ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996 TAG: 9605060110
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-21 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
Chip and Becky Batton's white, two-story colonial house at the end of a mile-long, bumpy dirt road, appears to sit in a wooded wilderness rather than just a few miles from the Christiansburg Wal-Mart.
Chip Batton manages the defense conversion at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. Becky Batton home schools her two eldest children, Summer and Brad, while juggling the demands of 3-year-old Kendall and 2-year-old Race.
Brad, 11, and Summer, 10, have a fairly regular schedule, studying workbooks at the kitchen table for about four hours each day. On the refrigerator hangs a weekly chart of assignments for the children to tackle on their own.
"They've learned about being independent and being self-starters," Becky Batton said.
When they first heard about home schooling, Becky Batton said her family "thought it was a little weird ... I wondered too if normal people did it."
She remembers when people would stare if she brought the kids to the grocery store during the school day, as if to say, "Why aren't those kids in school?"
She said friends who work in public schools are frustrated with large classes where they can't give individual attention to children - one reason the Battons decided to home school.
Also, they prefer to teach their children from a Christian point of view.
"Like history," Chip Batton said, "they've taken the religion out of it."
The couple also say they disagree with what the schools teach about "family planning" - the state-approved sex education curriculum.
They have the option to test the children each year at a public school, but they prefer to pay the $40 for the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.
"That's our benchmark," he said "They've always scored in the 90th percentile."
Aside from using a Christian-based curriculum, Becky Batton, who has a college degree, develops other ways to learn, teaching her children sign language and Spanish.
Financially, the Battons say they haven't had to make too many sacrifices to keep Becky home. They budget about $600 a year for school materials, but usually spend more because of extra purchases like field trips, reading books and the mineral collection they plan to buy for Brad.
Twice a month or so, they get together with five other home-school families to go swimming or visit the science museum. Brad said he went to a public school for one day to see what it was like, but wasn't swayed.
"I like being home with my mom and being able to see my [youngest] brother and sister grow," he said. "I probably wouldn't see them taking their first step or say their first word if I was in school."
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM STAFF. 1. At the Blacksburg Recreation Center,by CNBBecky Batton of Christiansburg holds the rope while her 10-year-old
daughter, Summer, takes a turn jumping. Standing next to Becky is
another daughter, Kendall, 3. color. 2. Brad Batton (front, right)
joins other home-schooled children in prayer before a lunch break at
the Blacksburg Recreation Center.