valley

Casino Night
Rotary’s salon-style Circling
party at The Wort
Hotel once again
the Square
Rochelle Ganoe
raised big bucks and Hamish Tear
for community
tied the knot
scholarships, 3B.
in an outdoor
Obituaries: 16B wedding, 17B.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Class at the
kitchen table
Parents turn to home schooling for a customized education.

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Primm Loudenslager reads with her children, Rory, 7, Cyrus, 2, and Heika, 5, at their Wilson home. Loudenslager home-schools her daughters and
plans to do the same with her son when he’s old enough for kindergarten.

Story by Kylie Mohr handful of private schools, a few as their “most important con- home-school it’s not a one-time
Photography by Bradly J. Boner dozen families choose home school- cern.” Dissatisfaction with aca- choice,” mother Primm Loud-
ing. They’re a small but mighty demic instruction topped the list enslager said. “It’s month to

W
hen other children might
be getting on a school bus
7-year-old Rory Loud-
enslager and her 5-year-old sister,
Heika, are on a playground along-
side their 2-year-old brother, Cyrus.
They’re playing with magnetic
letters. Soon they’ll turn to a math
lesson: Rory will work through
fractions while Heika works on
counting.
They’re not skipping school.
They’re redefining it.
Woven into the fabric of the val-
ley’s one public school district and
bunch, striking out in what can
feel like isolation and putting in
the extra work because they say it
pays off.
The 2016 National House-
hold Education Survey found the
highest percentage of parents
who home-school their kids — 80
percent — named a concern with
school environments as an im-
portant reason for home school-
ing. Thirty-four percent billed
environment, which included
things like school safety, expo-
sure to drugs and peer pressure,
for 17 percent of parents, and 16
percent reported a desire to pro-
vide religious instruction.
Teton families are just as var-
ied in reasons for teaching their
children at home, though they do
share some commonalities: They
enjoy the flexibility and the abil-
ity to individualize their chil-
dren’s education, and they see
things in the public school sys-
tem that don’t fit their kids.
Every year, though, parents re-
assess the decision.
“When you make the choice to
month, semester to semester, year
to year.”
Home schooling comes with sacri-
fices, the most obvious being that one
parent must stay home to educate.
In every family interviewed for this
story that parent was the mother.
“I’m a teacher’s assistant,” fa-
ther Christopher Van Slyke said.
“But my wife, she’s the master
teacher.”
“I’m viewing it as a job,” Klair
Van Slyke said. “It is my job.”
Home schooling | CUSTOMIZED EDUCATION
continues on 8B
8B - JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, November 7, 2018

HOME SCHOOLING | CUSTOMIZED EDUCATION

HOME SCHOOLING IN WYOMING AND SURROUNDING STATES
Laws, regulations
vary by state
STATE LAWS

