Sports
Mountain View girls volleyball team advances to CCS semifinal. Page 24
Mtn. View on the Move
Castro Street’s Bushido brings Far East taste to Mountain View. Page 45
www.losaltosonline.com Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Community news for Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View since 1947
An alternative approach Home-schooling preferable to some Los Altos families
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Town Crier Staff Writer
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hen most elementary students go to school, teachers construct their day. There might be 45 minutes of math in the morning and an hour of reading after lunch. But for home-schooled students, the options for their day are nearly limitless. Having so many choices instilled a love of learning in Nicholas and Celena Farrell, Los Altos residents who were home-schooled. “I loved the flexibility and the freedom we had to pursue what we were Above Photo by Elliott Burr/Town Crier; truly interested in,” said Nicholas, 17, right photo courtesy of the Farrells who attends De Anza College with Los Altos resident Linda Burks, above, mother of six his twin sister Celena. “We got to go home-schooled children, oversees, from left, her son Kevin at a pace that we felt was right for us and daughters Shannon and Rebecca while they play a rather than the pace that was dictated game with wooden blocks. Home-schooled students Nicholas and Celena Farrell, right, now attend De Anza College. by a school system.” For example, Nicholas said that he and Celena were reading a history book and search and creatively build (the weapon replica) learning about an ancient weapon. Enthralled, ourselves,” he said. they stopped, conducted additional research and Their mother, Kate Farrell, said the opportunity attempted to re-create the siege weapon. to tailor her children’s education was part of what “We were able to use our time and go and reSee HOME-SCHOOL, Page 6
oldwell Banker Residential Brokerage acquired San Mateobased Cashin Company, a real estate firm with seven offices on the Peninsula, which reaped more than $1 billion in sales in the last year. Established in 1995 by Emmet J. “Skip” Cashin III, the 270-agent firm will join Coldwell’s 3,500 sales associates at more than 60 locations throughout the Bay Area, including Los Altos. Cashin, with more than 40 years of real estate experience, said Coldwell’s reputation as a leading brokerage firm made it a good fit for Cashin’s agents. Cashin Company’s co-founder and chief operating officer, Chuck Alloo, will continue in a senior-management role. The acquisition, announced last week, is one of many in recent years for Coldwell, including Fox & Carskadon, TRI, Contempo, Del Monte Realty, Cornish & Carey Residential Real Estate and Pacific Preferred Properties Inc.
Los Altos council digs into quarry controversy Plant officials continue to defend operations By Elliott Burr
Town Crier Staff Writer
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See pages 14 and 15
Coldwell acquires Cashin Town Crier Report
By Traci Newell
Holiday fund 2010
Vol. 64 No. 46 • 50 cents
os Altos Hills resident Bill Almon, a vocal critic of emissions from nearby Lehigh Permanente Southwest Cement Plant in Cupertino, received support for his cause from the Los Altos City Council last week. Councilmembers unanimously voted to send a letter to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors expressing concern over the
facility’s emissions and requesting information on steps the county has taken to monitor them. The Los Altos Hills City Council is scheduled to discuss sending a similar letter at its meeting Thursday. Almon “I’m interested in preserving the health and well-being of our community,” Los Altos Mayor David Casas said. “It’s prudent for our residents, given the potential impact, that we clearly understand the consequences” of excessive emissions. See QUARRY, Page 5
Town Crier File Photo
Lehigh Permanente Southwest Cement Plant in Cupertino has come under fire from local governments for its emissions.
Cover Story HOME-SCHOOL From Page 1
drew her to home schooling. “Home schooling gave us the gift of time and the gift of choice,” Farrell said. “It was the ultimate in customized education. We didn’t have to stop discussing whatever topic we were on because the bell had rung. We had lots of time to daydream and be imaginative together.” And research shows that more and more parents are choosing home schooling for their children. According to the U.S. Department of Education, approximately 1.5 million children are homeschooled, an increase of 74 percent since 1999. The reasons for choosing home schooling are as varied as the number of home-schoolers. In a 2008 study, 36 percent of families listed religious and moral values as the main reason for home schooling. Another 38 percent said the primary reason was that they don’t like the school environment or the way teachers teach. Locally, Los Altos parents said they home-school for a number of reasons. “We looked at our (then) 4-year-old and saw that he was a square peg and school is a round hole,” said Debbie Schwarzer, a Los Altos mother who homeschools her two young sons. “He learned differently and was not interested in a school’s agenda. Home schooling allowed us to honor who our son was and support his very individual needs lovingly.” Schwarzer said she feared her son would be labeled a “bad child” had he attended a traditional school, and that there was a good chance teachers would recommend medicating him. “It made more sense for me to deal with his idiosyncrasies and let him learn at his pace,” she said. “I was able to give him the challenges and freedom he craved.” Other parents said they withdrew their children from local schools because the system wasn’t working for them. Anna Durante said she pulled daughter Emily Holland out of Loyola School for social and aca-
Linda Burks, above, helps her son, Michael, with homework in their Los Altos home. Shannon Burks, right, is the youngest of six home-schooled children. Home-schooled Emily Holland, far right (red hair), participates in a hands-on experiment during a class in rocket science.
