For the Reid Family, learning happens everywhere

By Donna Culotta

There’s an interesting as well as predictable dynamic
that happens on July 5. After all the fireworks have been “oohed and aahed” out, after the last grilled hot dog was eaten for breakfast and the flag is still waving, something in the retail world happens. When you walk into the big stores you are assailed with a kiosk of school supply lists, aisles of notebooks, crayons, filler paper, pencils and pens. Well, you get the idea. Many school children in the parish will go back to a building others will head for the dining room table because they are homeschooled. Abra and Paul Reid of Cottonport are just two of the fast growing number of parents who made the decision to home school their
three children. “Why?” seemed a good place to start and Abra had a lot of answers to the one small word. “Number 1,” she began, “to make sure our kids get instruction in a biblical world view; the flexibility allows them to explore other
interests, like piano lessons, hobbies and gymnastics.” They can travel and take
the program with them and have classes on the road. “We’ve had classes in the tree house, in a hotel, the library.” Abra especially like that “the kids can sleep in and
we don’t have that hectic morning rush.” Their church had evening programs and as Abra said, “before homeschooling we missed out in order to get home so they could wake up to get to public school on time.” Another benefit was going at the children’s pace. “If they’re ready to begin something new we can move on, if we have to slow down, we can do that.” Abra said there are many, “thousands,” of pro-
grams for homeschooling and she researched a lot of them. “Some are free and some are very expensive. You just choose what works for you. I paid a little more for the one I’m using, Sonlight, because it includes everything.” Her children range in age from 11, which is 6th grade; 8, which is 3rd grade and a 4-year old, who will be in kindergarten. It’s a diverse age group but Abra and Paul can handle it since they are in their fourth year of home-educating. Louisiana is the least restrictive state in the country when it come to home-educating. “They make it easy,”
Abra commented. “We just need 180 days of instruction, like the public schools
and I do keep an attendance record. But in homeschooling, it’s much more flexible
because we can take all year if we want.” Reid Academy, the official name, will follow the 180 day public school calendar. This year Abra, who is also the principal, will begin instruction Monday, August 3. The daily school schedule in the Reid home is simple. The kids don’t come to class in their pajamas, they
get dressed. Breakfast is at 8:00 with some kind of excercise either before or after. It could be a bike ride, a swim in the pool or a walk. Instruction begins at 9:00 until 12 noon. There’s the afternoon for electives and hobbies. “On Mondays
and Fridays, Paul is here and he teaches the Bible, history and sometimes math.”
The older daughter, Amelia, helps with the younger daughter, Isla, and
will read to her. Ezekiel, the middle child and lone boy can get antsy and needs to
“get the energy out,” Abra added. “As his mother I recognize the signs and let him
go outside. That’s another benefit of homeschooling, you know your children.”
Abra remarked that “there’s not much I have to do, just pull out the books,
and there’s another one of the many benefits, I’m learning along with the children. Things I learned and maybe forgot are being refreshed as I teach them.” The learning never stops, she said. “At supper I’ll ask the children to tell their
father what they learned that day. It just reinforces a lesson for them.”
Last year, Abra told her children they could pick a hobby a quarter. She gave them a budget of $100 and they had to plan what and how they would spend the money. “They chose water color painting and came in under budget with a few
dollars left. One quarter Ezekiel chose barbequing.” Abra said she has not
found a negative aspect of homeschooling. The traditional negative aspect is no social interaction but Abra said her children have friends at church, 4-H meet-
ings and the gymnastic classes, to name a few. “Never did I ever think I’d be homeschooling my kids. Before, there was a stigma attached to it but not
any more. I’ve read a lot of studies and homeschoolers actually outperform the public schools. And for Abra and Paul, the most important aspect of homeschooling is, “no one loves and knows your children like you do.”