Doing Your Homework at Home

Homeschooling in the Maple River Community

The month of September marks the beginning of the school year. For many students, it means new teachers, new lockers, new clothes, a new bus route, new, new, new…

While so many head off to school, some students just stay…home!

According to the Minnesota Department of Education, there were more than 29,000 students homeschooled in Minnesota during the 2023-2024 school year, which is a 10% increase from the previous year and 40% higher than pre-COVID enrollment levels.

In the Maple River community, there are several families who choose to homeschool for various reasons. 

Chadd and Nicole (Braunshausen) Hollerich both attended Maple River High School and now choose to homeschool their children: Rylan (17), Caisen (15), Lincoln (14), Bohdan (10), and Brielle (8). As young parents, they never believed they’d one day be homeschooling their children.  “For a period of time, I was quite against homeschooling,” Nicole admitted. “I’d speak out against it. I didn't understand what homeschooling really was. I wasn't exposed to a lot of homeschoolers until we started going to our church in Mankato Hillside. Then I met a lot of families who were in it. And at that point I was like, ‘Well, these are just normal families; they're just regular people, you know, all different types of personality.”

For the Hollerichs, there were several factors that made them choose homeschooling. It had little to do with the quality of education her children were receiving at LCWM, claiming “We had a great experience in Lake Crystal.” Instead Nicole and her husband made the choice for a simple reason: time. “It just felt so fast paced; we didn't have time. My oldest, at the time in third grade, was coming home with an hour to an hour and 20 minutes of homework. Plus he had to practice his piano because he was taking piano lessons. Plus I wanted him to go outside and play. Plus, there was interest in sports. So, like, plus, plus. All these things were good things, but we all get the same 24 hours in a day, and I was really wanting a relationship with my kids, and I was seeing that that wasn't happening in a meaningful way or in a quality time way. It just felt rushed. Because they're coming home, getting off the bus, we have to check the homework, sign the papers, reading. You got to read for 20 minutes. We got to set the timer for that, and I'm cooking supper, and who needs help with these spelling words? And hurry up, go outside and play and be a kid still, but then come in early so that you can shower and get to bed early, and then we're going to wake up and do it all over again.”

(Depending on the subject matter, class is held in different areas of the Hollerich household).

Several years into homeschooling, Nicole can now boldly claim “homeschooling is really just an extension of parenting” but understanding her role took quite a bit of investigation and research. Surprisingly, there were almost too many curriculum options to choose from, which left her swimming at first. “I attended public school, and there's still that mindset of the bells and time periods and all of that, yeah, and no other part of life is like this.” Once she purged herself of the concept of the structure of public school, she also opened her mind to how the curriculum could be customized to fit the strengths and weaknesses of each child. One child, for example, struggled with reading during his time in public education, so she devised her own plan to help him.  “So I started off the year just pulling back the reins with reading. We didn't go deep into language arts. I just wanted him to learn to love reading. He wasn't liking it. I decided: We're not going to work on sentence structure and commas and, you know, all the language arts things. I just gave him space to read and to enjoy. And he tested at a 7.2 reading level at the end of fourth grade.”

Hollerich noted that the public education system has only been around for around 150 years, and prior to that, most were taught from home. Despite her personal apprehension about being up to the challenge, she found the curriculum gave the students a much more efficient education. “I do think the (public education) system kind of helped us get going in a structure because my boys were already used to getting up in the morning and going to school. We loosened it a little bit like we'll start by nine, so you can sleep in, you can watch some TV or whatever, but we're just gonna have unhurried mornings, but the goal is to be done by lunch. So your school could take you, especially for the little ones, it could take an hour, or it could take a couple hours. It depends on how willing they are to sit and work through the things, or if they get distracted off doing something and and in ways, depending on what it is that they're learning, or what subject they're on, or whatever, I'm fine if they take a break. So the structure is similar, but yet it's thinking outside of the box of curriculum.”

Even though a homeschooling parent is able to decide the curriculum program and the schedule, the State of Minnesota still requires these students to meet proficiency. As Hollerich explained, “Every state has their own standards or laws. For Minnesota, we have to report our kids to the school district, to the superintendent, and with that report that we do, we're also telling them what state test. It has to be an approved test, and I have only ever done from the beginning the California achievement test. It's an online, untimed version, so there's not the stress of time. They can go about it as they want.” Like many school districts, who use standardized tests to evaluate their success, Hollerich found herself caught off guard by one of the test results. A fail on a reading comprehension test left her questioning the reason, so she investigated. “I got bored,” her son told her. “so I just started guessing.” 

