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The flex-time solution

Working parents discover a way to keep their jobs and homeschool their kids

Peter Mackey, 13, plugs away at a science lesson while his mom Robyn looks on.

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(PHOTO BY KIRSTEN MURPHY)

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PATRICIA D'SOUZA

This fall, several students in Nunavut didn't return to school. They didn't drop out, they decided to give homeschooling a try. This week, Nunatsiaq News presents the second of a three-part series about this alternative method of education.

Thirteen-year-old Peter Mackey doesn't like being stared at, especially when he's trying to do his schoolwork. And who can blame him, really? After spending most of his life in the public school system, he's not used to all this attention.

But it does come in handy sometimes.

"What's a slurry?" he asks, peering up from his science textbook.

His dad, also named Peter, smiles back from the other side of the kitchen table. "I'm not going to tell you what it is."

His mom, Robyn Mackey, leans over and flips through the book to make sure the answer is there, then quickly closes it so young Peter can find it himself.

Soon the Grade 8 student has the answer. It's a mixture of material and a method of sifting through it.

His dad expands on the concept, explaining its uses in the mining industry.

It's that kind of interaction that makes homeschooling so appealing. But Peter Sr. readily admits that it's not for everybody. It takes a certain dedication and - for working parents like the Mackeys - a bit of creativity.

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE
Art class is much less messy without 29 other kids around, as Karielle Mackey, 11, demonstrates.

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(PHOTO BY KIRSTEN MURPHY)

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They didn't quit their jobs, they didn't hire a homeschool tutor, though they considered it. Through flexible scheduling, the Mackeys found a solution that enabled them to keep their jobs - and homeschool their children.

For the family's first three years in Iqaluit, Peter Sr.'s job at Nunavut Power Corporation took him away from the home for eight months out of 12. Four years ago when he started a different job, which didn't involve as much travel, he started paying more attention to his kids' education.

"But at the end of the day, they weren't anxious to sit down with dad and do all this extra schoolwork," he says.

When they learned about the School of Hope, an Alberta-based online school for elementary and high school kids, they found an answer to their dilemma.

Peter Sr. felt comfortable with the online format - he earned one university degree through a distance education program and is working on another. "I said, "Well this is what I'm looking for,"" he recalls.

"I've gone through it and I know how it works, so I know it can work for these guys," he says.

"I know I can deliver a program, but I didn't want to have to develop a curriculum."

He spoke to his employer and worked out a flex-time schedule that lets him work from home in the mornings when the kids do their most difficult studies, and head to the office only in the afternoons, while the kids work on independent projects.

"This is a reward," he says.

On this morning, Peter Sr. sits at the kitchen table with a laptop computer and cell phone in front of him. Next to him is a stack of school workbooks.

Eleven-year-old Karielle sits bent over at a nearby desk, intent on her art lesson. Today's assignment is watercolour painting, and she diligently tests out her colours with smooth simple strokes.

Many families who consider home education are driven by reports of violence in schools or a crumbling system that is taking resources away from kids.

The Mackeys don't have a particular gripe with the school system, in fact their nine-year-old son Keegan still attends Grade 4 at Nakasuk School.

But public schools simply can't beat a two-to-one student-teacher ratio. And the kids seem to be thriving. In just the third week of school, they're getting into a routine and they're already ahead of schedule.

"They're moving really far ahead," Peter Sr. says.

Peter Jr. has seen almost immediate results from the experiment. "In a classroom, there's a lot of people and sometimes you can't get as much work done," he says. "Here, I get to just go on with my work."

His next assignment is a science experiment. He goes to the kitchen and fills a large bowl with water. He searches through cupboards for his materials. Armed with a pepper mill and bottle of dish soap, he comes over to the counter. As his parents and sister crowd around, he sprinkles pepper in the water, then adds a drop of dish soap. The pepper is swept to the edge of the bowl.

"Why did it do that?" his dad asks.

Peter Jr. throws out possible reasons.

"And what are some real-life applications," his mom asks.

It's school for the entire family.

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