Parents finding positives in home schooling

Teacher teaches own kids at home

Tony Montemorano is a 13-year-old altar server who spent much of the summer getting together with friends for fishing, swimming, rollerblading and baseball games.

Unlike most of his peers in the Albany Diocese, however, Tony will not be returning to school next week. Nor will his 11-year-old sister Anna and 7-year-old brother Frank. For them, there will be no buses to catch, no backpacks to carry and no homework assignments to complete in the evenings.

And yet Elizabeth and Joseph Montemorano are confident their offspring will be receiving a top-notch Catholic education. Parishioners of St. Mary's Church in Ballston Spa, the Montemoranos are but one of a growing number of families in the Diocese -- and across America -- who are choosing to educate their children at home.

Growing trend

Roughly 50,000 of the nation's one million or so "home schoolers" are Catholic, a figure that is growing by an estimated 30 percent annually, according to the National Association of Catholic Home Educators (NACHE). The exact number of such families in the Albany Diocese is not known.

The Montemoranos, both of whom hold degrees as pharmacists, originally enrolled their three children in St. Mary's School, an overwhelmingly positive experience. "We have nothing but praise for the faculty and staff of St. Mary's," stressed Mrs. Montemorano.

It was only after Anthony faced the transition to a Catholic junior high school in another city that the notion of becoming "parent-teachers" entered the couple's minds.

Close to home

"The trip to and from St. Mary's had been long because we live so far out in the country," Mrs. Montemorano explained. "But now all of a sudden, we were looking at a situation where one of the kids would be spending three hours a day on a bus just being transported to and from school."

Further complicating the situation was the fact that the Montemoranos had recently launched a home-based business that required them to work many evenings and weekends.

"The way things were going, Joe and I would be at home during the day when the children were at school, and we frequently had to meet with clients in the evenings or on weekends when the kids were home," she said. "We were like ships passing in the night, and I began thinking that there had to be a better way for our family.

"In the beginning, I was filled with self-doubt. Like almost all home-schooling moms, I wondered and I worried and I prayed. And then, as others I'm sure will attest, He sends you all the help you could possibly need, and you just know it's meant to be and it proves to be the greatest blessing in the world."

Making the leap

Mrs. Montemorano sought out as many people as she could who knew anything about the pros and cons, legalities and logistics of teaching one's children at home. In retrospect, what "sealed it" for her was discovering the resources and support available through the Seton Home Study School and attending a convention of the New York Parents Association of Catholic Educators (NYPACE) in Syracuse where she met "two wonderful home-schooling moms wearing badges that identified them as being from Ballston Spa" -- not far from the Montemoranos' home.

"Meeting Margaret Paradis and Chris Sweeney sealed it for me. There was such a sense of dedication and support. Any doubts I had evaporated," said Mrs. Montemorano, who also belongs to Our Lady of Good Counsel support group for Catholic home schoolers in the Diocese.

Lessons at home

Mrs. Montemorano gained enough confidence at the Syracuse gathering that she decided "if I'm going to put this much time and energy into home schooling one child -- why not home school three?"

Last year, the Montemoranos successfully guided Anthony through grade 7; Anna through grade 5; and Frank through grade 2. Many lessons were supplemented or enriched via computer, using interactive educational CD-ROMs. Science specimens were collected from a backyard pond, and nature studies took place on hikes along Adirondack wilderness trails. Math skills involving weights and measures improved as the younger kids got "hands-on" experience cooking and baking with mom in the kitchen.

Physical education activities changed with the seasons: in the fall and spring, the children played basketball in the barn, practiced their "katas" and martial arts techniques on the lawn, and played "street hockey" in the garage. In the winter, it was skating and "ice hockey" on the frozen backyard pond. Come summer, all three played on community baseball or softball teams. New school year

Next week, studies in grades 8, 6 and 3 begin in earnest with "Mom" once again overseeing most subjects, assisted by "Dad" giving catechism instruction. Grandmother Hilda Gibbons, an artist, will continue to serve as "resident art teacher." Last year, she provided instruction in shadowing, perspective and drawing the human form. In the process, the children learned not just about art but about their grandmother's younger years.

Asked about the pros and cons of being home schooled, Tony, Anna and Frank were of one voice: They love it and wouldn't trade places with their school-bound friends for the world.

Sees impact on Church and nation

There is "no question" that the Catholic home-schooling movement is having a positive impact on the Church and the nation as a whole, according to Dr. Mary Kay Clark, director of the Seton Home Study School in Virginia.

In a recent interview with The Evangelist, Dr. Clark said: "We are already seeing more vocations coming from home-schooled families, and I am absolutely convinced we will be seeing far less divorce and less family breakdown as fathers become more involved with children who are receiving their educations in the home."

Dr. Clark, who home schooled her own seven sons and wrote "Catholic Home Schooling: A Handbook For Parents," believes "the home schoolers of today are the leaders of tomorrow." She noted that many colleges are now actively recruiting home-schooled children.

In summing up her philosophy, Dr. Clark quoted Pope John Paul II, who wrote in his recent Letter to Families: "Parents are the first and the most important educators of their own children, and they also possess a fundamental competence in this area; they are educators because they are parents."

(Those wishing to learn more about the Seton Home Study School can call 540-636-9990 or visit their web site at http://www.setonhome.org.)(AH)

Teacher teaches own kids at home

One might think the fact that Marie Krupski is a certified high school English teacher would have made the decision to teach her own children an easy one.

It didn't. Mrs. Krupski, the mother of Elizabeth, almost seven; Helen, four; John, two; and three-month-old Paul, researched and prayed a lot before making the commitment to teach her offspring at home.

"I have the greatest respect for my fellow teachers and always will," said the parishioner of St. Ambrose Church in Latham. "They come into the teaching profession so full of energy, enthusiasm and ideas. But there are just some things that you can't do with a class of 20 or more students that you can do with a class of only two or three -- or four.

"When I started exploring the possibilities of what I could do if I put the same kind of time and effort into developing classes for my own children that I had put into my English classes," she continued, "I realized there was much I could do on a positive level. Basically, I think it's fair to say I began to look at education as a parent versus as a teacher. Once that happened, I started thinking maybe this was the way for our family to go."

Finding support

Determined that her children's education would have a strong Catholic foundation, Mrs. Krupski secured as many resources from Catholic home-schooling organizations as possible. She also found other Catholic home-schooling families in the Diocese.

Among them was Cecille Mulhern, who teaches her five children at home in Westerlo.

"I went to visit her and noticed a unity and sense of shared purpose in her family that just impressed me so much," said Mrs. Krupski.

She also contacted Jean Naples of Oneonta and Margaret Paradis of Ballston Lake. Before long, a handful of novice, experienced and prospective Catholic home-schooling mothers found themselves assembled in the parish center of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glenville. From that gathering was born a lay spiritual support group known as Our Lady of Good Counsel.

Through prayer and service to others, Our Lady of Good Counsel promotes and encourages family life; fosters the three vocations of married, single and religious life; teaches about the Church. (AH)

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