Everyone who goes to Dartmouth went to high school. It's the most obvious common experience we've all had. Teachers' pets, senior prom, locker room gossip, pop quizzes we've all experienced that. Or have we? Not if school means taking a test at your dining room table, the cafeteria is your kitchen and your teacher goes by mom.
About 1.5 million kids between the ages of five and 17 in the United States are home-schooled, according to a 2007 National Center for Education Statistics report; of those 1.5 million, less than 60 make it into every matriculating class at Dartmouth.
The home-schooled students currently at Dartmouth praise their atypical education for tailoring their curriculum to their personal interests and focusing academic attention on their individual issues. These students, obviously successful in their academic endeavors, have harnessed impressive self-motivation and time management skills, as well as an ability to independently absorb information, which serve them well in college courses.
"Home-schooling brought me closer to understanding what family is," Tyler Perry '13 said. "Being home-schooled caused me to make more meaningful, long-lasting, less superficial relationships and connections with people, and become more introspective."
Perry, who was homeschooled by his mother from kindergarten through high school, said that his unique education changed his perspective not only on academics and social interactions but on life in general.
"While I was in it I didn't like it," he said. "But now that I'm done being home-schooled I look back knowing that it changed my life and made me who I am. I learned a lot that I never could have learned in a regular high school setting."
Noemi Hormann '14, who was home-schooled from kindergarten through high school, explained that many people who attended regular high school have misconceptions about home-schooling.
"When most people think of home-schooling they imagine that you go to school in your pajamas and don't have to get up before 8:00 a.m.," she said. "They don't understand the academic side of it at all."
On the contrary, the students overwhelmingly asserted that being home-schooled was excellent preparation for the independence and self-motivation that is required at Dartmouth.
In Hormann's case, home schooling meant self-schooling as, especially in her high schoolyears, she supplemented her self-taught studies with online courses, while her mother simply acted as her supervisor.
Hormann explained that because her days did not consist of the rigid structuring that is common in regular high schools, she was forced to stay on top of her own progress.
"Home-school prepared me for the type of time management skills that are necessary in college," she said. "I can deal with not having scheduled days a lot better than most incoming students."
Hormann added that being home-schooled and largely self-taught gave her an understanding of the "value of learning for learning's sake," which conventional high schools do not always successfully impress upon students.
Peter Hill '13, who was home-schooled by both parents from kindergarten until sophomore year of high school, said that being home-schooled forced him to be a much more focused student.
"The advantage of being home-schooled was that time was never wasted," Hill said. "It was like one-on-one tutoring with all the attention directed on me. It was an environment where I could always ask my teacher questions, but one of the drawbacks was that the discussion was never very varied."
Hill explained that he attended a co-op once a week of home-schooled kids in his area, in which they would discuss different perspectives on the issues they had learned about. Still, he said, he craved the diversity in opinion that came with being immersed in a conventional school environment.
"Being home-schooled by my parents, I grew up and went to school in a Christian environment, which gave me a Christian world-view," Hill said. "My science books, as well as my bible teacher, taught creationism, so I've had my world-view challenged a lot, especially since coming to Dartmouth."
Perry explained that, especially in his last years of high school, while his mom was busy teaching his three younger siblings, he would work independently, watching videotaped lessons and reading his textbooks. He explained that he was often his own source for knowledge and had to do independent research when he wanted to find the answer to something.
"I was really prepared academically when I got to Dartmouth because I was taught how to work and study independently and efficiently, which many students don't learn in regular high schools and is a pre-requisite for college," Perry said. "It's made me very self-reliant, which is useful at Dartmouth."
Molly Wilson '13, who was home-schooled by her mother while they traveled in 4th and again in 6th grade, said that she learned how to absorb in a few hours the amount of information that would be taught in a day at a regular elementary school. After doing her morning work she would explore museums in the cities of Spain, France, Greece and Italy with her mother.
"My work ethic is really independent," Wilson said. "It's easier for me to learn from a textbook and absorb information just by reading it."
Wilson's mother scheduled her days, outlining what she needed to finish every morning and Wilson then learned on her own.
Hormann explained that home school worked for her because she is very good at working independently.
"I'm very accustomed to working by myself," she said. "I've cultivated that skill and at this point I don't even enjoy working in groups."
Hormann added that when she entered high school she was given the choice to attend regular school, but gave the decision little thought and continued learning at home.
"I liked what I was doing and it worked for me," she said. "Home-schooling does not work for everyone, though. It didn't work for my brother."
Her younger brother attended a private high school.
Among the disadvantages of being home-schooled, everyone noted that remaining socially active could be challenging. But, in contrast to common perceptions of the sociability of home-schooled kids, all four students noted that one's ability to interact well with other kids is more dependent on individual personality and tendencies than upbringing.
"Unless you seek out an isolated existence, most home-schoolers have to make more of an effort to be social," Hormann said. "Coming to Dartmouth wasn't as much of an adjustment for me because I'm more used to having to make efforts to interact with others."
Hill, who has four older siblings and one younger sibling who were all home-schooled, said that because his parents encouraged him to be involved in lots of social activities he did not feel isolated as a kid.
"I didn't suffer many social disadvantages because I played baseball and soccer at the local middle and high schools," he said. "All my best buddies lived in the neighborhood or went to my church, however, there was the danger that, had I not been involved in the community, my social interactions could have been very limited."
Perry added that though he played on a community soccer team, he still felt it was a challenge to interact with others in large groups for his first two terms at Dartmouth.