Although tasked with many of the same problems as a public school teacher, Hollerich doesn’t see herself as a teacher. “I'm more of a facilitator. Homeschool curriculum is actually written for the child. I'm, of course, having to check things off. With our history (curriculum), there's reading and then there's a narration break, and that narration is you need to come basically spit out everything. That's a great way to do that, because that's something that public education doesn't allow the time to do.” Her role as a facilitator is not just finding the right curriculum but also finding the mentors to help her students through the curriculum. A math problem? Her husband Chadd or even “aunt” Maureen Hollerich. The younger kids struggle with reading? One of the older children can help with it. “I do believe that education is a form of discipleship, and discipleship is rooted in relationships, and relationships take time, and we didn't have the time.”

Kathy (Meyer) Ek's decision to homeschool her grandson came out of necessity. Having spent four decades as a home economics and physical education teacher, Kathy understood the strengths and weaknesses of the public education system, so when her grandson Ricky was diagnosed with Autism, she knew Maple River in the 1990s was not the right place for him. “In the 90s, (autism) was just coming to the forefront. So then I went to Gustavus and took seminars on autism. It was totally new to me, but Ricky definitely fit in that particular spectrum. However, he has high Aspergers, so he was a joy to homeschool, but I really had to study to keep up.” Just like Nicole Hollerich jumped feet first into the unknown, Kathy Ek took her years of experience as an educator and her recent role as a private art teacher to create a custom learning plan for her grandson. “I'm actually certified through grade 14, so I did give him some extra schooling.” Once Kathy took Ricky through the curriculum program, he transitioned into MRCI. “He then was in a group home for a short period of time, so he qualified for that program, and he was then trained in the restaurant business, which he has been in for several years.”

For Kathy Ek, who needed to learn how to give her grandson the best education possible, she didn’t have the same digital and online resources now available, so she turned to a homeschooling mentor, Dixie Lippert. “The Lipperts were my saving grace,” Kathy reflects. “I was already teaching them when I found out I needed to homeschool Ricky. Dixie, their mother, just a fabulous mother, said, ‘This is just a piece of cake, Kathy, you're already teaching homeschoolers. And I went, ‘Yeah, but I don't know all the ins and outs.’ And she guided me to all the right curriculum, how you work with the school, and all the resources. Her whole family was so supportive. It gave Ricky socializing with some extra students, and they were so empathetic and helpful with him. And luckily, he had a real interest in art, which they did, too.” 

With a full career in the public education system, an instructor for her grandson, and also a private art teacher for both public and homeschooled children, Kathy Ek is in a unique position to evaluate both systems. “Well, both styles are wonderful. I've actually never had a student I didn't totally enjoy, and I even drove pep busses, which were exciting sometimes, but I always told every class when I met them at the beginning of the year, I'm your best friend, But I'm not your buddy. So with the public school system, you have to establish your position so that you can always have a good, quiet classroom so that everybody can learn that. Contrast to homeschooling, that's just an automatic.  With homeschooling, the children want so badly to progress, and it's just, you know, one on one, or one on three or something, and they want to be able to get on to the next project.  With public school, you have a variety learning abilities, and you have to be able to relate to all of them, keep them on track, which means that there is extra time that you need to give to some of the children, and that's a little different than homeschooling because your normal class size is 24 so it means come to school early, take your free time to work with them, and stay after school. The one thing that you really have to work at in the public school is your contact with the family, so that you're always on the same page, so that they're learning and want to be there. So it's just a little different scenario.”

Kathy Ek even credits Minnesota and Maple River for providing both oversight and support to homeschooling families. “I give credit to Maple River schools and the state of Minnesota for being very supportive of homeschooling. They mandate a good program. There are some states that don't make you do basic curriculum and mandate your hours and your testing.” Similar to the Hollerich family, Ek feels the biggest advantage for homeschooling is the flexibility, yet she does offer a warning. “You have to be very dedicated, and it's very time consuming, and you have to continue to study, which I think is good. It caused me to be looking at new curriculum, new adventures, and new field trips.”

For Bohdan Hollerich, homeschooling allows him to focus on his current passions: history and math. “I enjoy how we can get school done in one to two hours,and then I can go outside and be a kid and have fun.” Knowing that the curriculum is self-paced, he can also decide how much he can take in a single day. “There really isn't a certain amount of time. You do it in a whole day. If you can't do it in a whole day, you do it the next day.”  With his only distractions being his siblings, he can not only control when he works but where he works. “I basically just go outside and snuggle our animals and just take some time alone.”

