Home For School, Out For Fun

Just by watching girls play, it looks like an ordinary high school basketball game. But you might be surprised to learn that the players on one of the teams don't attend a high school.

Lydia Hotek and her teammates are being educated at home. Lydia explains, "It's a home school team and we all come from all over this area."

They're all taught by their own mothers at their houses. But that doesn't mean that they're missing out on the thrill of playing high school sports.

"There's a lot of home-schooled teams," Lydia says. "We have a tournament at the end of every season, and a season of soccer too. And it is just home-school teams from everywhere.

Increasingly, parents that home-school are organizing group activities for the children, like basketball, soccer leagues, drama clubs, even choir. Even so, critics continue to question whether home-school kids are properly socialized.

Lydia Hotek's father, Dan, notes, "The socialization issue is probably the number one issue we get asked about by people who don't do it."

Along with his wife, Lori, the Hoteks have home-schooled all nine of their children. They believe that home-schooling gives them greater influence in their children's lives.

Dan Hotek says, "Just the issue of example is really a key, and for my children, I'd rather have them pattern their lives after my wife than I would someone else's young child."

Even though the Hoteks live in a rural area, they belong to a home-school support group, which helps create social activities for their kids.

Lori Hotek says, "There is a home-school group and they publicize a newsletter and so anyone who has anything going on funnels it into that. There's more than you can possibly keep up with."

The Internet is also a great tool to keep them connected.

Dan Hotek points out, "Right now, there is a Web site where you can check out the calendar and see when the events are happening."

Their daughter, Lydia, says her week is full of social events: "Wednesday, French class; Thursday, basketball practice; Friday, youth group; Saturday, something with friends."

Yet she's still curious as to what high school would be like.

She says, "Since I never did it, I can't really miss it. I know a year or two of school might have been nice just for the experience. But I'm not going to be mad or anything 'cause I didn't get to go."

She says she never even asked her parents to put her in school.
"It's fine," she says, "I'm going to go to college, so it's not like I'm never going to do anything like that."

Dr. Brian Ray conducted a study, funded by the Home School Legal Defense Association, which surveyed more than 5,000 adults who were largely educated at home.

Dr. Ray says, "The question about socialization really entails many things. One is, can a person do chitchat at a cocktail party? And the other one is, what does it mean to be a good American?"

He has found that home-schooled adults participated in community service organizations at a rate of 71 percent compared to 39 percent for the general public, and that adults who had been home-schooled attend college at a rate of 45 percent, compared to 19 percent for the general public.

Dr. Ray says, "What I think a lot of people are finding is what educators have known for a long time, is that the best education is customized, one-on-one tutoring. So I don't think people should be surprised that home-schooled children do so well."

The Hoteks feel confident that their kids will have no problem fitting into society. But Lori admits that home schooling isn't for everyone.

She says, "I think that if it's laid on your heart, go for it. But it's a lot of work. It's the hardest thing I've ever tried to do."

On this night, Lydia's home-schooled basketball team won a close game, beating a local high school team 47 to 41. Afterward, she seemed to have no problem going out and socializing with her friends.