By Lori EhdeWhen Jim Juhl and Brenda Winter started home schooling their children 10 years ago, they had no idea what a challenging and rewarding journey it would be."We thought we’d do it for awhile, and then quit when they were older," Winter said Monday.Now, their oldest daughter, Emilia ("Em"), is in high school, attending virtual classrooms with international classmates via a laptop computer in her bedroom.Reflecting on the past decade of home schooling, they say the experience has made them better people — both as students and as educators."I’m so much more patient and better organized," Winter said. "… I think I’ve grown up."Practical intentionsThe intent for the home schooling experience, though, was more practical.Em had attended kindergarten in the Hills Christan School because her parents wanted her to have a Christian education.But it meant Winter had to make the 40-mile round trip to Hills twice a day from their acreage five miles northwest of Luverne."When we thought about home schooling, we’d say, ‘Who’s got that kind of time?’ but I was already dedicating an hour and a half every day in the car," Winter said.While they were pleased with Em’s classroom experience in Hills, they decided her first-grade studies would be at home.And then her brother, Joe, started learning at home, as did their sister, Kate.Now the Juhl children are ages 15, 13 and 9, and their parents, particularly their mother, are smarter than ever — both about the curriculum and about the home school process."I can factor a binomial," Juhl said."I finally know why we fought the American Revolution — after reading ‘Johnny Tremain’ three times," Winter joked.‘Life is a lesson’They soon discovered that home schooling lessons were easily extended beyond the classroom environment.When they were in the Black Hills last month, they noticed abandoned railroads and farm houses that tied into a current history lesson."Because we’d just studied about the settling of the American West, we could use what we were looking at to reinforce what we’d read about in books. And it’s not just history; it’s math and science — life is a lesson," Winter said. "That’s one of the blessings of home schooling."She said home school curriculum publishers have done well to keep material well-written, current and available in multiple media. "I think we kept finding the tools we needed," Winter said.For example, a $65 science CD includes lessons, labs and teaching materials. "That’s how a home schooling mom can teach general science," Winter said. "I know I can’t teach chemistry, but the curriculum can."The Juhl children are using about $1,500 worth of materials this year, about $1,000 is for Em’s online tuition. "This is what it cost for our home school family," Winter said. "I don’t want to say this is what it costs to home school your children."Global classroomThe online tuition is costly, but it’s enabled Em to continue her studies at home. Her high school experience is similar to that of a college student. The tuition is paid up front, and it’s up to the students to get their homework done and attend classes (log on to the computer).When she logs on for a scheduled 1 1/2-hour class, she sees the instructor live on her screen and hears the instruction live through her computer’s audio system.Students interact live by typing their correspondence, both with the instructor and with each other, but chatting is not allowed during class.In one virtual Christian school class, Em studied with students from Kazakhstan, Laos and the United Arab Emirates — many of them children of missionaries.Strange as it may sound, she’s forged two online friendships through her global classrooms. One girl lives in Croatia and one lives in Florida.Social connectionsEm, Joe and Kate don’t make their only friends through home school connections.One concern families have when considering home schooling is how to present their children with adequate social variety.For Juhl and Winter, those social connections are easily made through church.Their children participate in First Baptist Church’s Wednesday night Awana and First Presbyterian’s youth programs."I’ve always been very involved with both church groups, so it’s never been an issue," Em said, when asked what she does for fun.Two of her closest friends, Brooke and Rachel Taubert, Beaver Creek, she met through the local home school organization when the girls were little.Life as a home school familyJuhl and Winter quickly learned that home schooling was about more than teaching the curriculum.It was about committing to the lifestyle of a home school family."You have to be a single-income family," Juhl said. You have to be willing to live on less."Winter added, "There are home schooling families who eat rice and shop at Goodwill, but their children read above grade level and they’re great kids."Juhl, who has a bachelor’s degree in animal science from SDSU, has been the sole wage-earner in recent years through his work as a studio photographer.He started Route One Photography about 10 years ago, and then took over ownership of Myhre Studio in 2000.Both Juhl and Winter remember feeling insecure at first about their decision to home school, but they didn’t have to look far for support.There are several Rock County home school families and the number is growing. In Luverne School District alone, there are 25 home school students between 7 and 18 years old. That doesn’t account for the preschool through 6-year-old population.Juhl and Winter know home schooling isn’t for everyone, but they also know the power of perseverance."We’ve learned that people can do anything they want to do," Winter said. "There have been challenges, but no regrets."Tailoring school to individual personalitiesThere are plenty of ways students benefit from home schooling, but for Juhl and Winter, it was all about tailoring education to fit their children’s personalities and learning styles."Em was shy, quiet and well-behaved, and I remembered thinking, ‘She’s not going to get noticed in the classroom,’" Winter said.Home schooling ensured Em would get the one-on-one attention Winter was concerned about.While Em is quiet and reserved, her 13-year-old brother, Joe, is, well … not."And that’s the real beauty of home schooling," Juhl said. "You know your child better than anyone does. You can tailor the teaching to them."Personal sacrificesMaking the commitment to home schooling has meant putting Winter’s own professional goals on hold, but she said she has no regrets."Right now, I don’t want to be doing anything else," she said decidedly. "This is kind of fun."Winter holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from South Dakota State University, Brookings, and she’s done some writing and photography for the Star Herald in the early 1990s."What I want to be when I grow up is a writer," Winter said. "If nothing else, all of this has given me something to write about."