Photos by Elliott Burr/Town Crier; Far right photo courtesy of the Farrells
demic reasons. “School was very test-oriented,” Durante said. “I found that Emily would come home after receiving a bad score on a test and say, ‘I guess I’m just not good at science.’ Science should be an experience for a 9-year-old.” Durante also said Emily was being bullied at school, which was affecting her self-esteem. Early into home schooling, Durante said her sister commented on how she could see the “lightness” of Emily shining through. So how do home-schooling parents make sure their children receive a quality education? Thankfully for them, the options are endless. Twenty-first-century home schooling offers a smorgasbord of tools, including online courses and specialty classes. “People have this misconception that there is a universe of parents teaching things that they aren’t qualified to teach,” Schwar-
Legal ways to home school In California, there are several ways parents can legally home school their children. Page 6 / Los Altos Town Crier / November 17, 2010
zer said. “We know what we can teach, and we know when to seek outside sources.” Schwarzer said that when she began to teach her son algebra, the two butted heads. While Schwarzer said she knew the material and how to teach it, she just hit a wall with him. So she secured a tutor, and now he’s understanding algebraic concepts. For the Schwarzers, there is no such thing as a typical day. “I don’t have two days that are alike,” Schwarzer said. “My children do a mix of learning with me and learning with others.” Like Schwarzer, other local parents who home-school hire tutors for an array of topics – from rocket science to music and nature. “I’m the home-school director or choreographer,” Farrell said. “We look at what our philosophy and goals are, and based on that there are many ways to fulfill them. It’s a buffet of education.
• Establish a private school, which isn’t as hard as one might think. A teaching credential is not necessary. Once the school is established, file a private school affidavit form. • Join a private school satellite program
I’m the director, but not necessarily the teacher or tutor.” And home schooling isn’t the isolating activity many believe it to be. The children interact in the specialty classes – which often include several other homeschooled students – on field trips and during group activities. “The term ‘home schooling’ is such a misnomer,” Nicholas said. “We spend so much time going places and doing activities with other people who are interested in the same things.” In addition to the classes, there are park-hopper days, daily meetups at local parks that allow the children to play and plan their own social activities. Park-hopper days are an important tool for parents as well. Durante, new to home schooling, said she has received valuable mentoring from other parents during such outings. As the students mature, so do their social activities. Adolescent
that has filed its own private school affidavit in California. • Join a public school ISP (Independent Study Program). However, the Los Altos School District and the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District do
home-schoolers can attend dances, and there’s even a regional prom for home-schooled teens. But there are no sports leagues for local home-schoolers – they have to join an after-school league or enroll in a standard school to participate. Getting into college isn’t usually an issue for home-schoolers, parents said. Students take the same standardized tests that colleges require from other applicants. “Everything is very well documented,” said Linda Burks, who home-schools her six children, who range from 6 to 17 years old. Local parents said that many top universities actually seek out home-schooled students because of their passion for learning. More than 700 U.S. colleges – including Harvard, Yale and Stanford universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Citadel – admitted homeschooled students in 2000. By 2004, at least 85 percent of colleges had developed written policies for home-schooled applicants. Moreover, because the transcripts of homeschooled students typically differ in format from those of conventionally educated applicants, 52 percent of all colleges in the country have instituted formal evaluation policies for applications from home-schooled students. A survey of admissions at several Ivy League schools (Columbia, Dartmouth, the University of Pennsylvania and Brown) revealed that acceptance rates for home-schooled graduates were roughly equivalent to their overall admission rates. The acceptance rate for home-schooled applicants has been even higher at Stanford University, which in 2004 accepted approximately 27 percent of such applicants, nearly double the overall acceptance rate. Once in college, Nicholas said home-schooled students continue to thrive. “Home schooling prepared us well for the experience of college,” he said. “We went into (De Anza) still loving to learning.” Contact Traci Newell at tracin@latc.com.
not offer an ISP. • Join a charter school home-schooling program. • Employ a credentialed tutor or earn the appropriate credential to become a tutor. – Courtesy of www.hsc.org