At home and getting schooled
USU students come from all educational backgrounds including public, private and homeschooling forums. For those who were homeschooled, college tests the credibility of their homeschool experience.
Marketing sophomore Tiera Peterson, had been homeschooled since the eighth grade, taking BYU independent studies courses at home for four years. Born in Texas, where she said the public schools are phenomenal, her parents still saw some flaws in the teaching methods provided.
“They were teaching a style that wouldn’t last. It would just get you through the year,” she said. Her parents explained their point of view, but left the decision up to her and her siblings.
At the time, Peterson and her younger brother Jacob both decided to start homeschooling. She said for a while all of her siblings were being homeschooled, but now they are back in public school.
“My mom was feeling overwhelmed teaching all of them,” she said.
Peterson said she loved taking independent study classes. She said the courses prepared her for college while simultaneously earning college credit.
She said the most important skill she needed and continued to develop was motivation.
“There is no way I would have made it without that,” Peterson said.
She said this was also the hardest part along with learning by herself.
“But it was really good because it taught me and prepared me better for college. I know how to learn on my own.”
She said this skill is especially helpful now.
“If I don’t know what is going on in class, I can figure it out on my own,” she said.
Peterson said she does not regret her decision to homeschool.
“I got to stay in my pajamas and hang out with my mom,” she said.
But, she said she understands how many people assume homeschoolers are socially weird.
“I understand where (people) are coming from,” she said. “I think those who aren’t socially normal are only interacting with their families.”
Peterson said her parents were very good at getting her involved in extracurricular activities.
Along with church activities, she said, she was heavily involved in basketball.
“We found a really good homeschool basketball program,” Peterson said. “I was really worried because I thought there would be a bunch of weird people trying to play basketball.”
Kylee Scarcella, a freshman in psychology, said there are many different homeschooling options. She attended an independent studies program called Horizon, where she said there are different teachers for each subject but you only go into the facility once a week to turn in assignments and get new ones.
“We had 30 minutes to meet with all six teachers,” Scarcella said.
The southern California native said she went to Horizon for the last two years of high school to bring up her grades and to allow her to attend cosmetology school full time.
She explained her tests and assignments were all take-home. She liked this because you could use whatever resources you needed in the time that works best for you. For her learning style, she said homeschooling was a lot easier because she does not respond as well to lectures.
Scarcella said there are pros and cons to attending either public or private schools.
“I would definitely recommend having at least one year of regular high school experience because you miss out on all the social parts, especially if you don’t have an alternative way to interact with people,” she said.
Scarcella said her cosmetology training and involvement in an All-Star cheer team were good ways to remain social. She also worked full-time, which she said was a good way to make money while working toward her diploma.
“You have a lot more free time, so if you don’t know what to do with it or how to use it in the right way, it could be bad,” Scarcella said.
After her sophomore year, she said a lot of her friends were graduating and she did not see a reason to go back to public school.
“But if you do have a lot of friends in your class it can distance you and ruin relationships,” she said.
Ingrid Eggett, a mother of six and Layton resident, decided to homeschool her children on her own. She said she uses various curricculums, including Singapore Math.
“My children love to learn,” Eggett said. “They know how to socialize with many different age groups. They are well-behaved and I love having them around.”
She said she does not have to worry about what they are learning from other teachers and students.
Though she thinks homeschool is amazing, she said it is not for everyone.
“I would recommend every parent look into it and study it out,” Eggett said. “They should look at the pros and cons of all schooling options and then decide what is right for them.”
Eggett said she wishes she had been homeschooled because she had poor experiences in public schools.
“The teachers pushed us forward when we weren’t ready to learn the next step, and the social atmosphere was much less than ideal for any young impressionable person.”
She said she did not feel she received the best possible education and she has learned more since graduation than she did during her years of public schooling.
Despite her experiences with public school, Eggett said she has a great deal of admiration for public school teachers.
“They have a huge challenge with their jobs. With class sizes as large as they are and children coming from all walks of life and all socio-economic statuses, they are required to teach to the average student,” she said.
If a student wants to move faster, Eggett said they are often held behind and bored, and if a student is not ready to move on, they are dragged along without fully understanding previous topics. Eggett said this can cause students to dislike anything to do with learning.
Scarcella said although she loves Utah State University and would not want to leave, her college choices were limited due to the Horizon school’s lack of accreditation. For home schooled students looking to apply to USU, requirements differ for those from an accredited organization and those without a transcript.
According to HomeschoolingInUtah’s website, 1.1 million students in the United States have been homeschooled and reports suggest, based on student achievement test scores, that home schooled students succeed competitively in comparison to those who attended public school.
– natashabodily@gmail.com