Local student, home-schooled, on a path to success
NORWICH – For decades, home-schooling has been a controversial issue in education, with advocates citing the benefits of a customized curriculum and its lower cost per student, while opponents point out the absence of social interaction and a potential lack of academic standards.
For 16-year-old Luke Shaver, the experience has been an extremely positive one and – academically speaking – he’s set the bar pretty high.
Currently in the third quarter of his fifth year as a home-schooled student, Shaver recently discovered he’d scored higher than 95 percent of college-bound high school juniors nationwide on his PSAT exam in October. On the exam’s writing section, he scored higher than 98 percent of American juniors, with a total score of 196 out of a possible 240.
To say he was surprised is an understatement, according to his parents.
“It’s all God’s doing,” said Shaver’s mother Jude, who teaches her eldest son, his ten-year-old brother and 13-year-old sister from the Shaver Home Actively Revealing Providence Academy in their Brown Avenue home. “Luke’s always been gifted academically and from God. It’s what we felt led to do and it’s a unique way for siblings to gel, they’re interacting all the time.”
Luke said that – in his experience – home-schooling is very similar to a normal day in a public school, studying chemistry, geometry, English and math. When it comes to a foreign language, however, he had an opportunity to try something a little different, and is currently studying Biblical Greek. He hopes to utilize that knowledge if accepted into the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago or the Master’s College outside Los Angeles, where he’d like to major in applied linguistics or Biblical languages. In the future, Shaver plans to work toward a career in Biblical translation.
“I like it because I can have my own personalized education and study the things that interest me,” said Luke of his home-schooling. “You challenge yourself rather than settling for the norm.”
An avid soccer player, Luke also enjoys cooking, reading, playing the piano and singing with the Sovereign Grace Community Church. He’s also heavily involved in the local community, said his mother, coaching for the YMCA’s indoor and outdoor soccer programs and participating in various other leadership roles locally.
“It’s not our point of view that home-schooling is the only way, but the younger children benefit from his experience, they all enjoy it,” said his mother. “For his age group and his abilities, he’s able to branch out and it’s a unique experience.”
Luke will take his SAT exam in May and graduate in 2012.
For 16-year-old Luke Shaver, the experience has been an extremely positive one and – academically speaking – he’s set the bar pretty high.
Currently in the third quarter of his fifth year as a home-schooled student, Shaver recently discovered he’d scored higher than 95 percent of college-bound high school juniors nationwide on his PSAT exam in October. On the exam’s writing section, he scored higher than 98 percent of American juniors, with a total score of 196 out of a possible 240.
To say he was surprised is an understatement, according to his parents.
“It’s all God’s doing,” said Shaver’s mother Jude, who teaches her eldest son, his ten-year-old brother and 13-year-old sister from the Shaver Home Actively Revealing Providence Academy in their Brown Avenue home. “Luke’s always been gifted academically and from God. It’s what we felt led to do and it’s a unique way for siblings to gel, they’re interacting all the time.”
Luke said that – in his experience – home-schooling is very similar to a normal day in a public school, studying chemistry, geometry, English and math. When it comes to a foreign language, however, he had an opportunity to try something a little different, and is currently studying Biblical Greek. He hopes to utilize that knowledge if accepted into the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago or the Master’s College outside Los Angeles, where he’d like to major in applied linguistics or Biblical languages. In the future, Shaver plans to work toward a career in Biblical translation.
“I like it because I can have my own personalized education and study the things that interest me,” said Luke of his home-schooling. “You challenge yourself rather than settling for the norm.”
An avid soccer player, Luke also enjoys cooking, reading, playing the piano and singing with the Sovereign Grace Community Church. He’s also heavily involved in the local community, said his mother, coaching for the YMCA’s indoor and outdoor soccer programs and participating in various other leadership roles locally.
“It’s not our point of view that home-schooling is the only way, but the younger children benefit from his experience, they all enjoy it,” said his mother. “For his age group and his abilities, he’s able to branch out and it’s a unique experience.”
Luke will take his SAT exam in May and graduate in 2012.
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