Homeschooling and Scouting--Part 2

Previously, we covered what homeschooling is and how Scouting should be looking at this group.

As promised at the end of that post, now we need to look at why homeschoolers don't "just join" Scouting.

Already busy

• Already committed to a large number of activities. Sports, clubs, teams, church youth organizations.
• Volunteer service: pregnancy centers, Red Cross, local fire and rescue squads, BSA's own Explorer units.
• Organizations and churches have figured out that homeschoolers are available during the day! Many homeschooling families can tell you stories about being asked constantly to "help out (or join us) since you are home all day anyway"...
• Their church doesn't support Scouting. I've seen this in Protestant and Catholic churches alike. "Scouting isn't Catholic enough to be part of the parish." "Scouts don't focus enough on Jesus!"
• Competition from "similar" organizations. Do you know how many there are out there? 4-H, American Heritage Girls, Royal Rangers, Knights of Columbus' Squires, Civil Air Patrol, and more.

Special Homeschooling Concerns

OK, a couple of blunt answers:

Kids in public and private schools don't often reflect the values homeschooling families want their kids exposed to. This is a major factor in why they homeschool. Bad language, sexual influences, drugs, bullying (30% of kids are exposed to this), social programs, drinking, absense of religious values, teen pregnancy and more. Not to say that homeschooled kids as a whole don't have these issues in their lives, but the incidence is significantly lower.

Better education. Study after study shows that regardless of a homeschool families educational background or economic level, their kids out-perform public and private school kids. It also takes less time to accomplish, and kids receive a greater depth in material. If the average school child is a "50" from 1-100, homeschooled students consistently score in the low 70s as a group.

Homeschooling culture

When we started homeschooling, it was widely viewed with suspicion. The laws were not widely understood, and social workers, the police and truant officers were a common threat by the schools. According to Home School Legal Defense at the time, the number one person likely to turn in a family for "not sending their kids to school" were the students grandparents. Education of the child services departments and law enforcement agencies across the nation have caused the number of these contacts to drop--but they still happen all over the country, despite being legal in all 50 states.

When the government and your own family may be against you, it makes you a little skittish about joining "them" in activities like Scouting. Your attitude will be everything. If they trust you and your program, you will see a lot of kids headed your way.

How can you reach these families?

• Be honest in your assessment of your unit and program. Does the description of a typical homeschooled student fit in with your unit? We have primarily a homeschooled units, with a few public school students mixed in. But they are "birds of a feather", so it works. We don't recruit at the public school round-ups, but rely on word of mouth.
• Be knowledgeable about the Lone Scout and Lone Cub Scout programs through the BSA. Even Scouting on your own is better than no Scouting. Help a potential Scout by being a Lone Scout Counselor.
• Offer a socially safe environment. If Timmy Tiger comes home with the "new word" he learned at Scouts, you will have a problem.
• No bullying or hazing. Stop it as soon as it starts.
• Be a Scouting unit! If you are a play group or an after-school hangout, you aren't offering the active program they are looking for.

After re-reading some of this, homeschooling sounds a little "exclusionary". And it is. We have personally homeschooled for 18 years so far--and only 16 more to go! I've run across all stripes of homeschoolers, and my views are based on the thousands of homeschoolers I've observed over the years.

They tend to be great families and great Scouts. More of them need the chance.

Do you have homeschooled Scouts? Any luck with recruitment? Does your council have a contact person that "gets" homeschooling to help you? Share your comments below!

Homeschooling and Scouting

[Homeschool laws vary by state. Many comments about homeschooling below are general in nature, and may not apply to a specific situation.]

Homeschoolers account for 3% of all school-aged children in the United States right now.

Begun primarily by religious conservatives almost 30 years ago, today you can find homeschoolers of every religious and secular stripe.

Some homeschoolers fall under the Lone Scout or Lone Cub Scout programs.

Many units have homeschooled Scouts, and occasionally you will find a homeschooled unit. Overall, my experience has been that few councils have actively pursued this group of kids and have almost no understanding of homeschool families and homeschooling.

Big mistake. These kids are involved and often exhibit the qualities we would like to see demonstrated in our units--polite, interested, parental involvement. They often use the Scout awards as supplements to their homeschooling efforts.

So what is homeschooling?

