By Sara Ballenger

Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier

Living in Los Altos affords families access to one of the top school districts in the state. But some families are choosing another option - homeschooling.

There are a variety of ways to homeschool. Some families choose home study programs and charter schools.

Other families enroll in private schools that offer homeschooling programs or sign a private school affidavit. The number of students being homeschooled is growing, according to the HomeSchool Association of California (HSC).

“I think that’s one of the interesting things about homeschooling; it’s now attracting more mainstream people in a sense,” said Los Altos parent Debbie Schwarzer, who homeschools her sons Max, 6, and Will, 3. “These families are as ‘normal’ as the ones living next door whose children attend Almond or Montclair or any of the other local schools.” Schwarzer has been homeschooling for about a year.

The HSC estimates 60,000 to 200,000 school-age children are learning outside the traditional classroom setting in California. However, it’s not without some guidelines from the state.

The California Education Code states, “All children between the ages of 6 and 16 must attend a public full-time day school unless otherwise exempted” (section 48200). There are two exemptions, according to the education code:

1. The private tutoring exemption (section 48224) for children who are instructed for at least three hours each day, 175 days a year, by a teacher who holds a valid California teaching credential for the grade taught.

2. The private school exemption (section 48222) for children who are enrolled in a full-time private school. There are no laws that establish the minimum standards for the teachers or curricula of private schools. The only legal requirement for private schools is that they file a Private School Affidavit (section 33190) with their local county superintendent of schools.

Schwarzer has found a good fit with the Independent Home Study Program in the Loma Prieta Joint Union School District in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

“There is any number of choices in Los Altos,” she said of both public and private education for her sons. “Those are all great choices, but they wouldn’t work for me.”

The decision to homeschool was not an easy one, Schwarzer said. She read books, talked to other homeschoolers and thought a lot about it before making the choice.

“I think it’s hard for most people to contemplate doing. You have to be ready to take that first step out of the box,” she said.

Los Altos parents Cathy and Jeff Bonwick have just taken the first steps in homeschooling their 5-year-old son Andrew. They also enrolled him in the Loma Prieta program.

“A determining factor for us was looking at where Andrew was emotionally and socially,” said Cathy. “The traditional classroom setting is not right for him this year. We don’t have to decide for all time. We want to put him in school at a point where it works for him.”

For those who decide to homeschool, the state offers a wide variety of resources, publications, support groups and information sharing, according to the HSC.

“The resources in the Bay Area for homeschool are just amazing,” Bonwick said. “The Children’s Discovery Museum, the Tech Museum, the History Museum are great places to learn.”

There are certain curriculum guidelines set by the state; but once those are met, many homeschoolers make their own curriculum, Schwarzer said.

“Certain things are nonnegotiable, like algebra,” Schwarzer said. “But if you wanted to learn about 17th-century fashion in Paris, you can go do it.”

Both Schwarzer and Bonwick stressed that as soon as their children express an interest in public school, they will attend.

“To make a choice to go against the grain takes a lot of thought,” said Bonwick. “People work very hard to have the best for their kids. This is not a rejection of the schools, but what’s best for our child at this time.” Both parents plan to take homeschooling one school year at a time.

For more information on homeschooling in California, logon to the HomeSchool Association of California Web site at www.hsc.org.