NORTH While home-schoolers are certainly in the minority, there are

MONTANA
IDAHO
WYOMING
UTAH
States requiring no notice:
Parents do not need to communicate
their decision to home-school.
States with moderate regulation:
Parents must send notification,
test scores and/or a professional
evaluation of student progress.
NUMBER OF STUDENTS AGE 5-17 VS HOME-SCHOOLED
IDAHO
333,673
8,999
DAKOTA
SOUTH
DAKOTA
States vary in how
much they monitor
home schooling.
Some states require
parents to notify public
school officials and
COLORADO provide test scores or
other evaluations of
their children’s
academic progress;
others require no parent
communication at all.
States with low regulation:
Parents must identify children they’re home-schooling
and submit curriculum plans.
States with high regulation:
Parents must send notification, test scores and/or a
professional evaluation of student progress, plus comply
with other requirements (i.e. state-approved curriculum,
training for parents or home visits by state officials)
NORTH
DAKOTA
MONTANA 118,958
3,208
172,803
4,660
more than one might think. The 2016 National Household Edu-
cation Survey found 1.69 million students were home-schooled,
about 3.3 percent of all school-age children in the country. Of
those, 60 percent are part of a family with three or more kids, 78
percent are white and 89 percent are from a two-parent family,
according to U.S. Census data.
Locally, the precise number of home-schoolers is unclear.
This fall Teton County School District No. 1 reported 22 home-
schooled students, a data point that is calculated annually in the
spring. With 7 being Wyoming’s compulsory school attendance age,
families home-schooling kindergarten-age children aren’t included
in that number.
Functions for home-school families have drawn more students
than the official tally, suggesting more families are home-schooling
than the district has in its system. Last year’s field day, for example,
drew upwards of 50 students, and it was noted that there were more
who couldn’t make the event.
In Wyoming school districts are required to report the number
of home-schooled students in the county — but official state data
beyond that metric is limited. Districts don’t monitor or report edu-
cational records or even names. Districts are required to advertise
that staff can review home-schooling curriculum, but it’s the family’s
responsibility to make such a request.
Per state law, families submit curriculum showing “sequen-
tially progressive” instruction to the school district’s board of
trustees annually. The year’s syllabus must address required
subjects: reading, writing, math, civics, history, literature and
science. Guardians can also home-school children under the guid-
ance of a school “under the auspices or control of a local church,
denomination or similar religious organization,” according to the
Home School Legal Defense Association.
Neighboring states take a different approach when it comes to
monitoring home schooling. Idaho requires no notice, and parents
don’t need to initiate any contact, whereas Colorado requires par-
ents to submit notification and test scores and/or a professional eval-
uation of student progress.
According to Education Week, home schooling was illegal in
a majority of states as recently as 1980. It didn’t become lawful
nationwide until 1993.

SOUTH
DAKOTA Top 4 reasons parents gave as
WYOMING 156,098
4,210
important and most important
104,078
2,807 for home schooling in 2015-16:
UTAH Important Most important
A desire to provide religious instruction 51% 16 %
A desire to provide moral instruction 67 % 5%
A concern about environment of other schools 80% 34%
680,603 A dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools 61% 17%
18,356

COLORADO

A slowly growing
community
964,529
26,013

KEY/LEGEND
The home-schooling community used to be a lot bigger and much
Total # Kids
Ages 5-17
more robust, but with the opening of two private schools in the early
in 2016-17 2000s — Timber Ridge Academy, now closed, and the Jackson Hole
Classical Academy — many parents who were home-schooling opted
2016-17
instead to put their kids in classrooms. Numbers dwindled, most likely
Home-schoolers aided by the economic squeeze of the 2008 recession.
“There used to be an awesome home-school community here,” mother
Jennifer Lamppa said. “But it just kind of dwindled, and at one point I felt
like I was the only one out there.”
U.S. CENSUS DATA ON HOME-SCHOOLERS
Families say the number of other parents choosing to home-school is grow-
All U.S. students Home-schooled ing again. But a sense of community, both between parents and students, is
still being built. Home-schoolers take group trips to the Teton Raptor Center
Total number 51,135,000 1,508,000 and WILD Fest Science Day, and last November they shared a picture day.
Percent in grades K-5 46% 48% They also have a Valentine’s Day ice skating outing and an April bike ride to
Percent in grades 9-12 30% 28% Grand Teton National Park.
Percent male 48% 58% Home-schooling communities are more formalized south and west of Jack-
Percent white, non-Hispanic 58% 78% son. In Star Valley there’s a co-op where home-school families meet up once a
month to organize opportunities, events like a science fair, Maker Faire and
Family size: 3 or more kids 43% 60%
speech day. In Teton Valley, Idaho, home-schooled kids swim, skate, ski and
Two-parent family 73% 89% climb together.
2 parents, 1 in the workforce 51% 34% “I need more moms,” Loudenslager said. “We’re pretty isolated here.”
Family income of $75,000 or more 37% 33%
Percent parents w/ Bachelor’s degree 43% 50%
Sources: 2012 U.S. CENSUS, HOME SCHOOL LEGAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION, A2ZHOMESCHOOLING.COM
ANDY EDWARDS / NEWS&GUIDE
 JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, November 7, 2018 - 9B

HOME SCHOOLING | CUSTOMIZED EDUCATION

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Jennifer Lamppa conducts a reading lesson with her two sons, Keagan, 6, and Bridger, 10, in October at their home in South Park. Lamppa has home-schooled
her sons and her 13-year-old daughter, Annika, for the past two years.