Homeschooling is not "school at home". Of course education happens, but very few families try to repeat the school model at home: desks, fixed hours, busy work, grades and grade levels. Sure, many do at first, but they quickly realize that there is more to homeschooling than that.

If you "get" fractions, you move on and don't dwell on the endless repetition. Need help with algebra? Take as long as you need until you finally grasp the subject matter.

Homeschooling is life experience. These kids are active in sports, their churches, youth groups, hobbies, field trips and community service.

At our church for instance, 80% of the altar servers are homeschooled.

Many homeschooled kids follow their own interests outside of the basic academics for part of their days.

What does Scouting offer to homeschoolers?

People homeschool for a variety of reasons: special needs kids, learning disabilities, academic opportunities, religious values, aversion to school "social" programs and peer pressure, support of the family structure, travel and more.

Scouting offers the chance for homeschooled kids to be a part of the larger community and to explore more opportunities. It can offer a variety of leadership opportunities and value formation.

So, Scouting offers homeschoolers the same things it offers everyone else!

Coming soon: Part 2--Why Homeschoolers Won't Join Scouting...

Background

The beginning is probably a good point to start.

I was a Cub Scout (Wolf and Bear) on Elemendorf Air Force Base, just outside of Anchorage, Alaska. A couple of military moves later, I was a Boy Scout (Star) on Eileson Air Force Base, Alaska, close to North Pole and Fairbanks.

We camped year round, utilizing a cabin we built near the base. I'd love to know if it is still in use! I often get to tell my Scouts stories about whittling frozen eggshells and trying to keep warm at 40 below zero. The Scouts have almost all heard the stories again, but they keep listening since there is always someone new to hear it.

We moved to Albuquerque (another military move), and that ended my Scouting career at Star, one merit badge short of Life. I do tell my Scouts, frequently, that not continuing to complete my Eagle rank is my only regret from childhood.

Fast forward a few years to my eldest son. We joined a pack in a rural section of Virginia. As a homeschooled kid, he was always the odd-man out. Pack events were huge crowds of loud, rowdy kids screaming around the school cafeteria, while the Cubmaster stood on a table and screamed back to try to get control of them.

We moved on to a local troop for a couple of years, where hazing and very un-Scoutlike behavior were accepted. We moved to another troop, older and smaller, where the Scoutmaster had been in charge since the mid-1940's. (He recently passed away, having finally stopped being the Scoutmaster in 2000.) This was a much better experience, but still did not really use the tools of Scouting to accomplish their ends. After my son was awarded his Eagle in 1998, we moved and finished our Scouting (I was an ASM all those years).

My wife and I agreed at that time that when son #2 was ready for Scouts, we would do something different and better for the boys. That day finally rolled around 5 years ago. We contacted the council and began a small pack for homeschooled boys, initially 6 Scouts--4 Tigers and a 2 Webelos Scouts.

I was the Tiger Leader and the Cubmaster. I read all I could online, joined Cub Scout and Boy Scout YahooGroups, bought manuals, reference books, took training, and slowly pulled together a good system, following the program as outline by the BSA.

Our Webelos Scouts for the first couple of years rolled into the Lone Scout program to keep them busy until we had enough boys to form a troop. Almost 2 years ago, we had 3 Lone Scouts, and the council allowed us to form our troop.

Fast forward two years. I continue to serve as a second year Webelos den leader, having moved through all of the years. My son and the other remaining original Tiger (the others moved away over the years) crossed over to the troop in Spring 2008.

We continue to serve primarily homeschooled Scouts, with a few other educational backgrounds for variety. I continue to serve as the Cubmaster and the Scoutmaster. My oldest son and son-in-law serve as Assistant Scoutmasters. My days of being a den leader are dwindling...I think! This group of 4 will crossover next spring, and that might be that.

However, son #3 will be old enough for Tigers next June, and my new grandson will be old enough for Tigers when my son is finishing up, so I'll still wear the Cubmaster hat for a while.

Currently, our pack has 20 registered Scouts, and the troop has swelled to 10. Small by many folks standards, but it is amazing growth from where we started, or what I anticipated.

Over the years, I have served as popcorn chairman for the pack, troop and district. I have been a merit badge counselor for a number of badges. Our troop is slowly finishing a segment hike of the C&O Canal. The troop currently has 2 Life Scouts working on their Eagle. The pack just returned from our fifth week of resident camp--my favorite week of the year.

As I tell the Scouts, it is much more fun the second time around.