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The Leader & Kalkaskian



Local News

PUBLISHED: Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Homeschoolers make some valid points



KALKASKA - For Kathern and James Hagler, homeschooling their daughter, Natasha, almost 13, is a choice that they believe will keep their family intact.

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"The thing our country probably suffers the most from is the breakdown of the family unit,"James said last Thursday. "We hope to establish and ground her, so that she can form her opinions - so, when she is challenged, she'll be more prepared for it."

The Haglers have been homeschooling Natasha for four years. The energetic pre-teen is thriving in the atmosphere.

"I have a lot of friends, now,"she said of her friends - both at church and the homeschool community. "I get to be myself."

"There's not that competition,"James said of homeschooling. "I think that's an important feature. Because we're doing what we do, we become more of a family." The Haglers teach Natasha all year.

"We do have a lot more freedom,"James said. "We can go on a two week vacation and take the books with us."

Normally, Natasha is done with her homework by noon, every day. She is able to work at her own pace and often feels ready for testing without prolonged study.

"She has her own mini-office,"Kathern said. "Yesterday, she wanted to take her spelling test. I told her she had to earn a certain percentage, or write each word 100 times. She got a 92."

Natasha plans to attend Pensacola College.

"It's a Christian college,"she said. "They are the Eagles and their colors are blue and white."

James has done extensive research that supports his family's decisions, including no television.

"A recent study showed that 54 percent of all children in this country prefer TV to dad,"he said. "All you have to do is Google 'average hours TV' and you'll find that there are 2.73 TV sets in American homes and 2.55 people."

The average American child only has 15 seconds of face-to-face time with their dad each day. American watches 250 billion hours of TV per year. James said that if those people were paid $5 per hour, it would equal $1.2 trillion in wages per year.

He added that by the time the average American is 54 years old, s/he will have spent nine years in front of the TV. James also said that according to his research, by the time a US child is 10 years old, they will have witnessed 8,000 murders on television and by the time that child is 18, they will have witnessed 200,000 violent acts on television. When James asked Natasha who her hero was, she said, "Dad." "Well, that's not the answer I was looking for, but that's nice,"he said.

He asked her again.

"Jesus,"she said.





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