The Lamppas
Enjoying the opportunity and freedom to educate
J
ennifer Lamppa was home-schooled for a year as an eighth-grader. teaching tools, private tutors are also an option.
Now she and her husband, Todd, are home-schooling their eighth-grader Home schooling can also mean fewer hours of instruction a day, espe-
Annika, along with their fourth-grader, Bridger, and kindergartner, Keagan. cially for the Lamppas, who have been fine tuning their home-schooling
“I’ve always thought it would be cool to home-school my kids,” Lamppa said. routine for the past nine years. Each child uses an online program for
“You get to determine how they’re being taught.” lesson planning with a daily to-do list. The kids learn at their own pace,
Lamppa has always had “a heart to teach her own kids,” her husband said. crossing items off as they go.
“It all hinges on the desire of the parents and the ability to do it,” he said. Reading tends to start around 8:30 a.m., with school officially starting
“It’s a job, it really is.” around 9.
The kids ice skate, sled, play hockey or ski trails in their backyard dur-
Freedom to focus their teaching ing recess while mom catches up on dishes, laundry and
Their children tried Timber Ridge Academy, and the fam- other household chores. They break for lunch around
ily considered the Classical Academy, but home schooling “I would prefer noon, and with an afternoon break the family tends to
was the best fit for flexibility and educational independence. wrap up at 1 or 2 p.m., sometimes earlier if there’s some-
“I would prefer to have as much freedom as possible in to have as much thing else on the day’s schedule. When Annika finishes
educating my children,” Lamppa said. “If the government before noon she occasionally bikes down the road to hang
stepped in more, you lose some of your freedom in how you freedom as possible out with another home-school family.
educate your child.” Fridays are lighter days, including a history lesson
The kids or, rather, their diligent student, Annika, have in educating my and time to finish homework.
had a say in their education as well. The 13-year-old decided Lamppa issues standardized tests to gauge progress,
on her own she wanted to home-school again. But the choice children.” which plays into an important part of home schooling, she
to home-school is a year-to-year one. said: setting goals. As the kids grow they also become more
“We just felt like it was our responsibility to take care — Jennifer Lamppa independent, making the whole process more streamlined.
of our kids during their grammar stage years,” Lamppa mother “I think following a structure is not for everyone,”
said. “All educational systems have their weaknesses and Lamppa said. “But it’s key for me and my family.”
strengths. This system is working best for our family.”
What works particularly well are their class sizes — essentially one-on-one in- Allowing time for activities outside the ‘classroom’
struction — and the flexibility to travel on their own schedule. The setup also al- Another key to the family’s home-schooling success: cultivating lifelong inter-
lows for them to challenge their children differently than what may be possible in ests. Like a love for books.
a more crowded classroom. For example, one of their kids is grades ahead in math. “To me, it’s so important for the kids to learn to read and enjoy it,” Lamppa said.
“You can’t stifle that,” she said. “Because reading enables them to learn anything they want.”
A long table in the Lamppa’s living room is their schooling home base. Curricu- When the Lamppa kids aren’t in school they’re active in sports, theater and
lum includes online classes in French and Latin, literature, the Bible and logic. other activities through First Baptist Church.
“Our faith is important to us and affects every area of our lives,” Lamppa “We’re not trying to home-school to shelter our children,” Lamppa said. “We live
said. “As a result, we feel it is important to incorporate some Christian values in this world; we need to teach them how to respond to those situations.”
and programs into our curriculum.” The question “Where do your kids go to school?” is a frequent one. The Lamppa
parents see it as an opportunity to educate the asker.
Setting a schedule “In those conversations we kind of set the record straight,” Todd Lamppa said.
Online courses offer unlimited resources, she said, making it challenging to “We give them information and say, ‘This is how we educate.’”
decide what to use. In addition to various materials, texts, resources and Home schooling | CUSTOMIZED EDUCATION continues on 10B