ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996 TAG: 9605060112
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-21 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
They winter in Richmond to be near the grandparents. They enjoy the summer wildlife that surrounds their other home at Yellow Sulphur Springs, the site of a historic spa on the edge of Blacksburg.
The Worsham family live with the kind of flexibility unknown to most families of public school children. They said that freedom can only add to their children's learning.
"There's so much for the children to do in Richmond - plays, operas, the Science Museum [of Virginia]," said Gibson Worsham, an architect who works from home. "Right now, the older two are writing a review on a play they just saw."
The rest of the year, said his wife, Charlotte, they explore nature around the former resort off Yellow Sulphur Springs Road. They spend time at the library, researching insects and plants the boys discover during their wanderings.
With so much to do, sitting down to focus on workbook assignments isn't easy.
"I wouldn't say they get wildly excited about sitting down and studying," Charlotte Worsham said.
But the parents haven't pushed, especially since they noticed Richard, 11 and the oldest of four boys, is just starting to motivate himself.
"When it comes to formal learning, there's a threshold, and with Richard we've seen he's reached that level where he will do what's assigned," Charlotte Worsham said.
Originally, they started with "the mail-order-kind of curriculum," but soon opted to develop their own using state standards of learning as a guide.
That flexibility, they said, allows their four children to develop at their own speed.
The Worshams are required to update the Montgomery County School system each year on the progress of their children. Rather than taking the standardized tests used by schools, they hire a private educator, who is studying for a doctorate in education, to evaluate the children. They pay $50 per child for the service.
"She evaluates kids across the state who are home-schooled," Charlotte Worsham said. "She uses a portfolio and asks a series of questions to make sure they meet the state standards of learning."
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM STAFF. Blacksburg architect Gibson Worsham andby CNBwife Charlotte, with their children: (from left) Braxton, 4;
Stephen, 1; Charles, 9; and Richard, 11. color.