His sibling Lincoln described what it is like being surrounded by your “teachers” 24-7-365. “I mean, she's nice. She is more like: she doesn't like teach; she checks off your work.” He also uses his family to figure out his lessons. “I'll usually ask my older brother for help, and if he doesn't know, then I'll go to my dad. My dad's pretty good. However, Mrs. (Maureen) Hollerich has already offered her services to me.”

 (Caisen leaves home each afternoon to participate with the Maple River Cross Country team).

When it comes time, the Hollerich children are also given time “out in the world.” At 17, Rylan is already job shadowing and finishing his curriculum on days where bad weather shuts work down. Caisen, 15, is able to participate in Maple River’s cross country team each afternoon. In much the same way, the homeschooled children of Tim and Dixie Lippert were able to choose the right activities and public school classes for them.

The adult Lippert children (back L-R): Isaiah, Greta, Moriah, Elijah, and Jonah. (Front): Noah, Sarah, Ezra, Hannah, and Olivia.

Beginning with Greta (Class of 2003) and ending with Noah (Class of 2022), the ten Lippert children were active parts of Maple River while also being homeschooled. As Kathy Ek’s mentor, Dixie Lippert “walked the walk” of homeschooling by providing curriculum and independence to her ten children. Although Dixie passed in 2015, the lessons she provided her children and others are still being fully learned today.  For Olivia Lundsten, the experience of homeschooling is something she looks back upon fondly. “ I feel like there were so many positives about my homeschooling experience! The biggest positive, though, was that I was encouraged to LOVE learning, not just DO learning. There was such a feeling of freedom - freedom to be curious, freedom to spend lots of time and energy on things I found most fascinating, and freedom to ask questions and wonder and problem-solve. I certainly had to be self-directed in my study much of the time at home, but I think that played to my strengths and I took great ownership of my education because of it!” Almost a decade after her final lessons, she is now giving serious consideration to homeschooling her own children. “I had my first baby in December, and I have already told my husband that I'd like to homeschool our son if I can! I think it was the greatest gift my parents gave me growing up, and I'd like to give that gift to my son, too.”

Academically, the children were offered other teachers (like Kathy Ek) while they  were allowed to decide if there were certain courses at Maple River that interested them. Elijah Lippert remembers “It was a relaxed atmosphere. I also feel like the education was great between my mom and then having Dorothy Lindemann come out to the farm to teach us the English side of it.” For Olivia, she felt the quality of the curriculum did more than just prepare her for the next step. “As a whole, I feel like my homeschooling experience prepared me VERY well academically (I never felt behind when I got to high school/college, but instead I felt academically ahead in many areas) and I also feel like I developed a deeper relationship to my siblings and parents because of it, and that is something I treasure. The relational benefit of YEARS of quality time spent together learning at home is not lost on me. We're still all very close, and I think homeschooling fostered that connectedness in a big way. 

For Moriah Lippert, she did notice there was a stigma for being homeschooled when she began integrating in middle school. “Until I started doing activities at the middle school, I didn’t have much interaction with other kids my age unless they were also homeschooled or went to my church. Being homeschooled was not viewed as ‘cool’ and often made me the odd one out.” Having spent her elementary years learning independently, Moriah felt she viewed education differently than her peers. “Unlike my fellow students who had been behind a desk since first grade, I found everything to be new and exciting. Going to school made me want to try harder and excel for my teachers. If anything, this is what made integration harder. Wanting to learn and be in lots of activities like speech, drama and mock trial made me feel different and not like a regular 6th or 7th grader.”

With Elijah, he enjoyed being able to interact with his peers and coaches in extracurriculars. “ I felt very welcomed in speech, and drama in particular. Even though I wasn’t great at sports, I made some friends and got along great with the coaches. I got my nickname. So overall by my teammates,I felt welcomed as well as by coaches etc.” Looking back on his education, he finds appreciation for what he learned in public school as well as homeschooling. “I think  it prepared me for adult life by learning to be disciplined, that work comes before play, etc. How I was raised helped teach me to be kind to everyone and never judge someone etc. especially when at times people seemed to think of me differently for being homeschooled etc. so it helped prepare me to be disciplined as well as treat everyone with kindness and respect regardless of their background.”

Finished with homework? The Hollerich boys head outside to play catch.

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