As a mother immersed in the homeschooling of her two sons, Joan Smith would often wonder, “Is there life after homeschooling??” Little did she know that she would continue working with homeschoolers even after her sons moved on to college!
There wasn’t much in Joan’s background that would have hinted at her eventually homeschooling her children. With a B.A. in Music from the University of New Hampshire and an M.M. in the Performance of Early Music from the New England Conservatory, Joan seemed headed for a career in music. However, with the birth of her first child in 1979 and a second in 1981, her teaching and performing gradually gave way to child rearing. As her sons approached “school age,” she was troubled by the prevailing notion that at age six a child was ready to leave the influence of the home for 35 hours a week and head off to school. The kindly advice of a friend encouraged her to explore homeschooling, and in 1985, with virtually none of the books, materials, curriculum, magazines, conventions and support groups currently available to homeschoolers, Joan ventured into the world of home-based education. Thus began a fourteen-year journey that dramatically changed the direction of her life.
The vision for New Hope Tutorials grew out of Joan’s personal experience of homeschooling her sons through the high school years. New challenges in the form of a more demanding curriculum, looming SAT’s, and concerns about preparing her sons for the rigors of a college education helped Joan understand why many homeschooling parents begin looking for help outside the home when their children reach the high school years. Some even give up their homeschooling, albeit reluctantly. As she looked for ways to ensure that her sons would get what they needed for their education, Joan became convinced that it is possible to provide parents and students with the academic support they need without forcing them to abandon their homeschooling altogether. Over the years, her vision for supporting homeschoolers took shape, and as soon as her younger son set off on a new venture as a student at Gordon College, Joan began a new venture of her own. In September 1999, she opened her home to thirteen middle school and high school students and two tutors who met twice a week for small-group tutorials in literature and history. From those “humble beginnings,” New Hope has grown to be an incorporated, tax-exempt organization meeting in rented space with an enrollment of over sixty students and a staff of eight tutors.
“We are certainly meeting a need within the homeschool community,” Joan says. “Nearly every week, parents will tell me how grateful they are for New Hope and what we provide: the challenging academics within the context of a Biblical world view, the peer interaction within a safe, Christian environment, the corporate learning experience and accountability to an instructor . . .all of these mean a great deal to parents, some of whom commute as much as an hour each way to take advantage of our tutorials. It has been a privilege to work with parents to help them achieve their academic goals within the framework of a home-based education. Every year with New Hope has been an adventure, and it is exciting to think of where we will be five years from now! We have a committed Board of Directors and Parent Advisory Board who are working with me to ensure that we become a significant educational presence here on the North Shore.” |
