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Judge approves investigators’ access to phone records in Hazle Township homicide

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Happy birthday to Briauna Renee Robinson!

<p>KINGSTON TWP. &#8212; Brothers Ethan and Aiden Campbell begin their school day by sitting on the sofa with their mom and reading about World History.</p><p>The boys represent a growing number of children whose parents have taken control of their education by opting out of the public and private school systems.</p><p>The cozy atmosphere of the Campbell family home does not detract from the lesson on Mary Tudor, the 16th century Queen of England.</p><p>&#8220;Who was her father?&#8221; Leisa asked her sons.</p><p>&#8220;King Henry VIII,&#8221; Ethan answered.</p><p>The scene is repeated throughout the nation and across the state.</p><p>A study by the Department of Education&#8217;s National Center for Education Statistics reported 1,770,000 students nationally were home-schooled in 2013, an increase from 1.5 million in 2007 and 850,000 in 1999.</p><p>The Pennsylvania Department of Education reported 22,136 students were home-schooled during the 2006-07 school year.</p><p>Home-schooling should not be confused with cyber schools, Leisa said.</p><p>&#8220;With home school, parents choose and pay for the curriculum required by (state) law to have their student&#8217;s school work evaluated at the end of the school year by someone qualified under the Pennsylvania Department of Education guidelines,&#8221; Leisa said in a written email. &#8220;Cyber school is public school done at home on a computer with none of the Pennsylvania Department of Education oversight and no input from the parents.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Academics</strong></p><p>The ability to curtail academics to fit a student&#8217;s individual needs is a benefit to homeschooling, Leisa said.</p><p>&#8220;The state dictates what students have to study as far as what subjects are covered,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But home-schoolers can choose what curriculum to use and tests.&#8221;</p><p>For example, Ethan decided to study botany for his science credits this year.</p><p>&#8220;There are tremendous resources out there, she said. &#8220;You can review the materials available and see what best fits the children&#8217;s personalities.&#8221;</p><p>Shannan Wakely, a Dallas Township resident and mother of four, is homeschooling three of her children, Sara, 16; and 15-year-old twins, Garrett and Grace. Oldest daughter, Taylor, 21, graduated from public school in Wisconsin and now attends Misericordia University in Dallas.</p><p>Last year, Shannan used the Rosetta Stone Spanish program to meet her children&#8217;s foreign language requirement.</p><p>Home-schooled students are still subjected to the state-required standardized testing for third, fifth and eight grades.</p><p>Standardized testing results are combined in the student&#8217;s portfolio that includes chapter tests, samples of assignments and field trips provided to an evaluator for review, Leisa said.</p><p><strong>Deciding point</strong></p><p>Leisa and her husband, John, pulled their sons out of public elementary school due to curriculum and behavioral issues of other students.</p><p>She recalled an incident when Ethan was in first grade. He brought home a worksheet with a drawing of two different-sized fruit bars, Leisa said.</p><p>&#8220;The question was which one would you pick,&#8221; Leisa said. &#8220;Ethan circled the smaller one, and it was marked wrong. They (the teacher) wanted him to be greedy and pick the larger one.&#8221;</p><p>Leisa questioned her son about his answer.</p><p>&#8220;He said he wasn&#8217;t sure if he would like the taste and didn&#8217;t want to take the larger one only to find out he didn&#8217;t like it and then waste it,&#8221; she said. &#8220;That is logic to a first-grader.&#8221;</p><p>In third grade, Ethan brought home stories of a female classmate bragging she had stolen from her mother and a male student who threw a desk in the classroom.</p><p>&#8220;We didn&#8217;t want them growing up in that kind of atmosphere,&#8221; Leisa said.</p><p>While living in Wisconsin, Shannan and her husband, Paul, opted to home school Sara when she was in first grade due to her special needs.</p><p>&#8220;She liked school but was struggling academically,&#8221; Shannan said.</p><p>When the family relocated to Dallas Township three years ago, Shannan and Paul incorporated the twins, who had previously attended public school, into their homeschooling program.</p><p>The transition from public school to home school was difficult for Garrett, Shannan said.</p><p>&#8220;Garrett is very social and had lots of friends (in Wisconsin),&#8221; she said. &#8220;He wanted to go back to public school.&#8221;</p><p>Settling into the Back Mountain, Shannan made it a priority to get her children involved in activities right away. She found a church and homeschooling support groups to help her children make new friends.</p><p>Sara, Garrett and Grace all play basketball on the Rock Solid Academy team and soccer through the Back Mountain Soccer Association.</p><p>Garrett is a member of the Dallas School District&#8217;s summer swim team, she said.</p><p>He has adapted to home-schooling and enjoys &#8220;a more relaxed, but busy schedule,&#8221; Shannan said.</p><p>&#8220;Socialization gets a bad rap for homeschoolers,&#8221; Leisa said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think they miss out on a lot.&#8221;</p><p>Leisa keeps her sons busy between two different church youth groups and Boy Scouts.</p><p>Both Leisa and Shannan participate in group field trips and other activities through local homeschooling support groups such as the Wyoming Valley Homeschoolers and Christian Home School Association of Pennsylvania.</p><p>&#8220;You do what you need to do to connect them (with other children),&#8221; Shannan said.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012316homeschooling2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ethan Campbell works on a grammar lesson as his mom, Leisa, grades his science test in their Kingston Township home. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012316homeschooling2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Ethan Campbell works on a grammar lesson as his mom, Leisa, grades his science test in their Kingston Township home. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012316homeschooling3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Aiden Campbell, 11, is developing computer coding to enable him to have access to different tools. Aiden is home-schooled and plans to become a computer coder. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012316homeschooling3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Aiden Campbell, 11, is developing computer coding to enable him to have access to different tools. Aiden is home-schooled and plans to become a computer coder. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012316homeschooling4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kingston Township mother Leisa Campbell maintains an accurate log of her sons&#8217; academic performances and charts out a weekly schedule. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012316homeschooling4.jpg</photo2><caption2>Kingston Township mother Leisa Campbell maintains an accurate log of her sons&#8217; academic performances and charts out a weekly schedule. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012316homeschooling5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Leisa Campbell reviews a history lesson with her sons, Ethan, 14, and Aiden, 11, in their Kingston Township home. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012316homeschooling5.jpg</photo3><caption3>Leisa Campbell reviews a history lesson with her sons, Ethan, 14, and Aiden, 11, in their Kingston Township home. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012316homeschooling1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ethan, 14, and Aiden, 11, start the school day off with a lesson about 16th century Queen of England Mary Tudor, known as Bloody Mary. Aiden is pointing to the geographical locations important to the life of the queen on a global while his mother, Leisa, and brother watch. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012316homeschooling1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Ethan, 14, and Aiden, 11, start the school day off with a lesson about 16th century Queen of England Mary Tudor, known as Bloody Mary. Aiden is pointing to the geographical locations important to the life of the queen on a global while his mother, Leisa, and brother watch. </caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Number of home-schooled students growing across state