Final in a three-part series: Admission requires a transcript and good ACT score.
Damon Bennett didn't march across a high school stage, shake hands, and pick up his diploma in front of a crowd, but he became a college success, anyway.
Bennett, who was homeschooled, was accepted at three Oklahoma colleges. He received his engineering degree from Oral Roberts University, and pursues his profession in Tulsa.
"Most homeschoolers do well academically. It's required to do well because it is one-on-one. You can't hide in a crowd," said his mother and teacher, Joanne Bennett of Tulsa.
A homeschool consultant with Academic Advantages of Tulsa, she will present a free seminar, "How to get all the good you can from your homeschool experience," from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Tahlequah Public Library. The seminar is designed for people who already are homeschooling, or who are interested in learning more about the subject.
The seminar is sponsored by HEARTS - Home Educators' Association for Recreation, Training and Support - of Tahlequah, one of many community co-ops of homeschoolers. The groups collaborate to provide educational experiences and field trips that one family would not be able to accomplish alone.
There are no statistics for homeschool graduates and their postgraduation accomplishments, but a new U.S. Department of Education study estimates about 850,000 of the nation's 50 million children are homeschooled. The study calculates 1.7 percent of American children were homeschooled in 1999, a higher estimate than in the past.
"When I first started, it was relatively unknown. Now everybody knows somebody who is a homeschooler," said Bennett, who began homeschooling in 1983, when her family moved to Ponca City.
She had been teaching in public schools, and volunteered in the Ponca City schools.
Her daughter, Carrie, has a learning disability stemming from a concussion as a child. Bennett decided she would like to be the one teaching Carrie, after Carrie sometimes came home from school exhausted and discouraged, thinking she was unable to learn.
Bennett had been told by experts there was a ceiling beyond which children with Carrie's disability could not go. When Carrie graduated from homeschooling, she was tested by a Ponca City psychologist.
"She [the psychologist] was amazed. In every area, she scored above her ceiling, and she attributed that to her home schooling," Bennett said.
Today, Carrie, who has a rapport with children, works at baby-sitting and is active in church programs.
Damon learned he wasn't alone when he went to college after homeschooling. He didn't top the honor roll, but his grades were about what his mother had expected.
"He didn't make straight A's at home all the time for me," she said. "But he actually told some friends that after being homeschooled, college was a breeze."
While at ORU, he met a young woman from Houston who had been homeschooled, and they eventually married. She graduated from ORU with excellent grades and is working in the computer field, Bennett said.
Bennett understands why some educators doubt the validity of a homeschool education. They are trained to teach in public schools and believe children receive the best education in those institutions.
She said public school teachers may never meet many of the successful homeschool graduates, but do encounter those whose parents have returned them to the classroom after a failed attempt at homeschooling.
Dr. Kay Grant, interim dean of education at Northeastern State University, said homeschooling can succeed, but it's difficult for a parent to do it well.
"We hear, obviously, about the ones who do it well and the kid goes straight to Harvard," she said.
But the public doesn't hear about the failures, the ones who drop out of homeschool as well as public school.
Many homeschool graduates make successful transitions to college.
Dawn Cain, director of admissions at NSU, said the university receives about a half-dozen applicants from homeschool graduates each semester.
She said it's relatively easy for them to achieve admission to college. Regulations state the student must have graduated from an accredited high school or a home study program; have achieved a 20 or more on the ACT; not be younger than students in the high school class he would have graduated with; and satisfy the high school curriculum, as certified by the parent.
Students have to pass four years of English, three of math, two of history and science, one year citizenship and three other subjects.
"If they can perform on the ACT or SAT, that's one of the standards we would require on a high school diploma. Those students generally have a strong background and can do well in college," Cain said.
Tahlequah homeschoolers are preparing their children to meet those requirements.
Two of Lisa Turner's six children have entered college. The remaining four are studying at home, where they will prepare for college or a career.
"We didn't have any problem finding a college," Turner said. "I just kept really good records of the courses they had, and their grades."
She also kept sample files of their work, if requested.
Carey Taylor's oldest son, Josiah, is 16. She is planning how to prepare his college application.
"I will make a high school transcript. I can make my own diploma," she said.
Colleges still may want to see a portfolio of his work.
"He would still have to take the ACT just like anybody else does, but he doesn't have to take the GED," she said.