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By NATHAN MARCHAND
“Home schooling’s a way of life, not just an education,” said Lorrie Arnold, 50, of rural Bluffton.
That’s why she and her husband, Dick, 54, are glad they joined WACHE (Wells Association of Christian Home Educators) 20 years ago and home-schooled their six children: Dustin, 27; Joel, 23; Lindsay, 19; Jordan, 15; Braden, 14; and Breanna, 12.
WACHE was formed approximately 25 years ago as a support group. It now includes 60 families, though others are unofficially included. The Arnolds said Wells County is one of the largest per capita home-schooled counties in the state.
But that wasn’t the case when the Arnolds, who are farmers, started. Back then, home schooling was new and few people did it.
Why did they decide to take the road less traveled?
“A calling,” said Dick.
Lorrie added, “We had no time to spend with Dustin. We didn’t appreciate the things he learned on the bus.”
They also didn’t like how religion was being removed from public schools.
Ultimately, though, it was because they wanted to be more involved in their children’s education.
“We are responsible for our kids’ education like any other parent, even if you delegate to schools,” said Dick.
He added, “You only have one chance with your kids’ education. Don’t mess it up.”
“So, we prayed about it,” said Lorrie.
“He (God) is our motivation for all that we do, including home schooling and heading up the basketball program for WACHE,” said Lorrie.
Dustin was going to Bethlehem Lutheran School at the time, but after he finished first grade, the Arnolds took him out of the school and started home schooling him.
WACHE offers many “extracurricular” opportunities for home school students and events for their parents.
WACHE has taken students on field trips to such places as Schwartz’ horse barn in Berne, Science Central in Fort Wayne and Connor Prairie, which is an “outdoor living history museum” in Fishers.
There are also several groups within WACHE for students to do community service, like helping with handicapped children at First Assembly of God in Fort Wayne.
WACHE also has athletics programs. They have basketball and volleyball teams, which play their home games in the Life Church gym, and travel to neighboring counties to play against other home school teams. Their team name is the Warriors. It even has its own sectionals and regionals.
“All of our sons and daughters have played basketball for WACHE and both daughters have been a part of the WACHE Volleyball program,” said Lorrie.
They also have students play on the Fort Wayne Crusaders baseball team.
WACHE has what’s called a “steering board,” which is similar to a school board. It’s made up of several families and makes decisions about activities and events, among other things.
Most of the actual educating, however, WACHE leaves to the parents.
“When we started, there wasn’t a variety of curriculum,” said Lorrie. Now there are video schools and computer software.
Over the years, the Arnolds have used curriculum published by Bob Jones University Press, Abeka, Saxon Math and Accelerated Christian Education (ACE). They also used Apologia of Sciences by Jay Wile, a professor at Ball State University.
Some people, like Ray and Donna Reish, have started their own publishing company in order to write their own curriculum. (See separate story).
Many home school families also hold what they call “co-ops” where parents bring their kids together at a certain time and place and then one parent teaches a particular subject. The Arnolds said it helps with things like research papers.
But for the Arnolds, education goes beyond academics. They teach their children how to work, respect people, and be grateful for what they have.
The best thing about home schooling, said Lorrie, is “I see our kids can interact with [both] kids their age and adults. I see home-schooled kids who can relate to kids and adults.”
Lorrie also said she can schedule the 180 days of school, required by state law, so they can get done by May 1. Her children don’t get as many vacations or weather delays, which disappoints them, “but we finish a month before public schools.”
Although, Lorrie does admit that “when Dustin started, we had everything (a day’s worth of school lessons) done in an hour-and-a-half. We felt guilty. I wondered why it took schools eight hours plus homework.”
As for socialization, Dick said, “If you can get along with your siblings, you can get along with anyone.”
She also says it’s good because their children can learn at their own pace.
“I could have never seen myself home schooling when Dick and I first married and began raising our children,” said Lorrie. “But I will never regret the time that I have spent with each of my kids.”
But it isn’t always easy.
“I had a friend when we started who said, ‘You’re not going to teach them, are you?’” said Dick. “You have to have discipline and patience. I’m the ‘principal.’ My wife teaches them. She’s somebody special.”
“It has to be something you’re called to do,” said Lorrie. “It takes both a husband and a wife to do it, and a lot of stamina and discipline.”
“We wondered, ‘Are we teaching them the right things?’” said Dick. “But someone told us, ‘Don’t worry, the Lord will fill in the gaps.’”
Another challenge was teaching several different subjects and grades at the same time. Lorrie said she would often have to switch between fourth grade English and tenth grade math, for example.
Like teachers in public schools, Lorrie also had to deal with children who were “very motivated” and others “who’d rather be outside.”
But, Lorrie said, “If you can teach a child to learn, [he] will continue to learn.”
There are those who may say people like the Arnolds and organizations like WACHE are elitists.
“Some people might think public schools aren’t good enough for us,” said Lorrie. “That’s not true. We have good schools and teachers in our area. We don’t want to come across as saying we’re better.”
“We (my wife and I) graduated from public school,” added Dick.
Lorrie graduated from Southern Wells High School in 1976, and Dick graduated from Norwell in 1972. Neither went to college.
“We don’t want to be separated from the community,” said Dick. In fact, he encourages his children to get involved in the community through church and other opportunities.
“Home schooling’s not for everybody,” said Lorrie. “We went through it one year at a time.”
But it has apparently paid off for the Arnolds. Their oldest son, Dustin, went to the now Covenant Christian School to finish his schooling and graduated in 1999. He then graduated from Purdue University’s accelerated program in 2000, and now works as a veterinary technician at Smith Veterinarian in Berne. He is also married and has two children.
Their son, Joel, graduated in 2003 and went on to graduate from the Indiana Institute of Technology in 2005 with an associate’s degree in accounting.
Their daughter, Lindsey, graduated high school in 2007.
Their younger sons, Jordan and Braden, will be starting the sophomore and eighth grade years, respectively, this fall. Their youngest daughter, Breanna, will start sixth grade this fall.
Both Dick and Lorrie believe there are a lot of parents out there who want to home school their children but are afraid to do it. What advice would the Arnolds give to those parents?
“Go for it,” said Dick.
Lorrie added, “You both need to be in agreement. You’ll want to pray about it. But it’s rewarding.