News Story - Idaho State Journal

POCATELLO - June is the time of year to celebrate new beginnings.

This is when graduates mark a milestone in life by walking across the stage in caps and gowns to receive their diplomas to the sound of celebratory applause.

For those who have been home-schooled, the experience can be more intimate.

''It's an opportunity for the students to thank their parents,'' says Michelle Funderburg, a home schooling parent of three children and community coordinator for the Idaho Distance Education Academy. ''It's more of a celebration for the family.''

According to a statement from the school, I-DEA is a K-12 statewide public charter school that offers research-based curriculum and professional guidance to home educators. It is aimed at parents who prefer their children be educated in a home setting, but want the guidance of a certified teacher, curricular choice and online resources. I-DEA serves approximately 900 students throughout Idaho.

The school will hold a graduation ceremony for its seven Southeast Idaho students on Saturday in Chubbuck.

Amanda Hays, who began home schooling programs when she was in middle school in California, has just completed her senior year of high school with I-DEA. She believes the lack of pomp and circumstance is just fine. For her, being able to learn at her own speed has been worth the trade-off for the traditional school setting.

''In middle school, I got really bored. I felt like I wasn't learning anything. I was miserable,'' recalls the 17-year-old Fort Hall resident. ''Kids picked on me because my dad is deaf.''

During the sixth grade time, she says, ''Public school stifled me. I cried every morning for a year, and my parents said, 'That's enough.' I started home schooling midway through the seventh grade.''

Hays acknowledges, ''The first year was rocky.''

But once she got in the habit of learning from home, she liked the freedom to study at an accelerated pace.

When she heard about I-DEA at the beginning of high school, she was immediately interested because, for her, the program appeared to give her the best of both worlds.

As she puts it, ''The learning process (of studying at home) was the same for me. And I wanted a formal graduation and a diploma.''

Now, the new graduate, an aspiring opera singer who has won $50,500 in scholarships, in the fall plans on attending the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. - one place where she will get the traditional graduation experience when she completes her degree.

Even with the success stories of I-DEA students such as Hays, Funderburg, community coordinator for the school, notes that at-home schooling is not for everyone.

She says, ''If I worked outside of home for long periods, I wouldn't do it. I'm a teacher, and I need time to teach. For the kids, it's important that they want it.''

And Hays was one student who definitely wanted home schooling, and appears to have thrived because of it.

To sum up her experience being home-schooled, she says, ''I've had people who've guided me, helped me grow as a person and deal with adult situations. I've been able to learn things I love. It's mental freedom.''

Recently, she got to attend a friend's graduation where there was an orchestra and students threw their hats up in the air.

As for her own graduation, she says, ''I get my diploma, and I see people I know in the audience - it's more intimate. It is a milestone, but it doesn't stop at graduation.''

This document was originally published online on Wednesday, June 04, 2008

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