[August 23, 2009] Education at home Tweet JOHNSTON, Aug 23, 2009 (Aiken Standard - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- It's a typical school day Friday at the home of Ann and John Beach on a quiet street a few blocks from downtown. Second-grader Joe is studying via a computer in his bedroom. Charlie, a fourth-grader, is camped in the den, watching an instructional video on television. Seventh-grader Alicia and eighth-grader Phillip are studying in their bedrooms, too. They're the "second generation" of the homeschooling family. Older siblings Amy and Nathan were still home Friday, getting ready for their junior and freshman years at Bob Jones University. Matthew, a rising senior at the college, was away, while oldest daughter Jessica Benitez, 24, is married and living in Greenville, too. Ann started homeschooling Jessica two decades ago while working as a registered nurse. "I do love medicine and would like to go back to nursing one day," she said. "But homeschooling is a lifestyle. The Lord has led me to do this." The Beaches moved to Johnston seven years ago; John works for the Department of Defense at Ft. Gordon. The family has lived in Maryland, England and Texas. Ann tried the homeschool experiment on a year-by-year basis initially. But she enjoyed it so much that she stopped working outside the home. Over 20 years, the technology has changed, evolving her role from direct instruction to more of a facilitator, especially as the kids themselves get older. Ann has always relied on Christian-based academic curriculum and in recent years has used materials provided through Bob Jones, moving from VHS to DVD-R discs. The school day starts with a 20-minute devotional at 7 a.m. The kids get their own breakfast and complete assigned chores before hitting the books around 8:30 a.m. They come to their mom if they need help, usually getting through the academic day by 3 p.m. "I get everything out of the room that would distract me," Phillip said. "That helps me pay attention as I take notes and listen to the teacher (on disc). I used to watch Nathan study and now I'm doing what I watched him do five years ago." John gets involved, too, when he arrives home from work, serving in a way as a principal, Amy said with a smile. "Dad grades the writing papers," she said. "He would read through them and mark them with red ink. He's always encouraging and what he said did help. He'll also listen to our explanations about what we wrote." The Beach children do have active lives outside their home. Nathan, Phillip, Alicia and Charlie are members of Barb Rollins' AAA Home-School Band in Aiken, often performing in community events. Nathan is moving on, but Joe, 6, will join the band in the near future. Nathan also has been involved in the Aiken Beekeeping Association and has been serving as the vice president. Phillip has a growing interest in ham radio and is participating with a new club at Schofield Middle School. All of the children and their parents take part in activities at the First Baptist Church in Johnston. Teenagers almost invariably go through various forms of adolescent angst, rebellion and general havoc. The Beach children appear to have skipped those stages. "We feel a personal responsibility to keep up with our work," said Nathan. "It's not so much punishment but about not wanting to be a disappointment to our parents if we're not living up to their expectations. It hurts when you don't do your best." Matthew is majoring at broadcast journalism. Amy is a history major and is minoring in ESL instruction; she hopes to teach in China for a year after graduation. She's excited about Nathan, a prospective business major, joining her in college, as she enjoyed the computer courses they took together in high school. The older children always helped their younger siblings as they were growing up, contributing so much to the family. Once again, Ann said, she'll wonder how she'll manage without Nathan around, but she knows Phillip and Alicia will step up. When Amy has children of her own in the future, "I'll see where God leads me," she said. "I would love to homeschool them. We have so much interaction as a family." Contact Rob Novit at [email protected]. To see more of the Aiken Standard or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.aikenstandard.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Aiken Standard, S.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]