Grandchildren Take Lessons
From Their Grandparents
by
Marcia Garland
When Kay Sears' son and daughter-in-law told her they had decided to homeschool her grandchildren, she was apprehensive.
"Actually, a better word is skeptical," says Sears. Even though her daughter-in-law, Jeanne, had a degree in education and her son, Ronald, worked in the school library, the idea didn't sit well.
"I had visions of my bright young grandchildren getting straight A's and getting on the honor roll," says Sears. "That wouldn't happen if they were educated at home."
An art teacher for 26 years, Sears of Eureka, Illinois retired four years ago. When Jeanne asked if she would teach her grandchildren art, she easily settled into the role of home-school art teacher.
No one knows how many children are educated at home each year in the United States. Estimates range from 300,000 to 1.2 million children. No statistics are available for the number of grandparents involved in the teaching process at home. Some grandparents actively apprentice their grandchildren and many grandparents share their job skills with home-schooled teens.
Sears teaches art history combined with art technique to her grandchildren. The children have studied Impressionists and the Renaissance. Sears is thrilled to discuss Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci with her grandchildren. She teaches whenever the opportunity arises.
"Sometimes we just do something for the sheer fun," she says. "One of the girls got roses for her birthday, so we sat down and painted them."
Sears loves art and enjoys teaching it, but she also started teaching the girls something she didn't like - piano. "I took piano lessons for two years and hated it. but I started teaching the grandchildren scales and they just took off like wildfire." Art has now taken a back seat to piano, and a more capable teacher has been found for the girls' music lessons.
But Sears and her husband provide transportation to piano and ballet. "We give a lot of positive encouragement," she says. Sears finds no drawbacks in getting involved in her grandchildren's education. "A lot of grandparents are not close to their grandchildren," says Sears. "It is a real blessing to be part of their lives."
Dr. Philip Heesen taught Latin and English in public high school for eighteen years. He then taught Greek classics at Millersville University for 21 years before retiring in 1988. Heesen was not at all concerned when son Gregory and daughter-in--law Margie told him they were educating his grandchildren at home.
"I knew if Margie took the job on, she would do it professionally," Heesen says. Gregory approached Heesen about teaching Latin to his eldest daughter, Rebekah, and woodworking to his son, Michael. Heesen has taken up woodworking as a hobby since retirement. "I jumped at the opportunity to get close to my grandchildren. I learned a lot more about them and they about me."
Heesen teaches the children once a week, even during the summer. Rebekah, 11, has been "verbally proficient" since she was a toddler, says Heesen, and takes to Latin "like a duck to water."
"She remembers everything she sees and hears. She doesn't take a back seat to students I've had twice her age."
Michael's woodworking lesson started with a walk in the yard investigating the different varieties of trees. Through projects, Michael, 8 is learning fractions, angles, proportions - all kinds of mathematical concepts, Heesen says. They've made a Noah's Ark set together, investigated finishes and stains, made toys and birdhouses, and are now working on music boxes.
Although Heesen and Sears were professional teachers, both feel grandparents with non-teaching backgrounds can and should teach their grandchildren. "Any grandparent who has some skill in the realm of crafts or intellectual discipline can benefit from teaching their grandchildren," Heesen says. The grandparent benefits from a closer relationship with the grandchild. And the grandchild benefits by gaining the knowledge and expertise of the grandparent.
"The grandchildren grow up and move away soon enough. I think this is a marvelous way for grandparents to be part of their grandchildren's lives."
