who had struggled to provide time for their children. “Since I’ve been home, it has gone by so fast,” Lester said. “Chloe is only two years away from college.

“It’s like the 80/20 rule,” she said. “I felt like the 80 percent that was falling by the wayside were my children. We own our time now. Family affairs and church programs, basically our lives, set our pace now.”

A perfect example of accommodating life came with the birth of Elijah. Even before he was born, Lester took the pregnancy as a learning experience. “We would break open the book and see what the baby looked like at that point. We were also able to take the week of his birth and treat it as a family learning experience. We didn’t have to hurry to make up tests, etc. It was an important event. Life didn’t have to just go on as usual.”

Their faith plays a large part in the family’s life. The family studies the Bible together, and they each read daily devotionals. “We go to First Baptist Church in Clinton, and with 400 to 500 members, it is considered big around here,” Lester said, laughing.

Chloe said, “Our friends would freak out if they saw the Bee Branch population sign - 69,”

Lester drew up a weekly assignment sheet, which kept the girls on track. Both girls like to start their lessons in the morning.

Chloe said, “For the past year I woke up about 7 a.m. and started class at 8:25 a.m. It’s a school. You’ve got to do the work, but Mom always communicates what she expects in our language.

“I enjoyed taking science with my dad on Saturdays. I especially liked my fish labs. When Athena’s friends were spending the night I held up the dissected bodies and asked them if them if they wanted to help,” Chloe said, and she laughed with her sister as they recalled the screams. “Seriously, we found a tiny fish in its stomach, and when we dissected a frog, we found a beetle,” she said.

As the girls grew, Lester saw the advantage of sticking with one curriculum. Their five weekly lessons are broadcast by satellite allowing the young scholars to tape the shows. The practice yields flexibility. If something interrupts their day, they can view the classes at another time. By the same token, in public schools, there is no playback option. Chloe and Athena can watch the taped sessions over and over.

“I want them to learn,” Lester said. “Yes, I want them to make good grades, but, most importantly, the goal is to learn.Progress depends on retaining information and learning new skills. Because I want to prepare them for college, the tests are closed book, although, after noting the grade, they are allowed to open the book to re-do. They have the opportunity to amend their tests.”

This past year, the Lesters studied Latin, character building, communication skills, language arts, world view, geometry, conflict resolution, manners, cooking and a course on Socrates, which emphasized his theories on personality development. They also participated in Saturday school, which was an online “live” class. The enrolled students across the country typed in questions and interacted with one another and the instructor.

Even Elijah has thrived under the “learning is fun” examples set in the home. At 2 1/2, he has learned sign language and has developed close bonds with his sisters who play and work puzzles with him. Although he has no formal curriculum, he has picked up quite a bit from his studious sisters.

There is a homeschool co-op the Lesters have participated in which offers several different electives each semester. Once a week it sponsors leisure activities for the homeschool students in the area.

Both Chloe and Athena love to write. “Chloe has a mind like Tolkien or Lewis,” Beverly said, obviously proud. “She constructs lots of different cultures and languages in her head. Athenais more of a traditional storyteller.”

Athena said, “I really want to be a writer of short stories, and I enjoy reading. It would be so cool to write books for others. My books would be fantasy adventures.”

Athena created a dragon series complete with drawings, character developments and background. She wrote a twopage story, “The Battle,” which utilized 13 characters.

On the other hand, Chloe is attracted to formatting her stories for a broader audience. Careers in broadcasting and screenwriting appeal to her. “I think movies have more impact on the world today than any other medium,” she said.

“Their writing skills amazeme,” Lester said.

“I love being able to cater to my children’s individual needs,” she said. “I think when they are confident in who they were created to be, they will fit better in our community. Here, it is about inclusion rather than constantly being on survival mode all the time. And I love being the one they come to talk to. They just came back from camp, and they had so much to tell me.

“I was raised in a culture of money,” she said. “I loved my career, and I earned good money, and I really miss that sometimes. I know my family in California thinks I’m a little whacked, but I am so grateful homeschooling came into our lives. I missed so much of their early years. I’m making up for it now.”

River Valley Ozark, Pages 146, 152 on 08/24/2008