Norman Lund can hear his students as they discuss Aeschylus, Plato or Virgil. He springs quizzes on them. They read Shakespeare aloud. But they have never met in person. Lund teaches his students online through his company, Oxford Tutorials, which targets home-schooled teenagers who want to learn the classics.
The Kenmore company was just one of dozens marketing software and interactive Internet programs to home-schooling parents at the Washington Homeschool Organization's 16th annual state convention yesterday in Puyallup.
An industry of educational vendors has grown up around home-school curriculum, and software and Internet companies are jumping on the bandwagon.
More than 100 vendors offered parents traditional and nontraditional teaching materials, from math books to wilderness courses, with about a third offering software and online programs to help parents tap the resources of computers and the Internet.
"There's an explosion in the computer industry," said Mia Anderson, convention organizer, referring to the recent boom in home-schooling high-tech products.
An estimated 1.3 million to 1.7 million children were home-schooled nationwide in 1999-2000, according to the National Home Education Research Institute.
Alpha Omega Publications of Chandler, Ariz., had already established itself in the home-school industry, selling textbooks before it began offering software in 1997 called Switched-On Schoolhouse that mapped out classes for grades three to 12.
"It's been our bestseller," said Roy Mitts, a customer-service supervisor at Alpha Omega. "It's our fastest-growing curriculum."
Wendy White, a mother of four, said she started using Switched-on Schoolhouse because one of her sons couldn't stop playing with a demo copy.
"I'm trying to fill in some gaps I might have in my education, and I want them to be computer-literate," said the Renton resident, whose 14-year-old son, Andrew, is learning typing skills.
"I like it, being on the computer," he said. "I don't like having to write every single thing down."
> Although more software and programs target junior-high and high-school students, one firm is going after the kiddie market.
The HeadSprout program helps children learn to read through games in space world, jungle world, dinosaur world or sea world. It also runs online, so users do not have to download software.
While some parents said they still prefer to stick to textbooks and workbooks for at-home classes, Carol Marksbury said many of her friends who home-school do a lot of computer work. While she doesn't have access to a computer to teach her two boys how to use software or the Internet, she said she would use it if she could.
"Online is supposed to be a really good source," the Seattle resident said. "I would never discount using it."
The convention, held on the Western Washington Fairgrounds, continues through today with about 3,000 expected to attend.
> Nicole Tsong can be reached at 206-464-2793 or ntsong@seattletimes.com.